Dungeon Meshi

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Dungeon Food

Japanese: ダンジョン飯

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 14

Chapters: 102

Status: Finished

Published: Feb 15, 2014 to Sep 15, 2023

Genres: Comedy, Fantasy, Gourmet

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Harta

Authors: Kui, Ryouko (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.70¹ (scored by 26,619 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #57²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #193

Members: 80,186

Favorites: 4,969

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Wikipedia

8.70

Ranked #57Popularity #193Members 80,186

MangaHartaKui, Ryouko (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /14

Chapters: /102

Available on Manga Store
Delicious in Dungeon
Volume 1
$6.99

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Synopsis

After the Golden Kingdom is sunk underground by an insane magician, its king emerges, promising all of his treasure to any who defeat the magician, before crumbling to dust. Guilds are spurred on by this promise, traversing the labyrinthine dungeon in search of the magician. Laios, the leader of one such guild, encounters a dragon that wipes out his party and devours his sister Falin. Despite having lost the entirety of their supplies and belongings, Laios along with Marcille, an elven healer, and Chilchuck, a halfling thief, immediately reenter the dungeon, determined to save Falin.

Time being of the essence, Laios suggests the taboo of eating the monsters of the dungeon as a means of gathering supplies. Upon the preparation of their first meal in the dungeon, they are stopped by an onlooking dwarf named Senshi. An enthusiast of monster cooking, he helps them prepare their monster ingredients for safe consumption. After learning of Laios' circumstances, Senshi expresses his desire to cook a dragon and joins their guild, thus beginning their food-filled foray into the dungeon together.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Dungeon Meshi ranked first in the 2016 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! for the Male Readers division.

The series was published in English as Delicious in Dungeon by Yen Press from May 23, 2017 to July 23, 2024. It has also been published in Italian by J-Pop since May 2017 and in Spanish by Milky Way Ediciones since February 2017.

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Characters

Donato, Marcille

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Senshi

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Izutsumi

Main

Tims, Chilchuck

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Touden, Falin

Supporting

Mithrun

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Kabru

Supporting

Thistle

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Inutade

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Reviews

Sep 20, 2023

moozooh

Recommended

Well-written

Dungeon Meshi has been a wonderful, overwhelmingly well-orchestrated rollercoaster of emotions; one I just couldn't get tired of.

It started as a relatively simple (at least that was the impression) sword-and-sorcery parody meant to deconstruct the concept of eating monsters. It really is disgusting if you think about it for a moment, isn't it? Would you love to eat a rabid dog chasing you, or a snake about to bite you? That's the kind of mental struggle the characters had to go through at the beginning.

And it would be perfectly alright if it had stayed just that: a comedy around eating disgusting things. But the story ... eventually evolved into a compelling adventure where the procurement of food is not a comedic gimmick, but a unifying theme around which characters are exposed and relationships develop. And the best part? By the way you make it to the halfway point, you begin to realize everything has been planned and foreshadowed from the very beginning.

It bears repeating that Ryoko Kui is an incredible talent. She is very well-versed in both human and animal psychology, and the command she has over her characters is undeniable. Their interpersonal dynamics are some of the best I've ever seen in any story. They feel familiar but don't conform to any stereotypes; they are completely distinct from each other but have instant onscreen chemistry. And their behavior is one hundred percent convincing, true to established character traits and informed by their past experiences.

These experiences are the key to everything, and I can't get enough of the grace and finesse with which every character's development is presented. Every event the party goes through has long-term consequences. Every little thing remains in their memory as the author is meticulously tracking every aspect of the dungeon's closed ecosystem. A bar of "very good" soap is lost in volume 1, which is noticed in volume 3, and then it is found in volume 7, leading to a bath scene, leading in turn to another bonding experience for the party. The author will never fall so low as to beat you over the head with verbal descriptions of the characters' growth: she just shows you the gradual progress as it happens, both cause and effect, and trusts your intelligence to connect the dots. It's depressing how rarely I see authors in traditionally pop-entertainment genres show so much respect for the audience.

