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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Learn how to pick up girls … ‘in a Dungeon’?

Dan Webster

If you've never heard of the intriguingly titled Japanese franchise known as "Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?" you're not alone. And you're probably not Japanese.

First a "light novel" (a kind of young-adult novel) series, then both a manga series and an anime television series (of three seasons), "Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?" is now a movie. Directed by Katsushi Sakurabi, it was written by Fujino Omori.

Subtitled "Arrow of the Orion," the movie is set in the fantasy world of Orario, where gods forego their divine powers and adventurers come to fight creatures in a place dubbed The Dungeon. In "Arrow of the Orion," the goddess Artemis must team with the would-be hero Bell Cranell to battle a menace lurking in the remains of a distant, ancient city.

The film, which premiered in Japan on July 13, will screen in a subtitled version at 7:30 tonight at two area Regal Cinemas theaters: Northtown Mall and Coeur d'Alene's Riverstone Stadium. In addition to a franchise retrospective, the event will include "never-before-seen interviews" with the production staff and other special features. 

As critic Nick Valdez wrote for comicbook.com, the film may be a little hard to access for those not acquainted with the series, but it should please longtime fans. It is, he wrote, "an action-packed reunion with all of your favorites. It gives you that peculiar, joyous feeling of seeing all of your friends in school after the summer break."