The Winter 2024 Anime Preview Guide

Delicious in Dungeon

The knight Laios sets out with a skilled party to claim the treasure of a lost kingdom buried deep beneath the graveyard of a small village. Unfortunately, they were bested by a Flame Dragon, who ate Laios's little sister, Farin. Although the party managed to teleport out of the dungeon, they left their equipment behind and were penniless. Demoralized, the party broke up. Now Laios must tackle the dungeon again, and with only one month to save Farin before she is digested.

Delicious in Dungeon is based on a manga of the same name by Ryōko Kui. The anime series is streaming on Netflix on Thursdays.

You know what I love about Studio Trigger? More than the crew's zany comic sensibilities, impeccable craftsmanship, or penchant for very satisfying action spectacle, I just adore the whole vibe that the studio gives each of its productions. Regardless of the genre, or the medium, or what have you, pretty much every time I watch a Trigger anime, it feels like I'm kicking back with some of my old pals and knocking back some drinks while laughing way too hard at all of our stupid jokes.

I'll give you an example of what I mean. There is one specific cut in this premiere of Delicious in Dungeon that had me cackling like a madman—not because it was the absolute funniest joke of all time, but because I could just see the animator in charge of that sequence grinning like a Cheshire Cat over getting away with it. It comes when our incredibly enthusiastic hero Laios takes one of his many pauses in the quest to rescue his sister from the belly of a hibernating dragon in order to geek out to his party's healer, Marcille, about monsters (as both fascinating fauna and delicious meal ingredients). Marcille, for her part, has had the unfortunate luck of being born as a halfway sane woman who doesn't actually want to think all that much about whether getting slowly strangled to death by one varietal of carnivorous plant would be preferable to a quick, bone-shattering end in the vines of another. Instead of hamming up her reaction with a goofy sound effect or the usual “Whaaaaaaaaat!?”, though, the camera makes a single jagged smash cut to the incredulous look on her face, and we sit for a single moment of perfectly dead silence as the entire show grinds to a halt so we can all contemplate the life choices that Marcille must have made to end up in this conversation.

I genuinely thought that the Netflix player might have just bugged out for a second, but no, the joke is really just edited like a goofy YouTube shitpost—and that made me adore it so much more. Here is a lushly animated show featuring an incredibly likeable cast of characters digging into deliciously insane looking monster meals, all which is set to music composed by Yasunori freaking Mitsuda, and the moment that won me over completely was a split-second visual gag that I might have missed if I sneezed at the wrong time.

That's just what watching a Studio Trigger joint is all about, though. Every single element of this production has been made with such obvious care and joy that it is easy to let it all wash over you and really savor all of the littlest, stupidest details that were (hopefully) just as much fun to create as they were to watch. I don't know if Delicious in Dungeon is going to stand as Trigger's magnum opus or anything, but it will certainly be one of the season's premium “Netflix and Chill” anime.

...You know, on account of it being such a relaxing and cozy time, and all. That's what that phrase means, right? As in, “Don't wait up for me too late, honey, because tonight I'm going to put on Delicious in Dungeon and have some Netflix and Chill time with my bros from work.” Yeah, that sounds about right!

This is actually my second time watching this episode of Delicious in Dungeon. The first few episodes were screened in Japanese movie theaters last month and I caught it there (and you can read my full review here). Watching it again has done little to change my main issue with the series: the clashing tones.

On one hand, we have our heroes on a desperate rescue mission. They have to reach the deep levels of the dungeon as fast as possible in order to kill the dragon before Falin's corpse is digested—leaving her resurrection impossible. They don't have time to replenish their supplies or gather a proper party. They have no choice but to try and survive off of what they find in the dungeon alone.

On the other hand, they seem to have plenty of time to laze about cooking food, talk about monsters and go hunting for cooking ingredients. But what gets me is that they just don't seem to be in a hurry or act worried about their dead sister/friend after the first half of the episode. It makes me confused about how I am supposed to feel. Is this a rescue mission or a leisurely stroll?

It also doesn't help that I am not into “food porn”—especially when that food doesn't actually exist. I don't find any appeal in a cooking show with detailed recipes for fake food either. So, all in all, this is a big miss for me. I don't think it's terrible but nothing in this first episode (or the first three, in all honesty) leave me invested enough to continue watching.

