Episode 2: Delicious in Dungeon Vol 1

It’s time for the second episode of MANGASPLAINING! In this episode Chip is introduced to action and food manga Delicious in Dungeon, by Ryoko Kui. Does he like it? Deb, Christopher, and this week’s host David, will find out! Thanks to D.A.D.S. for the music and support your local comic and manga shop, visit comicshoplocator.com.

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Mangasplaining Episode 02: Delicious in Dungeon Volume 1
ダンジョン飯
By Ryoko Kui.
Translated by Taylor Engel. Lettering by Abigail Blackman
Published by Yen Press (print and digital)

1:45  We talk a lot about Dungeons & Dragons this episode. If you don’t know what that is, we can’t really help you here, but check out Wikipedia.

5:05 Jim Zub is the writer of licensed Dungeons & Dragons comics, as well as series’ including Stone Star, Wayward, and Conan, among many other series. www.Jimzub.com. He is our friend.

7:20 David does, in fact, have a type. His first few picks in the podcast didn’t feature any sprawling samurai epics or hyper-violent fights. Those are coming though, fear not.

8:45 The Death of the Mushroom, which kicks off Delicious In Dungeon:

10:50 Can’t get away from the tropes! It’s worth noting that in this ‘seinen’, or young men’s manga, the reader-identification character is a lady, which isn’t super-common for seinen manga. There’s a huge female audience for the original manga magazine, Harta, that Delicious in Dungeon appears in in Japan… but beyond that, even if you’re a dude there’s nothing wrong with identifying with a female main character, and it’s one of the ways that the series plays against tropes, but also absolutely relies on them to move the story along. 

13:30 Senshi the Dwarf, being very matter-of-fact:

15:20 SPOILER: Chip outs himself as a vegan. 

15:00 The Basilisk joke is great:

15:35 Actually, the little one pagers at the end are generally called “omake,” they’re bonuses for people who buy the tankobon (trade paperback). In this instance, we get new one-page strips for each chapter with bonus jokes. 

17:00 Do you really intend to come with me!?

17:40 Marceline’s face has become a meme.

18:50 It really is hilarious watching Senshi keep tripping all the traps.

20:45 3rd Edition refers to a reworking of Dungeons & Dragons’ ruleset that was created in 2000, revised in 2003, and then replaced with 4th Edition in 2008. Except when Christopher was playing Dungeons & Dragons it was actually 2nd edition, which was the ruleset from 1989-1999, give or take. They’re on 5th Edition now, most people like these rules best. Encumbrance was always a part of D&D, like how much stuff your character could physically carry, but many players simply treated it as a house rule not to worry about that too much. Now you know!

21:30 Bag of Holding! This is the best item in D&D, bar none. Apparently the weight limit was only like  1500 pounds, but like, that’s basically unlimited. https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/3e_SRD:Bag_of_Holding

22:00 Don’t even get us started on “Wish”.

22:20 The recipes in the book have STATS! To show you what their strengths are! It’s amazing! Plus the classic beautiful-food-product-shot! 

23:30 Christopher is referencing Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim series, published by Oni Press, which incorporates RPG stats in different ways, most notable the different kinds of stat bonuses that different soft drinks give Scott in the game. This is specifically in reference to buying food from shops in River City Ransom, an action game with RPG elements. It even made it into the Scott Pilgrim video game!

24:45 We… record a lot earlier than the episodes come out. This episode was recorded January 20th, and probably isn’t getting to you until February 23rd. 

25:45 This is kind of a running theme at this point with introducing manga to Chip. “You gotta read/spend a long ways before it gets good.” Not all manga is like this though, and we’re trying to recommend series’ that are gripping right from the get-go. 

26:15 Cerebus is a 300-issue-long self-published comic by Dave Sim. It started out as a Conan parody, became an adventure comic, and then went off the rails and became a mouthpiece for the author’s sexism and homophobia, among other issues. No links. 

27:35 One Punch Man is a great action comic about an utterly boring dude who becomes a superhero in a world of superheroes. His superpower is that he can defeat any enemy in one punch. It’s also a comedy? It’s fantastic. Published by VIZ, check it out.

28:20 Scott Pilgrim again! You should read it, it’s real good.

30:00 David references the Dungeons & Dragons arcade game, a side-scrolling beat’em-up game published by Capcom. 

31:15 A good example of using D&D as a starting point for adventures perhaps never intended by the creators would be The Adventure Zone, which started as a podcast by the McElroy’s and then was adapted to comics by Carey Pietsch for First Second. There are also comics like Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans’ DIE, which are inspired by the act of playing D&D. 

32:15 The Orc Man is pretty dang good:

34:35 Yen Press keeps the original sound effects in Japanese, but also includes little ‘glossed’ translations right next to them. These aren’t literal translations btw, they’re the closest to what the English translations of those sound effects would be. Translations are interesting!

36:35 Reading from left to right for the words within the word balloons, then right to left for the panels on the page and the pages, can be a real difficulty with ‘unflipped’ manga. It’s a compromise, and the more you read manga the easier it gets. 

40:35 Drawing digitally on a tablet really is it’s own special skill. Comics were traditionally drawn on paper with pens and things, and while most have become digitally illustrated in North America, the change has been slower in Japan. 

