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EP. REVIEW: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? II

I am sorry but Steven Universe with a rating of Y-7 is able to have a far more nuanced discussion about rape and consent issues then this show does. I am not saying that this show needs to have that level of discussion, in fact I would argue it breaks the tone of the show, but it could have tried to do something and make moments like and bel and haruhime crying much more important and actually related to sex and rape.

Its been said before (in the LN anyway) that a goddess's jealousy is a terrifying thing.

We also see how far Ishtar is willing to go in non-sexual ways as well: using a potion to reveal Bell's status is a major no-no for a god, so she's crossing yet another line there.

I don't understand why this episode changed Bell's resolution to his Haruhime quandary to having his whole familia leave Orario instead of just him, but it makes him horrifyingly selfish. I much prefer his answer in the novel, where he's willing to take personal responsibility without unduly harming his allies, even though it'll upend his entire life. The anime changed him from someone willing to sacrifice himself utterly for one person to someone willing to screw over his own allies on a whim.

For me, the subtext in this show with regards to sex has been much more straightforward and puritanical than the review seems to imply. Sexual activity (especially of the female variety) is scary, the province of villains and manipulators. No female character (that I can recall, please correct me if I'm wrong) has been portrayed as both unambiguously sexually active and morally good. Those female characters that are morally good are "stained" (at least in their own eyes) in direct proportion to how much they have been exposed to sex, as seen with Haruhimespoiler[, and from the spoilers I've seen here, even her sexual experience will have to be handwaved away in order for her to join the rest of the heroes on the good side.]

I do think it would be nice for even a show aimed at this demographic to offer positive examples of adults who manage to have sex (as in like, they can be really into each other and imply that things have moved to that point, they don't need to literally portray them doing the deed) who approach it in a healthy and affirming way for both sides. Having some positivity and openness is important, to demystify and remove some of the stigma surrounding the subject for adolescents just figuring out what it is. But that's a whole different topic, and I've probably talked this topic to death as it is.

(Hestia is Vesta in the Roman pantheon)

For me, the subtext in this show with regards to sex has been much more straightforward and puritanical than the review seems to imply. Sexual activity (especially of the female variety) is scary, the province of villains and manipulators. No female character (that I can recall, please correct me if I'm wrong) has been portrayed as both unambiguously sexually active and morally good. Those female characters that are morally good are "stained" (at least in their own eyes) in direct proportion to how much they have been exposed to sex, as seen with Haruhimespoiler[, and from the spoilers I've seen here, even her sexual experience will have to be handwaved away in order for her to join the rest of the heroes on the good side.]

You could carry this point further and add that male characters who seem at all interested in sex are uniformly regarded as perverts at best. That's commonly true across the width and breadth of non-hentai anime as well;

Though there are exceptions, anime generally hasn't been a format open to healthy involvement of sex.

I'd recommend the manga Ideal Sponger Life for you, then. What you say here is why I would very much like to see that one get animated at some point.

I think, in addition to the demographic factors you mentioned, there are also cultural factors at play, particularly Japan's notion of purity, as exhibited by their idol culture. But that is also a whole other topic.

Though there are exceptions, anime generally hasn't been a format open to healthy involvement of sex.

I'd recommend the manga Ideal Sponger Life for you, then. What you say here is why I would very much like to see that one get animated at some point.

It would be really nice to see what the original drafts for this book looked like and how they changed before the book was published. I am pretty sure that the really horrible rape "jokes" from the beginning are probably still there but that could have been reframed with writing that the series is could be capable of to bring that around to make a point of some kind.

The series has always done things close to the line of being generic but with just enough spin and genuinely solid execution to make it enjoyable and fun. I am just going to assume at this point the author got cut off at the knees with what he wanted to do with his creative ideas, and then had to apply bandaids to the story in order to make it hold together still. resulting in the weakest of the books in the series.

Now, could this have been written a different way to make more of a statement? Sure. However, I don't believe that having to make a statement is (or should be) a necessity. There are movies and series that I watch for deeper insight; this is not one of them.