Recently, Netflix finished releasing the anime adaptation of “Delicious in Dungeon” by Ryoko Kui. I found this show to be extremely enthralling and beautiful in a number of ways.

“Delicious in Dungeon” takes special care to get the viewer in its world through use of fantastic worldbuilding. A different fantasy show would explain things about the world through clunky expository dialogue, but “Delicious in Dungeon” introduces it through minor details, like offhanded comments made by a character here and there. 

For example, one of the main characters, Chilchuck, is a half-foot, a race similar to humans, but essentially just smaller and shorter-lived. Some characters know this, while others don’t, because some characters simply aren’t aware of half-foots as a race. As such, some characters think Chilchuck is a young child and treat him as such.

Another exemplary thing about this show is the way character relationships are explored. The main driving force behind the plot is the sister to the main character (Falin) was eaten by a dragon. As this is easily reversible in universe, the main party of characters must retrieve her to revive her. The show is very careful to establish everyone’s ties to Falin, from sister to good friend, so when they see her again, it brought a tear to my eye.

Something that really makes this show good is its visuals. The studio behind it, Studio Trigger, hired people to draw the food specifically. This show is partially a cooking show, so the food was important to get right, so when I found myself getting a bit hungry looking at ghost gelato, I knew the visuals were good.

Additionally, the characters move in such defined, unique ways. A fault in a lot of cartoons is the static way characters move, where you could put any character there and it still makes sense. But in “Delicious in Dungeon,” you can really tell the love that was put into, say, Laios’s hand movements as he prepares to draw his sword. It’s so uniquely him that it couldn’t be anyone else. 

All in all, this adaptation is fantastic and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who thinks it sounds interesting. It really gives you a lot to think about.