Dungeon Meshi: Biology, Realism, and Chimera Falin
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- Опубликовано: 21 авг 2024
- I slightly misspoke half-way through. Falin was crafted by the Mad Mage, but Thistle is such a little dork that he just kinda slap-dashed her together.
Shoutout to Tumblr user Savaralyn, whose blog was where I got the translated panels from.
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It's even crazier how the realism actually works in tandem with the themes as well. Falin isn't just starving because it's realistic, because the author could've come up with some reason why she wouldn't, like having the mage put some spell on her or saying she subsists purely off of magical energy or whatever.
She's made to starve because that fits with the theme of the show: food is incredibly important and starvation is horrible. It's an incredibly powerful motivator for the protags and a source of engagement for the readers/viewers
Hell yeah. Half the fun of the manga are the detailed explanations, lore and worldbuilding.
Agreed
Hell yeah
Another thing that I thought was neat, falin is pretty much confirmed that she couldn't survive outside of the dungeon, in one of the chapters she rushes out to protect thistle on the first floor of the dungeon and she can't move nearly as well as she could on the lower floors. Chances are her organs would fail due to incompatiblity if she left the dungeon due to being outside thistles influence
Yep, that as well. Not to get into spoilers for anyone that hasn't read the manga, but the ecology and biology of how monsters operate and survive comes into play more heavily as the series goes on.
Only having seen the show, one thing that stuck out to me was how Falin moved her upper body when winding up to strike with her tail. I still think that’s because she isn’t used (or design) to the form and thus can’t seperate her movement across all the limbs she has.
Or its just that in order to swing her body around she has to move her entire body
Dinner is served once again!!
Falin's chimera biology being busted as fuck was an awesome fantasy-realism thing for sure- It aligns well with how Thistle wouldn't consider her need to eat when creating her, nor have the knowledge to consider how the body works with magic as his only (known*) expertise. Made me absolutely giddy that this very naturally flawed choice also gives the (the dinner gang?? ) their key to subduing her too
Bone-Apple Tea
It makes so much sense because Thistle is actually shown to have studied the dungeon carefully in order to make it a sustainable ecosystem. But he doesn't really care about food, eating ect which turns into a weak point later.
@@hyobro8392 Oh shoot, that totally slipped my mind! It makes way more sense in my head now- pretty sure thistle has full control of the dungeon so he'd have to have built the dungeon with some intention of being ecologically stable, just not with the food part, as the very depressed immortal Golden Kingdom residents and Falin herself do display. I'm not able to tie those victims of his thinking together super well, but it's telling how in his focus on eternally sheltering the golden kingdom and his use of Falin only to find Delgal and drive out outsiders (I think? That seemed to be the objective, i could've forgotten), forgetting their happiness and satiety in these situations seems to be his downfall (at least, letting his fixation on his goals take precedence over even the fact that he can't even remember what he's maintaining those goals for (winged lion moment).
@@gem3806 yes I think you put this very well. It happens a lot with dunmeshi, we can come back to it several time and find new connections that weren't fully explored 😊.
To eat is to be alive and to belong to a greater cycle : by freezing everyone's existence, Thistle forbade them from living.
You can also link that to how living and eating is something you can only do at a risk. Hunting, trying something you might be allergic to without knowing, never being sure that someone isn't contaminated, or just trying a new food you might hate... it's not that we should be paranoid, but eating and living both require you to take risks, emotionally and physically. Thistle wants to protect everyone, but he robbed them of their place in that cycle, and forced them into a stability that only the dead experience.
It’s really cool how the writers made her work. She’s like a Liger, something that _can_ exist and technically function but wouldn’t exist naturally and if it did it couldn’t operate nearly as well as any of its individual parts could. Just like a liger she’s massively powerful and built like a tank but she can hardly feed herself and some of her organs just don’t even work properly because of how haphazard her biology is. God this is awesome.
There are stories that explains everything with magic.
And there are stories that explains the magic in everything.
A small detail that i like about falin is how she tends to hold thistle by the human abdomen. There she has a brood patch which is meant to keep eggs warm and by holding thistle there it could be some sort of maternal dragon instinct.
Omg I never noticed that, that's so cool
As you can see in the fight with Chimera Falin vs Everybody she doesn't move quite often unlike the red dragon Laois group fought. This implies Three things:
1 - Because organisms need oxygen to fuel their muscles and organs Falins nose and mouth cant give enough oxygen to her dragon and human lungs to energies her whole chimera body.
2 - As mentioned in the video, Falin is still an organic organism which means she needs sufficient energy from calories. (This was later bought up on the Thistle Arc where Falins human mouth cant fit large quantities of food fast enough through her whole chimera body)
3 - As an organism gets larger the weight of themselves and gravity apply heavy pressure on them which indicates that yes the dragon part of Falin can support her but what about her upper half? The human muscle is much more squishy than say the average red dragon muscle.
