This is perfect! I just finished watching it two days ago! It's now my new favourite thing, and I'm so, so happy that you're enjoying it so much. 😄😄😄 I've come to care for the core five characters so much, too. I kept changing my favourite episode, and now it's hovering around the two part season finale, or the treasure bug/ghost sorbet episode. I'm so fascinated by the dungeon's ecology and just how it all works. I haven't read the manga yet, but I'd like to get the big box set in October [though Fantasy Life Switch is also coming out then, so.....I might have to make a very hard decision]. Also, some fun facts about the English cast--Marcille is Nami in live-action One Piece, Laios' voice actor is autistic [and has a headcanon that Laios is also autistic, and I agree], and Chilchuck and Namari are voiced by non-binary voice actors, and Senshi's voice actor is a huge fan of the series! The English dub is genuinely fantastic, which is saying something, since I can count on my favourite English dubs on one hand. I hope you re-watch it in English if you haven't. Maybe there could be a future video about the history of localization, or that might be too complicated to explore in just one video?
I think people are going to have the same reaction to season 2 that they had to the second half of season one, in that it just keeps getting better. By the time I finished the manga it made its way to my top 10 all time list, it's that good. I really can't wait for more people to experience it.
Chilchuck is one of my favorite executions of the "grumpy one that's pretending not to care about everyone" trope. I think its because he isn't super edgy about it, he just uses being professional as the cover for wanting everyone to make it out okay
Spoilers The episode where he is saying he’s fed up and he’s leaving, but it culminates to him admitting that he just *really* doesn’t want to watch them die was so good for his character. He’s grumpy and can come off like he doesn’t care, but he wants to keep this group safe and he cares about what’s best for everyone, which is why he doesn’t want romance and he wants people to talk things out when their hiding things or going through something. I love him so much. He’s my second fav character after Senshi!
@@merphynapier42 Yeah, that was really great characterization for him. He's also my second favorite character but after Laios though I love Senshi too. This show is extremely consistent with its characters and their development is obvious and realistic. My favorite stories to read are ones with great, consistent characters that feel alive and this joins the list. Not to mention how fun they are to watch. The emotions practically jumps out of the screen at times. Mainly from Laios when there's a new monster LoL
My favourite part of Dungeon Meshi is how Laios looks like he'd be the most generic male MC but is actually the most freakiest character in the show. I love how in love with monsters he is which when when you disect becomes a bit fucked up. And how the eating aspect of the story is not just a gimmick but becomes an integral theme and the bery plot. Dungeon meshi is so cleverly written.
I hope she stops saying it's not my favorite at the end of videos not cause it is bad, but cause most of the time she's comparing it to one piece a series she read 1000 chapters of or HXH etc, stuff that had way more than the short series for her to love. Were humans and we like things were fond of even bad. How many of us love a show or friend that's just around more than a new thing or person just cause...
One of the best things about Dungeon Meshi for me is how distinct each character looks, the diversity in character design is phenomenal. The author Ryoko Kui talks about it in more detail in the manga too. Marcille has approx 28 hairstyles in the first season lol For example look how different the orcs look from each other whereas in quite a lot of shows the orcs, elves and other races look quite similar. The world building is 2nd to none and is so well thought out, it is easily a 10/10 series for me
spoiler I loved how the show expanded on that with how everyone's reactions to her using "Dark Magic" (magic doesn't have morality, she pulls from another realm) and they refuse to let her use simple resurrection spells. Yet our core crew continue forward with her as their family. It shows the strength in their trust they've built over this time
@@merphynapier42 yesss, me as a viewer-reader got really attached to the characters too, oh no One Piece all over again lol. Anime spoilers: . . . . . . . . . Esp the backstory of Falin and Marcille from the academy, it really shows why Marcille did it, the last ep from the anime made me tear a lil bit
In DnD terms, Falin being the party's Cleric means she has high Wisdom, while Marcille being the party's Wizard means she has high Intelligence. They are both smart and talented with magic, but they specialize in different fields.
I love the slowburn world building of this show. by about halfway through I started to realize how deep (pun intended) this world was and the hidden complexities our heroes aren't privy too. Bonus spoiler below The fact that Laios gains a bad reputation with other adventurers simply because he naively shares all of his wealth with con artists is HILARIOUS to me.
I love how in the first half of the show, Senshi is against Marcille using magic to cook the food, yet in the second half they no longer make fire traditionnally. Instead using magic circles drawn by either Marcille or Laios, and Senshi is completely fine with it. It shows how even beyond the parts of their adventure that we saw, he still developped as a character and in his acceptance of the others in the party.
It seems like such a simple thing but thank you for immediately like…GETTING the point of their process (they failed because they were ill equipped + dragon’s digestion is slow, therefore they can and also NEED to “take their time” making sure they’re well-fed and well-rested). It’s been frustrating to see a lot of reviewers/commenters make jokes or complain about how they’re wasting time while Falin is “suffering” (she’s not, she was very likely dead before they set foot back in the dungeon anyway). That and calling Laios stupid are some of my biggest pet peeves in the way some people talk about the story. The party’s schedule is logical and necessary, and their attitude towards “rescuing” Falin is in line with a world where resurrection magic is commonplace and even hints at the idea that it’s a little TOO normalized and taken for granted. The subtle peppering of seemingly unimportant details and quirks of the world are something I really love about the first part of the story, so I was really happy to hear you discuss and appreciate that structure!
I'm starting to like the trend of stories beginning after the big moment that directly affects the main character like Frieren and Delicious in Dungeon. It makes for more interesting character background than the usual sad childhood, orphan, outcast, etc because they're already fully formed people
We got Frieren, we got Dunmeshi... Now I can't wait for Murphy to pick up Witch Hat Atelier, whether that's the upcoming anime or the manga. The holy trinity of fantasy will soon be complete 🙏
I wished Merphy covered this anime per week. I really like the dynamic of the characters too, they're sooo fun. I really keep forgetting their main goal from time to time cos of their silliness. Laios being a "kid", Marcille being the older middle child sister, Senshi being the dad, Chilchuck being the one Uncle, who suffers from divorce/she took the children, and Izutsumi just being the cat.