There may be other series with premises similar to Delicious in Dungeon, but I feel like it was the start of things – or at least the series that brought the whole "dungeon foodie" subgenre into the light. With that said, the plot here is nothing to write home about – we've got our basic cast of characters, a set mission, and a couple of guys who really get off on the idea of foraging for food in the dungeon. It's hard to blame them, really, because how much easier would clearing dungeons be if you didn't have to bring food or leave when it ran out? Laios' enthusiasm for the idea can even be partially written off as a way for him to get back to the bottom levels to save his sister Falin from the stomach of a red dragon that much faster. The fact that their new companion, Senshi, is keen on eating said dragon? Much less comfortable, as Laios and his remaining party members muse.

It is something that they need to think about at least a little, though, because, as they quickly discover in the second half of the episode, finding something to eat that hasn't already eaten someone is a tall order. Even the plants are carnivorous, and poor elf mage Marcille struggles with the idea. (on the other hand, Senshi thinks that a little digested human makes it taste better.) Much of the humor in this episode feels like it comes from Marcille being disgusted by the idea of consuming monsters or being attacked by them. It's not a great look, because Marcille is the only female (or female-presenting) character apart from Falin, who has already been eaten after sacrificing herself to save everyone else. Not that any of the characters are all that developed, but that Marcille's defining characteristics are "screams and almost gets eaten a lot," which leaves a little to be desired.

On the other hand, this looks great. I was charmed by the little animation of the running mushroom before the episode started, and I love a BUMP OF CHICKEN song. Although the creature designs aren't anything particularly unique, they do all look good, and I like the way that the cooking techniques all mimic the real-life foods the monsters sort of resemble; the scorpion functioning like crayfish or lobster (although the claws are the best part of the lobster, and I will die on this hill) is a very nice touch. From what I recall of the few manga volumes I read, this is the format the series will follow, with some additional character work coming in, so it's not likely to blow any minds with its storytelling or plot. But it is fun and nice to look at, and I definitely recommend checking it out.

I have a sickness that makes me ask questions about fictional worlds that most creators don't want to answer, and for good reason. When you're making a big new universe for your cool story about fighting monsters and magic, the last thing you care about is laying out a whole food chain for your fantasy menagerie, or where and how all these mythical creatures take their poops, and 95% of viewers won't care either. Yet there's something really intriguing to me about seeing a creator dig into their own world's imagined ecology and logistics, treating these like real ecosystems that intersect with all the high-flying action, and Delicious in Dungeon scratches that itch beautifully.

Ostensibly, this is an adventure comedy about a group of DnD (get it?) style adventurers trying to rescue their fallen companion from the belly of a dragon. While that's the driving motivation, the actual meat of this episode is, well, the meat. Specifically monster meat and all the creative, delicious ways you can cook it. There's certainly some comedy to be had from the characters, but the big draw is seeing all the unique ways the show can turn standard fantasy monsters into gorgeously illustrated meals for those characters. That's likely to push some people away, but I personally love seeing how creative they can get with it. From cutting up a giant scorpion like its shellfish, to turning slimes into a kind of gelatin preserve, or just delineating the different kinds of man-eating plants by how their fruit tastes, this first episode is a smorgasbord of deliciously weird cuisine and fake animal facts. That's sustenance for weird nerds, but also makes this whole dungeon feel like a real place. Of course, people will try eating these weird creatures – that's what real humans have been doing since we first learned to hunt. By building and considering an entire food chain within the dungeon, this whole world feels instantly more grounded than any exposition could accomplish.

That food is also where the animation resources were most heavily devoted. While the rest of the episode is solid, carried mainly by the rounded and appealing character designs and overall beautiful environments, the cooking is definitely the star. There are so many sumptuously rendered shots of hands carefully skinning fruit, slicing meat, and stirring pots. There's a concerted effort to make each dish Senshi cooks up look absolutely mouthwatering. It's more reserved effort than some might expect from a Studio Trigger production, but it's also the right choice for this material. Laios, Marcille, and everyone else has an offbeat humor that works best when it's a little understated, allowing one or two grimacing faces or silent comedy beats to get laughs, rather than going for louder, more animated punchlines.

The one wrinkle is in the setup. It's hard not to get hung up on the fact that Laios and co. are supposed to be on a mission to rescue his sister from the digestive tract of a dragon, but most of the time we spend with them is during downtime, filling their bellies with weird new tastes, while all their progress through the dungeon is off-screen. It creates a sense of friction with the audience, where we expect these characters to be moving with urgency, but only witness them when they're recuperating and focused on filling their stomachs. The given justification is that dragons hibernate most of the time, so Falin is “probably” not going to be turned into dragon poop any time soon, but you still can't shake the feeling that these doofuses need to hurry up, make like Tom Petty, and free Falin.

That, along with the offbeat tone and reserved production, might be too big a hurdle for some, but this introduction hit the exact right spot in my brain. It may become a bit of an acquired taste, but I'm definitely returning for another helping.