If you read the thing he put on screen her human form is essentially just an esophogus/trachea i dont think her organs are even there any more
The fact that she probably can't reach her oxygen requirements is probably also disturbing. She probably would feel like she's constantly suffocating. 🫥
@@kairi4640 yeesh... maybe she really was better off dead...
Falin: 45%dragon 45%bird 10%human
100% panda
i think the choice of bird is a result of the mammalian and repitlian attributes mixing together. birds were dsecended from dinosaurs and are sort of a weird inbetween of the reptile and the mammal if you think about it.
her wings are also a result of her adding extra limbs.
What I liked in the Elder Scrolls dragons is the concept that they aren't biologically able to breath fire or ice, but it's actually them using the dragon shout magic to produce it.
In the movie "The Flight of Dragons" had some biological introspection in how dragons worked in that universe too.
I love the focus put into the biology of these creatures because it explains the link between how they function and live their lives, as well as how they taste and how to prepare them as food. It kills two birds with ones stone and is a great representation of the link between these things in real life… Imo, there’s something interesting in understanding the evolutionary reasons behind the taste and texture of what you eat, and I also see it as a way of showing respect to the animal, which I feel Laios represents with his simultaneous love for monsters and his desire to consume them.
It's incredibly neat.
I think so too
Falin chimera have booth scales and feather basically a dinosaur
Dinosaur girlfriend
Dinosaur wife
Dinosaur love of my dinosaur life
@@ElliotGeltz Nice rhyme. 👍
@@MrDibara Thank you I try
and this is why this has genuinely become my favorite story written of all written. the world, the biology the themes and just *everything* is well thought out and put together yet still has a fun story with impactful characters and interesting plot. As a long term fantasy fan this series has reignited my childhood love for magic and allowing myself to just immerse myself in the world built before me. Kyoko Rui is going to forever be engraved in my brain for dungeon meshi.
Preach it, sister!
Other stories have hit home for me in other ways wih just as much impact, but Dungeon Meshi is one of very few to both spark off that childish whimsy in magic, while also having characters that evoke such a human response in me.
Seeing that the rest of the party doesn't have a clear vision of Laios, and none of his friends really understand him, the raw satisfaction of him slapping Shuro, and the way the series proceeds in regards to Thistle and the Winged Lion.
Fuck, man, I love this story
Ryoko kui is genius
And her love of fantasy rpg really shows
I am unashamedly using this show as inspiration and reference for an upcoming dnd campaign im running using Heliana’s guide to monster hunting
Same. I'm hoping to run a homebrew Curse of Strahd soon, and this is playing a part
Ryoko Kui: *Writes something cool*
Everyone who reads it: "That's really nice 🙂"
It _is_ pretty neat, isn't it?
I love how dungeon meshi makes consequences and doesn't just go "it's there because it's magical" instead it explains itself through what the characters learn and discover and i love that so much
be fair, the reason she is acutally still alive and doesn't full on starve is because of magic supplementing waht she lacks. but it isn't enough to properly sustain her and it leaves her with poor stamina as a result.
What surprised me is when(you read the manga to the end) you think the story will end up generic, but it brings philosophical topics. Like(Im not gonna spoil ok XD), what you are going to do if the journey ended? Are you looking to do whatever you like, or you are going to do what is good? Looking forward to this amazing artist!
Or the fact a certain hungry furry boy chose to give someone a meal, HIS meal rather than continue his gluttonous vengeance, you never know if its because he lost that piece or if he learned sharing a meal is nicer than taking one
@@kerroseir4764 yeah that was genuinely good to see. I'm starting to think manga artists will search for meanings even in breathing, and drinking. :)))
@@dandalas2168 I mean I'm a religious dude and too be honest while anime fails to hit those introspective high notes the idea of being thankful for the food you have, the body you were given, and the freedom of choice you have.
It makes dungeon meshi both nice and yet also bad. The idea certain characters can't find a reason to live on or in their quest to be god they became the devil not realizing how weak they've always been. It feels annoying that no anime has ever been able to show just how easy it is to change for the better when you realize your sins aren't a forever stain but a stain that can be cleaned off if you ask for help and to do more
@@kerroseir4764 Well they already use their religion as source of ideas. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with reincarnation or seeing god as a chill dude, is their religion, their culture.
But maybe thats the reason they can't change their perspective based on their culture they grow up with. They accept god as he is, you live your life, with ups and downs, and thats it.
I haven't seen an artist doing a full 180 to christianity and make an anime about it :))) but who knows. Life is full of surprises.
