Dungeon Meshi
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Dungeon Meshi (subtitled "Delicious in Dungeon" in Engrish) is a Japanese mango about a group of murderhobos in a typical fantasy setting with an atypical but innovative premise: if your party is stuck underground and low on food, why not eat all those monsters you've been fighting? The story explores one such party learning dungeon crawler cuisine and bumbling their way through their quests.
Characters
Thorden Party
- Laius Thorden - The human Fighter of the group. He's always had a secret obsession with monstrous biology, and is the first to suggest that they try cooking monsters when they run out of money to buy food.
- Marcille - The elven Wizard specializing in black magic. She's the most reluctant to try eating monsters, even after several of the dishes they try turn out quite well. Laius and Senshi's obsessions disturb her. Has fat ears, isn't lewd.
- Senshi - A mysterious dwarf who joins the group after discovering their interest in monster cuisine. He's been cooking monsters for 10 years and knows all the best preparations and nutritional value of each monster they come across. Unlike your typical dwarf stereotype, he is not good with smithing nor does he taking good care of his weapon and armor, that he turned his mithril family heirloom weapons into a pair of woks and carries most of the cooking equipment.
- Chilchack - The group's halfling Thief. He's mostly there to pick locks and make money. Something of an only sane man. He hates mimics; as the one to open treasure chests, he's the one who usually gets killed by them.
- Farlyn - Laius' younger sister. As a child she showed a natural affinity for communicating with and banishing restless spirits. Eventually, she went to magic school, specializing in healing and purification magic and meeting Marcille. The first arc of the series chronicles their quest to rescue her from the belly of a red dragon. Turns out she still got dissolved by the dragon's stomach acid and had to be resurrected by Marcille's dark magic (which no one had expected). It ended badly with the dungeon master controls the newly resurrected Farlyn and turned her into harpy like monster.
Ex-Thorden Party Members
- Shuro - A Samurai-styled male human fighter. After the Red Dragon ate Farlyn, he quit the team and left Laius behind. Until he came back with his own party.
- Namari - Female dwarf, and quite infamous amongst most dwarves; her family used to serve the local governor, but her dad stole money from him and ran off, getting them kicked out and causing the governor to blame all dwarves. Like Shuro, she abandoned Laius' party after the Red Dragon ate Farlyn and nearly killed them all.
Gnome Party
Kabru Party
An adventurer party that is currently rising in the ranks and descending deeper into the dungeon. Initially rescued by Laius' party, a misunderstanding meant that they went deeper into the dungeon and continually fail challenges above their CR. Also known as the Scrub Party because they're not as experienced as Laius' party.
- Kabru - A dark-skinned human Paladin (in temperament; otherwise, he's a Lawful Good Fighter). He fights for the weak and the innocent, and seeks to conquer the dungeon so he can purge it before it corrupts the people and the land around it. He also thinks Laius' party is secretly Neutral Evil, and is determined to expose them. Being a paladin, he aggresively condemns the Murderhobo mentality, to the point of executing any murderhobos he meets. Apparently fear monsters due to a traumatic childhood experience where his town was attacked by beastmen, which instantly making him inferior to the monster-obessessed hero Laius.
- Lynnsha - Oriental wizard and Kabru's sort-off girlfriend. Often accuses Kabru of hitting on women of all races, and so comes off as mildly xenophobic because every knife-ear is another woman that could steal her man. Apparently learned her magic from some other magical school than the Academy that Farlyn and Marcille went to.
- Daya - Female Dwarf. Has a bad impression of Laius' party because Namari was a part of it, and Namari's family has a bad reputation among dwarfs.
- Holme - A gnome spellcaster who can apparently "summon" something.
- Mickbell - Halfling Rogue and Kuro's master. Unlike other adventurers, she advocates for right-to-work laws and refuses to join the adventurer's guild despite Chilchak trying to get all the halflings to join it and pay guild fees.
- Kuro - Dog-type Kobold Ranger who provides tracking services for the Kabru party. Kobolds are often discriminated against by civilized people because of their low intelligence, which makes Kuro's presence in the party all the more unusual. Is paid in head pats, belly rubs, and food, and arguing whether or not that's a fair days wages will, without exception, ignite a flame war.
Shuro's Party
Originally part of the Thorden party, Shuro (real name Toshiro Nakamoto (半本 俊朗, Nakamoto Toshirō)) is a samurai nobleman from "the East". Although Laius initially considered Shuro a close friend, it is revealed that Shuro could not stand Laius' inability to grasp subtlety and straightforward nature. It is also revealed that while a part of Laius' original party, he developed intense romantic feelings for Farlyn, who he had planned to propose to before the incident with the Red Dragon. After the party's dissolution following the massacre, he returned home to form a rescue party of his own, made up of servants from his household. He has openly stated his distrust of Laius and his lack of support for Laius' party's current rescue attempts; however he has agreed to keep quiet about their endeavours for Farlyn's sake until he is able to rescue her himself.
His personal party consists of:
- Hien and Benichidori - A pair of ninja who are potentially sisters; they are able to move swiftly on battlefield using throwing weapons like bombs.
- Maizuru - Her appearance is very similar to a Noh performer or Miko with winglike robes. She was tasked by the master of the household to look after Shuro when he was young. Her shrine maiden outfit suggests that she is a magic user, and she has been revealed to be able to summon various yokai-like entities to do her bidding, as well as using talisman-style sealing spells. She also serves as the party's cook, specializing in Japanese-style dishes.
- Tade - An oni armed with a Japanese style iron club. She is incredibly strong and resistant to physical damage, but is also shown to be very sweet and childlike in temperament.
- Izutsumi (Asebi) - Ostensibly a ninja assassin, Izutsumi is a beastkin — a chimera created by the combination of human and nonhuman souls inhabiting a single vessel. She abandons Shuro's party in order to join up with the Thorden party in the hopes that Marcille will be able to separate her soul from the animal soul that gives her a catlike appearance. She has a childish and passionate attitude, is a picky eater, and has been observed to have terrible table manners. She is the first person who refuses to eat part of Senshi's cooking.
Shuro and the other members of his party have temporarily left the dungeon with Kabru's party, though Shuro intends to return.
Plot
After getting his sister devoured by a dragon and losing all their supplies in a failed dungeon raid, Laius and his party are determined to save his sister before she gets digested. Completely broke and having to resort to eating monsters as food, they meet a dwarf who will introduce them to the world of dungeon meshi - delicious cuisines made from ingredients such as the flesh of giant bats, walking mushroom, or even screaming mandrakes.
Reading on an empty stomach is not advised.