Delicious in Dungeon characters are such perfect examples of subtle humanization, trope deconstruction, and character growth written deep into their core. The early story is a slowburn, and the series might even come off as one-noted, but as the story continues you start to slowly notice that the characters have always been deep and complicated and experiencing growth as individuals and in relation to their crew all throughout the story. Really, it is an amazing experience going back to the earlier story and seeing everything being set up, foreshadowed, and how our quirky company has grown throughout their experiences, both during and before the main story.
I think the thing that blew me away the most in Delicious in Dungeon is the amount of thought put into the worldbuilding and plot. As I was reading it, I kept expecting it to fall into traps and tropes of the 'generic fantasy' kind, but at every turn it subverted my expectations and validated its narrative. Just like in the show, literally nothing goes to waste, everything you are presented with has narrative significance. A real gem, and the anime did such a great job at adapting it. What a fun ride!
2nd cour Anime spoilers**** . . . . . One of the things i love about this show is the senshi and chilchuck gag where senshi settles chilchuck down and tries to talk to him about the birds and the bees and its funny because chilchuck is a divorced middle aged man with kids 😂
Yeah but what confuses me was his reaction to what senshi told him though 😅 Spoilers Cause if his a middle age man wouldnt he be meh about the information? Like his covering his ears like a kid would do which was confusing 🤔
I think when I realized how clever the story is, was when they disarm a fire trap, then realize it has to have a source of oil as a fuel, which they find and then use to fry their food.
I recommend reading the rest of the manga as well as the adventure bible that comes with it. It has a lot of extra lore and side stories, such as how the gang binge watch marcille's dreams as a soap opera
The manga is actually fantastic, I highly recommend reading the parts season 1 covered because it goes so much more in detail about things than the anime.
We sure eating good in this dungeon. Best part as a longtime fan is knowing fans are going to get a complete thing. Man is the whole story soo good. Never loses it charm till the end.
I like chilchuck! Also props to the show for not having fan service! Most fantasy anime (both good and bad) have fan service…but this show doesn’t have that! And it’s soooooo nice 👍
You don’t understand, the Senshi panty shots aren’t fanservice, they’re plot relevant! /j SPOILER (I joke, but it does actually come up in one of Senshi’s letters where he complains about his party members saying he’s “playing it up” when he became an elf, and he says he was just acting like he does normally as a dwarf)
Glad Merph is finally reviewing one of my favorite series. If you are interested please do check out the manga. Kui Ryoko, the author, is such a wonderful worldbuilder, character designer and storyteller probably the best amongst out there and there is so much in the manga that they couldn't possibly fit in the anime. The show is but a glimpse to how amazing of an author she is.
Dungeon Meshi / Delicious in Dungeon is one of my favorite stories ever, and I genuinely think the author Ryoko Kui is a genius! What impresses me most is how even minor characters who only appear on a handful of pages have such distinct personalities, her character design and character writing are both so wonderful (and while Marcille is my favorite character overall, I can't wait for anime watchers to get to see more of Mithrun next season, he has my favorite little character arc!
Dungeon Meshi is a treat from the beginning to the very end. The world building is amazing and not one second of it goes to waste, it makes sense and never contradicts itself, the rules are set from the beginning in such a way you learn them without effor. The first part is cool but the series as a whole is amazing, just like a full meal we haven't hit the main dish nor the dessert in the anime.
I was blown away by how the story has this whole complex political world, dungeon ecology, huge ensemble cast of characters and factions with complex histories... And then has the incredible restraint to withhold most of it from you in the first half of the season, dropping seeds and hints of it instead while you get acquainted with the core cast. It makes everything so much more engaging and impactful when the mid-season "finale" blows everything wide open. Everything get so intense, so fast!! That said, most of the foreshadowing does invite you to speculate. I totally guessed correctly what was going on in the portrait episode. Also, can we acknowledge the fantastic character design??? It's DELICIOUSLY diverse! As a fantasy world should be.
I'm so glad you're watching this! I didn't expect Dungeon Meshi to be one of my favorites, I figured it would just be a cute, fun show to watch, nothing too deep. The depth sneaks up on you! Like you, I found myself loving these characters without even realizing it.
Laios - he's on the autism spectrum. Like he doesn't just have a few behaviors that could point to autism, he flat out _is_ autistic*. IMO he is the only one among our main 4 intrepid adventurers, but he's not the only one in the story. There are at least two others, one I clocked immediately, one someone else mentioned in a video, supported by comments from those who could relate. I point this out because this is one of the rare accurate and positive portrayals I've seen. It includes more subtle things that many autistic viewers recognize and a lot of allistic viewers miss. *The mangaka has a history of writing neurodivergent characters
ANIME SPOILER: . . . . . . One of the more subtle indicators is his empathy. I've seen so many complain about his lack of empathy. That confused me, I thought it was obvious. I saw a lot of those complaints after the episode with the doppelgangers. People said he wasn't paying attention to his traveling companions, and that just isn't true. He recognized them from their behaviors, something even they didn't notice. He has empathy. It's just not presented in a way that a lot of people recognize.
Love how Avatar was the entry point for the Merphy manga/anime arc, and now we are at Jojo and anime d&d. I really enjoy your takes! (And i agree with you, the second half of this was great, specially that backstory)
Dungeon Meshi is such a refreshing and unique manga. The manga, by the way, is finished, and for those of you following the anime let me just say it will get even deeper, darker, weirder, funnier and absolutely unexpected at every step.
After this season, I had to run to read the manga. It became one of those series once it was finished, I felt the overwhelming need to have the men in black memory wipe so i could experience it for the first time again.
I'm so glad you enjoyed Delicious in Dungeon 💕 It's one of my favorite series of all time and this is kinda wild to say but it only continues to get better imo! I also highly recommend reading the manga from the very beginning since the anime adaptation has had to cut some character moments and jokes here and there (understandably). There are also extra chapters at the end of each volume that go into the different monsters and expand the world as well. The Adventurer's Bible is also a must read (but only after you've finished the whole story) because it has bonus comics about different characters in it!
