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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Jun 21, 2024

AeroGunz

Mixed Feelings

“Delicious in Dungeon” is what happens when a D&D party decides to play master chef.

This one is a bit difficult for me. I really had fun watching this show but I realize that it has a little bit of an identity crisis after the red dragon arc. It’s not bad per se, changing things around a bit is a good way to keep things interesting, but towards the end it actually butchers a lot of its tone for cheap jokes.

Now, before I start I would like to explain something. I will be talking about “plot” and “story”. Many people use those terms interchangeably. I’m not ... one of those people, so to make sure everyone is on the same page…
I use the definitions for “plot” and “story” as Lisa Cron describes them:
“What happens in the story is the PLOT, the surface events.”
“STORY is about how the things that happen in the plot affect the protagonist, and how he or she changes internally as a result.”.

With that said, this show has a lot of plot and even some story, but for a lot of episodes You mostly get served plot. It’s not to say You don’t get scraps of a story now and then but, at least in the beginning, it’s not much. I’m also not saying that plot heavy shows are bad, look at dragon ball, it’s 99% plot with practically no story and it’s still awesome. It does go deeper into the story after the red dragon arc but that’s also the moment the show starts to have its identity crisis.

The first moments of the first episodes are actually awesome. You are given a clear goal for the main cast, explained the problems in achieving it and even shown a potential solution. That alone is better than 80% of anime I’ve seen in the last decade. After that the show slows down a bit to give information about the world and show how the dungeon works. It’s a cool show and tell method. You get some political background as well as some background info on the monsters and then You can see the monsters in action. Unfortunately this slow down lasted for a bit. The show doesn’t pick up the pace until I think episode 8 and by that point we are coming closer to the promised red dragon fight.

Let’s talk about the fights themselves. I absolutely love the fact that none in the party is some kind of overpowered asshole. Everyone has a role that no one else can do. They can’t brute force their way through anything. When they do try that they get their access handed to them. I effing love that. Most conflicts are resolved by Laios giving some trivia about the monster and the caterie using that to overcome the challenge. Sometimes it’s played for a joke but even then it still pushed the plot forward.

Speaking of, let me introduce the coterie.
Laios - Human. He’s the leader of the group. Driven by two things: The need to rescue his sister Falin, and his raging boner to consume every monster in the dungeon. He’s the second most annoying character for me. He has knowledge about dungeon creatures, is more than willing to learn new things as shown by his eagerness to read the dungeon gourmet guide and learn magic. He is also the reason why the main plot starts. In the beginning it’s shown that his sister’s death is mostly his fault. He just stood in the middle of a fight with a dragon and was contemplating his own hunger. His sister had to step up and save his dumb ass, sacrificing her own life in the process. At least he seems to be aware of that wich is actually kind of refreshing when a character knows when he fucks up.
He's also socially awkward and annoying. As someone with asperger syndrome (yes, I know, now it’s called high functioning autism but I was diagnosed when it was called Asperger syndrome and it than name sounds better in my opinion so I’m sticking with it) I hate this guy because his inability to properly function in a group and interact with people reminds me of myself and everything I hate in being on the autistic spectrum. He’s basically the main-main character of the show. A lot of the plot revolves around his quest to save his sister and later around him as a potential chosen one. Despite having a brain and being adequate in using it he’s also the comic relief on more than one occasion. Even when the joke doesn’t hit at all and just ruins the mood of the scene. If the goal of the writer was to write a character whose specialty is ruining the mood with shitty jokes then I would say the mission was completed successfully. If not… let’s move on.

Marcille - Elf. One of two of my favourite characters. She’s a mage but it seems that apart from explosion magic (I’m having Megumin flashbacks) her spell repertoire is pretty limited (still more than Megumin). I think when it comes to story she’s the one that changes the most. She starts as someone who doesn’t want to eat monsters and sometimes acts like she needs validation but towards the end she learns to compromise on more than one thing. It’s a shame her change doesn’t have a smooth flow and more of a leaps and bounds type of change. She’s motivated by her need to save Falin and I would say that motivation suits her. At some point she becomes a mentor for Laios and I would really like to see more of them in this type of interaction because we only get a few short scenes.

