Dungeon Meshi

Adventuring knight Laios Touden leads a small party through a seemingly endless dungeon, a subterranean maze full of dangerous monsters and precarious traps. Through the use of advanced magic, an explorer can sometimes be resurrected, allowing them to learn from past mistakes and give traversing the dungeon another go. However, when a powerful dragon eats Falin, Laios' spellcasting sister, she sends her brother and his companions back to the beginning to save them from permanent ends.

Though strapped for cash and equipment, Laios resolves to fight his way through the dungeon and rescue Falin before she can be digested by the dragon. Despite some of Laios' allies abandoning him, two remain by his side: elven mage Marcille Donato and halfling locksmith Chilchuck Tims. Due to their lack of funds, the party faces the daunting prospect of starving before being able to complete their quest. However, they find salvation in Senshi, a dwarven warrior with a penchant for cooking and safely eating defeated monsters.

With Senshi's culinary expertise, Laios and his companions struggle through the dungeon while learning about gourmet dining—and each other—along the way.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Donato, Marcille Main

Senbongi, Sayaka Japanese

Touden, Laios Main

Kumagai, Kentarou Japanese

Senshi Main

Naka, Hiroshi Japanese

Tims, Chilchuck Main

Tomari, Asuna Japanese

Izutsumi Supporting

Kambe, Mitsuho Japanese

Touden, Falin Supporting

Hayami, Saori Japanese

Mithrun Supporting

Uchiyama, Kouki Japanese

Kabru Supporting

Katou, Wataru Japanese

Thistle Supporting

Kobayashi, Yuu Japanese

Inutade Supporting

Furuya, Yoshino Japanese

Ootsuka, Masahiko Producer, Episode Director

Kikushima, Kazufumi Producer

Usa, Yoshiki Producer, Executive Producer

Wu, Tong Producer

Reviews

Jun 13, 2024

KANLen09

Recommended

Delicious in Dungeon - Food! Glorious Food! Found only in the dungeon that has never tasted this great, both visually and tantalising, with great stories to follow.

I always have faith when it comes to anime offerings from studio Trigger, one of the studios that always has an affluent, but ever-so-bombastic and consistent personality to their works. And for the first time in the studio's history since its founding, other than adapting its very first LN in the form of one of my favourite cult-classic works in the form of Fall 2014's LN author Kota Nozomi's Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de a.k.a When Supernatural Battles ... Became Commonplace, Trigger has once again undertaken that same achievement, only this time in manga form, which represents acclaimed mangaka Ryoko Kui's Dungeon Meshi a.k.a Delicious in Dungeon. This is hands down, one of the best anime of the modern generation, embracing the dungeon-crawling RPG aspect, and also being a fantasy work that doesn't shy away from its contemporaries wholeheartedly. Nothing is being spared in the nook and cranny of the ever-so-illusive depths of dungeons.

Dungeons are a staple of any fantasy work, and every and all adventurers will want to try to conquer its many levels in the usual raid of dungeon explorations, and in Dungeon Meshi's world, it is said to have a mysterious Golden Kingdom where it serves as the treasure of an island dungeon. And what started out like a typical normal scene of adventurers trying to slay huge monsters like dragons, with the likelihood of humans being consumed by these creatures should they unsuccessfully attempt to kill them to save their lives, this has to happen to one unlucky party group involving 4 people: a "tallman" human sibling duo, a half-foot/halfing and an half-elf, with the sister of the sibling duo unfortunately getting eaten by a red dragon, and the brother on a race against time before he can only recognize her in an after-digestion skeleton form. What also works against their favour is their survival, which hinges on their lack of resources (espeically food) and their only source lies within the same monsters that they're forced to consume regardless if they like it or not. The aspirations of the human, who has a fascination for monster food, forces his party to convene, that thanks to a dwarf who has made the same dungeon a home whilst, creates a story of not just all about dungeon food, but turning the huge place into another home which also carves stories of friendship and the hijinks of what to expect in a dungeon, like stories of madness and revenge, in a humorous way that doesn't take itself too seriously. This is the story of Dungeon Meshi, and the party that is Laios Touden, Marcille Donato, Chilchuck Tims and Senshi, and their quest to save Laios's younger sister, the talented Falin, while going about tasting all kinds of Delicious in Dungeon meals.

