Delicious in Dungeon

Delicious in Dungeon (ダンジョン飯) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ryōko Kui. It was serialized in Enterbrain's manga magazine Harta from February 2014 to September 2023. Yen Press has licensed the series in North America. An anime television series adaptation produced by Trigger aired from January to June 2024. A second season has been announced.

Plot
In a fantasy world of dungeon exploration, adventuring parties set out on expeditions to raid dungeons, with many hoping to find the mysterious Golden Kingdom, which is said to be the treasure of an island dungeon. The story begins as a group of adventurers unsuccessfully attempt to slay a red dragon and are forced to escape as it consumes the leader's sister, Falin Touden, a "tallman" (human) spellcaster. Wanting to rescue Falin, who used magic to teleport them to safety, the remaining members of the party—Laios Touden, a tallman swordsman; Chilchuck Tims, a halfling locksmith; and Marcille Donato, an elven spellcaster—brainstorm how to get back to the dungeon level with the dragon in time to save Falin from digestion. With most of their supplies left behind in the dungeon, their mission seems impossible until Laios, who secretly wants to eat dungeon monsters, suggests they sustain themselves by finding food inside, to which Chilchuck and Marcille reluctantly agree. Inside, they encounter Senshi, a dwarf with many years of experience surviving in the dungeon by cooking monsters and harvesting food.

The story details their travels through the dungeon, the environments, traps, and monsters they encounter, and the meals they create.

Laios's party

 * Laios Touden (ライオス・トーデン)
 * A "tallman" (トールマン), or human, who, along with his party, ventures into a dungeon to rescue his sister Falin before the dragon that defeated them digests her. He is a strong fighter and the leader of the party, and is calm and gentle. However, he tends to speak quickly when excited and can be tactless. He is excited to try different monster meals, and often uses the knowledge gained from cooking monsters to develop techniques to defeat them.
 * A "tallman" (トールマン), or human, who, along with his party, ventures into a dungeon to rescue his sister Falin before the dragon that defeated them digests her. He is a strong fighter and the leader of the party, and is calm and gentle. However, he tends to speak quickly when excited and can be tactless. He is excited to try different monster meals, and often uses the knowledge gained from cooking monsters to develop techniques to defeat them.


 * Marcille Donato (マルシル・ドナトー)
 * A cautious half-elf magician and an original member of Laios's party, who wields a wooden staff and can use various forms of magic. She is usually hesitant and even sometimes unwilling to eat monsters. Because of her skill in magic, she can often perform complicated or high-power spells with little preparation, a skill which her companions often do not appreciate.
 * A cautious half-elf magician and an original member of Laios's party, who wields a wooden staff and can use various forms of magic. She is usually hesitant and even sometimes unwilling to eat monsters. Because of her skill in magic, she can often perform complicated or high-power spells with little preparation, a skill which her companions often do not appreciate.


 * Chilchuck Tims (チルチャック・ティムズ)
 * A "half-foot" (ハーフフット), or halfling, locksmith and an original member of Laios's party. He has good dexterity and keen senses, which he uses to disable traps, locate hidden pathways, and pickpocket for the group. He often admonishes Laios for his tactless behavior and obsession with monsters, but deep down cares about his companions. He dislikes when others take over his job or take needless risks and generally avoids combat, but can use a bow and arrow.
 * A "half-foot" (ハーフフット), or halfling, locksmith and an original member of Laios's party. He has good dexterity and keen senses, which he uses to disable traps, locate hidden pathways, and pickpocket for the group. He often admonishes Laios for his tactless behavior and obsession with monsters, but deep down cares about his companions. He dislikes when others take over his job or take needless risks and generally avoids combat, but can use a bow and arrow.