@@dandalas2168 I mean idk where you're going with this I'm just saying all religions share this concept it's just others make forgiveness hard or impossible which by that logic I can do any sin and not worry cuz I'm going to heck anyway logically speaking
I can’t wait to see the part about Falin starving be portrayed in the anime
considering how they sexed up her big fight appearance in the cartoon I've got confidence they're doing something special for her drooling scene
Did she really just ground-spike everyone Alex Mercer style?
Fuck yeah she did. Faligon up in here fillin' graves
I’ve always been a fan of speculative biology so this was a great surprise series for me in that regard, as well as the good story and characters obviously.
I remember hearing about this show but didn’t think much of it, then I saw a clip that explained about the living armor and I knew there and then I had to watch it
I also thought the dragon's fuel sack was really cool! I heard people attribute some of this incredible world building partly to how Ryoko Kui doesn't have to publish each week (like how shonen jump authors are expected to publish), but rather every two months (i havent gotten current with the manga so this could be a lie i dont really know). But man, give people the proper time to write their stories dammit.
"6 limbs"
But wings are modified limbs, too... 🥺
You know what, fair
Chimera Falin is an arachnid
@@ElliotGeltz she even divided into two "parts" 😂
A human like "cephalothorax" and a dragon like "abdomen" with all the organs
I always liked how that fact becomes the most obvious on bats too lol.
Did the mad mage give her feathers on purpose or why did they appear? Neither creature had any before fusion...
Ok, this is something I touched on a little bit in the video, but to get more into it here,
**Minor spoilers for anyone that hasn't read the manga**
Thistle is kind of a dumb bitch when it comes to making monsters. His creations are very straightforward and serve a specific role, and that's it.
When creating Falin's Chimera form, it was very much a "Shit! I lost my dragon! Ok let's salvage whatever we can out of this girl" situation where he slap-dashed her body together rather quickly and with little thought, with several consequences that make her ability to survive difficult.
Why the feathers? He never says, but Laios has some theories. The most likely is that the nearby layer was the tundra they move on to after the encounter with her, so the feathers may have been to keep the cold-blooded dragon parts from freezing.
I was under the assumption he was using Harpy to make up for the missing and damaged flesh of the rest of the dragon and making Falin more monstrous to boot. Hence why she arrived with a flock of Harpies, they were leftover from a larger group Thistle summoned.
@@nonome8206 That would make sense.
To be fair, feathers Are a type of modified scales. Birds are reptiles after all :)
@@nonome8206 This is also a possibility, and a theory I really like. It tracks, since the dragon's gas pocket exploded, damaging a great deal of its upper torso, so it makes sense that all that meat would have to be replaced.
Fear and hunger without the hunger
Oh god. She's at risk of starving? that would be a horrible experience
You know that extra-harsh hunger? When you haven't eaten ALL day, and you have to choose between either eating right before bed at 10pm and dealing with all the issues of that, or just sleeping through it and eating in the morning?
Chimera Falin feels like that *constantly*.
If chickens are modern dinosaurs and some dinosaurs were kinda like dragons, Falin’s body parts aren’t too mismatched… well except the mammal torso. Are dragons in this universe warm or cold blooded? Chickens and mammals are warm, and dinos were theorized to be warm too. If her blood temperatures are conflicting, that would be add the her difficulty to survive
I’ve done a bit of dabbling in chimera creation lore and thought an alchemist can’t put two animals together whose parts, blood, or diet can’t work in harmony and expect it to survive, like the antlion
I totally agree
We just need more lore.
I like how you added in chimera Falin's biological mutations, probably causing her great suffering, and you're like neat. 😃🤣
Gives major Laios vibes lol. 🤣
( Though I do agree it is interesting that the creator takes in the inconveniences of monster design etc. A lot of manga creators skip it all just for cool factors, and it being inconvenient to logically explain each thing in their fantasy worlds.)
I thought if she started shooting fire, the human top would incinerate and form the rest of the dragon
this video is neat :), but what's with those black bars and low quality thumbnail?? i hope you will improve in the future with your editing and writting🙏🙏, but dont rush it! rest when you want abd when you even dont want!
Thank you for the support
@@ElliotGeltz damn, yt can be a bitch, hope the best for you in your career!!
@@akapacool Thank you fam. And yeah, it can be, lol. But we'll grow over it.
I hope you like my content, and I hope to see you in my comments in the future
Or how it doesn’t work as the case may be.
Still smash
Samesies
Would
You'd get crushed though... 😶
@@kairi4640 must be a kid, you'll understand once your reach a certain age.
My brother said he doesn’t wanna watch the show because he thinks the fans are annoying which is insanely vapid like he’d never interact with them by just watching the show so the only reason to say that is to seem special which just pisses me off
I feel you on that. Yeah, that's a weird answer for him to give.
Comment for algorithm 🎉
A comment for the algorithm
Thank you for your service, tiny fish man
@@ElliotGeltz You’re Welcome 😉