After watching the anime, I started reading the manga, I ended up finishing the manga in 2-3 days. It was so good, and I had major "one more chapter" syndrome.
Thank you for being (almost) spoiler free. So many RUclipsrs I like but make content about stuff I want to play/read/watch/listen to and while I dont mind spoilers I do want the surprises.
Who does not get hungry after watching an episode of Delicious In Dungeon!? The series has it all: a himbo knight protagonist, a "glass-cannon" mage, a cowardly rogue and a chef dwarf...and lots of food...I love the series so much!!!
I’m glad you liked Dungeon Meshi! Another fantasy manga with great world-building I think you’d really enjoy is “The Magus of the Library”. It’s set in a world where the written word is highly valued and follows the story of a young boy incredibly passionate about books and stories and attempting to join the central library that oversees all the continent’s books. It especially hits hard for anybody that grew up reading books, I can’t recommend it enough.
Loved hearing you gush about this show and I hope you do a full, spoilerific review one day! This show was absolutely my unexpected GOAT of the anime year. They've already been so many amazing shows but this one is undoubtedly my pick for Anime of the Year. Currently. Also, a bit random, but I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge that this is another manga written by a female author that's undoubtedly "peak" in terms of quality. It was written by Ryoko Kui, who joins my extremely long list of amazing female writers from Japan.
I have watched a bit of the anime but I mainlined the manga (from my local library!) and oh my godddddd. Without going into spoilers, it is SO good at expanding in depth and breadth without ever feeling like it's abandoning its roots or changing in ways that don't make sense. I feel like every volume had at least some minor moment when Ryoko Kui (genius that she is) gave us a glimpse of 'the dark side of the moon' as it were: repeatedly having me go "What?? ...wait actually it makes perfect sense." And!! it does all this while never taking the easy route. Every time there's a boring and passe option to take it dodges it like Neo in the Matrix. Genius. I completely understand what the Golden Kamuy guy meant by 'unforgivable Dungeon Meshi'. It's about consumption and absorption and transformation and the needs of the body hand in hand with the mind!!! it's about being autistic and it's about making enemies and making friends and learning that everyone and everything around you is an iceberg and you're only catching a glimpse of the tip!!! it's about how cool monsters are and how weird it feels to find joy in the midst of horror!!! it's about EATING the horrors!! and perhaps most importantly of all it's about how alluring dwarves are!!!
i just started dungeon meshi around the same time as you i guess, and i LOVE it too!! The mangaka really made such a wonderful piece and im surprised an anime took so long! But seeing how the ecosystem works and how our characters can actually create a new way of living by just existing with magical nature is So poetic!! It’s given me a lot of inspiration for a potential dnd game if i DM, so i’ve just been taking such crazy notes and trying to figure out how i could get a party to eat some monsters 😭 i think this is the best usage of a fantasy setting ive ever seen in an anime personally!
You know how you said the second half of season 1 is when the series get really good? I'd honestly say that you could say the exact same thing about the second half of the series, the stuff that will be covered in the next season. Honestly within the context of the whole series we only really got to "Good" dungeon meshi with the last few episodes of season 1. This is easily a peak manga series for me that rivals stuff like FMA and OP and I'm so pumped to see this animated.
I love everything about this anime/manga. The characters and their designs are so endearing, the world building is top notch. It is definitely worth much praise. My favorite work in a long time
Great series, i watched it through in english dub, then in Japanese with subtitles, then the spanish dub. Netflix has done some nice work dubbing these animes in spanish, been going through Hajime no Ippo again but in spanish, and Castlevania is next on my list d:
I felt like Delicious in Dungeon lacked direction in the first few episodes. It seemed random, and it was hard to feel attached to the characters because on the surface they're all generic tabletop RPG archetypes. My husband and I were like "okay it's entertaining, but where is this going?" But as we watched it, everything grew in depth. Seeing how everyone cares for each other, figuring out why they act the way they do. The episode where Senshi revealed how he gardens in the dungeon changed my brain chemistry. I'm with Marcille and eating the monsters grosses me out, but the idea of a dungeon ecosystem is so well explored that it's made me rethink my own D&D dungeon designs.
Dungeon meshiii!! Finished this series a few weeks ago and man its so good! My fave is laios because i love his overly passionate personality with monsters (hes just like me fr but with my own fixations) and the world building in this show is so good. Cannot wait for season 2!
I'm desperate for Merphy to read The Wondering Inn by pirateaba now. She would loooove it. So many characters, relationship dynamics and the allmother of character growths
You have thoroughly sold me on this show. I'm a sucker for stories that involve a thought-out ecosystem that is relevant to the characters and/or plot. This show sounds like it could be good inspiration for a DnD campaign...
Marcille isn't as good in HEALING magic as Falin, 'cause you KNOW what she does midway through And not being as good in healing magic as Falin isn't that bad because she is like, super talented in it
Please do make more in-depth analysis videos on the story too! Would love to see your thoughts on the latter parts of the story, characters, and worldbuilding!
This show was simply a really nice surprise. It has happened to me several times that I thought I knew exactly what is going to happen, liku "ugh, we are doing this trope", only to be completely wrong.
even if dungeon meshi isn't a favourite right now i hope when the later episodes roll around (or if you read the manga) it rises up the list. it's one of my favourites, especially how the manga tackles its themes! id also suggest houseki no kuni which is my FAVOURITE manga and with hat atelier! though wha is getting an anime adaptation soon so maybe it'll get a spot in the limelight
I watched it and quite liked it. It doesn't aim all that high with its storytelling, but it never misses either. Definitely, the main aspect that made this show so popular is the top-notch animation, that elevates the story. The world-building, however? That's stellar. Even though I found the characters to be mostly okay, the world-building elevates it for me. It's quite well-thought out and detailed. It doesn't have the "wow" factor of Made in Abyss (one of my favorites), but the depth and thoughtfulness makes me happy.
The world building is so good because the author of the original manga, Ryoko Kui, is really into playing TTRPGs, like D&D, and the Japanese TTRPG, Sword World, so she approaches building her world much like she would build an original campaign setting for a D&D game.