 * Senshi (センシ)
 * A dwarf warrior who joins the party to fulfill his dream of cooking the dragon Laios and his party set out to kill. He is knowledgeable about the dungeon and the monsters within it, and is an expert chef. He typically wields a large axe, but always carries a pot and cooking utensils. He ensures the party is well fed and have a balanced diet to keep them going through the dungeon.
 * A dwarf warrior who joins the party to fulfill his dream of cooking the dragon Laios and his party set out to kill. He is knowledgeable about the dungeon and the monsters within it, and is an expert chef. He typically wields a large axe, but always carries a pot and cooking utensils. He ensures the party is well fed and have a balanced diet to keep them going through the dungeon.


 * Izutsumi (イヅツミ)
 * A young tallman catgirl who was kidnapped and turned into a beast-man when she was six years old. She shares her form with the essence of a Big Cat, a monster resembling a large cat. After Toshiro's father bought her, she traveled with them until she meets Laios's party, after which she joins them to find a cure for her body. She is independent and apathetic, but will protect her companions when needed.
 * A young tallman catgirl who was kidnapped and turned into a beast-man when she was six years old. She shares her form with the essence of a Big Cat, a monster resembling a large cat. After Toshiro's father bought her, she traveled with them until she meets Laios's party, after which she joins them to find a cure for her body. She is independent and apathetic, but will protect her companions when needed.


 * Kensuke (ケン助)
 * A mollusk-like creature from the "living armor" monsters that takes the shape of a sword, which Laios adopts to replace his original sword. It fidgets when it senses monsters, but also occasionally runs away when extremely frightened and cannot be drawn from its scabbard when rattling too much. Its sensitivity makes it unreliable, but helpful when exploring the dungeon.

Former members

 * Falin Touden (ファリン・トーデン)
 * A tallman spellcaster and Laios's younger sister; a gentle person who shares her brother's love of monsters and was an original member of his party. She was eaten by a dragon at the bottom of the dungeon after using her magic to teleport the party to safety. Laios and his party set out to rescue and revive her before the dragon's month-long digestion cycle ends and she can no longer be resurrected. She has the unique ability to communicate with ghosts, which she used to protect the party and remove ghosts possessing corpses.
 * A tallman spellcaster and Laios's younger sister; a gentle person who shares her brother's love of monsters and was an original member of his party. She was eaten by a dragon at the bottom of the dungeon after using her magic to teleport the party to safety. Laios and his party set out to rescue and revive her before the dragon's month-long digestion cycle ends and she can no longer be resurrected. She has the unique ability to communicate with ghosts, which she used to protect the party and remove ghosts possessing corpses.


 * Namari (ナマリ)
 * A brash dwarf fighter and an original member of Laios's party, who has since departed to work with the Tansus. She is an expert in weapons and knowledgeable on types of metal and weapons.
 * A brash dwarf fighter and an original member of Laios's party, who has since departed to work with the Tansus. She is an expert in weapons and knowledgeable on types of metal and weapons.


 * Shuro (シュロー) Toshiro Nakamoto (半本 俊朗)
 * A tallman fighter from a distant island who is part of a noble family. He decided to explore the dungeon to improve his skill, and fell in love with Falin after watching her observe a caterpillar. After Falin's death and being warped to the surface, he returns to the dungeon with several retainers, including Izutsumi, to rescue her. He is reserved and often a victim of Laios's lack of social awareness.
 * A tallman fighter from a distant island who is part of a noble family. He decided to explore the dungeon to improve his skill, and fell in love with Falin after watching her observe a caterpillar. After Falin's death and being warped to the surface, he returns to the dungeon with several retainers, including Izutsumi, to rescue her. He is reserved and often a victim of Laios's lack of social awareness.

Kabru's party

 * Kabru (カブルー)
 * A tallman fighter who leads a separate party to explore the island's dungeon. He is interested in people, but dislikes monsters due to past trauma involving a different dungeon. Despite wanting to reach the bottom of the dungeon and solve its mysteries, his party is not very strong and has been wiped out several times. He hates fighting monsters and monster food, but he is a skilled fighter against other humans. He is talented at reading people and understanding situations with little information.
 * A tallman fighter who leads a separate party to explore the island's dungeon. He is interested in people, but dislikes monsters due to past trauma involving a different dungeon. Despite wanting to reach the bottom of the dungeon and solve its mysteries, his party is not very strong and has been wiped out several times. He hates fighting monsters and monster food, but he is a skilled fighter against other humans. He is talented at reading people and understanding situations with little information.


