Skip Navigation

DISCUSSION: Episode 19

Last weeks thread - 17 Comments

Dungeon Meshi is a well liked manga, and an adaptation by Studio Trigger is now airing. If you haven’t picked this one up, consider joining us. Both for fun and as a way of contributing to activity on Lemmy.

Episodes are available to stream on Netflix.


Laios and the gang finally gain a new party member! It's not Falin, and she's a bit of a pain, but how can they say no to adopting a catgirl in need?

The adventure continues as our heroes delve deeper into the dungeon.


Remember not to spoil anything if you’re a manga reader, but feel free to elaborate on tidbits of lore that may not be coming through in the adaptation.

26 comments
  • This episode adapts two of the most pivotal chapters in the manga. The proper introduction of our fifth member of the main cast, Izutsumi. And the first deep-dive into one of them, Marcille.

    I could gush endlessly about Izutsumi. I am so happy to finally have her around. Seeing Marcille animated so beautifully has had me waiting on the edge of my seat to finally see this gremlin of a catgirl in motion.

    She's standoffish, assumes the worst of others, selfish, and quick to violence.

    She's a cat!

    So often anime nekomimis are depicted as cuddly fluffballs of adorable softness. And while cats like that exist, you don't see many nekomimis in anime that act like the more aloof and wild cats that are out there. The ones you have to build trust with for years before they'll get in your lap, or purr at your touch.


    The second chapter adapted this episode is the nightmare encounter.

    When I read the manga, up to this point, I had merely liked it. I thought it was funny, and at times pretty cool. But this chapter is when I realized this story might turn out to be my all time favorite manga. And eventually it did.

    We dive into the very core of who Marcille is. A frightened child, terrified of everyone she'll ever care about, aging to death before she really even comes to feel like an adult. And having those fears re-inforced by the fact that at merely the starting steps of her lifespan, she has already lost one the most important people a person can have.

    I really, really loved the nightmare sequence. The paintings were not a thing in the manga, BUT HOLY FUCK ARE THEY A BIG HINT. Marcy obviously hasn't had a normal elven upbringing. She didn't attend an elven school of magic, or at least didn't stay in one if she did. Instead she wound up hanging out as the sole elf in a human/gnomish school. What's up with that? How and when did she even get into dark magic, and why? She's claimed her interest is to help society, but she's an outcast that's barely part of it herself. What is her personal reason for pursuing the forbidden arts and researching dungeons in general? What spell is she referring to when she shouts at Laios that her magic is not yet complete?

    Marcilles dad was human, and he aged to death before she even began puberty. She's not a bure-blood elf. She is half-human.

    Also. Remember how Marcy said her research involved another dimension where infinity exists? What symbol is the eye on the mad sorcerers book? The way it was the sole colored object in the dream for a moment was an amazing addition that wasn't possible in the manga.

    Much like the master noticed Laios in the paintings....

    The book, has noticed Marcille.


  • I am already a big fan of Izutsumi. She was incredibly wary of our party to begin with, but after protecting her from her curse that is activated, she is much more open to tagging along with everybody else.

    Speaking of her curse...that's pretty messed up right? She has to have the spellcaster touch her inscription every so often or else it will try to kill her? Basically a curse to try to prevent her from ever escaping. Oh, and that spellcaster? She chuffed off a while back leaving Izutsumi to her fate with nary an ounce of hesitation. All that without even mentioning how they chimera'd her into a cat person. Note to self, never end up a "retainer" of Shuro.

    As for the nightmare sequence, we got more Laios/dog imagery. The difference between how Laios saw himself as a wolf compared to how Marcille saw him as a derpy puppy was pretty funny. Something that wasn't clear to me was the book that Marcille has in her dream. Is that the spellbook that she has? the book that the mad mage has? are they the same book as each other? It wasn't quite clear to me. The way that color flooded into the dream was pretty dope. Also, just like Laios, I was in disbelief when the spellbook was used, not to cast magic, but to bonk the monster away.

    Five more episodes to go. That's enough time to build up to another climax before season's end, but I feel like we already had some pretty big climaxes recently, so there might not be something big to end the season on. Alternatively, it could be enough time for something big to happen outside the dungeon, like with the lord of the island, the elves, or best boy Kabru.

    • Yes. The Nakamotos are very, very fucked up.

      Izutsumi was given to Maizuru as a pet by Shuro's father, though in practice she was just another slave purchased to become a retainer. And Shuro's dad's actions are questionable af as he was love-bombing Maizuru by giving her a literal person as a gift.

      Unlike with most retainers, Izutsumi was never happy to be owned just because the Nakamotos housed and fed her. Likely because typically retainers start off very young so they can be indoctrinated into endless gratitude towards the family, ready to die for a Nakamoto at the drop of a hat.

      But Izu was purchased when much older, as a drunken impulse buy to "get Maizuru a kitten".

      I'll post Maizuru's world guide chapter next, as it touches on these things.

      That was the dungeon masters book, yes.

26 comments