To talk about Dungeon Meshi, is to realise mangaka Ryoko Kui's magnificent and masterful writing, something that she has built before the realisation of the series that we get to experience in manga form, now with the anime. Being a fan of fantasy, something that was brought up in her family, Kui has always been fascinated with the genre, and is greatly involved in the medium thanks to video games like Dragon Quest, Ultima, and Fire Emblem, and the one game series that would become the centerstage inspiration for the series: Wizardry. The author herself has also been noted for her style of portrayal of reality and fantasy with her unique point of view, something that can be described as embodying "unnaturalness." Kui's affinity for dragons throughout Dungeon Meshi, can be attributed to her smaller works, one of which is in the form of 2011–2012's fantasy comedy manga Terrarium in Drawer, which is a collection of short stories detailing the lives of multiple unrelated characters, ranging from fantastical to conceptual and everyday uniqueness. Its examination of highly fictional situations with a realistic lens, gives it a sense of authenticity that is plastered all around Dungeon Meshi. That's how you know that fantasy is embossed in every degree of perfection, and Ryoko Kui does not rely on pretence to show the inner workings of such a pedigree of work that's unparalleled.

Truly, I've always thought of dungeons as a place of fear, trauma, and torture, and don't get me wrong, Dungeon Meshi has that, but it also knows how to play and poke fun in its adventure aesthetics, combining the comedy with the fantasy to give the entire show a feel as realistic as you can get. Laios and the party truly is one group of unique frenetics, all with their unique personalities that gives the dungeon hike a run for all of its offerings: the tallman swordsman having a talented spellcaster who was consumed by a big creature who dons on monster meals like it's the best thing in the whole world; the halfling locksmith who has an affinity for traps and expresses compassion with the least of his external expressions; the half-elf magician whom like Falin is also rather skilled but cautious in her approaches; and last but not least, the dwarf warrior whose dungeon shelter enables him to create great and balanced meals as a chef, not to mention his expertly vast knowledge that allows him to traverse through the dungeon like it's his second home. It's fun seeing Laios and the gang go through numerous situations, navigate through the dungeon's treacherous nature, and learn about the environment around them, Thanks to Ryoko Kui's impeccable writing, these half-hours of a 2-cour's worth of 24 episodes are truly some of the best time-wasters that anime as a medium can offer to just about anyone.

Speaking of episodes, Trigger's mainstay director Yoshihiro Miyajima may not be the most talented of the bunch, but having author Ryoko Kui alongside him being "very involved" in the anime adaptation, definitely shows the high calibre of how faithful she wants her work to be seen on the small screen. And it really shows, from the immaculate detailing of the anime bringing the manga to life to even its action, which, if you've seen even a slither of Trigger's more recent works, is a lot of sakuga done with the blood, sweat, and tears of the talented staff team behind the anime. And honestly, Trigger doesn't really need to go ham on its first manga adaptation, but the studio did it anyways, and I'm all the happier for the people involved in this, like how most passion projects are done. So far, the anime is only halfway through its adaptation of the manga, so it definitely needs another 2-cour, 24 episodes of consistency to deliver on the promise of a complete adaptation.

The music stands on its own quite well, too. Composed by famed musician Yasunori Mitsuda alongside Shunsuke Tsuchiya, Dungeon Meshi's OST is about as picturesque (on a sound platter) perfect as a dungeon-crawler RPG fest can be, considering that the former is best well known for video game OSTs given his time at Square (formerly Squaresoft, now Square Enix) composing for series like Chrono Trigger (and its sequel Chrono Cross), Xeno and Shadow Hearts, and even having a hand on the Inazuma Eleven franchise, creating some of the best music. The only negative comment I have for the show, is with its rather opaque OP/ED songs, which, while Bump of Chicken's "Sleep Walking Orchestra" is unironically THE best song of representation of the series, other songs like the EDs of Ryokuoushoku Shakai's "Party!" and Regal Lily's 2nd Cour ED are only visually striking, but the songs are just fine, not to mention sumika's 2nd Cour OP, which IMO was a disappointing departure from the fantasy elements it tried to portray, much less living up to the former's excellent showing both musically and visually.