 * Rinsha (リンシャ)


 * Mickbell (ミックベル)


 * Kuro (クロ)


 * Holm (ホルム)


 * Daya (ダイア)

Others

 * Sissel (シスル)
 * An elf whom Laios first encountered with inside the living pictures. He appeared again before Laios' party after they defeated the red dragon that digested Falin. It is later revealed that he is The Lunatic Magician who controls the dungeon the story is set in.
 * An elf whom Laios first encountered with inside the living pictures. He appeared again before Laios' party after they defeated the red dragon that digested Falin. It is later revealed that he is The Lunatic Magician who controls the dungeon the story is set in.

Manga
Written and illustrated by Ryōko Kui, Delicious in Dungeon was serialized in Enterbrain's Harta magazine from February 15, 2014, to September 15, 2023. North American publisher Yen Press announced their license to the series on October 28, 2016.

Anime
The series received an anime television adaptation produced by Trigger. It is directed by Yoshihiro Miyajima, with scripts written by Kimiko Ueno, character designs by Naoki Takeda, and music composed by Yasunori Mitsuda and Shunsuke Tsuchiya. The first opening theme song is "", performed by Bump of Chicken, while the first ending theme song is "Party!!", performed by Ryokuoushoku Shakai. The second opening theme song is "Unmei" (運命), performed by Sumika, while the second ending theme song is "Kirakira no Hai" (キラキラの灰), performed by Regal Lily. The series aired its first season in two consecutive cours from January 4 to June 13, 2024, on Tokyo MX and other networks, with Netflix licensing it for streaming and simuldubbing worldwide weekly.

After the final episode of the first season, a second season was announced.

Other media
In 2017, a stop motion animation, subtitled Senshi's Easy Cooking! (センシのかんたんクッキング！), was released on YouTube to commemorate the release of the manga's fifth volume. In 2019, an animated commercial produced by Trigger was released to promote the manga's eighth volume.

On January 9, 2024, it was announced that a pop-up restaurant would be established in Shibuya at the n_space event space, which would exhibit food depicted in the manga, from January 18–21. Some visitors were given packs of ramen said to be "made" from the red dragon.

Manga
Volume 1 reached the 11th place on the weekly Oricon manga charts and it was the 87th best-selling manga volume in Japan from November 17, 2014, to May 17, 2015, with 315,298 copies sold. By August 2015, it had sold 381,614 copies. Volume 2 reached the third place on the charts, and by September 2015, it had sold 362,906 copies. By August 2017, the first four volumes had over 2 million copies in print. By October 2023, the manga had over 10 million copies in circulation; after its anime adaptation premiere, the number of copies in circulation increased in half a year to 14 million by March 2024 (including digital copies).

The manga was chosen as the 13th best manga of 2015 in the Book of the Year manga ranking of Da Vinci magazine. The 2016 edition of the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! guidebook ranked the series at number one on its list of top 20 manga for male readers. The manga was nominated for the 9th to 12th Manga Taishō Award from 2016 to 2019. A panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2018 highlighted it as one of the "Best Continuing Series for Kids/Teens". It was also ranked second on Amazon Japan's Best-Selling Kindle Book Rankings for 2018. In 2024, the manga won the 55th Seiun Award's Best Comic award. It has been nominated for the Japan Society and Anime NYC's first American Manga Awards in the Best Continuing Manga Series category in 2024.

Anime
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of five critics' reviews are positive, and has a 93% audience approval rating based on 50 reviews. In the Anime Corner awards of Winter 2024, it won Best Adventure and Best Comedy, based on 62,120 votes.