There's a scene where aliens take the main character to a burger joint. One alien is into hip-hop, the other is into BBQ. They mention that their hometown is "80% druggies," to which the main character responds "I bet they don't even have a library." Later that chapter they beat the aliens to death and eat them.
Aliens are presented as rich, vain, clueless, crude, whiny, and quick to violence. Japanese society is "on their side." They are "peacefully invading" Japan. The premise is about as blatant a racist dogwhistle as a manga could get away with being published under.
Even divorced from that controversy, however,
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May 10, 2024
Dungeon Meshi
(Anime)
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Dungeon Meshi, like its sister show Frieren, represents a bold return to unapologetically *good* fantasy anime.
The worldbuilding is ridiculously well put-together, and dedicates a lot of thought to things that viewers often take for granted in fantasy. Monsters of all kinds have well-defined anatomy that is often relevant to the plot, exploited extensively to win in a smart way or used as ingredients in delicious dishes. The dungeon itself is an ecosystem of fantastical creatures that feed off of one another in a delicate balance, and this balance has shifted to include unsuspecting adventurers as more have flocked to its gates. Likewise, while the story takes ... |