Senshi - Dwarf. My favourite character of them all. Despite being a dwarf he doesn’t seem to have a knack for weapons and is more interested in cooking. His main weapon - the axe, is in terrible condition but his cooking tools are all top notch and well kept. He’s actually something like a father figure in the coterie. He makes sure others are properly fed and rested. It’s an awesome idea to have a character in a dungeon crawling show who actually cares about the more basic, physical aspects of adventuring. He even has a logical reason for being that way and not some “father instinct” bullshit. He has a tragic backstory, something that normally annoys the crap out of me, but in his case it makes sense. It fits with the internal logic of the dungeon's history and his own race. If I had to name something I think is a case of worse writing in his case, remember worse doesn’t mean bad, is the way one of his traumas get resolved. I think having a happy, if You can call it that, ending to it is a bad choice. Having him confront the horror of the situation, would accentuate the desperation he and his companion were in and making him learn to live with it would make a far better story than what we got. Not a dealbreaker for me but something to think about.

Chilchuck - Halfling, or half-foot as the show calls his race. I would say he’s the most useless story wise character. Almost everything with him is driven by plot. He’s a bit of an asshole but is aware of his role in the group and is probably the most professional of all characters (not only the main cast) in the show. He keeps his private life and work life separate, doesn’t like to discuss personal affairs and is the voice of reason on more than one occasion. That said he’s kind of an ass. He keeps secrets from others and yet has the nerve to scold Laios for doing the same. The show at some point tries to show that he changes and trusts in his coterie more but that lasts for about one episode before he starts keeping things from then again. He does have good intentions in this but why give him a mini-arc about his trust issues and then completely forget about it? Apart from that he’s just there. He’s not a catalyst for anything story related and the script remembers him only then the plot demands it.

Now… let’s talk about the identity crisis this show has after episode 11. Up until now the show was mostly light-hearted comedy with some monster food porn. It had some more serious moments but it was still a comedy adventure type of show driven mostly by plot. After defeating the red dragon the show changes quite a lot. It slowly but surely started being story driven. Laios story to be more exact. Don’t worry, the others have their moment, especially Senshi but the show starts to set up Laious as some kind of chosen one who will save everyone. I was actually impressed how this goal intertwined with his new goal of saving (again) his sister. A lot of shows pile on quests for the hero but most are disconnected. This time they are intertwined to the point that You can’t solve one without the other. I can appreciate that.

Something that didn’t exactly work for me is using Falion, again, as a catalyst for continuing the adventure. They just resurrected her ass using questionable methods, yes it was obvious that it should backfire on them but it backfired in the next episode. Jesus Christ, let the plot and story breathe a little will You? Why not give us some episodes where Falin is part of the group again, becomes friends with Senshi and when we have that “It’s finally over” feeling, let the shit hit the fan. You can even use someone else as a catalyst. Instead of Falin You could use Macille. She’s the one with forbidden magic and she’s the one who resurrected Falin. If she were to disappear from the party, the party, especially Falin would still have a good motivation to help her. The party composition wouldn't change much either. You switch one spell caster for another and even get more options to tell actual stories and not just plot. Unfortunately the coterie almost immediately after one problem is resolved is thrusted into the next without time to properly debrief. I call that wasted potential.

Towards the end we get a pretty clever episode when our heroes’s bodies are changed into another race. It had so much potential. It could be a perfect way to let them develop more respect towards other members of the coterie and even understanding of them. Unfortunately that part doesn’t last long. They get one skirmish and that’s that. It would have been more impactful if they stayed in their new bodies for longer. Learning to use them properly and even starting to get comfortable in them before returning them to normal and having their world view changed and maybe some hidden prejudice destroyed. What we got… was lazy. I’m not gonna lie. The writers took an awesome idea for a full arc and turned it into a cheap joke.

What I really hated was that the second part of the season set up a lot of things and gave only one payoff, for the least interesting one. They set up a fight with the Big Bad Guy, they set up a new important quest of saving a special creature, they set up Laios as some kind of the chosen one and they even set up a pretty ridiculous plan of saving Falion (ok, let’s be honest, that one will never work. It's so absurd it’s actually funny, but Laios really considers it). All that for the show to end with “To be continued”. Oh come one. Give me at least one solid payoff before telling me it’s not over yet. Seriously. So many new plot points and You get nothing out of them. Above all else they ruin a very good, emotional scene with a pointless, cheap joke that destroys both the scene and my respect for Laios. It was the final scene of the season. Why the hell would You want to destroy it?

