Marcille digs in on the first episode of 'Delcious in Dungeon,' "Hot Pot/Tart"

Sharpen your knives and heat those pans because the Delicious in Dungeon anime is officially here! Produced by Studio Trigger and airing on Netflix, Delicious in Dungeon revolves around Laios and his party as they try to dive back into a dungeon after his sister Falin is eaten by a red dragon all because the party was run down from how hungry they were. “Hot Pot/Tart” is a dish best enjoyed with an open heart for adventure and shenanigans.

The main adventuring party consists of: Laios a tall-man, Chilchuck a half-foot, Marcielle an elf, and later, Senshi a dwarf. We learn early on that the other two members of the party quit before Senshi joins. Through this, we learn that the party is broke and can’t afford to go back into the dungeon —or save Falin— unless they rely on eating the monsters within it. It’s a grim outlook for an adventuring party with experience touring the dungeon but they don’t have much time to debate the logistics of the plan because they need to rescue Falin before she’s digested by the red dragon who is on one of the lower levels. It’s a shot in the dark at best for them, but they decide they want to save her anyway. For anyone who has played TTRPG’s like Dungeons and Dragons, this sort of adventure might not be new. However, it is new for Laios’ adventuring party.

The focus on food is a rare treat for anime. The only other anime in recent history that I can think of that revolves around food is Food Wars and the food is presented a lot differently than it is in Delicious in Dungeon. “Hot Pot/Tart” focuses on the making of the two meals in its title, hot pot and a tart. The hot pot is a teaching moment for the party who, despite the cookbook Laios had hidden in his armor, have no clue how to properly cook any monsters or how to make it taste good. It also introduces Senshi as the seasoned monster chef who seems a little odd. On the other hand, the tart is a dish that all four of them make together after Senshi joins the adventuring party. It comes together through hard work done by each member — but especially Marcielle who gets trapped by one of the carnivorous plants and then has to listen to Laios go on a rant about how that specific plant feeds on its prey.

At the center of everything is Laios. Not only is he the leader of the adventuring party, but his first thought after being saved by Falin is to head right back into the dungeon to save her. His motivation is what sparks the entire series. Additionally, his weird obsession that borders on fetish with monsters is what drives the story forward for him and the party, much to Marcille’s displeasure. Chilchuk is the one who calls Laios out about this and it’s revealed that he has always wanted to eat monsters, going so far as to pull out a cookbook on how to prepare the monsters in the dungeon. He’s a little unhinged for a main character despite looking so normal on the surface, but it works well in a fantasy series like this that features such a range in character design. His reaction to monsters, how to eat them, and his knowledge about them in general is a fun twist on what otherwise could have been a forgettable main character. It does help that both Chilchuck and Marcielle are absolutely done with his antics from the get-go, but that just makes me love Laios even more.

From what I could tell, the anime is one-for-one with the manga. This might make the pacing of “Hot Pot/Tart” seem a bit slow for anime-only watchers, but I disagree. The meat and potatoes, so to speak, is the food that Laois’ party cooks. Senshi’s in-depth description of how to cook the scorpion hot pot is a nice introduction to who he is as a character — clearly, he’s someone a lot more knowledgeable than Laois about eating monsters and willingly joins their party when asked. Delicious in Dungeon, much like a good stew, is a slow boil that relies heavily on the layers building off of each other. It relies heavily on the characters’ individual personalities and quirks in order for the story to be told the way it is meant to.

“Hot Pot/Tart” is a wonderful introduction to Delicious in Dungeon, its world, and the main party. It’s a key part of Delicious in Dungeon recipe for people who might not have heard of it before — and it succeeds at what it does. While it might have been too slow for some watchers, manga readers are sure to appreciate the slow build that the anime is clearly following. Plus, who didn’t love listening to Senshi go into step-by-step detail on how to make scorpion hot pot only to want to try making it themselves? I couldn’t have been happier with a premier episode for the series.