I picked up the manga a couple of years back, but forgot about it, after this shows release I picked it back up and completed it in a single night (it's fairly short). The author is very outspoken about playing western-made RPG games and even does fanart for them. Love it.
Really happy you liked this one, the world building/environment/lore/history/focus on ecosystems are all some of my favourite elements in this series so I suspect you would enjoy it :) For whatever reason the anime didn’t work for me, I think the clashing tones of humour but serious high stakes (save your friend/sister) didn’t mesh well with me… but I think it would work better in the manga so I need to give that a try :)
I’m an anime only but what I’m really looking forward to about season 2 is that it’ll be the final season. There’s not a whole lot of anime nowadays that can have such well paced, well written and well executed stories that also get complete anime adaptations with consistently high quality. I loved this show way more than I thought I would I cant wait!
even if you are an anime only, i do highly recommend reading the manga. The extra content expands so much more on the characters, their background, and the world in ways that the main story can't touch on given the urgency of everything but it really adds so much more to people that already love the world as it is. surprised you said you didn't like it as much as frieren, personally as someone who's up to date on both, dungeon meshi far exceeds frieren as an innovative and character focused fantasy contemporary (but that's just me), so i'm excited to see what you think of the second season of dungeon meshi which has already entered production! frieren on the other just got out of a hiatus so that's good, it hadn't been updated in some time
Delicious In Dungeon is so good that once it finished I immediately went and found the manga to carry on with these characters and didn't sleep until I'd finished the journey. 🥰
I happened to watch a couple of videos about the Wizardry game series just before Delicious in Dungeon started streaming. Didn't expect that to be important, but despite originally being an American series... Wizardry is actually pretty huge in Japan and basically lives there now. So there's a lot of those games' DNA in Delicious in Dungeon.
wow, I followed this manga for years, I didn't expect it to have anime and also reaching Murphy's channel. :D the later half of the story and ending is awesome!!! even more twist and turns.
ohhhh I bet you'd love the manga as well! they did skip a handful of things and there's the extra "monster tidbits" that add more lore and background facts. also the art is 10/10 I agree they are all main characters to some extent, in my eyes Laios and Marcille are protagonists, personally. both share the main goal of saving falin, and they clash in their perspective when it comes to monsters ahahaha not to say chilchuck, senshi and everyone else aren't fantastic as well I find it hard to even pick a favorite character. because their dynamics with each other are what makes them all shine
I really enjoyed the goofy lighthearted fun of this series. I cannot wait for the second season and I may end up looking into the manga if I get too impatient. I also hope at some point you check out the series Spice and Wolf. It is my personal favorite book series and anime of all time. It recently got a new anime adaptation which has been incredible so far.
dungeon meshi genuinely feels unending when it comes to the worldbuilding. i read through the manga and the adventurers' bible and the several loose extras here and there but the next day someone could be like hey check this, heres a subtle detail that came up several time ab this character and i would be like wow. yeah. ryoko kui thought up about that too huh. and she kept making new extras and more insights about her characters and the new info fits in well into the established world and keep you wanting more. also her fantasy racism is one of the best out there i think. i love dungeon meshi racism. thank you ryoko kui
![Jack Harlow - Hello Miss Johnson [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Q86_nlRoIGw/mqdefault.jpg)
I kept saying ep 10, but I meant 11.
What did you think of it?!
Definitely one of the best fantasy anime of 2023-2024 :)))
(heck 2010-2020s)
Its a good year for fantasy animes. Love both frieren and dungeon meshi!!
I liked it, it's a chill enjoyable show.
This is perfect! I just finished watching it two days ago! It's now my new favourite thing, and I'm so, so happy that you're enjoying it so much. 😄😄😄 I've come to care for the core five characters so much, too. I kept changing my favourite episode, and now it's hovering around the two part season finale, or the treasure bug/ghost sorbet episode. I'm so fascinated by the dungeon's ecology and just how it all works. I haven't read the manga yet, but I'd like to get the big box set in October [though Fantasy Life Switch is also coming out then, so.....I might have to make a very hard decision].
Also, some fun facts about the English cast--Marcille is Nami in live-action One Piece, Laios' voice actor is autistic [and has a headcanon that Laios is also autistic, and I agree], and Chilchuck and Namari are voiced by non-binary voice actors, and Senshi's voice actor is a huge fan of the series! The English dub is genuinely fantastic, which is saying something, since I can count on my favourite English dubs on one hand. I hope you re-watch it in English if you haven't. Maybe there could be a future video about the history of localization, or that might be too complicated to explore in just one video?
I think people are going to have the same reaction to season 2 that they had to the second half of season one, in that it just keeps getting better. By the time I finished the manga it made its way to my top 10 all time list, it's that good. I really can't wait for more people to experience it.
Chilchuck is one of my favorite executions of the "grumpy one that's pretending not to care about everyone" trope. I think its because he isn't super edgy about it, he just uses being professional as the cover for wanting everyone to make it out okay
Bad anime has little girls who are actually immortal dragon gods. Great anime has little boys who are actually middle aged divorced men.
I agree 1000%
Spoilers
The episode where he is saying he’s fed up and he’s leaving, but it culminates to him admitting that he just *really* doesn’t want to watch them die was so good for his character. He’s grumpy and can come off like he doesn’t care, but he wants to keep this group safe and he cares about what’s best for everyone, which is why he doesn’t want romance and he wants people to talk things out when their hiding things or going through something. I love him so much. He’s my second fav character after Senshi!
@@merphynapier42 Yeah, that was really great characterization for him. He's also my second favorite character but after Laios though I love Senshi too.
This show is extremely consistent with its characters and their development is obvious and realistic. My favorite stories to read are ones with great, consistent characters that feel alive and this joins the list. Not to mention how fun they are to watch. The emotions practically jumps out of the screen at times. Mainly from Laios when there's a new monster LoL
@@merphynapier42 another based take o7
"a new crewmember named senshi"
the one piece speak is real
They call themselves nakama in the anime eventually
This show heavily reminded me of One Piece in the crew/party aspect.
