#yes this is a Dungeon Meshi Thought but only because it's putting into perspective a lot of other fiction

[pyreo]

we as humans really do have this developmental attachment to The Horrors In The Depths don't we

we want to go down there. we're curious. we need to know. we'll come out better for it

but there's always Something there. Things aren't normal. You leave what you know behind. Creatures are different. People are different. There's religion down there, demons. There's beasts that want you dead. Your dead sister is down there. The side of yourself that you hate is down there. There are sins down there nobody wants known. There's jealousy. There's sex. You'll go mad. You'll starve. You'll change.

But you'll go down there anyway.

#yes this is a Dungeon Meshi Thought but only because it's putting into perspective a lot of other fiction #just off the top of my head #the diablo series. lord of the rings. minecraft. baldur's gate. legend of zelda. gw2. undertale. elder scrolls. you know. every roguelike. #1/4 of all horror movies probably #oh early final fantasy was very RPGcore like this #we bury things. we bury them and then go looking forthem again as if we didnt put them there

[roydeezed]

Dungeon Meshi Episode 8 shows us the heart of the series

If you're a new watcher, I feel like Episode 8 is the perfect episode to show off the series' charm as well as hook viewers. For people trying to get their friends into it, it's also the perfect episode to throw them into, to convince them. The art and animation is top notch, with characters being their goofiest selves. The fireside storytelling really lends to the shows cozy atmosphere. The worldbuilding rears it's head as well, with the instance about the guano and slime and the adventurers controlling the population putting into perspective the thought behind the series in a almost meta textual props from Ryoko Kui to herself. And we get to see the beating heart of the series that is Falin. Which is what I really want to talk about.

Falin is quite literally the beating heart of the show. The telltale heart that's been ripped out and is missing, but still beating somewhere within the walls of the dungeon. She is the reason for the journey itself and also how we see the redeemable, caring and loving side of our heroes. Laois as a big brother, Chilchuck as a friend, and Marcille as a... "friend". But despite all of that, she's gone for most of the story. It's not until episode 8 where we learn about her personality other than her being self sacrificing. But that's why it works. She haunts the narrative in so many different ways. In a masterful stroke of storytelling, Ryoko Kui was somehow able to meld gothic romance with a high fantasy adventure. Falin literally haunts the main characters through the architecture, the dungeon itself a constant reminder of their failure and the love the party and Falin have for each other. We see her as small, frail, and weak, but ultimately someone incredibly admirable for sticking to her sense of self, something the narrative rewards her for. This episode also calls back to this empty hole in the party. Falin knows healing magic. Falin knew about the slime, she might've known about the Undine. Falin was at harmony with many of the things they find themselves coming up against. There's also a sharp contrast between what I can only describe as Marcille's "failgirl" tendencies and her reputation as a prodigy with Falins reputation as a slacker and the constant invoking of her name in a manner akin to a savior, someone who would know what to do. This episode completes the picture, in a very early rough draft sense of the phrase, of Falin and the motivation behind the journey. They have to rescue her, yes, but she isn't a damsel in distress. Because they've already failed her. She's dead. All they can hope for is to be able to somehow revive her and maybe redeem themselves in the end. And she was a vital member of their party in so many ways that her missing presence is felt almost through the entire journey. Finally, that little part about Falin being lonely until Marcille showed up puts a bow on top of everything. Her loneliness in the past contrasts with how alone she must be in death, another specter of a thought that hangs over them.

P.S. I gotta gush about the worldbuilding cause I really didn't appreciate it the first time around that I read it cause watching that guano and slime scene animated made me flashback to my first D&D campaign where I'd given one of my players some magic beans. The dungeon started in a cave filled with bats before going on with proper cobblestone and torches and other dungeon fixtures. The bean player asked if there was any bat guano on the ground and scooped it up. When the climactic fight of the dungeon was near its end, the players having found a really great strategy to wear down the boss to his last few hit points, the bean player made a really high DC roll to throw both the guano and beans into the boss's mouth, killing him using the instant growth effect of the magic beans. At the time I was so impressed by what my player had done because I hadn't even considered what the guano could be used for until the fight happened. It was such a taken for granted feature that there's just normal dungeon stuff in a dungeon. You don't really ask about the mundane, even though they're there. It's kind of like a painted on door, if you wanted to interact with it, it opens up a whole room of new possibilities. And Ryoko Kui turned that whole premise of accepted fixtures into an amazingly vibrant world. Dungeon Meshi manages to explore the relationship of the world with itself while keeping a really cozy and kind heart and I feel like that can't be admired enough.