43:00 Over the next few minutes we talk a lot about other food manga and food comics. We list them all below with links to buy them.

The Drops of God, by Tadashi Agi and Shu Okimoto, published by Kodansha. Wine-tasting manga, about how and why to enjoy different varieties of wine around the world. 

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, by Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki, contribution by Yuki Morisaki. Published by VIZ Media. Action/Comedy from Shonen Jump about a boy training to be an elite chef at a school for elite chefs. Iron Chef crossed with like, Bleach.

What Did You Eat Yesterday?, by Fumi Yoshinaga, published by Kodansha. A gentle slice-of-live about two partnered gay men who cook food for one another, including detailed recipes.

Wakakozake, by Chie Shinkyu. Published digitally by MediaDo in English. Anime available on Crunchyroll. An office worker goes to a bar every once in a while to try different kinds of beverages and bar foods. She really loves them.
You can also check out the anime: https://www.crunchyroll.com/wakakozake/episode-1-1st-night-fried-salted-salmon-684601 

Silver Spoon, by Hiromu Arakawa. Published by Yen Press. A young man goes to an Agricultural High School. From the creator of Fullmetal Alchemist, which we might just read someday down the road…

Relish, by Lucy Knisley. Published by First Second. Not a manga, but features Knisley’s life-long love affair with food, cooking, and family.

46:35 Chip writes Daredevil for Marvel Comics. If you see any recipes or cooking pop up, well, you’ll know why now. 

Cook Korean: A Comic Book with Recipes, by Robin Ha. Published by 10 Speed Press. A “unique combination of cookbook and graphic novel,” this book introduces how to cook Korean cuisine at home interspersed with stories and anecdotes from Ha’s life.

48:00 The book Christopher was trying to remember was Paris: 10 Itineraries by the French cartooning duo of Phillipe Dupuy and Charles Dupuy, published by Lonely Planet. A mix between a BD and a travel guide. The excellent cartoonist Peneope Bagieu has also created an incredible travel guide, which is the one that Christopher could actually remember, New York with Penelope Bagieu, published by Collectifs. There are more of course, but we don’t really have anything like it in English.

50:05 Hi Jocelyne!

50:35 Deb mentions the volleyball themed action manga Haikyu!!, by Haruichi Furudate, published by VIZ Media as part of their Shonen Jump line. 

50:45 It’s the BREAK! There may or may not be an advertisement here.

53:00 It’s time for recommendations!

  • Christopher recommends Golden Kamuy, by Satoru Noda, published by VIZ Media.  
  • Deb recommends Way of the Househusband, by Kousuke Oono, published by VIZ Media.
  • Deb also recommends What The Font?!, by Kuniichi Ashiya and Masayuki Yamamoto, published by Seven Seas. 
  • David recommends Again!!, by Mitsuro Kubo, published by Kodansha. 

…and Chip chooses What The Font?!, so tune in for that one in Episode 5! 

1:05:35 We can’t get out of the episode without a few more recommendations! Deb’s got two more with:

Seven Little Sons of the Dragon, by Ryoko Kui, Published by Yen Press. A collection of short stories by the creator of Delicious in Dungeon. 1 volume available now.

Sweat & Soap, by Kinetsu Yamada. Published by Kodansha. A story about a woman who sweats and a dude who’s really into that. 5 volumes available now.

*****

Thanks for listening to this episode!

Our next three books are:

Episode 3: Mermaid Saga Volume 1, by Rumiko Takahashi, published by VIZ Media
Episode 4: Helter Skelter, by Kyoko Okazaki, published by Vertical Inc./Kodansha
Episode 5: What The Font?!, by Kuniichi Ashiya and Masayuki Yamamoto, published by Seven Seas. 

Those links again are:

Comicshoplocator.com

D.A.D.S. on Spotify

Thanks for listening!

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5 Responses

  1. dakazu says:

    Hello Deb, Chris, David, and Chip,
    Great episode and congrats on starting this awesome manga podcast! Really enjoying the dynamic between everyone and the discussions so far. I chuckled when Chip thought Ryoko Kui’s art work was a little rough. I hope that you will eventually get to introduce him to works like Mob Psycho 100, Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji, or Investor Z where the art is TRUELY unrefined. Looking forward to hearing more.

  2. Miguel Corti says:

    Fell behind but quickly catching up. Part of the problem is wanting to read some of the manga before listening to your show.

    I’m only on the fifth volume of “Delicious in Dungeon.” I only have a cursory experience with cooking manga, but aside from the gags afforded by some of the more exotic creatures they turn into food, I found the interruption of the story’s pacing occasionally draining. I think it picks up once they series gets more invested in the main plot with the sister and the dragon. Don’t want to detract from the series with that comment though. It was just something I felt personally.

    I do know that many of my friends who are into D&D or fantasy-based roleplaying video games really are enjoying. Definitely a manga with crossover potential.

    Also, thanks for Chip for the insight on the art. I definitely think the art improves as the series goes on.

  3. Shadavid says:

    ‘Food Baby’ by Luchie Bryon is a fun book, available from Shortbox about food. She lives and works in France and is clearly influenced by manga. For folk with only un petit peu francais, her ‘des Enfants Capables’ is accessible as it’s aimed at younger readers, which is where I find myself in French.

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