Senshi is the best character, Everyone needs a Senshi in their life
couldn't be more true
I aspire to be the Senshi in other people's lives
Everyone *deserves* a Senshi in their life.
@@me0101001000 Same here, buddy, same here
My favourite part of Dungeon Meshi is how Laios looks like he'd be the most generic male MC but is actually the most freakiest character in the show. I love how in love with monsters he is which when when you disect becomes a bit fucked up. And how the eating aspect of the story is not just a gimmick but becomes an integral theme and the bery plot. Dungeon meshi is so cleverly written.
I hope she stops saying it's not my favorite at the end of videos not cause it is bad, but cause most of the time she's comparing it to one piece a series she read 1000 chapters of or HXH etc, stuff that had way more than the short series for her to love. Were humans and we like things were fond of even bad. How many of us love a show or friend that's just around more than a new thing or person just cause...
One of the best things about Dungeon Meshi for me is how distinct each character looks, the diversity in character design is phenomenal. The author Ryoko Kui talks about it in more detail in the manga too. Marcille has approx 28 hairstyles in the first season lol
For example look how different the orcs look from each other whereas in quite a lot of shows the orcs, elves and other races look quite similar.
The world building is 2nd to none and is so well thought out, it is easily a 10/10 series for me
The dream volumes whre she details her process and expand on their personalities are gold!
Diverse character design is huge here. You are very unlikely to mix up any two characters.
"Marcille is not as good at magic like Falin" yeahhh cos she prefer the "other type magic" LOL.
spoiler
I loved how the show expanded on that with how everyone's reactions to her using "Dark Magic" (magic doesn't have morality, she pulls from another realm) and they refuse to let her use simple resurrection spells. Yet our core crew continue forward with her as their family. It shows the strength in their trust they've built over this time
@@merphynapier42 yesss, me as a viewer-reader got really attached to the characters too, oh no One Piece all over again lol. Anime spoilers:
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Esp the backstory of Falin and Marcille from the academy, it really shows why Marcille did it, the last ep from the anime made me tear a lil bit
In DnD terms, Falin being the party's Cleric means she has high Wisdom, while Marcille being the party's Wizard means she has high Intelligence. They are both smart and talented with magic, but they specialize in different fields.
@@NekoBatyxPoor clerics the need for plot to happen mean they have to be exorcise for most of the story to happen.
I love the slowburn world building of this show. by about halfway through I started to realize how deep (pun intended) this world was and the hidden complexities our heroes aren't privy too. Bonus spoiler below
The fact that Laios gains a bad reputation with other adventurers simply because he naively shares all of his wealth with con artists is HILARIOUS to me.
I think that's only how Kabru thinks, everyone else thinks he's stupid
I love how in the first half of the show, Senshi is against Marcille using magic to cook the food, yet in the second half they no longer make fire traditionnally. Instead using magic circles drawn by either Marcille or Laios, and Senshi is completely fine with it.
It shows how even beyond the parts of their adventure that we saw, he still developped as a character and in his acceptance of the others in the party.
Oh wow never noticed that
It seems like such a simple thing but thank you for immediately like…GETTING the point of their process (they failed because they were ill equipped + dragon’s digestion is slow, therefore they can and also NEED to “take their time” making sure they’re well-fed and well-rested).
It’s been frustrating to see a lot of reviewers/commenters make jokes or complain about how they’re wasting time while Falin is “suffering” (she’s not, she was very likely dead before they set foot back in the dungeon anyway). That and calling Laios stupid are some of my biggest pet peeves in the way some people talk about the story.
The party’s schedule is logical and necessary, and their attitude towards “rescuing” Falin is in line with a world where resurrection magic is commonplace and even hints at the idea that it’s a little TOO normalized and taken for granted.
The subtle peppering of seemingly unimportant details and quirks of the world are something I really love about the first part of the story, so I was really happy to hear you discuss and appreciate that structure!
I'm starting to like the trend of stories beginning after the big moment that directly affects the main character like Frieren and Delicious in Dungeon. It makes for more interesting character background than the usual sad childhood, orphan, outcast, etc because they're already fully formed people
We got Frieren, we got Dunmeshi... Now I can't wait for Murphy to pick up Witch Hat Atelier, whether that's the upcoming anime or the manga.
The holy trinity of fantasy will soon be complete 🙏
I wished Merphy covered this anime per week. I really like the dynamic of the characters too, they're sooo fun. I really keep forgetting their main goal from time to time cos of their silliness. Laios being a "kid", Marcille being the older middle child sister, Senshi being the dad, Chilchuck being the one Uncle, who suffers from divorce/she took the children, and Izutsumi just being the cat.
Delicious in Dungeon characters are such perfect examples of subtle humanization, trope deconstruction, and character growth written deep into their core. The early story is a slowburn, and the series might even come off as one-noted, but as the story continues you start to slowly notice that the characters have always been deep and complicated and experiencing growth as individuals and in relation to their crew all throughout the story. Really, it is an amazing experience going back to the earlier story and seeing everything being set up, foreshadowed, and how our quirky company has grown throughout their experiences, both during and before the main story.
I think the thing that blew me away the most in Delicious in Dungeon is the amount of thought put into the worldbuilding and plot. As I was reading it, I kept expecting it to fall into traps and tropes of the 'generic fantasy' kind, but at every turn it subverted my expectations and validated its narrative. Just like in the show, literally nothing goes to waste, everything you are presented with has narrative significance. A real gem, and the anime did such a great job at adapting it. What a fun ride!
Marcille’s English VA is Emily Rudd! 😊
Live-action Nami!!!
@@collecter343 Yes!
And Lios is Damien Hass, might know him from Smosh
@@Ryquard1 and Senshi is ProZD, also a RUclipsr.
Oh! That's cool!
2nd cour Anime spoilers****
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One of the things i love about this show is the senshi and chilchuck gag where senshi settles chilchuck down and tries to talk to him about the birds and the bees and its funny because chilchuck is a divorced middle aged man with kids 😂
Yeah but what confuses me was his reaction to what senshi told him though 😅
Spoilers
Cause if his a middle age man wouldnt he be meh about the information? Like his covering his ears like a kid would do which was confusing 🤔
And...