At the end of the day it’s an enjoyable show that hooked me rather quickly. It has flaws in writing but compared to most other fantasy shows I’ve seen in the last few years it’s not that annoying. The main reason why I give it “Mixed Feelings” is all the set up with no payoffs. That is something that always annoys me and I can’t forgive it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jun 13, 2024

Nihiluskun

Not Recommended

Ooh Dungeon Meshi! Please come in, take a seat in our lounge, right next to the graveyard and the Orc feeding grounds. Please relax and have a bite of our notorious monster food that is as bland as our characters! And finally choke it down with one of our patented bug juices flavored with the souls of the damned, welcome to Dungeon Meshi!

I seriously went into this with a lot of hype seeing as it is one of my favorite genres, a fantasy setting with elves and dwarven. On top of it it even is a gourmet anime, another one of my favorite genres, so ... what could go wrong?! Just about everything as it turns out...

First off I want to say that the animations look ok, but are nothing spectacular. The bigger problem is the art style, I don't think the characters look very appealing, most characters are looking a bit dumb honestly, but that's just a personal preference, so nothing that makes or breaks an anime. And I don't know if it's the art style or just a lack of detail, but the food of this gourmet anime (which I have to remind everyone on) doesn't look that great. But let's forget this for now, first let's take a look at the characters.

We have our four main characters whose adventure we accompany in this story. But to be perfectly honest other than Marcille, I couldn't care less if one of them choked on a slime mochi the next moment or not. Those characters just didn't grab me and even Marcille - whom I cared a little about, probably because she is the only half way sane person in this group - I wouldn't shed a tear over.

Other characters I actively disliked, like the brother for example whom I disliked from the first minute. His creepy obsession with eating monsters and him caring more about the food than getting to his sister who is slowly being digested in the stomach of a dragon, just left a bad taste in my mouth right from the start. This being said, he could have redeemed himself, but did he though? No of course not, my disdain for the brother got arguably even worse, as he finally went from eating everything under the sun to save his sister to just eating his sister. And not in the Yosuga no Sora way.
Other characters I just didn't care about. Like the dwarf or the furry that joined them. But of course Laios doesn't stay the only unlikeable character, not when you have a useless thief like Chilchuck around, who is grumpy 24/7 and keeps on berating people despite him being useless for 90% of the time. The remaining 10% of the time he disarms some traps that could probably be disarmed by Marcille if she just learned a spell for it just as easily.

But let's not forget that this is a Gourmet anime so aside from the adventure and the unlikeable characters (Yes Chilchuck, you make the top of the list.) there is also the food. So as a lover of gourmet anime and good food in general I could still be salivating in front of the screen scribbling down some great ideas for tomorrow's dinner, but of course, I got disappointed here as well. Most of the food was either incredibly uninspired or just seemed flat out disgusting, which is a major problem for an anime that is listed and intended as a gourmet anime. And yeah I know "oh but you know, it looking / sounding disgusting was a plot point, you didn't get it at all!" But do you know what? I do not CARE! If a gourmet anime doesn't make me salivate all over my keyboard, it has failed, end of story. If you compare this one with others like Food Wars or Campfire Cooking in Another World from last year, this one just doesn't hold up at all. And that is also partly due to the animation or art style, it just doesn't look as good as the food from other Gourmet anime I have seen.

And not only does it not look as good it just isn't on the same level when you look at the way of preparation either. I mean sure we get some dishes that are prepared with a little bit more effort, but do you know what we also get? Boiled cabbage. Or bread with the most basic of ingredients. Or the "crab" aka mimic they found, which they boiled in salt water! I know, genius right?! SALT WATER! Who would have thought?!
But even the more elaborate dishes are not something you can cook for your next family dinner, or better said WANT to cook. Looking at you Bug Burger and Sorbet with AGAIN BUGS and the souls of the damned. But it's a fantasy world sure, so of course I wouldn't use Basilik meat in my Oyakodon but substitute it with chicken instead. Which is something that Campfire Cooking excelled at and understood to convey to the audience. With the mc telling us that it tasted just like chicken or pork or something, to build a connection with the viewer, so they could try to cook it for themselves but Dungeon Meshi fails to do that time and time again.

Overall I did not like Dungeon Meshi, the animation was fine, the art style I didn't care for and it diminished a core aspect of the anime which should be the food. The music was solid but that can only make up so much for the many downsides this anime has. Before starting this anime this was a safe bet for me since I absolutely love the genres, but in the end the story and the characters were just as bland as the food. 4/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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