Dungeon Meshi

I would say the manga is a 10/10 while the anime id 9/10 because the animation quality kinda varies here and then. Some might like it but for me it was such a jarring transition especially when they do it in one episode.

I did started this series from watching the anime. It didnt interest me at first until like episode 2 and then I started reading the manga.

I have to give my highest praise to the mangaka. I dont think I ever saw another series that put so much work and detail on their lore, character designs, and world designs. The mangaka really knows what she's doing and it truly shown in the manga (and the anime since they follow the manga pretty closely).

The anime has become one of the things I look for every week. I just wish they would have animated the extra mondter tidbit from the manga too and put it in as an extra. It would be an added joy to watch.

The show has been carefully designed, to make use of vibrant colors and quick pacing, which hooks you and keeps you watching. The concept is entirely unique, has the perfect sense of morbid curiosity, and is intertwined with a meta story that wraps into something bigger which is excellent. Surprisingly for a Netflix show, the main character Laios is not portrayed shamefully, and there's many elements of cultural European folktale and mythos - portrayed again, surprisingly accurate for being curated by Japanese. Clear inspiration from Dungeons and Dragons, which is infinitely fascinating, but the show has its own concepts. Though, Namari's voice acting was jarring and hard to listen to.

The show doesn't take itself too seriously despite having many references to depth. And, it is childlike in a sense. I think it's good if you have no intention of a more serious plot. I do think there's just a little too much emphasis on food at times, which I honestly think could've been handled in a less repetitive fashion - it alternates between a medieval fantasy setting and a cooking show and I think the former is more intriguing personally.

In the beginning, Laios seems pretty unemotional which isn't explained until they go into how death and resurrection works. That seemed out of place, and for people watching I don't think they'll understand. It really does almost portray him as a straight up psychopath at first.

On the topic of death and resurrection, having something go wrong that gives rise to "real deaths", I think would give more gravity to the storyline. Adding or subtracting characters, especially in a political climate adds a lot of meaning. Marcille's charisma is really held back by her unwillingness, and there's not much of a character ark that has handled that so far. Izutsumi's negativity kind of brought the party out of balance and there's not much chemistry with Chilchuck.

Those are my criticisms, however it's still in general enjoyable to watch: the campy nature of an adventure party never fails to entertain, medieval fantasy will always strike the perfect chords for me, and the intrigue painted by the plot clearly does a great job of making an easy to follow and interesting story.

Hoping to revisit this series when newer seasons arrive, and that it gains popularity.

What started as a light watch and silly anime really expanded into a gripping and fun show! I love that they release it weekly because I look forward to it. I love every second of it. The relationship development is super interesting, the cooking theme is cute and really clever, and the writing is great- so many funny bits with great comical timing. The show surprised me with the darker overarching storyline which develops over the season and I've found the pacing and development to be a little confusing but also engaging and it leaves me wanting more. I love the primary cast but the secondary characters have surprised me with their quality additions to the story and plot. It's kind of a trust the process start which pans out well.

This is based of a manga by the same name which has been completed in Japanese as of this review. While it may start a bit slow, it is VERY worth sticking around for.

Per the manga, the characters have fun interactions, the world isn't as simple as it seems, and the plot gets twisty. It has a constant forward progression yet retains the spirit a food centric anime. It's very well balanced in all these and the pacing may be a little more slow than normal for anime, but there is no dawdling, that's replaced by character development. Honestly, I think it's just worth it for the characters alone and the comedy is solid.

I really hope Trigger does right by this through the end (hoping we get that far) and so far they have delivered.

It was great, very amusing. I appreciate the attention to detail with both the cooking and explanations of the dungeon's ecosystem.

I did not read the manga, so I had no expectations about how characters should sound. So, while "some people" complained about the English voice acting I didn't have any problems with it, my perspective is that those people are overly sensitive. The target of said criticism was a female dwarf character who sounds a bit manly; but it could be artistic interpretation of what a female dwarf sounds like. Those people should stop crying over trivial nonsense and grow up.