Jun 15, 2024
Dungeon Meshi is one of my favorite pieces of art to come out in recent years. On the surface, it looks like a simple slice of life or gag manga about cooking, but I truly feel like it’s the kind of special and epic show that’s comparable in scale and quality to titans like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
The cast of characters is wide and diverse, and yet there isn’t a single weak link. Every character from visual design to characterization feels fully fleshed out and cared for regardless of how much screen time they have. Because the story is primarily confined to the dungeon, we don’t
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see much of the rest of the world, but we can certainly feel its presence through the way the characters look and act. Entire essays can(and have) been written about Ryoko Kui’s mastery of the art of character design, and in particular I would recommend Lines in Motion’s video on this subject.
The main cast of four alone might be the best I’ve seen in anime, on par with One Piece in a fraction of the amount of time. Halfway through the first cour, I already felt like I would die for these goofy goobers. Laios’s adorable obsession with monsters, Marcille’s aversion to anything outside of her comfort zone, Chilchuck’s professional attitude, and Senshi kind of being the dad of the group… Each one has their own unique quirks and motivations that play off of each other fluidly like a four-way game of table tennis.
The worldbuilding is immaculate. At the start, it seems like a simple D&D-inspired fair with its mimics and orcs and elves and dwarves, but the mechanisms of the world are wholly original and Kui always has a unique twist on these seemingly played out ideas. She makes RPG mechanics like resurrection seem realistic and grounded while never taking away from the stakes and weight of the characters’ actions. Every part of the world she’s crafted feels meticulously planned out and thought over in a way that’s refreshing in a medium full of half-baked MMORPG slop. I loved Frieren for its incredible production and likable characters but I also felt that the worldbuilding there was incredibly basic.
Speaking of production, Studio Trigger has done an incredible job with the adaptation so far. It’s certainly much more conventional and less crazy than their previous efforts like Kill La Kill or Cyberpunk Edgerunners, but it works perfectly with a series like this. It’s not as pristine or glossy as something like Frieren, but it has a rough edge to it that gives it a lot of personality and weight during its most impactful moments.
As a minor point, to draw back to the Fullmetal Alchemist comparison, this show is as good as it is and yet also manages to have universal appeal outside of the anime niche. Name any annoying anime trope(fanservice, loli, perverted “comedy” characters), and you will find that none of it is present here.
One of the most impressive things about the show, to me, is its tonal confidence and consistency. One thing you’ll hear a lot about Dungeon Meshi is how dark it can get at points, and it manages to do this while never going full edgelord and fumbling with the emotional identity it established for itself from the start. Every event feels consistent with what has been previously established, and because of this the show manages to go from silly cooking antics to emotionally devastating character revelations seamlessly. During a certain turning point in the show, I noticed that some people were concerned that the show was “going dark,” but no matter how dark the show gets it never loses its joyful and optimistic side. It’s one of the least cynical stories I’ve seen in recent years. It’s earnest and endearing and confident in a way that’s extremely refreshing. I really have nothing bad to say about this series, and I’m so happy that it’s getting the complete adaptation it deserves.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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