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.
2/26/2022: ★★★★☆ The way Delicious in Dungeon balances macabre with humor has always been out of this world and it's especially true for this volume. I honestly have no idea how they're getting out of this current predicament and it looks like things would only get worse from here. The series is definitely getting close to its end. Perhaps another 20 chapters to wrap everything up?
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.
Personal notes: Another volume packed with original ideas and great art. A perfect blend of comedy, drama, action and cooking. Highlights include the creepy rooms in the lunatic magician's house, the full-page chapter illustrations (bonkers!), the reveal on pages 40-41, and Marcille using necromancy to make a bunch of dead killer rabbits match her movements.
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.