Anyway while I don't think Dungeon Meshi is by any means perfect (it is very extremely good, it just has a few things which don't quite stick the landing for me personally) I think it is one of the best examples of media in the broad genre of "dungeon fantasy" that engages with many of the conventions and tropes of the genre critically while at the same time being very reverent of the genre itself. It is both a good example of the genre it's a part of while also examining some of the ideas of said genre and I think that's a lot better than a lot of "irreverent take on D&D" media. The motivations of the main cast are quite mercenary and the story very much doesn't start out as a quest to save the world but a quest to save someone who got in trouble during a get-rich-quick scheme, but the characters are still fun and sympathetic.


















