By Marta F. Suarez
Dine or Die, with a Pinch of Comedy
Delicious in Dungeon (2024, Netflix). Season 1, Episode 3. Living-Armour Stir Fry and Soup [00:18:57]
Delicious in Dungeon (Netflix, 2024-present) is Studio Trigger’s adaptation of Ryōko Kui’s eponymous manga (2014-2023). The series is set in a fantasy world that merges and echoes different fantasy and manga traditions popular in Japan. The overall setting takes the viewer to the dungeon crawl genre, which recently experienced a resurgence in the country after Etrian Odyssey Nexus (2018). The characters’ races and skills are shaped by influences of Dungeons and Dragons, the Middle-Earth world set by Tolkien, and even the Final Fantasy universe, which itself draws inspiration from these narrative traditions. However, what makes Delicious in Dungeon significantly different is the resonances of cooking series like Mister Ajikko (1986-1989), a manga series that had several sequel runs over the years, including a recent 2015-2019 one, titled Mister Ajikko Bakumatsu-hen. The first season comprises 24 episodes, with a new second season coming soon this 2025.
In the world of the story, adventuring parties enter dungeons looking for the legendary Golden Country, a kingdom transported by a sorcerer to the depths of an expansive dungeon, which is said to contain the ultimate treasures. Lured by wealth, fame, and adventure, different guilds enter this dungeon with the hope of finding the lost realm. One of these teams is led by Laios Touden, a tall-man (human) Paladin Knight who starts this quest alongside his sister Falin, a magic wielder; Marcille, a half-elf mage; and Chilchuck, a halfling thief. The opening scenes present the party’s encounter with a magnificent red dragon, against which they are losing. As the beast defeats them one by one, Falin uses her last strength before being ingested by the dragon to teleport the other members of the party out of the dungeon. Still alive but on the surface, the party is now several floors above where the battle took place and too far to attempt to rescue Falin. However, due to the magic of the dungeon, Falin could be resurrected if there are some remains and she has not been fully digested. With this in mind, the group decides to return, defeat the dragon and rescue any remaining parts of Falin. However, with time being of the essence, they realise that they cannot afford to stop to resupply and find provisions, as that would risk their chance to succeed. In a conventional dungeon crawl storytelling, the party would possibly open containers to find cheese and fruit, pick edible mushrooms and seeds, or perhaps kill a rodent and eat a left-behind spoiled pie in a moment of necessity. In contrast, Laios introduces the unconventional idea of eating the monsters they encounter, setting the course for the series. With this decision, the party ensures their survival and the journey becomes also one of gastronomic exploration.
The premise adopts a comedic approach, with Laios exhibiting an almost obsessive enthusiasm for consuming monsters, verging on a fixation. Marcille, in contrast, is disgusted by the idea and often protests very vocally, with Chilchuck taking a more pragmatic attitude but also questioning Laios’ desires to embrace monster cuisine. Their first attempt at cooking a monster ends in disaster due to Laios’s inexperience on the matters of the safe handling and preparation of monster meat. It is at this point that they meet Senshi, a Dwarf warrior who has long embraced cooking monsters and joins the party as the cook. Senshi’s expertise crafts delicious recipes using the monsters they defeat. From here on, the episodes include entering a new room or level where there is an encounter with a new monster, a method to defeat it that considers the best approach to retain flavour or avoid toxins, a detailed recipe explained by Senshi, a commentary on the steps needed or the reasons to cook the monster that way, and the final presentation of the dish to the audience, which include diagrams of the body areas used for that particular recipe and the title (Figure 1). If you have watched any cooking manga series, these scenes replicate the conventions of culinary battles and faceoffs leading to awards, fame and prestige. Yet, this is also a format echoed in contemporary cooking blogs and social media accounts, where a recipe turns into a long post about the memory of a grandmother’s apron, the very special ingredients needed, the precise and unique way to prepare these, and the social-media-ready photos of the result. In this manner, these scenes will appeal to a range of audiences who will find the format familiar for different reasons and will appreciate the humorous tone in which the monster recipe is presented. These scenes become humorous because of the detailed and serious explanations surrounding the recipes, which quite often extrapolate real techniques and advice to soften tough meats, the temperature or timings required in different methods, the way to slice certain ingredients, etc. The series describes real cooking tips with fantasy ingredients and lets the audience linger over the presentation of the final dish with slow panning and close-ups of beautifully presented bowls. And yet, just before risking taking itself too seriously, the group dynamics and reactions to the food smash the exquisite moment with Marcelle’s tantrum about the ingredients, Laios’ overexcitement at trying a new monster, or Chilchuk’s scepticism.