Wasn't at least one of his daughters married?
The worldbuilding/lore in this series grew on me and had me hooked really quickly, it's so so good!
Really glad you've gotten into it
I think when I realized how clever the story is, was when they disarm a fire trap, then realize it has to have a source of oil as a fuel, which they find and then use to fry their food.
I love Delicious in Dungeon so much! Poor Marcille.
I recommend reading the rest of the manga as well as the adventure bible that comes with it. It has a lot of extra lore and side stories, such as how the gang binge watch marcille's dreams as a soap opera
We are blessed by the manga gods!!! Merphy reviewed Dunmeshi!!!
The manga is actually fantastic, I highly recommend reading the parts season 1 covered because it goes so much more in detail about things than the anime.
We sure eating good in this dungeon.
Best part as a longtime fan is knowing fans are going to get a complete thing. Man is the whole story soo good. Never loses it charm till the end.
I like chilchuck! Also props to the show for not having fan service! Most fantasy anime (both good and bad) have fan service…but this show doesn’t have that! And it’s soooooo nice 👍
YOU'RE RIGHT!!!
*sneakily hides album of all the Senshi Shots*
I dont trust you, there are a lot of Senshi panty bulges
You don’t understand, the Senshi panty shots aren’t fanservice, they’re plot relevant! /j
SPOILER
(I joke, but it does actually come up in one of Senshi’s letters where he complains about his party members saying he’s “playing it up” when he became an elf, and he says he was just acting like he does normally as a dwarf)
Laios best ACOUSTIC boy
I think the big dungeon room contributes most of the acoustics in that singing scene :P
Honestly, the series is full of great autistic representation
falin too
I think my last comment got deleted for some reason, but the series has great “acoustic” representation. Don’t forget Kabru
Literally some of the most fun I’ve had with a show in years. Can’t wait for the box set to come out!
Glad Merph is finally reviewing one of my favorite series. If you are interested please do check out the manga. Kui Ryoko, the author, is such a wonderful worldbuilder, character designer and storyteller probably the best amongst out there and there is so much in the manga that they couldn't possibly fit in the anime. The show is but a glimpse to how amazing of an author she is.
I’m soooo looking forward to watching this after work! 👀✨
Dungeon Meshi / Delicious in Dungeon is one of my favorite stories ever, and I genuinely think the author Ryoko Kui is a genius! What impresses me most is how even minor characters who only appear on a handful of pages have such distinct personalities, her character design and character writing are both so wonderful
(and while Marcille is my favorite character overall, I can't wait for anime watchers to get to see more of Mithrun next season, he has my favorite little character arc!
Dungeon Meshi is a treat from the beginning to the very end. The world building is amazing and not one second of it goes to waste, it makes sense and never contradicts itself, the rules are set from the beginning in such a way you learn them without effor.
The first part is cool but the series as a whole is amazing, just like a full meal we haven't hit the main dish nor the dessert in the anime.
I was blown away by how the story has this whole complex political world, dungeon ecology, huge ensemble cast of characters and factions with complex histories... And then has the incredible restraint to withhold most of it from you in the first half of the season, dropping seeds and hints of it instead while you get acquainted with the core cast. It makes everything so much more engaging and impactful when the mid-season "finale" blows everything wide open. Everything get so intense, so fast!! That said, most of the foreshadowing does invite you to speculate. I totally guessed correctly what was going on in the portrait episode.
Also, can we acknowledge the fantastic character design??? It's DELICIOUSLY diverse! As a fantasy world should be.
I'm so glad you're watching this!
I didn't expect Dungeon Meshi to be one of my favorites, I figured it would just be a cute, fun show to watch, nothing too deep.
The depth sneaks up on you! Like you, I found myself loving these characters without even realizing it.
Laios - he's on the autism spectrum. Like he doesn't just have a few behaviors that could point to autism, he flat out _is_ autistic*.
IMO he is the only one among our main 4 intrepid adventurers, but he's not the only one in the story. There are at least two others, one I clocked immediately, one someone else mentioned in a video, supported by comments from those who could relate.
I point this out because this is one of the rare accurate and positive portrayals I've seen. It includes more subtle things that many autistic viewers recognize and a lot of allistic viewers miss.
*The mangaka has a history of writing neurodivergent characters
ANIME SPOILER:
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One of the more subtle indicators is his empathy. I've seen so many complain about his lack of empathy. That confused me, I thought it was obvious.
I saw a lot of those complaints after the episode with the doppelgangers. People said he wasn't paying attention to his traveling companions, and that just isn't true.
He recognized them from their behaviors, something even they didn't notice.
He has empathy. It's just not presented in a way that a lot of people recognize.
@@Rutabega_NGI think its at least jim, his sister on the same wavelengh, and kadru is pretty sure once its shpwn how he ticks?
@@marocat4749 I would agree
I personally really loved the autism rep with Laios and Faline!
Can't wait for SEASON 2!!!!
Love how Avatar was the entry point for the Merphy manga/anime arc, and now we are at Jojo and anime d&d. I really enjoy your takes!
(And i agree with you, the second half of this was great, specially that backstory)
Dungeon Meshi is such a refreshing and unique manga. The manga, by the way, is finished, and for those of you following the anime let me just say it will get even deeper, darker, weirder, funnier and absolutely unexpected at every step.
After this season, I had to run to read the manga. It became one of those series once it was finished, I felt the overwhelming need to have the men in black memory wipe so i could experience it for the first time again.
I'm so glad you enjoyed Delicious in Dungeon 💕 It's one of my favorite series of all time and this is kinda wild to say but it only continues to get better imo! I also highly recommend reading the manga from the very beginning since the anime adaptation has had to cut some character moments and jokes here and there (understandably). There are also extra chapters at the end of each volume that go into the different monsters and expand the world as well. The Adventurer's Bible is also a must read (but only after you've finished the whole story) because it has bonus comics about different characters in it!
After watching the anime, I started reading the manga, I ended up finishing the manga in 2-3 days. It was so good, and I had major "one more chapter" syndrome.