#dunmeshi #dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #friend in quotes for those who read it

[bornwholocker]

Yeah I’m making another character rant post sue me, but it’s actually crazy to me how many people I’ve seen just going full hater mode on shuro?? Obviously you’re allowed to not like a character, but people are villainizing him so hard, it’s wild. Like as an autistic person who has had people pretend to be friends with them, yes that shit HURTS. And the way shuro went about his relationship with laios(especially for so long) definitely wasn’t healthy, but also like. It’s so much deeper than that?? And I’m glad I’m starting to see more people talking about this lately because honestly, it’s right there guys.

First things first, I do want to remind people that being “polite” and not telling people you don’t like them, but subtly signaling it, is still the standard in most social situations! And it doesn’t make much sense to me and it sucks for a lot of people and causes miscommunication, but it’s not like Shuro’s some big bad evil guy for following unspoken social rules that most neurotypicals also follow. Also also, given that dungeon meshi’s setting is definitely not modern, the characters probably don’t know what autism is! They just know that Laios is weird about monsters and doesn’t do well socially. All the characters have problems, many of which are accentuated for us by how normalized a lot of things are in a modern world, and a lot of things not being acceptable/normal. Obviously these are still issues for the characters, and are addressed/resolved as such, but we need to put it in perspective just a little bit.

Shuro lashed out because A) he had just gone through some CRAZY ASS SHIT, which I feel like no one brings up. He just learned that his party companions used illegal magic that pretty much everyone agrees is dangerous on the woman he loved (yeah the way he proposed to falin without any previous communication was weird to the audience and other characters, but that’s a whole nother can of worms that I won’t get into right now), and it backfired spectacularly, killing most of his party! and B) he was exhausted, running on barely any sleep or food, pushing himself to the limits, and there’s Laios, well rested and fed and seemingly not at all treating the situation with the seriousness that Shuro thought it deserved. And that just punctuated the years of him clashing with Laios, of him trying to communicate that (again, not well), and of Laios not understanding in the slightest. People bring up Laios not feeling understood, but Shuro also didn’t feel understood! He thought he was being obvious for so long, and it wasn’t getting the message across and obviously that is frustrating! And I really appreciate all the people bringing up that he was most likely envious of Laios’ ability to say what’s on his mind and express himself freely, and while we know that can be a struggle of its own, Shuro saw it as a privilege. He was raised to be polite and quiet, and bottled up his feelings for essentially his entire life. So when he saw Laios talking about things openly and often, he was jealous. That is understandable!!!

Aside from all this though, it’s also clear that he does care about Laios, even though he’s annoyed by him. He literally gives Laios a bell that, when rung, would ring a matching one and be a call for help. Another example- which albeit anime only’s probably won’t know, I only know because I saw the panel- is in the finale I think, Shuro defends Laios to the elves. He sticks up for him and places his trust in him, even after everything.

Neither side was really in the wrong, but people are bashing Shuro like crazy. Unfortunately we don’t have a lot of big scenes with him outside of that meeting in the dungeon, so most of our opinion is formed off of that one moment, but that moment tells a much bigger story than just, “shuro bad and ableist, laios poor autistic puppy.” It’s been said countless times on this hell site and beyond, but I am BEGGING people to please have a little critical thinking as a treat. Like Ryoko Kui wrote this story and the characters so much more complex than good guy and bad guy. (Slight spoilers maybe) Not even the BBEGs are really all bad, when you get down to it. Everyone’s feelings and experiences are shown from their perspective and contextualized to the audience extremely well IMO, which is one of the reasons I love dungeon meshi so much. Anyway point is think deeper folks.

#dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #shuro dungeon meshi #toshiro dungeon meshi #laios dungeon meshi #character analysis #I’ve used that tag so many times #I just yap and yap #misunderstood characters I’m taking you under my wing