“Apollo (Sun God)”


「アポロン」 (Aporon (Taiyō-shin))

To kick off S2 and carrying over from the first episode, Danmachi’s decided to introduce some drama back into the mix, featuring a hostile familia that seems insurmountable for Bell and Hestia to overcome this time around. Not only are they significantly outnumbered, but they lack the political pressure and monetary parity to prevent themselves from becoming a project for subjugation at the Apollo familia’s hand.

Pantomime Villain

I find Apollo to be a bit too comically villainous, though none of his disgusting mannerisms detract from the potent threat which he has displayed. On top of having an elite troupe, with the strongest member of his familia far surpassing Bell at present time, he has also secured the assistance of the Soma familia – with Zanis using the skirmish as an opportunity to coerce Lili back into their fold. Eventually, through what I interpret to be a combination of genuine concern for Bell’s welfare and extreme annoyance that her confession to him was interrupted, Hestia marches over and whacks a challenging glove right onto Apollo’s face. Good god he deserved it. Apollo sure is a creep and I don’t understand why that Hyakinthos is so obsessed with following this rather unsavoury individual.

Ulterior Motives

At least there’s a minority of adventurers and minor gods who sympathised with Hestia’s plight, and tried to assist in the ways that they could. But one has to wonder why the other major familia or institutions haven’t stepped in to address the Apollo familia’s flagrant violation of city rules. You see, I’m not entirely convinced that politics between the gods is as major a stumbling block as they’re making it out to be. Thinking about it, weirdly enough, their motives probably aren’t too different from ours. I watch Danmachi because it’s pretty fun, got a lot of excellently animated segments and there’s a lot of entertaining mythologies brought to life as well as the ways in which they interact. To be honest, it really reminds me of the Percy Jackson book series (which I was a massive fan of in secondary school) where gods and their chosen scions mingle and quest, only with a less Western and more Japanese take. The major familia gods probably find the conflict highly entertaining and would rather see how it will look to play it, as opposed to intervening. At least that’s how I’m choosing to rationalise the flow of events for now.

Concluding Thoughts

I look forwards to seeing how the War Games play out, because while the Hestia familia are at a massive disadvantage, Bell Cranel is the protagonist of this story and has exhibited unprecedented growth at every turn. Also, it’s not like Hyakinthos is Ais. So it wouldn’t be impossible. Who knows where Bell might be in terms of strength when the war games finally roll around? And whether that will be enough to defeat the Apollo familia? But I’ll certainly be equally interested in seeing the process of getting there, as well as the end product itself. Anyway, that’s about everything I wanted to discuss. As always, thank you for reading my post and see you next week!

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「」 () by ()

14 Comments

  1. The major familia gods probably find the conflict highly entertaining and would rather see how it will look to play it, as opposed to intervening.

    Correct. The people who came out of the bushes and the fountain are those gods themselves. They found this entertaining enough to stake at Apollo’s house because they knew in the end that Hestia will have to accept the War game and wanted to see that moment where she challenges him.

    belatkuro
  2. With the pace of Volume 6 is being adapted at, it seems very likely that this arc would be around four episodes long. I personally think it’s a reasonable pace, given the scope of Volume 7.

    As for the question of why Hyakinthos might follow someone like Apollo – consider Hyakinthos personality – envious, petty, and vicious. Apollo is the type of diety that would throw bombastic gestures to those he loves – and presumably, someone of Hyakinthos personality is drawn to that.\

    There’s actually a short sequence in Volume 8 which gives us abit more insight into Apollo’s character. I do not know whether the anime would address it (if it doesn’t this season, there’s no opportunity in future seasons since Volume 9 to 11 is one continuous narrative that seems to be written with the 12 episode anime cour in mind), but Volume 8 does explain

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Andmeuths
  3. https://randomc.net/image/Dungeon%20ni%20Deai%20o%20Motomeru%20no%20wa%20Machigatte%20Iru%20Darouka/Dungeon%20ni%20Deai%20o%20Motomeru%20no%20wa%20Machigatte%20Iru%20Darouka%20II%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2024.jpg
    Well I found the moon. Unless the moon refereed to Artemis; in mythology, Artemis and Apollo are siblings, not sure in this anime. It is ironic that the mythical Cassandra always says correct prophesies but no one believes in them.

    https://randomc.net/image/Dungeon%20ni%20Deai%20o%20Motomeru%20no%20wa%20Machigatte%20Iru%20Darouka/Dungeon%20ni%20Deai%20o%20Motomeru%20no%20wa%20Machigatte%20Iru%20Darouka%20II%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2031.jpg
    As expected of a goddess, her aim easily beats my ability to throw a baseball. What is their relationship in heaven like? Please tell me our loli goddess has a plan.

    https://randomc.net/image/Dungeon%20ni%20Deai%20o%20Motomeru%20no%20wa%20Machigatte%20Iru%20Darouka/Dungeon%20ni%20Deai%20o%20Motomeru%20no%20wa%20Machigatte%20Iru%20Darouka%20II%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2035.jpg
    Wonder if the light novel explain this fountain part.

