Delicious in Dungeon (DiD)

[Zarhan]

Just ran into this in Netflix's recommendations and watched the first episode.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delici..._Dungeon#Anime
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.p...ciousInDungeon

I don't know how long this premise will carry the series, but at least so far I found it really hilariously funny commentary on Dungeon ecosystems (that even OOtS commented on).

"I want to cook the red dragon".

Have others enjoyed the series? Apparently it's relatively new, published only this year (although manga is older).

[Pax1138]

I started watching it when there were already a few episodes out on Netflix, and I've since been watching it week to week. In that way, it's kind of like a webcomic too. :D

And don't worry, the monster cooking premise is only the beginning.

[Dragonus45]

This is an absolute favorite of mine, a dungeon crawling action food porn show feels almost directly targeted at me. I do know a few people who were off put by the detail they go into for butchering and dressing the various monsters as well though, which was also a huge selling point for me.

Spoiler

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And then the actual plot starts and it gets super deep into the sauce with great character arcs and philosophical musing and I realized I must have done something spectacular for someone somewhere to deserve it

[Ionathus]

I love Delicious in Dungeon and have been watching it weekly since maybe episode 2 came out? (Netflix has my number )

It's rare to find a show that has this much creativity and playfulness with its central concept without overplaying its hand. Delicious in Dungeon walks such a great line between "hey wouldn't it be crazy if XYZ..." and "this is a living, breathing world with real consequences and deeper mysteries going on."

I have boundless questions. I'm dying to know what happens after every new episode drops. It's the first time I've actually ordered the manga so I can read ahead without getting spoiled by some internet conversation, etc.

Spoiler: Latest episode

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Also the fact that they added the party's new companion to the opening theme has absolutely delighted me. I'm an absolute sucker for when they change the title sequence mid-way through a season. It's just such a charming wink at the audience. My favorite might be the Jonathan-focused episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but She-Ra and the Princesses of Power did this a lot in the last two seasons, to really fun effect.

[Angel Bob]

Manga reader here - so it will always be Dungeon Meshi to me, not the Netflix name. But I won't begrudge anyone for using it.

I absolutely adore the manga and wholly recommend it to anyone hooked on the Netflix show. There are a plethora of bonus comics available that go even deeper into the complexities of the characters and their setting, all of which are very flawed, human, and tangibly real. Ryoko Kui (the artist) is a brilliantly creative mind who's put a great deal of thought into her writing, and her manga has been a huge source of inspiration for my own storytelling and D&D campaigns.

The anime adaptation was clearly made with an incredible amount of love for Ryoko Kui's work, and is tremendously faithful, down to using the exact panels as storyboards. The gorgeous animation and talented voice work (I'm usually a subs viewer, but I have to admit the English dub is amazing!) really bring parts of the story to life that weren't possible before (see footnote). There are some little details I miss from the manga, but it's still an absolutely phenomenal show.

I wholeheartedly recommend both the show and the comic it's based on to everyone with even a passing interest in fantasy. They're just phenomenally well crafted, and in both cases, the secret ingredient really is love.

Spoiler: Spoilers for episode 17 and beyond

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I'm particularly thinking of Falin's chimera form and Izutsumi, both of whom have been rendered gloriously by some beautiful animation, motion, and sound. The show has truly brought them to life in ways that the manga simply couldn't.

[Ionathus]

(I'm usually a subs viewer, but I have to admit the English dub is amazing!)

I typically go for the sub, all things being equal, but SungWon Cho as Senshi has absolutely entranced me. I can’t imagine anyone else’s voice in the role.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fantastic VO cast all around on the dub. But he’s the star for me.

[Rynjin]

I could not get then hype for this show. It was repeatedly billed by everyone (including the advertising) as a comedy, and it just...wasn't funny.

Only to then be told by everybody "well it's not a comedy, don't judge it that way". But like...the entire first episode is just telling the same joke 6 times in a row. So. IDK.

[Ionathus]

I could not get then hype for this show. It was repeatedly billed by everyone (including the advertising) as a comedy, and it just...wasn't funny.

Only to then be told by everybody "well it's not a comedy, don't judge it that way". But like...the entire first episode is just telling the same joke 6 times in a row. So. IDK.

