Dungeon no Naka no Hito

For the last three years, Clay has undergone rigorous training in order to find her father, who was last seen exploring a dungeon. While dungeon exploring is difficult for any regular adventurer, Clay knows her father, a thief who doesn't purely rely on raw power or magic, managed to progress farther than anyone else. Clay sets off after him, following in his footsteps until she encounters a furnished room behind a dungeon wall.

Clay is shocked to find the room is filled with monsters that can talk and a girl who claims to be the dungeons administrator. However, the room is meant to be kept hidden from explorers. Now that she knows the secret behind the dungeon, Clay is hired to be part of their staff. While she never expected to find a job in her adventure, doing so may just help Clay unravel the mystery behind her father's disappearance.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Belle Main

Suzushiro, Sayumi Japanese

Clay Main

Senbongi, Sayaka Japanese

Kraitze Supporting

Shimada, Bin Japanese

Fuuka Supporting

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Binky Supporting

Arai, Satomi Japanese

Sendai Supporting

Tobita, Nobuo Japanese

Tree Spirit Monster Supporting

Yamada, Misuzu Japanese

Parapparrow Supporting

Tone, Kentarou Japanese

Adventurers' Guild Master Supporting

Terasoma, Masaki Japanese

Railmond Supporting

Inada, Tetsu Japanese

Kamei, Hiroshi Producer

Yamai, Sayaka Director

Tateishi, Yayoi Sound Director

Nitta, Norio Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Oct 2, 2024

PixelB

Recommended

Dungeon no Naka no Hito is a surprisingly well-made anime about the logistical management of an artificially made dungeon.

It's a slice-of-life sort of fantasy regarding the management of a dungeon. Does that interest you? You're in luck. It's a robust work that's quite varied and doesn't get boring.

After all, there's a lot to cover. How does an artificial dungeon refill its chest, get rid of garbage, and design levels? Why is there a lot of magical power flowing through there, and how is there a seemingly infinite supply of monsters?

Overall, there are a lot of things to talk about as we see Clay and ... Belle interact with each other. I'll also be damned if there's anime talking about the management of much more mundane things such as local shops and restaurants, then you can surely pull off a dungeon management type of anime as well.

And, of course, characters certainly play a large role in anime. Clay and Belle are employer and employee, but as the two interact with each other, a blooming friendship also occurs. Clay's a typical adventurer, trying to discover the mystery of her father's whereabouts. Her goal seems to be to get strong enough to reach her father's level. On the other hand, Belle is a more relaxed dungeon master, but as a result of that, is lonely and reclusive as a result.

Both Clay and Belle seem to have reached near the pinnacle of human ability, Clay being a world-class thief/rogue while Belle a world-class mage. Rather, it's their other departments they seem to be completely clueless about. Neither character has much social interaction due to their lifestyle, and despite their human nature to socialize, they never had the opportunity to or were too scared or anxious to deal with other people. Thus, the slice of life of managing a dungeon gives a good backdrop for character exploration, development, and understanding of characters better. Of course, the dungeon development in its own right is interesting, but the characters complete the story.

The way the story deals with more mature themes is also quite consistent. While Belle and Clay are both perhaps good-natured, they also don't shy away from death. After all, it is a fantasy anime about dungeon clearing. A dungeon by nature is a death-churning machine, and thus people will die. People will also reveal their ugly sides when faced with desperate situations. Punishment by death is sometimes necessary in a rule where the iron fist is the strongest, and both Clay and Belle are well aware of this. Belle and Clay are not completely clueless and innocent to the world around them. They know the rules of the world and live by them too, and they don't think so pure-heartedly that they think discourse is the only way to solve a problem. Rather, they've more than fulfilled their physiological and safety needs through personal experience and strength, and the show more focuses on their social and self-actualization needs instead.

The show has a solid foundation of decent characters, and while I would like more side characters, it's good enough. The episodes flow seamlessly despite there not being a huge overarching plot, the anime still consistently produces good-quality episodes and I'm never bored of Clay learning more about the dungeon. I also quite immensely appreciate that no CGI was used for monsters. The animation quality is simple but effective.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Sep 28, 2024

giffey6

Mixed Feelings

This was a fun little show here. It's definitely the kind of show that you just kinda throw on and relax too, but doesn't really offer anything much beyond that. The concept is there for sure, but it doesn't really feel like any of the plot threads end up getting a fulfilling conclusion. It's recommended for fans of this kind of thing, due to its subdued yet leisurely tone and pacing. The animation was mostly solid, however there wasn't a ton about it impressive. The score was nice, and I did enjoy the majority of the designs of the various monsters, as well as the ... humans.

With the slice of life elements in the show it does make it feel a bit like nothing really happens. If you don't mind that sort of thing it really isn't bad, but it doesn't really help move the show along in a satisfying way. The best aspect of the show is between protagonist and the dungeon manager. The relationship works well because she is much more powerful than she looks, and our protagonist mostly the opposite. It makes for a fun dynamic watching the two of them fight others on occassion.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Oct 5, 2024

Kantyash

Not Recommended

I'll start off by saying that I enjoyed the episode-to-episode watching experience. The characters are likable enough and the worldbuilding was sort of interesting. So what's the issue? Well, the issue is that there is literally 0 plot.

There are *crumbs* of a plot peppered throughout the show but it never goes anywhere. It is a show completely comprised of filler. At the pace it was going I was certain that it was going to have 24 or even 48 episodes because it was unimaginable to me that they could have any sort of satisfying conclusion after 12 eps... And, well, there wasn't one. The show ... goes literally nowhere. Nothing happens. By episode 12 we are basically in the same spot we were in episode 2 or 3.

Don't get me wrong, there are still self-contained stories that are kinda interesting but they don't really impact the bigger picture at all. Clay starts off wanting to conquer the dungeon and find her father but each of those goals has 1 episode dedicated to it and, you guessed it, it goes nowhere. They keep setting things up and there is never any payoff, instead, it's all immediately swept under the cupboard.

I wish I could say I was looking forward to season 2 but there wasn't even a hook in the finale to give us something to speculate about, it just, kinda, ended... There is nothing that I'd be excited to see them explore in s2 because they have already shown that it doesn't matter and it will just be another crumb contained in a single episode and I don't see this series getting 10 seasons so it has enough times for these crumbs to add up to a satisfying conclusion.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Dungeon no Naka no Hito Episode 10 Discussion Stark700 - Sep 13, 2024	23 replies	by Cersil »» Sep 29, 7:31 AM
	Possibility of season 2 casual42 - Jun 6	2 replies	by Sekiro94 »» Jun 6, 11:38 AM
	Poll: Dungeon no Naka no Hito Episode 12 Discussion Stark700 - Sep 27, 2024	37 replies	by Magicmist »» Feb 19, 9:41 AM
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