Are we in sync merphy? Dude literally I completed it yesterday…. Crazy crazy….
one of us is spying on the other, I'm not sure who yet
Thank you for being (almost) spoiler free. So many RUclipsrs I like but make content about stuff I want to play/read/watch/listen to and while I dont mind spoilers I do want the surprises.
My recomemdation is go read it! It gets really deep (figuratively and literally)
Fallon definitely one of the characters of all time. I bet she can host a night show.
Senji for sure could
Who does not get hungry after watching an episode of Delicious In Dungeon!? The series has it all: a himbo knight protagonist, a "glass-cannon" mage, a cowardly rogue and a chef dwarf...and lots of food...I love the series so much!!!
I’m glad you liked Dungeon Meshi! Another fantasy manga with great world-building I think you’d really enjoy is “The Magus of the Library”.
It’s set in a world where the written word is highly valued and follows the story of a young boy incredibly passionate about books and stories and attempting to join the central library that oversees all the continent’s books. It especially hits hard for anybody that grew up reading books, I can’t recommend it enough.
I’m so happy you decided to check this out ^__^. It has such good lore and world building.
I love this series, it just keeps getting better after this.
Loved hearing you gush about this show and I hope you do a full, spoilerific review one day! This show was absolutely my unexpected GOAT of the anime year. They've already been so many amazing shows but this one is undoubtedly my pick for Anime of the Year. Currently. Also, a bit random, but I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge that this is another manga written by a female author that's undoubtedly "peak" in terms of quality. It was written by Ryoko Kui, who joins my extremely long list of amazing female writers from Japan.
I have watched a bit of the anime but I mainlined the manga (from my local library!) and oh my godddddd. Without going into spoilers, it is SO good at expanding in depth and breadth without ever feeling like it's abandoning its roots or changing in ways that don't make sense. I feel like every volume had at least some minor moment when Ryoko Kui (genius that she is) gave us a glimpse of 'the dark side of the moon' as it were: repeatedly having me go "What?? ...wait actually it makes perfect sense." And!! it does all this while never taking the easy route. Every time there's a boring and passe option to take it dodges it like Neo in the Matrix. Genius. I completely understand what the Golden Kamuy guy meant by 'unforgivable Dungeon Meshi'.
It's about consumption and absorption and transformation and the needs of the body hand in hand with the mind!!! it's about being autistic and it's about making enemies and making friends and learning that everyone and everything around you is an iceberg and you're only catching a glimpse of the tip!!! it's about how cool monsters are and how weird it feels to find joy in the midst of horror!!! it's about EATING the horrors!! and perhaps most importantly of all it's about how alluring dwarves are!!!
Man, i love Delicious in Dungeons. The World Building is pure peak fiction
The quality change from the first half of season one to the second half is nothing compared to what comes next season. Things get so good.
Im gonna say the manga story will be more wild and amazing… its literally one of the best manga ive ever read
i just started dungeon meshi around the same time as you i guess, and i LOVE it too!! The mangaka really made such a wonderful piece and im surprised an anime took so long! But seeing how the ecosystem works and how our characters can actually create a new way of living by just existing with magical nature is So poetic!! It’s given me a lot of inspiration for a potential dnd game if i DM, so i’ve just been taking such crazy notes and trying to figure out how i could get a party to eat some monsters 😭 i think this is the best usage of a fantasy setting ive ever seen in an anime personally!
You know how you said the second half of season 1 is when the series get really good? I'd honestly say that you could say the exact same thing about the second half of the series, the stuff that will be covered in the next season. Honestly within the context of the whole series we only really got to "Good" dungeon meshi with the last few episodes of season 1.
This is easily a peak manga series for me that rivals stuff like FMA and OP and I'm so pumped to see this animated.
I love everything about this anime/manga. The characters and their designs are so endearing, the world building is top notch. It is definitely worth much praise. My favorite work in a long time
Great series, i watched it through in english dub, then in Japanese with subtitles, then the spanish dub. Netflix has done some nice work dubbing these animes in spanish, been going through Hajime no Ippo again but in spanish, and Castlevania is next on my list d:
I felt like Delicious in Dungeon lacked direction in the first few episodes. It seemed random, and it was hard to feel attached to the characters because on the surface they're all generic tabletop RPG archetypes. My husband and I were like "okay it's entertaining, but where is this going?" But as we watched it, everything grew in depth. Seeing how everyone cares for each other, figuring out why they act the way they do. The episode where Senshi revealed how he gardens in the dungeon changed my brain chemistry. I'm with Marcille and eating the monsters grosses me out, but the idea of a dungeon ecosystem is so well explored that it's made me rethink my own D&D dungeon designs.
And the nice thing is how she, oh no i can replentish energy, of we drink that monster on her own 😊
@@marocat4749 Senshi's grossed out reaction to that was my favorite.
Let's gooooo Dungeon Meshi review! I adored the anime and binged the manga. Peak storytelling and worldbuilding to me.
Just binged it last night, surprisingly good show.
I showed that clip of Laois overwriting the siren's singing and it got him interested in the show.
Dungeon meshiii!! Finished this series a few weeks ago and man its so good! My fave is laios because i love his overly passionate personality with monsters (hes just like me fr but with my own fixations) and the world building in this show is so good. Cannot wait for season 2!
The best parts of the story are yet to come. Just about every arc is even better than the one before it.
I'm desperate for Merphy to read The Wondering Inn by pirateaba now. She would loooove it. So many characters, relationship dynamics and the allmother of character growths
this manga has been a favorite of mine for the past few months, I'm glad you're watching it. I fell in love with the writing
You have thoroughly sold me on this show. I'm a sucker for stories that involve a thought-out ecosystem that is relevant to the characters and/or plot. This show sounds like it could be good inspiration for a DnD campaign...
Marcille isn't as good in HEALING magic as Falin, 'cause you KNOW what she does midway through
And not being as good in healing magic as Falin isn't that bad because she is like, super talented in it
And falins speciality is spirits and healing and she is pretty amazing. Marcilles,yeah also amazing but kinda, em.
Please do make more in-depth analysis videos on the story too! Would love to see your thoughts on the latter parts of the story, characters, and worldbuilding!
