Despite being one more isekai in the huge abundance of similar titles that are found in the anime world these days, “Delicious in Dungeon” has received some of the best reviews we have seen for a while, as it is considered one of the best titles of the year. Let us see how the original manga by Ryoko Kui fares as an anime.
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In a fantasy world of dungeon exploration, adventuring parties set out on expeditions to raid dungeons, with many hoping to find the mysterious Golden Kingdom, which is said to be the treasure of an island dungeon. The story begins as a group of adventurers unsuccessfully attempt to slay a red dragon and are forced to escape as it consumes the leader’s sister, Falin Touden, a “tallman” (human) spellcaster. Wanting to rescue Falin, who used magic to teleport them to safety, the remaining members of the party—Laios Touden, a tallman swordsman; Chilchuck Tims, a halfling locksmith; and Marcille Donato, an elven spellcaster—brainstorm how to get back to the dungeon level with the dragon in time to save Falin from digestion.
With the resurrection aspect presented as one quite normal in the particular world, the differences “Delicious in Dungeon” offers come to the fore. In that fashion, and with most of their supplies left behind in the dungeon, the mission of the three seems impossible until Laios, who secretly wants to eat dungeon monsters, suggests they sustain themselves by finding food inside, to which Chilchuck and Marcille reluctantly agree. And in the case of Marcille, when we say reluctantly, we mean trying not to be disgusted and die from hunger. To their good luck though, inside they encounter Senshi, a dwarf with many years of experience surviving in the dungeon by cooking monsters and harvesting food. With his help, Laios’s plan becomes a reality and the group of four start moving further into this dangerous and mysterious world.
As I mentioned above, the first element that makes the anime stand out is the concept of food and how it is embedded in the narrative. Actually, this aspect is so intense that every episode spends almost half its duration with Senshi meticulously preparing a meal from the monsters the group have killed and whatever else they can find in the dungeon, and the reactions of the consumers.
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This aspect even leads to two more central elements in the narrative. The first one deals with logistics, as Yoshihiro Miyajima presents the life of the protagonists also in regard with finding food and paying for their bills, thus adding a very appealing element of realism to the series. The second is food perception, with the focus on what makes a food ‘disgusting’ and how we perceive what we eat (in terms of appearance, taste, and where it came from) being a rather unique as much as intelligent element here. Lastly, the fact that the protagonists occasionally do get harmed in various ways from what they eat adds a cautionary element that could also be perceived as educational, as the whole approach to the culinary concept actually.
The second element that makes “Delicious in Dungeon” stand out is the intense analysis of the characters, which seem to mirror various archetypes of people who end up being pariahs in real society. Laios is a person with really good intentions, but the fact that he is so good-hearted and at the same time, a lousy judge of character, has him constantly in the company of people who exploit him. Chilchuck, who, although middle aged, looks like a kid due to his race, has to constantly face discrimination due to the fact, with Senshi treating him like a kid rather frequently, to his growing annoyance. At the same time, the fact that he is older than at least two of his companions, and a voice of reason in a rather illogical setting, frequently makes him question their sanity and their overall decisions, in an aspect that occasionally has him standing alone, even though the others do not realize the fact. Furthermore, this element, which extends to other characters found throughout the series, could be perceived as a comment on how people conceive others and conjunctively, on racism and segregation.
Senshi also emerges as a rather interesting persona. Starting with the fact that he seems unfazed by anything in his constant goal to cook everything, we find him losing his feet in the most surprising ways. He is afraid of water and magic, but more impactfully, the way he almost completely loses it when a character that appears later does not act ‘properly’ regarding the meals he has cooked, adds an element that is quite amusing throughout the series. Lastly, and probably most interestingly of all is the persona of Marcille, with the constant combination of feeling the pressure to prove herself and succeeding at least as much as failing, creating an amalgam that is as dramatic as it is amusing.
Also of note is how the creators of the series have implemented the fantasy/dungeon world in order to make a number of comments regarding society and human nature, with the fact that we see characters from all the spectrum of humanity enriching the context even more. This aspect is intensified by the fact that the story also focuses on alternative groups on occasion, adding to the diversity of characters found throughout here.
In its core, though,”Delicious in Dungeon” is a cooking/comedy/action/fantasy title and the fact that Miyajima manages to combine all three in excellent fashion is probably the best trait in the whole series.
At the same time, there are some issues here. For starters, the fact that essentially every episode has a part about cooking, which can be rather lengthy on occasion, does become repetitive and somewhat tiring after a fashion, particularly if you binge watch the series. Furthermore, and although the context is rich, the artform and the overall progress of the story have an essence that could be described as PG-13, since, apart from violence, sex, and deaths (with the concept of resurrection) the story also lacks tension significantly.
This approach extends particularly to Naoki Takeda‘s character design, with all characters, frequently including the monsters, boosting a cuteness (kawaiiness if you prefer) that points towards titles addressed to younger ages. The rather bright colors and the lack of sharpness in all the drawing essentially, also moves in the same direction. Granted, the last episodes of the first part do get a dark essence that also extends to a couple of more episodes, but the sense remains.
The animation by Studio Trigger is definitely top notch, with the rather diverse style of movement of characters, monsters and occasionally even backgrounds being impressively implemented, in the best technical aspect of the title.
“Delicious in Dungeon” is definitely an excellent title, both in terms of context and artform. At the same time, though, for people who search more mature content in all levels, as in the case of this reviewer, the series has very little to offer.