    Greed
  4. “The major familia gods probably find the conflict highly entertaining and would rather see how it will look to play it, as opposed to intervening. At least that’s how I’m choosing to rationalise the flow of events for now.”

    Yes, almost everything surrounding issues with ‘familia’ is from gods is that it’s more entertaining. that’s why they they came down to mingle with the mortals in the first place.

    Teutates
  5. Miach Familia and Takemikazuchi Familia have always been very friendly with Bell and Hestia it would seem almost natural they would come to their aid.Hermes and Hephaestus are friendly toward Hestia, Hermes always does thing indirectly. I am sure he will help Bell get stronger without looking like Hermes is helping. Hephaestus Familia is mostly crafters and merchants they would like prefer to stay neutral. Welf might be only adventure in Hephaestus familia. I am wondering if Hephaestus will let Welf leave her family to join Hestia. Freya is the wild card how she would aid Bell or just watch him grow from far.

    Yes, the reaction from Apollo’s party it seem all the other Gods want to see Familia war game. There is other powerful Familia the Loki Familia. Ains naturally will help Bell and Loki would like prefer her members stay neutral but many of her Familia like Bell they like help indirectly. Like Riveria, Tiona, TIone and even Bete will some way save Bell from getting gang up while he trains and get ready for war games. I am looking forward to see how Hestia Familia get grows and gets to be stronger.

    dxanato
  6. You see, I’m not entirely convinced that politics between the gods is as major a stumbling block as they’re making it out to be. Thinking about it, weirdly enough, their motives probably aren’t too different from ours.

    Up to a point, I think. Yes, as the fountain scene shows, many are itching for a Familia fight, but I do think politics plays the most important role.

    Loki, for example, wouldn’t be one to let Apollo do as he pleases, but with such a big Familia, an open conflict with another major player is not desirable. Apollo was willing to battle in the city’s streets without qualms just to get at one person; if Loki and Apollo fought for real, half the place could be destroyed. It is not worth it, especially since Loki doesn’t like Hestia that much.

    The guild master explained it: Apollo can afford to pay for whatever punishment he may get for breaking the rules. An exaggeration? Not at all. We’ve seen it in real life just a few days ago: after it was announced that Facebook will be hit with a $5 billion fine, the company’s stocks rose so much that Zuckerberg will be richer after the fine. I don’t find it difficult to believe that the best the authorities can do is a slap on the wrist for Apollo. Only the combined effort of the other families could teach him a lesson but, as the Soma Familia shows, there are those who’d prefer to ally with Apollo.

    Mistic
    1. Adding on to this, the Guild is not the American Federal Government with it’s own army, but rather more akin to the European Union – without an army, dependant on the co-operation of member “gods” (rather than states) and in general, is dependant on the most powerful guilds to maintain some level of law and order. In this case, Royman is right – the most the Guild can do in this case is to levy a fine on the Apollo Familia – and any other sanctions against Apollo above that level requires the agreement and support of the Denatus. A bored Denatus itching for a war game, where Apollo has many “friends” within. Now, if Hestia’s Familia had more power, and Hestia had a wide network of allies in the Denatus, that’s a diferent matter. But that’s not the position Hestia is in.

      They do have the powers to maintain dues from their “member” gods, issue fines, and with the agreement of the gods, banish members from Orario or back to Tenkai; and blacklist a Familia or individual adventurer from Guild Services. They also work with powerful Familias to defend Orario from external and internal threats – which generally work because the powerful Familias are invested in defending the status quo.

      Why does the Guild not have an army? Because if it’s patron god, Ouranos has an army in addition to the economic power of the Guild, the balance of power between the gods in Orario would be greatly disrupted. This doesn’t mean that the guild doesn’t have other tools in this situation, but any more on this matter heads into spoiler territory.

      Andmeuths
      1. I like that Federal Government vs. European Union comparison. Very apt. We’re so used to authorities working in a certain way that deviations from that norm feel egregious to us, even if they make perfect sense in the context.

        It happens with real-life situations too. You can always bet that most people will find it hard to understand how feudal systems worked.

        Also, as you said, Hestia’s Familia is laughably underpowered. She lacks the manpower, the wealth and the networking that Apollo has. In fact, given her character, there’s probably some gods who won’t feel sorry for her at all, even if they dislike Apollo’s methods.

        Mistic
    1. The gods don’t allow the Guild a military force. Given that each Familia is the private army of their patron god…. you can start to see what the outcome is. Orario’s stability rests upon a tenuous balance of power, and the Hestia Familia is too small for anyone significant in the balance of power to intervene.

      Andmeuths
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