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

Shida, Shunsuke 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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Aug 30, 2024

Lainsbearsuit

Mixed Feelings

Dungeon Meshi or Delicious in Dungeon is a Netflix anime that follows a fairly traditional dungeon group through a fairly traditional dungeon setting on a fairly traditional quest, but the unique flavors and subtle hints of other genres, and maybe a side order of memes and fan-service, are what will make you want to savor every bite of this anime. (This marks the end of the food puns I swear)

Dungeon Meshi is made by Studio Trigger, and some viewers will right away notice the very expressive and stylish animation, lending itself to the abundant comedic moments that really define the show. While there are a ... good mix of battles, in a genre that's already overly saturated with flashy sword and magic fights this show uses character comedy as the primary source of entertainment. While some anime may drop the pretense of the group dynamics during "serious" moments, this show largely sidesteps that and instead leans in to the different personalities and how they interact, sometimes to good results and sometimes to hilariously bad ones. This is a dungeon party show, and almost everything they do is done together as a team.

As far as the characters themselves, Dungeon Meshi tends to emphasize quality over quantity. There is a large revolving cast, and they all have unique personalities and motivations that find them at odds or in cooperation with each other depending on the situation. For the most part however, the series sticks to the core group and emphasizes their differences while exploring their development. This show does tend to suffer a bit from pacing, and too often a character will toe the line between appearing mysterious and guarded to just being bland and uninteresting.

This series is sometimes aided and sometimes diminished by its attempt to be so many different things at once. While the main course tends to be comedy, action, and cooking, there is also a chorus of intersecting plots, motivations, characters, factions, and it all ends up feeling like too much for the show to handle, while also somehow being boring because of the pacing. It's as if one aspect of the show is not nearly enough on its own, so there needs to be more and more wrinkles to the plot, the setting, the backstories, the alignments, etc. The end result is that while all of the attempts succeed, it just feels confused about what the show really is. The actual cooking portion for example is really only a small aspect of the show, once you consider the overall plot and the ensemble of characters that have nothing to do with cooking whatsoever.

Many will enjoy this show but whether it will stand the test of time is definitely in question. There's a lot going on here, and it's all good, but none of it really stands out on its own enough to raise this high above its peers. Hopefully a second season can provide some focus and more to engage with but even if it doesn't solve the issues of the first season it will be worth watching, preferably while having a delicious meal.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Aug 19, 2024

rossjg

Not Recommended

Funny

Everyone has different tastes in anime and some anime that gel with others will not gel with you. Dungeon Meshi is one of the last shows I have watched from last season as I have never watched a gourmet anime before as I know they will not be for me. However, dungeons, dark fantasy, blood, gore and seriousness is for me, so I thought I would give it a shot with the hopes it will turn into this later in the series.

Does Dungeon Meshi change its tone mid way through?
Sort of yes!
Does it do it well?
Not for me.
I think it was ... the breaks in serious tone each episode back to cooking that ruined the immersion.

Characters, Music or World Building can make or break a show. If you hit all three you get a 10/10. Dungeon Meshi hit none of those for me.

The characters were incredibly bland. Laios, Senshi and Chilchuck just didn't have what is required. They don't have the depth of Rudeous (Mushoku Tensei), the complexity of Guts (Berserk), the Epicness of Shadow (Eminence of Shadow), the psychotic Esdeath (Akame Ga Kill) etc. Don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with Dungeon Meshi's characters. They are just missing the sparks of the others I listed above. However, I did enjoy Marcille though. Her comedic relief was on point as I rarely laugh during anime and she hit the mark.

The music was no good either. Lets be honest there was no bangers played that make you leap out of your seat in excitement that are in anime like Death Note, Code Geass, Berserk, Parasyte etc. I could play you a song from those anime and most anime fans would identify it immediately. If I played you a song from Dungeon Meshi outside of the OST I'm sure people would not recognise it.

If you are reading this review and haven't watched Dungeon Meshi yet I will advise you to definitely give it a shot. Its 8.6 rating says you should.

To those reading this review that have watched the show and loved it, I take you back to my opening sentence that everyone has different tastes and as much as I wanted to love this anime, very sadly it just didn't resonate with me.

However, I will give season 2 a shot when it comes out.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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