The exact same reverence is given to the setting. Although it can be easy to dismiss it as another banality inspired by Tolkien and Dungeons and Dragons, that would be missing the forest for the trees: the depth of fantasy and mythology lore explored and the precision of weaving it into the setting is well on par with the best works in the genre (and I'm not talking just about manga!) and opens new perspectives even for die-hard fantasy fans. The dungeon inhabitants' physical attributes are articulated in a unique style and follow the internal logic of the story. Kui has a *lot* of shorter stories and random designs showcasing her love for mythical creatures.

This goes lengths to show passionate research put into it and makes for a lot of interesting and often gut-busting interactions among the cast. And the fact that no experience is ever truly lost with the group leads to a lot of sitcom-like comedy that naturally emerges when well-written, quirky characters are put together in any sort of unusual scenario. The humor emerges naturally from their personalities and the audience's memory of their past experience. Organic setups pay off all by themselves, just like that. Very few stories ever end up in such a desirable state!

The visual comedy is further punctuated by beautiful art. Ryoko Kui isn't just a great writer and fantasy buff—she's also an amazing artist and character designer. You can always infer a character's emotions by looking at their face, allowing for both much tighter comedic timing and more diligent adherence to the 'show, don't tell' principle. The designs themselves are fantastic; they're never cutesy in the typical moe way, they are highly physically-accurate, and they grow on you so much you wouldn't want to change them for anything. Even orcs look appealing in their own way. If you can gain access to volume releases and supplementary materials, there are pages upon pages of top-tier designs, such as imagining the same characters as different sex or fantasy race. And yeah, there's not even a hint of deliberate fan service. The author evidently respects her craft far too much to pander and compromise the narrative's tone and message just for titillation; instead she opts to engage the audience by the means any good story should. And engage it does.

Throughout it all, Dungeon Meshi never abandons its food focus: all the monster dishes are unique, original, look hella tasty, and always feel appropriate for the circumstances. Again, the range is incredible: it's used as a comedic relief after a tense situation, to make a point by one character to another, to assert a victory over a tough enemy, to soothe a troubled heart... What seemed like a mere fun gimmick at first has proven to be a potent narrative tool that subtly enriched the story without forcing it into a repeating formula.

If all of that sounds like I'm just endlessly heaping praise upon this manga, well, it's because that's exactly what I'm doing. It's *that* good. It starts out unassuming and then just keeps punching far above its weight while making it look effortless and not messing up in the process. It sucks you in before you even realize how good it really is in everything it does. It's a rare miracle of a fun and endearing adventure story about a tightly-knit, lovable group of characters on a quest to save their friend and explore the intricacies of self-sustenance in a dungeon, with incredible art and a satisfying ending. And I wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone.

(Trigger, pls, make the adaptation deserving of the source material!)

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Sep 16, 2023

BallsToTheWall

Recommended

This series is more of a casual read, like a popcorn flick, reading a few chapters on and off since it is so episodic at the start. If it was just this format alone, it would be 7/10.

Then the final 30 chapters comes along and we start to see the bits and pieces of the story coming together and characters intentions revealed as the story pushes ahead. Nice change of pace, one more star.

The series has a full arc with a complete ending, and that is more than what I can say for many mangas, which pushed me to rate it 1 star higher.

Final rating ...

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Sep 16, 2023

skynet5c

Mixed Feelings

First, let's talk about the one good thing about this manga, and really there is only one good thing: attention to detail. The author has clearly put a lot of effort into making the world-setting coherent, and making the characters and politics feel realistic. I agree with the other reviewers that the characters in this manga feel realistic.

Now, let's talk about the bad. Initially, the story was the MC and his team fighting monsters, sometimes using clever and non-conventional tactics based on the rules of the setting. That was fun and exciting and it made sense in the context of the setting. But as ...

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Poll: Dungeon Meshi Chapter 1 Discussion Stark700 - Mar 30, 2015	18 replies	by Emmi_Yona »» Jul 17, 3:17 PM
Poll: Dungeon Meshi Chapter 97 Discussion Nidhoeggr - Sep 16, 2023	35 replies	by Prupel1 »» Jul 16, 12:47 PM
Poll: Dungeon Meshi Chapter 49 Discussion Stark700 - Nov 15, 2018	8 replies	by MangamanRiffs »» Jul 7, 7:07 AM
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Dungeon Meshi
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