9/20 EDIT: Dungeon Meshi just concluded at 96 chapters and I'm really happy to say that my opinion of the story has remained unchanged.
I'm writing this review because I realized all of my reviews so far are mostly me complaining. I thought i'd change that up by writing about something I really adore. So yeah, if you're looking for the tl;dr section of the review where the reviewer tells you if it's worth your time or not, this is the part where I tell you to go read Dungeon Meshi.
I wasn't sure if I'd like Dungeon Meshi as I've only played a handful of DND campaigns and in fantasy situations I tend to opt more towards urban fantasy than traditional high fantasy. But I thought, hey, the premise sounds funny, and I want to read something more light-hearted, so I'll give it a go. And what starts off as a silly cooking manga about cooking the monsters you would encounter in a JRPG or tabletop RPG setting becomes absolutely incredible. Also worth noting that the beginning part of the story is not slow by any means; it's just as good as the latter half is--it's just more focused on the silly cooking adventures Senshi and Laios force their party into.
I love the characters in this story. Everyone is so lovingly crafted and well-made. Laios is a character who you'd expect to be just another bland protagonist, especially given how normal the guy looks, but he's definitely one of my favorite protagonists in a story. This is the panel where I decided I really liked him.
His traveling companions are also extremely well-developed, and while all of them are fantastic characters, I want to give special attention to Senshi. Senshi is the dwarf who introduces Laios (and the party by proxy) to how to prepare the various monsters they encounter in the dungeon. He's the sort of character you don't expect to be given much thought to outside of that. But even he gets an amazing backstory, and the chapter that focuses on him, chapter 49, is my absolute favorite in the story so far. Even the silly characters and the side characters get lovingly crafted.
On the side characters; Kabru is a character who shows up later who is intended to be Laios's foil; where Laios is awkward, terrible at reading the room, but well-meaning, Kabru is sneaky, good at manipulating people and understanding others' motivations, but just as well-meaning underneath that. The way they interact with each other and how their respective teams go about traversing the dungeon under their leadership is extremely interesting and fun to watch. Kabru is also my favorite character.
The world-building is done in a way that it doesn't feel overbearing since the story circulates around the dungeon the team is traversing, and as the story sort of veers away from its cooking manga origins into more of a plot-driven story (while still retaining those cooking bits of course!), these lore notes are dropped in a way that it doesn't feel overwhelming since it uses the dungeon as its focal point. The world outside of the dungeon feels very alive and very real, but the reader doesn't feel lost in a way one might with something like Hunter x Hunter or Jujutsu Kaisen.
Another one of Dunmeshi's strengths is its tone. The story is funny but not without its emotional beats, but even when navigating those, it doesn't lose sight of that humor and always finds a way to return to the bizarre without feeling untrue to the emotions the characters are experiencing. After all, the story is about a brother who has lost his sister and is trying to get her back--there are high stakes, and that shows.
Dunmeshi is also about caring for yourself. The party insists on practicing good self-care to better help others, which is something I really like and in general don't see advocated enough in media. There's also a lot of analysis about ecology, which is 1) interesting to consider in the context of a dungeon, and 2) also not explored a lot in fictional media (at least from what I've read). There's also, of course, cooking, and while you may not be able to make what Senshi cooks up for the crew, it makes me want to try to cook more for myself--that cooking is self-care, and caring about what you put into your body is good and worth celebrating.
Oh yeah, and it's really pretty to look at. I especially like the range of body types in the story, and it's nice to not have a singular token brown character in a manga. Everyone looks different beyond just their typical racial distinctions (i.e. the elves aren't just characterized by being skinny blonde people with pointy ears) and it helps contribute to the world feeling alive. I especially like how Ryoko Kui illustrates eyes and blush marks. Her attention to detail in things like bark, fur, tree trunks, and plumage is really good too. And I love looking at the compilation of sketches she does for the story. There's also a lot of interesting character notes in there too, like how Laios opts to keep himself clean-shaven because he doesn't want to resemble his dad. She clearly loves these characters a LOT and works hard to make them feel as real as possible.
This manga is really good. I can't recommend it enough. This is also a manga I would say can be recommended to people who don't really care about anime or manga; especially if they like TTRPGs. This is the sort of manga anyone can enjoy.
10/10