The series makes a case for environmentally sustainable food consumption. With each monster they slay, the group collects different parts as ingredients, many of which are featured in subsequent episodes as part of their supply pack. Quite often, different body parts are used for different recipes and require different cooking techniques. As they continue to descend to the lower levels of the dungeon, the party acquires knowledge about the monsters’ habitats, their biological traits, methods to defeat them for better flavour, and the processes involved in preparing and cooking their meat. While the characters’ reactions to these unconventional meals provide comedic relief, the overarching theme of survival remains central to the narrative, encapsulated within the ‘Eat or Be Eaten’ premise. This is established from the onset through Falin’s story arc. She is eaten in a self-sacrificing act so the party can escape, but the dragon that consumed her is also finally eaten to restore her life, with some unintended consequences. Beyond the comedic premise, the series explores deeper themes of consumption and survival. Marcille’s aversion to monster meat is framed as naïve and even childish, as sustenance and survival should take precedence. Ethical concerns surrounding food emerge at several points in the storytelling, such as when the characters ponder whether eating carnivorous plants that had consumed people would constitute an indirect act of cannibalism. Further exploring the implications of the food chain, Senshi cultivates mud golems to grow produce, prompting questions about the ethics of using monsters as crops. Furthermore, his personal background story explores guilt about potentially (and involuntarily) having consumed Dwarf’s flesh: a personal trauma that is resolved with further culinary experimentation. Even the central objective of the first part of the series, the rescue and resurrection of Falin, presents a series of twists related to transformation through eating. Questions over what is edible cross over with questions over what is socially acceptable to eat, as it is clear by the reactions of other dungeon dwellers that eating monster meat is not at all conventional.
The interactions with other guilds and adventurers help construct a wider view of the society and the world of the party. Racial tensions and prejudice are subtly woven into the worldbuilding, shaping interactions between different races without forming a central narrative arc. The story consistently reminds viewers that mistrust and misunderstandings persist, showing how each race holds distinct perspectives on events, differing approaches to situations, and varying degrees of knowledge and historical memory. Rather than presenting feuds or conflicts of major consequence, these tensions emerge organically in dialogue and worldbuilding detail. Characters remark on racial preconceptions, challenge how they are perceived, or reference historical narratives that reflect their community’s perspective. These scenes underscore the lingering effects of prejudice, stereotypes, and the accumulated weight of centuries of assumptions. However, the tensions that these moments could build are turned into comedy relief towards the end of the season, when the characters undergo temporary transformations that change their race after being exposed to a type of mushroom. These moments playfully subvert the prejudices and assumptions established earlier in the story, offering amusing reflections around identity and the self.
Fan interpretations have highlighted additional layers within the narrative, such as the portrayal of neurodivergence via Laios, or the potential to read characters like Izutsumi as queer or trans coded, a point also made about Lycion, a character in the manga books who could possibly appear in the upcoming season 2. Although these elements have not been officially endorsed and in some cases have been denied, the fanbase attributes these characterisations to the author’s unconscious representation of identities drawn from real-life inspirations.
Delicious in Dungeon is an entertaining series that uses familiar tropes, genres, and archetypes to playfully twist them for a giggle. The characters are constructed with very defined personalities that are distinctive and endearing, complementing each other and allowing the camaraderie of the party to shine through. The comedy is built around their reactions to situations (and food), which almost work like a hot potato game where emotions are thrown around in the same scene with the shape of shock, laughter, embarrassment, annoyance, and resolve, among others. Contrast is a comedy device throughout, making unexpected conjunctions, epitomised most of all in the development of the culinary art of monster cooking. It is comfort food, a well-seasoned dish of (un)familiar flavours with an extra bit on the side that tastes funny. It might be the monsters.
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Bio:
Marta F. Suarez is a Senior Lecturer in Latin American Cultural Studies (Screen Media). With a background in screen studies and storytelling, her research explores speculative fiction in screen media, unveiling the tensions and dialogues arising between portrayals of race and gender and the societies from within which they are imagined. She is currently working on transmedia narratives and exploring questions of adaptation, storytelling, and portrayals of identity. In her spare time, she can be found adventuring on the PlayStation or on a watching spree across diverse streaming media.
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