Delicious in the dungeonOne of our favorite anime of the year so far, it’s based on an acclaimed 2014 manga by Ryōko Kui – but as the mangaka says, the concept’s origins go back even further.
In Japanese language Interview with Famitsu Back in February, Kui explained the many video game inspirations behind the popular series.
One of the big ones is a role-playing game from 1990 called Wizardry 6: Bane of the Cosmic Forge. In the game, originally released for Amiga and DOS, a typical fantasy group – humans, elves, dwarves, fairies, dog people, known as Rawulves, whatever – becomes trapped in a castle overrun by monsters, and has to fight her way out. Similar to Delicious in the dungeonHowever, the plot has some twists that go far beyond the standard fantasy fare. We won’t spoil anything for you can still play the game todaybut in the end it becomes very sci-fi-like if players choose the right path.
Kui said she grew up watching her father play. but wasn’t allowed to play it myself. However, as an adult, she turned to video games as research for many Delicious in the dungeon. The list is extensive: Translations indicate their allusion everything from story-heavy role-playing games like 13 Guardiansto deck building games like the Spectacular Encryption.
Kui has said that she prefers games with minimal combat, but still loves them Red Dead Redemption 2 And God of War for the quality of the story, characters and scenery.
All in all, this makes perfect sense Delicious in the dungeon cleverly plays with and subverts western fantasy tropes, focusing as much on cooking monsters and solving personal problems as it does combat.