There's no such thing as a joke that's funny to literally everyone, so if it doesn't work for you then that's that, and no worries. I've never seen the point in trying to convince someone that they ought to find XYZ funny.

However, I will say that the show quickly goes beyond the "lol eating monsters is gross but also good???" humor that you mention pretty quickly. The character humor becomes quite charming and there are even some really clever "pacing" jokes, where the humor is mostly derived from clever timing or dialogue or delivery. Basically, the most funny moments for me in the series thus far haven't been "jokey jokes" with an actual punchline, so much as charming moments where someone was clearly having a lot of fun in the recording booth or animation studio or editor's desk.

I won't tell you to "keep going, it gets better," but if you do ever come back to it, one of the funniest moments for me was a short scene in episode 4. It's pretty well representative of the parts I find fun about the show so far.

[Soras Teva Gee]

I could not get then hype for this show. It was repeatedly billed by everyone (including the advertising) as a comedy, and it just...wasn't funny.

Only to then be told by everybody "well it's not a comedy, don't judge it that way". But like...the entire first episode is just telling the same joke 6 times in a row. So. IDK.

Give it to episode 3. If you can appreciate Laios' special brand of insanity and just how far the story will go with their ridiculous premise you're good.

Otherwise it does eventually get less food centric, but its fine to not want to wade through that for an entire anime season.

[TaiLiu]

I typically go for the sub, all things being equal, but SungWon Cho as Senshi has absolutely entranced me. I can’t imagine anyone else’s voice in the role.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fantastic VO cast all around on the dub. But he’s the star for me.

Woah. I had no idea that Cho was now doing big name stuff. I’m used to his short videos and his voice acting in indie stuff. Looking it up, he’s been doing big name stuff for the last few years. That’s amazing. I’m happy for him.

[Rynjin]

Give it to episode 3. If you can appreciate Laios' special brand of insanity and just how far the story will go with their ridiculous premise you're good.

Otherwise it does eventually get less food centric, but its fine to not want to wade through that for an entire anime season.

Yeah if I was gonna watch an anime season to see if it got better TBH I'd just read the manga instead. Which, I still might. The 4Koma style and pacing it seemed to have from the first episode might just be one of those things that works better as a manga.

Woah. I had no idea that Cho was now doing big name stuff. I’m used to his short videos and his voice acting in indie stuff. Looking it up, he’s been doing big name stuff for the last few years. That’s amazing. I’m happy for him.

Yeah, the first huge role I remember him getting was Fl4k in Borderlands 3. He's been getting a lot of work since then.

[TaiLiu]

Yeah, the first huge role I remember him getting was Fl4k in Borderlands 3. He's been getting a lot of work since then.

Nice! Good for him.

[Zarhan]

Now at episode 5, and looks like there is indeed something else going on than just the food.

Spoiler

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Episode 4 had the orcs that initially appeared to be quite your typical brutes just killing everyone, but then turned out to be quite amicable chaps once they recognized the party chef.

However, have to say I only tried English voices now, and I still prefer the original Japanese (with subs). I don't know, but the English voices felt really flat, like just reading lines out of paper. Maybe I just already got used to the much more enthusiastic intonation of the Japanese voice work.

[Greenflame133]

I do adore the show. Constant panty flashes from chubby dwarf and all. It's rare you see an anime, or any show, with such care for their characters. A qulity excellently shown in the clone episode

This is an absolute favorite of mine, a dungeon crawling action food porn show feels almost directly targeted at me. I do know a few people who were off put by the detail they go into for butchering and dressing the various monsters as well though, which was also a huge selling point for me.

Spoiler

Show

And then the actual plot starts and it gets super deep into the sauce with great character arcs and philosophical musing and I realized I must have done something spectacular for someone somewhere to deserve it

I feel like it doesn't go deep enough. Half of the meals feel like regular food with substitute ingredients. I would love to see more special considersions for the strange properties monsters have. Simullarly for all thier talk of eco systems falls flat ones we discovers cleaners, who feel like an exuse to handway partical condiresion.

[Ramza00]

yes I am watching and I have feels

it is Fullmetal Alchemist but also very diffferent 🐍♾️

[Sapphire Guard]

Spoiler: Ep 1-3

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The tone is fairly off, they're all very relaxed about the 'rescue my sister before she is digested' mission. Getting supplies one thing, but stopping to eat something new just for the sake of it wastes a hell of a lot of time.

