While Netflix‘s new series Delicious in Dungeon has set the anime world afire with its clever and often humorous mix of fantasy adventure with cooking, as the party delves ever deeper into the dungeon, the darker elements of the story are becoming more evident. These elements have been present from the start, albeit hidden in the dynamics of quest creation and team building. But now that the adventure has begun in earnest, there’s less of a reason to hold back on the tension, conflict, and violence.

Yoshihiro Miyajima and Kimiko Ueno’s Dungeon in Delicious, which is an adaption of the Kyoko Rui manga by the same name, follows the adventures of Laios, Marcille, Chilcuck, and Senshi as they venture into the local dungeon to kill the powerful Red Dragon who lives within. Laios wants to slay the dragon to save his sister Falin, who had been eaten alive by the dragon during a previous dungeon adventure.

The problem for Laios and his squad is that time is of the essence. As such, they decided to re-enter the dungeon as soon as possible. This choice meant that they would not have time to accrue the necessary funds necessary to organize a fully kitted dungeon raid. Instead, they agree to eschew purchasing food supplies outside the dungeon and instead rely on food they find inside the dungeon.

Darkness Has Always Been an Element Of Delicious in Dungeon

The Comedy Aspects Hide Darker Undertones

Beyond the grim specter of starvation, Delicious in Dungeon delves into even darker, eerie, and otherworldly themes that have always lurked within the story. Although food and supplies are the squad’s primary daily hurdle, a range of other existential threats intensify as the team’s food security becomes more stable. Indeed, the more they adjust to the Delicious In Dungeon food scene, the more they realize that sustenance is but the preface to survival and success.

Perhaps the darkest theme about Delicious in Dungeon is the location of the story itself. The modern idea of the dungeon arises from the ancient form of punishment where those deemed problematic were locked in underground rooms that usually had one point of entry and exit. Naturally, as these rooms were not unlike coffins or burial chambers, it was easy to connect them, to envision them as dank and scary spaces where otherworldly beings – such as spirits, ghosts, ghouls, and the undead existed.

No doubt the idea was helped by the fact that people confined to dungeons might suffer mental fatigue to the degree that they believed supernatural beings existed. Accordingly, the fact that much of Delicious in Dungeon occurs in a vast underground crypt should signal fans that, regardless of how interesting and fun the circumstances are for the squad because it’s all happening in a dungeon, means that horror, fear, and terror are always just a wrong turn away. This eerie foreboding is present from the very first pages of the manga.

The Food Might Be Good in Delicious in Dungeon, but It’s Still Made from Monsters

Another dark element that has been present in Delicious in Dungeon from the beginning is its cosmic horror aspects. To understand cosmic horror, one need look no further than that master of the genre – H.P. Lovecraft. Cosmic horrors in a Lovecraftian milieu refer to a situation where humanity’s visions of its own granduer come into conflict with the overpowering idea that humans are but a stitch or yarn in a grander quilt of existence. That is, while humanity may understand its own reason for being, it can never know how its existence fits into a greater fabric of the cosmos. Indeed, attempts at understanding are likely to lead to madness.

Cosmic horror elements are everywhere in Delicious in Dungeon. This is no more evident than in the cavalcade of horrific monsters that inhabit the keep. So far, this point is perhaps best represented in the Red Dragon, which is the target of the squad’s quest. This creature’s ability to survive – and therefore haunt the community it spawns in – defies human understanding. Not only is it impervious to most conventional means of killing, but it is also highly impervious to magical attacks.

It’s Prime Time For The Monster To Emerge

Most importantly, in true Lovecraftian style, these strange and unnatural circumstances leave viewers with a foreboding sense of unease – even if they don’t recognize it immediately. This has been happening since the start of the series, albeit in the background just past the cool and interesting discussion of how to skin and cook a “walking mushroom”. Indeed, as the squad progresses deeper into the dungeon, not only are the characters they meet increasingly more malevolent, but also the situations that they find themselves in are much more gruesomely complex and unnerving.

Take, for instance, Episode #11’s showing of Laios getting his leg cut off or how he finds what looks to be his sister’s skull in the Red Dragon’s innards. Even more unnerving is Falin’s fate after Laios and the others manage to “rescue” her, as shown in the second part of Season 1. Needless to say, this is a far cry from the more humorous and light-hearted circumstances told in the saga’s beginnings.

The series’ darker tones should take nothing away from the overall story, especially its depiction of friendship, loyalty, love, courage, and how these are often made stronger through food and bonds that develop when sharing a meal with another. The monsters and horrors of the dungeon have always been present in Netflix‘s Delicious in Dungoen, even if the author chose not to emphasize them by focusing on the team and the cuisine. While those aspects of the story will never fade, the darker undertones will become more evident as the story progresses.