Wonderful in the dungeon is an anime adaptation of Ryoko Kui’s popular manga series; the first season is now available on Netflix. There are now 24 episodes available to stream, with a second season in the works. Studio Trigger, the production company behind the anime, is known for its strikingly beautiful art and animation, and they delivered just that Wonderful in the dungeon a visual feast.
But the characters in it Wonderful in the dungeon are looking for a different kind of party. On the surface, it’s a show about a group Dungeons and dragons-esque adventurers who slay monsters, earn riches, and ultimately confront the feared Mad Mage. However, things become much more when the cleric Falin is eaten by a red dragon after saving her brother Laios from the flames. Falin throws the other members of the crew – Laios the hunter, Marcille the elf wizard, and Chilchuk the halfling rogue – out of the dungeon with an escape spell, and now they must find a way to get back to save Falin before she is consumed.
The problem is that the party lost all their equipment and resources when they were defeated by the dragon, meaning they have no food or supplies, and no money to buy more. Laios is excited about trying to eat the monsters in the dungeon, but comes close to poisoning himself on the first dish he tries to make. That’s when the crew meets Senshi, a strange dwarf who lives in the dungeon and is an expert on the ecosystem. He helps Laios, Marcille and Chilchuck cook their first meal and then joins the party. From there, Wonderful in the dungeon emerges as a show that celebrates humor, originality and culinary arts.
One of the most remarkable things about it Wonderful in the dungeon is how delicious the food looks. The dishes the party cooks are extremely original, based on dishes we often encounter in our daily lives, with the ingredients changed so that they make sense within the context of the show. Scorpion & Walking Mushroom Hot Pot, Mandrake and Basilisk Omelets, Big Bat Tempura, Living Armor on the Half Shell, Fresh Golem Vegetable Lunch, Exorcism Sorbet, Tentacles and Kelpie Meat Stew Simmered in Undine, Dragon Tail Soup with Roasted Red Dragon… These are just a few of the delicious meals in which the characters find themselves Wonderful in the dungeon tackle.
Still, the point of the show isn’t to make you hungry for someone else’s cooking. Rather, it aims to inspire viewers to take a closer look at their eating habits, embracing the virtues of simplicity and hard work to ensure everyone is fed.
Senshi is usually the one who influences these lessons. Although he initially dazzles the party with his cooking, we eventually come to see Senshi more as a steward of the ecosystem than anything else. Everything he does is with the greater good of the dungeon in mind. Everything he cooks is treated with the respect of someone who has an intimate knowledge of what the death of a being means to the greater cycle. A good example of Senshi’s wisdom comes when he sees Marcille blowing up huge amounts of fish when the party reaches the watery bottom of the dungeon.
He explains that killing so many of the tender creatures that make up one of the lower rungs of the food chain causes a lack of medium-sized monsters that depend on them as a main source of nutrition. Such a vacuum leads to strange, unstable events in the depths of the Dungeon. His wisdom soon proves accurate when the party is attacked by a massive krab.
Senshi is an ecosystem builder in the most unlikely places. He tills the ground on the backs of enormous earth golems. He spends hours preparing the flesh of the creatures he kills to create beautiful yet simple dishes that reflect the local flavors of the dungeon. He risks life and limb to ensure that he, his friends and the larger ecosystem in his beloved environment can survive and – on a good day – even thrive.
Why does he go to so much trouble if he can find everything he needs above ground? Because the nearby city is full of people who need money and society to survive. Because they wouldn’t know which parts of a giant scorpion to remove before cooking it, so as not to poison yourself. Because all that stuff puts barriers between you and what you need to thrive as a living, breathing organism.
In many ways, Senshi is as powerful a practitioner and thinker in his world as scholars of agriculture and stewardship Wendell Berry And Akiva Silver are in ours. It’s all about perspective. Furthermore, for Senshi it is all about loving the majesty of the greater cycle around him and how he can better fit into its rhythms.
Although Marcille is initially extremely skeptical about eating monsters, even she comes around to Senshi’s way of thinking, especially when she remembers the day she and Falin became friends. In episode 8, “Raspberries; Grilled Meat”, Falin shows Marcille a small dungeon where she goes to escape the worries of wizarding school. When a slime monster emerges from the water around the small island where the girls are resting, Marcille prepares an explosive spell to kill it. However, Falin holds her hand, as the slime can break down bat feces and turn it into mana, which fuels the dungeon’s magic and keeps the ecosystem healthy. Plus, slimes don’t get into areas with sunlight, so the girls are safe.
This scene gets to the heart of what Wonderful in the dungeon what it’s all about: a full-throated support of learning about the local ecosystem so that we can be better stewards of the many interconnected systems. It turns out that such a message has everything to do with food.
Taking AP Environmental Science in high school is what first inspired me to become a vegetarian and take a more active role in the way I consumed food. In college I studied Environmental Policy with a focus on food systems and ended up working on my favorite professor’s organic vegetable farm to supplement my studies. These times were some of the most exhausting yet fulfilling of my life. These were days spent under the scorching sun, followed by quiet evenings eating the fruits (and vegetables) of my labor with esteemed friends. But in the years since, as I turned away from farming and embraced writing, my relationship with food has changed.
On a busier schedule, dinner is something that needs to be done quickly. Hopefully it tastes good, but the point is that it’s done so I can get back to my computer or spend a few fleeting moments with loved ones before rushing off to an evening activity. Ingredients come from the supermarket in sterile packaging. The kitchen sometimes feels more like a factory than a center of creativity. This is the way that monetary interests – the very same monetary interests that Senshi tries to avoid by living his life in the dungeon – want us to experience food for the rest of our lives. Living and dying by the hand that feeds us.
But since watching Wonderful in the dungeonmy love for food systems has been revived. I feel inspired to cook, and the time I spend in the kitchen feels like an act of respect rather than an annoying waste. Additionally, I felt more connected than ever before to the missions of writers and farmers I looked up to in college. It’s clear to me that all it takes to spark a movement is excitement, and today it’s important to use the common touchstones of media and culture to convey meaningful information. Wonderful in the dungeon does just that; using the popular art form of anime to stimulate curiosity and pleasure in interacting with food and where it comes from.
The show has the potential to inspire a new generation of chefs, farmers and ecosystem managers. The curiosity it arouses in viewers encourages them to get closer to food. Because one of the only similarities between people from all walks of life is that we need to eat, this is a powerful community message. An anime that inspires the next generation to be curious about their surroundings, careful with their impact and spicy with the flavors they create in the kitchen? All told in a dungeon-crawling story?
That is very tasty.
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