Delicious in Dungeon’s Popularity, Explained

Of all the anime that have come out in 2024, nothing was quite as surprising as Delicious in Dungeon, also known as Dungeon Meshi. This cooking-themed fantasy anime doesn’t seem like something that would work on paper. This anime, however, has proven that notion wrong episode after episode, bringing us deeper into the culinary world of our new favorite characters with every monstrous bite. The dishes look delicious, and the plot it serves up as the main course is just as endearing.

The anime community, for the most part, is growing tired of fantasy isekai and as a result, fantasy anime as a whole (with very few exceptions). We’ve seen the same plot repeated and regurgitated over and over again in these anime, and it’s become exhausting to consume. So what sets this one apart, aside from the obvious cooking theme? Why is the internet suddenly attached to these characters? How did a fantasy cooking anime manage to get 100% on Rotten Tomatoes of all places? These are the questions we aim to answer today.

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Delicious In Dungeon Manga Box Set Now Available for Preorder

One of the year’s biggest anime series is getting a box set for the manga that started it all! Pre-order Delicious in Dungeon today!

What Is Delicious in Dungeon About?

No, It’s Not Just Fantasy Food Wars

In Delicious in Dungeon, we are taken along the story of Laios, who has just watched his sister become eaten by a dragon in a failed dungeon raid. The rest of his dungeon party set off with Laios to save his sister before she becomes digested by the very dragon that ate her, but there’s a catch; the team has lost most of their food rations during the raid, and must decide to source their food from inside the dungeon… somehow. Laios, to the protest of others, suggests they gather nearby mushrooms and the giant scorpion they’ve just killed.

Thankfully for the team, they meet a dwarf who knows exactly what to do; cook the monsters they slay in the dungeon, just as Laios suggested. He shows the crew how to take what they have in the dungeon to create a Hot Pot, which tastes insanely delicious after their battle. The crew ends up recruiting this dwarf, who is named Senshi, onto their team as they continue the time-sensitive mission to save Laios’s sister. Throughout their adventure, the team continues to fight monsters, turn them into delicious meals… and learn more about each other along the way.

Who Made Delicious In Dungeon?

A Manga Author, Baldur’s Gate Fan, And Rigid D&D Researcher

The author of Delicious In Dungeon, Ryoko Kui, hasn’t written much manga before the one before this. She posted shorter works on Pixiv and other similar platforms until 2013, when she won the Excellence Award in the Manga Division of the 17th Japan Media Arts Festival for a short manga called Terrarium in Drawer. It was only a year later she published Delicious in Dungeon in the serial seinen magazine Harta, and has only just finished the manga last year, 9 years after it started.

When it comes to inspiration for the manga itself, Ryoko Kui is an avid consumer of fantasy content. She read both The Neverending Story and The Lord of the Rings prior to writing Delicious in Dungeon. She has stated in interviews that she thoroughly researched the rulebooks of Dungeons and Dragons before she wrote the manga. She’s also talked multiple times about the fantasy video games she’s played. To date, she’s named and/or drew fan art for Baldur’s Gate, Baldur’s Gate II, Shadows of Amn, Baldur’s Gate III, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, and Planescape: Torment. She’s also talked about fond memories of fantasy games her father played growing up that directly inspired Delicious in Dungeon.

What Makes Delicious in Dungeon So Good?

Turning A Simple Act Into A Fantastical One

Delicious in Dungeon is a rare gem that transforms the mundane act of cooking into an enchanting odyssey through a vibrant fantasy world. The anime’s atmosphere is a harmonious blend of whimsy, danger, and warmth, inviting viewers into a universe where every bite tells a story and every setting feels alive with possibility. The visuals are rich and textured, seamlessly marrying the grotesque with the beautiful. The dungeons, dark and teeming with peculiar monsters, evoke a sense of danger, yet they’re brimming with lush, unexpected detail that sparks curiosity rather than dread.

The dichotomy of peril and charm sets the tone, making the world feel both fantastical and oddly grounded. What elevates the atmosphere is the almost reverent attention given to food. Each dish, painstakingly crafted from the spoils of battle, is rendered with such care that you can almost taste it. Every scene devoted to cooking becomes a celebration of creativity and survival, transforming the utilitarian act of sustenance into something magical.

The characters’ camaraderie infuses the world with warmth and humor, softening the sharp edges of the dungeon’s dangers. Their shared meals, often hilariously improvised and bizarrely delicious, create moments of respite and connection that feel deeply human, even in such a fantastical setting. The anime’s pacing mirrors its themes of discovery and savoring; deliberate yet never dragging, allowing viewers to steep in the atmosphere. Delicious in Dungeon feels like stepping into an otherworldly inn, where danger is a seasoning for adventure, and every corner hides a new flavor to savor.

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Delicious in Dungeon

Based on the manga series, Delicious in Dungeon is a comedic fantasy series with a cooking emphasis. The series follows the exploits of a guild leader named Laios as he heads into a massive dungeon that contains a sunken kingdom, lured by the promise of untold treasure if he can slay the magician that caused it all. When a dragon takes his sister captive, Laios partners up with a new group of adventures and finds themselves cooking monsters to keep themselves filled as they seek to stop the dragon and save his sister.

Studio

Trigger

Japanese Title

Dungeon Meshi

Based On

Manga

Creator

Ryoko Kui

MyAnimeList Score

8.61

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