Delicious in Dungeon, also known as Dungeon Meshi, is a manga series that follows a group of adventurers as they explore a dungeon and cook the monsters they encounter.
The party continues to explore the dungeon and gather ingredients for their meals. Preparing to face the master of the dungeon, they find Thistle's humble cottage a mess.
Overall, Delicious in Dungeon is a unique and entertaining manga series that combines dungeon-crawling adventure with cooking. The characters are well-developed, and the world-building is excellent. The art style is also fantastic, and the monsters look both terrifying and delicious. I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys fantasy, comedy, and cooking.
In the first half of the book, our adventuring group manages to kill and eat a few monsters in ways most macabre -- always my favorite part of this series -- before giving us an origin for Sissel the Lunatic Magician and jumping into a climactic battle with him that brings us to a cliffhanger leaving me desperate for the next volume.
I enjoyed this one a lot, the cliffhanger ending is a tough pill to swallow but I don’t have too long to wait for volume 11. The antagonist Sissel gets a lot of page time as we learn his origin story, it “humanizes” him a lot but also shows us just how off his rocker and dangerous he is. All in all excellent and continues to be one of the best ongoings at the moment.
This Volume had a lot of fun moments again but the pressure and conflict are clearly rising up for a big finale.
Additional thoughts: - The way Shenshi cooked the phoenix was just so creative. - Loved the whole rabbit plotline. The main characters plans are always so unhinged and hilarious. - I don't thrust the winged lion one bit. I guess he's a demon but bro. - That scene with Falin hurt so much. - Actually think Sissel just did what he was asked to do in the beginning and just spiralled from there. So he's just not that much of a villain. Or I'm just really feeling bad for the guy I guess. - The dishes at the end were just *chef's kiss*
I fully admit I had a bit of a tough time remembering all of the different plot points and players involved up to this point. It is a true unfortunate part of being caught up on this series and having to wait for each volume to come out that I’m forgetting important details from past volumes.
Especially since this seems like real endgame stuff now. More of Sissel’s past is revealed in this volume. Laios and company go on a cleaning spree in Sissel’s house in an attempt to find the winged lion and free Falin from his grasp. They also kill 20 terrifying dungeon bunnies in order to make a truly delightful curry, poor Marcille will probably never recover. And that party of jerk elves that has come to scorch the dungeon show up in a few places with Kabru in tow. Kabru continues to try to reason with the captain about Laios and his party to little effect.
But the final battle in this book really doesn’t go our friends’ way and then it just ends on a horrible dragony cliffhanger! I can’t believe I have to wait for volume 11 now, le sigh.
A terrible cliffhanger--have the next volume ready! Things are really starting to come to a head now. All the disparate groups are converging and the boss fights are in progress. It's terrible since we know more about what the winged lion's motivations are! And I loved the murder rabbits.
Content notes: violence, difficult sibling on sibling murder scene
I waited a year for this so it's only fair I get it two weeks early. Really great new volume, even though it's been a year I am immediately back with these characters I love, and there are some great new story twists that make them even more whole - beautiful.
The Sissel lore was all very good and Marcille being the sole survivor of the bunny attack was deliciously angsty. Laois having to kill Falin 🥺 and all the dragons at the end!!! Cool as hell!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I'm always intimidated by the thickness if these volumes but then I end up blowing through it in less than an hour. It's engrossing, even after 10 volumes.
(the following review is a spoiler-free review of the entire series that i will copy onto the other 13 volumes)
wanted to reread the series before the final volume released this month.
what a joyous thing.
i own two manga series in totality that i return to frequently when i'm looking for comfort: dorohedoro by q hayashida (an admittedly VERY different experience in some ways), and now delicious in dungeon by ryoko kui. cracking open a volume from either series at any time is like a weighted blanket for my soul. (i'll be dropping a review for my recent re-read of dorohedoro soon, too.)
anyway. these were wonderful. if you've watched what's been released of the anime series thus far and you've enjoyed it, then this series comes with my highest recommendation! the anime is fantastic, but i believe that this story is most effective in its original medium. it's not surprising that they couldn't capture every moment in the show, but there is also something structurally impossible to recreate in animation. i wouldn't say the comic's pacing is slow, but it has much more confidence in its stride. like its many exhortations to healthy living, the comic series itself is hale, fully-fleshed and fit. it is, in fact, nourishing. i know it's a bit on the nose to use language like this, but i can't think how else to express my feelings here at the end, but also how i felt as i progressed through it.
you leave each volume (the final one, especially) invigorated with a zest for life. a major theme at work in the text is how we manage our desires, so it's no surprise that i walk away thinking more poignantly of my own desires. i want to cook more. i want to exercise. i want to go outside and see something. i want to wonder.
in the midst of this reread, i was nearly laid off (again (again))—such is the joy of being an english teacher in the public school system under late capitalism in america. i've been trying to find more things that give me joy in the last few years as my immediate environs change. friends marry, move, have children; jobs market is unstable; being in your 30's and living at home with parents as they change and often buckle beneath the weight of time and current events; dating is a hellscape; my cat is getting older... but recently i've been cooking more. i've been studying birds—i'm trying to get into photography, for the birds. i've dusted off my japanese textbooks and want to be able to play/read a rudimentary japanese game by the end of the calendar year—i've been mindful of my social media intake, i've been trying to drink less during the week, i've switched over to predominantly decaffeinated coffee (it's good! you need to buy the decent kind!).
i'm finding ways to manage my desires and realize them.
and when something doesn't take, that's fine. it's hard, and i do fumble a lot. but these are all things i'm thinking about, in large part because of this series. it's not that i've never thought of these things before, but there's something about this series that inspires me to try.
read delicious in dungeon!
my star system: 1 star - this book must be forgotten by god and man 2 star - i was not wild about this book 3 star - other people will enjoy this more than i, but i see the appeal/enjoyed it/probably had some fun 4 star - i love this book and wholeheartedly recommend it 5 star - i am an absolute freak and this book was written specifically for me, your mileage may vary
senshi talking about how enjoyable was the experience of cooking a phoenix lol.
"I'm not emotionally ready for this!" same chilchuck same. also him being irked by laios giving reasonable answers jhfkfdfs he has his moments.
izutsumi was so ready to snap back to laios but he is as unpredictable as always.
the myth about the dungeon rabbits taking off heads was real 💀
laughing so hard at the scene where marcille uses necromancy to control chilchuck and then adds the rabbits and senshi too because she didn't want to kill the rabbits herself. such an icon. laios had so much faith in her and it was absolutely deserved. marcille not wanting to be left behind, alone, makes so much sense as her fear. chapter 65 must have become one of my favorites. also, senshi and laios trying to comfort her 😭
kabru being amazing at dealing with mithrun while laios and the others seem to be working at a restaurant and have to prepare a big serving lmao. laios always imagines kabru winking his eye 🤭 the new version of for "the power of frienship" is "let's show the power of our food" and I love it.
okay I'm a bit sad after seeing how close were thistle and derghal. they grow up together but, as marcille fears, derghal had to face death much sooner than his friend. so once again, his wishes an marcille's are the same, having more time next to the people they love, being able to be together forever. also, falin being this scary big monster but being so sweet and obedient.
derghal was the one who put all the dungeon's and ancient magic ideas in thistle's head 😐 and the king's son was pretty ungrateful to thistle even if the dungeon was the only thing that let him live quite a good life.
a battle against the food's expiration date!! laios pls oh no they didn't know marcille was a half-elf. laios knowledge about monsters always comes in handy (I hope it isn't too late).