Geek Kingdom: Delicious in Dungeon

by Liam Lavoie

My name is Liam Lavoie, and I’m here to bring you another issue of…

GEEK KINGDOM!

I’ve covered animated series a few different times in this article such as Neon Genesis Evangelion and Hazbin Hotel, praising them for great storytelling and animation quality. Yet both of these series, despite having their lighthearted elements, dealt with a lot of difficult and dark topics that not everyone can handle. And while it's important to have these discussions on sensitive matters, it's equally important to find things that help us find relief and joy during the turbulent times we live in today. So it’s no wonder that Delicious In Dungeon, abbreviated as its Japanese title; Dungeon Meshi, has gotten so popular thanks to its lovable characters and absolutely mouth watering cooking scenes.

DRAGONS, DWARVES, AND DUNGEONS, OH MY!

When asked about the dangers that adventurers in fantasy stories might face while delving in dungeons, you likely wouldn’t think that malnutrition would be one of the more dangerous challenges. Unfortunately the adventuring party of Laios and his sister Falin would learn of this danger the hard way while fighting against a ferocious dragon, leading to Falin being devoured and the party splitting up. Now Laios has to go back and rescue Falin before she perishes, but he won’t be alone. Alongside him is expert pick-lock Chilchuck, the bumbling mage Marcille, and eccentric dwarf Senshi, who provides the remaining adventurers with a way to avoid the disaster that got them into this mess: eating the monsters they slay. With newfound hope and some great meal ideas, the group heads deep into the dungeon in hopes to slay the dragon and save Falin from a terrible fate…

DELVING DEEP IN THE DUNGEON

The art style is bouncy and cute, even for some of the more horrific monsters they encounter later on. However, the animation isn’t as strong as other series that came out recently, reserving it for the odd fight scene now and then. For a fantasy story centred around dungeon crawling, most of the runtime is spent doing other things like character development and cracking jokes. In fact, I’d say this is a welcome subversion of the vast amount of fantasy anime that rely on fight scenes to capture the audience, and it really helps make the party seem like an actual group of friends rather than four stoic yet generic warriors.

A LITTLE SLICE OF HEAVEN

Since this is a show whose main drive is the food that the characters eat, a lot of the best showcases of the art style and animation quality are reserved for the cooking scenes. Senshi’s narration helps to lull the audience into a soft stupor as he rapidly goes through the process of cooking up some fantastical, yet familiar meals, from candy made from bugs disguised as treasure, to tarts that use the remains of man-eating plants as the core ingredient. These cooking scenes end up being one of the best parts of the series, often becoming the highlight moment of each episode alongside Marcille’s hilarious aversion to whatever monster meal Senshi and Laios cook up.

TO CONCLUDE…

Every episode of Delicious In Dungeon is simply 22 minutes of unbridled laughter and comfort as this bumbling group of odd yet adorable adventurers make their way through inhospitable regions thanks to the power of found family and amazing food.

The verdict…

9/10

Anyway, my name is Liam Lavoie, and I’ll see you next time on…

GEEK KINGDOM!

That’s what I’d like to say, at least. You see, I’m going to be graduating this month, and so this will be the last "Geek Kingdom" article ever written. So, I want to thank everyone who read my work and supported me along the way. Special thanks to Ms. Robinson for keeping me on track when I was procrastinating! Again, thank you all so much for reading, and I hope that I’ll be remembered by the other writers and students of Longfields…

Page Layout by Ms. Robinson

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