All in all, Dungeon Meshi a.k.a Delicious in Dungeon, is a truly fantastical and unique experience to be had, and I kid you not that it's unsarcastically one of the standouts (so far) of anime when it comes to 2024 that can promise you of a great time, even by Netflix's longer-than-thou episode durations that still feels like you're watching every episode every bit less than its supposed runtime.

A daft show with its endearing touch of idiotic humour, who wouldn't want that? Only can you find this in Dungeon Meshi...ah, Delicious in Dungeon.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jun 17, 2024

MarkGoh

Mixed Feelings

The story & characters' relationship is interesting. It makes you wonder what will happen next. or will a person be a possible villain?
You can tell it has an interesting worldview, and multiple forces, deeper which leads to interesting & unexpected story development.

The production is great, I can't see any flaws, and the animation is very detailed (even the usual movement animation is great). The food is well-drawn!!!
Feeling: Heart-warming (bro-sister, party members), interesting, hungry, curious (plot).

But you should expect a slow start, for me, the great part (main story) starts from EP 8. EP 1-7 is the intro to the worldview, foreshadowing, and characters, and ... it feels more like a slice of life, slightly repetitive especially the reaction of the elf to the foods, I almost can't make it through, but I'm glad I made it to EP 8.

If you like food or fantasy you should give it a try. Plus, with a great story too!!!

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jun 16, 2024

therealab

Not Recommended

The show promised to be a Comedy, Fantasy, Gourmet.
In the first 11 episodes, it was an average Fantasy gourmet show at best.
Then they decided to turn it into a dark edgy thriller with no heads or tails.
They did not explain completely how or what happened in first season.
I judge a show by the Genres.
It could have been a happy go lucky gourmet comedy fantasy.
Or it could have been a high intensity suspense action thriller dungeon journey.
It is neither. A gross chimera has emerged by combining these two parts.
Screenplay - 4/10
The show is not clear on what it is trying to do.
It is a gourmet show ... with edgy background suspense conspiracy plot.
The absolute lack of coherence is what makes the show irritating.
Every two three episodes something relevant happens. Then snail pace plot progress and humor gourmet is back for few episodes.
Or sometimes 5 mins of exposition and eating in the rest of the episode.
Humor - 5/10
The show has average humor written and shown.
Gourmet - 6/10
Almost 60-70% of the episodes have great cooking and gourmet of monsters.
Animation - 6/10
The animation is good in most of the episodes. No complaints. The fights are rare and happen every 2 3 eps so not much strain on animation.
The food animation is good. The fight animation is average.
Character development - 5/10
The characters are mostly underdeveloped with no clarity on their behavior patterns, empathy or lack of it, motivations.
Some explanations or flashbacks are given when necessary. Otherwise the show is mostly in their present with rare expositions.
Last few episodes were exception where they gave back story for 2 to 3 major characters.

Overall - 5/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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'Dungeon Meshi' Gets Second Anime Season

The 24th and final episode of the Dungeon Meshi (Delicious in Dungeon) television anime announced a second season at the end of its broadcast on Thursday. The offici...read more

Jun 13, 8:09 AM by DatRandomDude | Discuss (22 comments)

'Dungeon Meshi' Second Cour Reveals Additional Cast, Theme Songs, Third Promo

The official website of the Dungeon Meshi (Delicious in Dungeon) television anime series revealed on Thursday additional cast, theme songs, a second key visual (pict...read more

Mar 28, 7:01 AM by DatRandomDude | Discuss (4 comments)

	Poll: Dungeon Meshi Episode 18 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - May 2	92 replies	by Leenbow »» Today, 1:31 AM
	Poll: Dungeon Meshi Episode 24 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - Jun 13	176 replies	by marta_valse »» Today, 1:30 AM
	Poll: Dungeon Meshi Episode 23 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Jun 6	100 replies	by marta_valse »» Yesterday, 10:08 AM
	Poll: Dungeon Meshi Episode 22 Discussion ( 1 2 ) OtterBoy1 - May 30	98 replies	by marta_valse »» Yesterday, 9:28 AM
	Poll: Dungeon Meshi Episode 21 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - May 23	93 replies	by marta_valse »» Yesterday, 9:22 AM