Little by little you cover all my favorite newest series. Can't wait when you will discover Apothecary Diaries. By far my favorite :X
This show was simply a really nice surprise. It has happened to me several times that I thought I knew exactly what is going to happen, liku "ugh, we are doing this trope", only to be completely wrong.
even if dungeon meshi isn't a favourite right now i hope when the later episodes roll around (or if you read the manga) it rises up the list. it's one of my favourites, especially how the manga tackles its themes! id also suggest houseki no kuni which is my FAVOURITE manga and with hat atelier! though wha is getting an anime adaptation soon so maybe it'll get a spot in the limelight
I watched it and quite liked it. It doesn't aim all that high with its storytelling, but it never misses either.
Definitely, the main aspect that made this show so popular is the top-notch animation, that elevates the story.
The world-building, however? That's stellar. Even though I found the characters to be mostly okay, the world-building elevates it for me. It's quite well-thought out and detailed. It doesn't have the "wow" factor of Made in Abyss (one of my favorites), but the depth and thoughtfulness makes me happy.
I love the Dungeons and Dragons mechanics in lore. So it’s been a beautiful watch.
Eyyy, I knew you would like this series, can't remember when but I left a comment recommending it awhile back. Looking forward to more reviews!
The world building is so good because the author of the original manga, Ryoko Kui, is really into playing TTRPGs, like D&D, and the Japanese TTRPG, Sword World, so she approaches building her world much like she would build an original campaign setting for a D&D game.
I picked up the manga a couple of years back, but forgot about it, after this shows release I picked it back up and completed it in a single night (it's fairly short).
The author is very outspoken about playing western-made RPG games and even does fanart for them. Love it.
I did like how very personal story of adventurers on a quest to save friend and familiy did open to broader sociopolitical context.
I thought people would widely dislike Marcille, I'm so glad she's been so well received.
Senshi steals the show.
Tis alright. Once season 2 drops and the story is finished, it's going to be a top contender for your favorite. I'm very confident about it
Really happy you liked this one, the world building/environment/lore/history/focus on ecosystems are all some of my favourite elements in this series so I suspect you would enjoy it :)
For whatever reason the anime didn’t work for me, I think the clashing tones of humour but serious high stakes (save your friend/sister) didn’t mesh well with me… but I think it would work better in the manga so I need to give that a try :)
Yep. it also has even more details.
Scavangers reign too seems to go all in on the eco system
You love cooks merphy😂
I kinda wished sanji has more scenes like senshi has honestly.
Im a sucker to a good world-building! Gimme more pls pls.
I’m an anime only but what I’m really looking forward to about season 2 is that it’ll be the final season. There’s not a whole lot of anime nowadays that can have such well paced, well written and well executed stories that also get complete anime adaptations with consistently high quality. I loved this show way more than I thought I would I cant wait!
even if you are an anime only, i do highly recommend reading the manga. The extra content expands so much more on the characters, their background, and the world in ways that the main story can't touch on given the urgency of everything but it really adds so much more to people that already love the world as it is.
surprised you said you didn't like it as much as frieren, personally as someone who's up to date on both, dungeon meshi far exceeds frieren as an innovative and character focused fantasy contemporary (but that's just me), so i'm excited to see what you think of the second season of dungeon meshi which has already entered production! frieren on the other just got out of a hiatus so that's good, it hadn't been updated in some time
Dungeon Meshi is an excellent example of world-building and character design. It is a very interesting manga.
I love Senshi!
Marcille grew on me after awhile
You’re right about Laios, he’s a good boy.
And Chilchuck. He’s alright I guess
Delicious In Dungeon is so good that once it finished I immediately went and found the manga to carry on with these characters and didn't sleep until I'd finished the journey. 🥰
Yes!! This series will not disappoint as you read/ watch season 2 when it comes out.
I happened to watch a couple of videos about the Wizardry game series just before Delicious in Dungeon started streaming. Didn't expect that to be important, but despite originally being an American series... Wizardry is actually pretty huge in Japan and basically lives there now. So there's a lot of those games' DNA in Delicious in Dungeon.
wow, I followed this manga for years, I didn't expect it to have anime and also reaching Murphy's channel. :D the later half of the story and ending is awesome!!! even more twist and turns.
It was delicious show, can't wait for season 2
I was shocked to find out that Marcille is voiced by Emily Rudd
Delicious in Dungeon is my current favorite thing ever and Senchi is my life goal
I just finished, and i love the thinking that this group is like our DnD group that hate and love each other.😂
ohhhh I bet you'd love the manga as well! they did skip a handful of things and there's the extra "monster tidbits" that add more lore and background facts. also the art is 10/10
I agree they are all main characters to some extent, in my eyes Laios and Marcille are protagonists, personally. both share the main goal of saving falin, and they clash in their perspective when it comes to monsters ahahaha not to say chilchuck, senshi and everyone else aren't fantastic as well I find it hard to even pick a favorite character. because their dynamics with each other are what makes them all shine
Nothing to do with the video, but today's my birthday. Thank you for releasing a video about my favorite new brainrot as I'm watching it, Merphy!
I really enjoyed the goofy lighthearted fun of this series. I cannot wait for the second season and I may end up looking into the manga if I get too impatient.
I also hope at some point you check out the series Spice and Wolf. It is my personal favorite book series and anime of all time. It recently got a new anime adaptation which has been incredible so far.
Yeah, I think we've all got those in-game "Remember when I died?" stories. haha
Can we all just appreciate how much that opening theme song slaps! 🔥 🔥🔥
dungeon meshi genuinely feels unending when it comes to the worldbuilding. i read through the manga and the adventurers' bible and the several loose extras here and there but the next day someone could be like hey check this, heres a subtle detail that came up several time ab this character and i would be like wow. yeah. ryoko kui thought up about that too huh. and she kept making new extras and more insights about her characters and the new info fits in well into the established world and keep you wanting more. also her fantasy racism is one of the best out there i think. i love dungeon meshi racism. thank you ryoko kui
This was a wonderful surprise in my notifications
I loved this series too. It's got me so tempted to dive into the Manga... but I'm trying to be patient for season 2, lol