Also, monster cooking would be like lesson 2 in adventuring, not some big revelation.

Get past that, and it's pretty fun.

[t209]

Spoiler: Ep 1-3

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The tone is fairly off, they're all very relaxed about the 'rescue my sister before she is digested' mission. Getting supplies one thing, but stopping to eat something new just for the sake of it wastes a hell of a lot of time.

Also, monster cooking would be like lesson 2 in adventuring, not some big revelation.

Get past that, and it's pretty fun.

To be honest, I think

Spoiler: Series spoiler

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Entire main draw is monster being cooked and eaten.
Also first time seeing Shabu-Shabu and Hot Pot style meal in DnD inspired fantasy.

[Ionathus]

Now at episode 5, and looks like there is indeed something else going on than just the food.

Spoiler

Show

Episode 4 had the orcs that initially appeared to be quite your typical brutes just killing everyone, but then turned out to be quite amicable chaps once they recognized the party chef.

However, have to say I only tried English voices now, and I still prefer the original Japanese (with subs). I don't know, but the English voices felt really flat, like just reading lines out of paper. Maybe I just already got used to the much more enthusiastic intonation of the Japanese voice work.

Spoiler: Ep4

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This was the part I really liked, mentioned upthread. Marcille and the orc team leader yelling at each other, and Senshi interrupting by shouting breadmaking instructions at them, had just such a beautiful frantic energy. That scene more than anything sold me on the show.

Spoiler: Ep 1-3

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The tone is fairly off, they're all very relaxed about the 'rescue my sister before she is digested' mission. Getting supplies one thing, but stopping to eat something new just for the sake of it wastes a hell of a lot of time.

Also, monster cooking would be like lesson 2 in adventuring, not some big revelation.

Get past that, and it's pretty fun.

Spoiler: Ep.3ish

Show

I agree the "taking our time rescuing Falin" thing is a weird vibe! They have a throwaway line about how "dragons take awhile to digest" (though they don't give us a super clear timeline), but even with that, it still feels like they don't have the urgency I expect. I think it's intentional, for two reasons:
1. The characters are very casual about death in general. Which is fun in a D&D-homage setting, because many adventuring parties are like that too! Death is an inconvenience or a logistical hurdle, not a permanent tragedy.
2. The show seems to be saying something about taking care of yourself and not blindly rushing forward in self-destructive passion. The show seems to imply they lose to the dragon in episode 1 because they were starving and not performing at their best. And the party routinely bumps into other groups who are not eating as well as them, living off rations and hardtack, but who nevertheless disdain the fresh "food" available all around them. Without spoiling anything...that focus on taking care of yourself becomes even more relevant later in the season.

And yeah, I agree that it seems a little odd how strong the taboo is against eating monsters. But just like the show's taboo about black magic, I have the sense that they're doing something on purpose there and are building up towards it. People in this world don't think of monsters as just another animal -- they seem to think they're entirely separate and probably powered by something evil or toxic.

[Sapphire Guard]

Spoiler: Ep 17

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Okay, that was impressive. I really liked the Laios/Shiro argument, because it was a good argument, which is surprisignly rare. A lot of the time, scenes like this are about proving one character right, but in this one, they both have a bunch of good, fair , points and a fair disagreement.

Not this episode, but the red dragon fight was very good. Any time I see a dragon fight, I want it to be tough, and I don't think many of them are as well done as this.

[Psyren]

It's definitely not just about cooking monsters as the bread-making episode shows. And Senshi using his cooking skills to functionally do alchemy (e.g. making secular holy water that works).

I do like that now we have a really strong lone-Dwarf fantasy anime to go with our strong lone-Elf anime (Frierin). I love seeing all the influence D&D has clearly had over there.

[Rising Phoenix]

I am also a massive fan of the show.

Can I just add as to how great the representation is particularly when it comes to neurodivergence. There are at least three characters that are clearly on the spectrum including Laios and I just find that so refreshing and comforting like a bowl of hot soup.

Edit- Just watched up to episode 25- the credits end with a 'To be continued' we're definitely getting a second season.