Delicious in Dungeon World Guide: The Adventurer's Bible

ダンジョン飯 [Dungeon Meshi]

by Ryoko Kui

Featuring new illustrations, tales that couldn’t be told during the main story, and detailed information about the characters! Whether it’s age, BMI, or the first time they died, this guide has everything there is to know! Plus, details on the various races and dungeons found throughout the Delicious in Dungeon world, and even a full encyclopedia of monsters! 

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Adventure, Graphic Novels Manga

182 pages, Paperback

First published February 13, 2021

Reviews

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

“There are no bargains between lions and men. I will kill you and eat you raw.” – The Song of Achilles.

This is going to be more of a summation of my thoughts about the series as a whole rather than just this specific supplementary materials book and my rating will mostly reflect that. It’s easier this way, because damn, this series skyrocketed into my top five manga pretty much instantly! Seriously, it’s up there with the greats. It has everything I love about a classic fantasy, but it also surprises with every volume without straying too far from its original premise of them learning how to eat monsters so they can save money on buying food. This author definitely knew how to take a theme and run with it! It reminded me a lot of Bone by Jeff Smith, where it starts out as a silly comedy with relatively low stakes, but then before you know it, you become completely enraptured by its deep lore and fascinating characters. It’s also a perfect example of how to do a “found-family” in a fantasy setting, in that… everyone in the party is a weirdo. Nothing better than a pack of freaks who have to save the world! I can’t really collect my thoughts in a productive way, so this won’t really be a review, but rather it’ll mostly just be just me listing things that I liked. You know, “I liked this bit and I liked that bit.” Also, mild spoilers! For example, I liked how when they get to the villain’s house, their first instinct is to rearrange the bookshelf because they didn’t like how it was organized. Most relatable moment for me. I also really liked Chilchuck. Best character ever put to page, if I’m honest. This book has each character’s “stats” (like a Dungeons & Dragons party), and he has a level five in “attitude.” Meaning his biggest asset is that… he’s a hater. Just like me for real. Anyway, I loved this series, and I’m not the same person I was a week ago when I started it!

Oh, here’s my (somewhat) definitive top five manga of all time:

1.) Dragon Ball
2.) Fullmetal Alchemist
3.) Delicious in Dungeon (That’s this one!)
4.) Hunter X Hunter
5.) Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

[marcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up as a refresher before I start Vol. 12. Delicious in Dungeon has been one of my favorite series because of its worldbuilding; this guide makes me appreciate how much effort Kui has put into this world even more. I really enjoy how funny the writing is, as well as all the new art and short comics. Honestly, I was surprised to find out the whole story takes place within weeks: I always assumed it's over the course of a couple of months.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non-essential read to the series but still fun and cute. Some enjoyable little anecdotes and details about the characters, plus some stuff that adds to the wider world.

[Kaya Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to miss this world/series so much 😢

[Sammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little extra for dorks like me who want more dungeon meshi!

[云 · Rating 5 out of 5]

花了兩天追完漫畫感想還在憋但按捺不住先跑來標這本（台版快出完啊還有兩集——我要整套——
儘管買前一天看到了書居然出了DLC還有完全版的消息但還是買了（還），成功縱容一些愉快冒泡想支持又「真的好想在這個世界待久一點啊！」的跳舞小粉絲之心、並獲得了滿滿的細節大大的滿足XD
拆開前以為黑白比彩頁多沒想到是反過來的有點詫異。裏書衣的細節也太可愛了！
字有點小，有一些思考電子書配平板看起來應該會更舒適吧的時刻。

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad companion for the series! I'm not entirely sure it adds a lot for me personally, but I appreciated getting more information on the world Ryoko Kui built and seeing a bunch of mini-comics that aren't anywhere else in the main story!

[Aimee Spencer-Kruczek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read! Great for those who like to more deeply dive into the worlds created for their favorite stories.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for fans

I love world-building guides, almanacs, and encyclopedias, and I love the Delicious in the Dungeon series, so this book was a fun addition to the collection.

[Jared Bird · Rating 5 out of 5]

not on MAL

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5! Some great hidden lore here, and a must-have for anyone planning to create fanwork, but not as much original art as I was expecting

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Has spoilers if you haven’t read the manga and only watched the anime. However, the spoilers are minimal and didn’t affect the overall book. Lots of cool info and backstory that puts a lot into perspective. Would’ve been cool to have some recipes though!

[Jocelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aghh I loved all the little character profiles, I want to do them for my DnD characters 🥺 There were so many good little tidbits in here too!

[Ring Chime · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not particularly enthralling or illuminating for fans of the series. A few fun extra details.

[Sammm · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 for 3.75~4.25, and consider the fact that I'm not actually really an attached fan of the series, that's a high rating. The overall presentation def. feels more luxurious than most guidebooks out there (paper thickness etc.) Informative. I was hoping that by reading this it'd prompt me back to picking up reading the series (like aggressively), but I'm still passive and mostly just doing so for the upcoming anime adaptation, rather than actual enthusiasm, which is quite unusual when the subject matter involves food. Owells.

[Elena Varg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A helpful and fun look behind the scenes and lore of Dungeon Meshi! Really needed the refresher on all the characters; there’s just way too many of them to keep count!

What really dampened the experience for me though was that the profiles of the characters included their BMI. Why??? For what purpose??? Why do I need to know that Senshi is ”morbidly obese”??? I guess they tried to replace the weights of the characters with these but BMI is so useless (and such an anachronusm!!!) they failed miserably.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun little bonus book for fans of DunMeshi/Delicious in Dungeon. Most of the content is a summary of characters/events in the original manga. I didn't find those sections as interesting because I'd rather get that same information by simply reading the source material, BUT it was helpful to get more straightforward explanations of some minor characters (such as the Canaries).

There are extended character backstories and trivia (such as exactly which changeling forms came from which characters' minds) that I did find interesting. I also enjoyed seeing bonus comics and promotional material that came out in the original magazine releases. I didn't know I needed to see the main party navigate a department store basement until the comic was in front of me! 😂

My biggest disappointment is that there really wasn't much detail provided about the food/recipes! I really want a DunMeshi cookbook, but I doubt one would be released because obviously the main ingredients are all imaginary. A full, separate cookbook seems unlikely, so I hoped this guide would have a small section dividing into the recipes just for fun. The food is my absolute favorite part of this manga, so I feel a bit let down.

[Kuroyuri · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for fans of the Dungeon Meshi manga or anime! I watched the anime (still waiting for season 2) but there weren't too many spoilers, at least nothing major. I only had to skip maybe 4 pages where it was a full story timeline so I wouldn't get spoiled.

There's tons of extra world building and character details that got left out of the main story since they're not as relevant to the plot, so if you enjoy that type of thing like I do then it's a great read. Also full of colour illustrations and bonus manga!

I got the copy I have from the library and had to read it very quickly since I can't renew it, but I'd like to buy a copy for myself so I can re-read it and look more at the details.

[Allegra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This extra book had a lot more than I was expecting. It was very thorough in it's guide to all the characters (both major and minor). It made me reflective of the main story as there were characters I had overlooked or I could view them with a new eye now that I had more information. It was very smooth and entertaining to read. Not only were the characters explored, every monster that came about in the main series, even for a page or two, was discussed. It was also very wonderful to be given extra illustrations and comics on the characters and their world. A very welcome addition to the world of Dungeon Meshi.

[Maija · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note to new readers: This guide was published after volume 10 of the manga, so it has spoilers up to that point. Don't read this before you have reached that point in the manga.

This is a lovely addition to the world, with extra drawings and mini comics along with character profiles & info on the monsters and the world. I especially loved reading the character profiles and the extra comics, as well as looking at the promotional artwork at the end of the book.

[piratesPencil · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really excellent addition to the Delicious in Dungeon canon. These sorts of bonus content books can often feel a bit like unnecessary fluff, but this book actually adds a lot of context to the world and the characters of the series. Several of the bonus comics add a lot of depth to characters that we don't get to see much in the main series - I would say that this book is absolutely a must read for people who want to get the most out of this series.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
The comics are great fun, and the info is not too long to get boring. Just don't expect to read it cover to cover in one sitting. I appreciated bouncing around to different sections. I enjoy knowing the characters a bit better now ^^ It definitely has spoilers, and it wouldn't be very interesting without having read most of the books anyways. As many have said, the addition of BMI is totally meaningless to me.

[Kylee Ehmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps the greatest revelation of this book is that if Kabru was a girl, Kabru would be Laois's clingy and manipulative girlfriend. But overall this was a lovely addition to the series, full of all the backstory for all of the characters (and I continue to be in awe of Kui's world building, it is simply so well done), additional scenes that didn't quite make it into the book, and just a lot of fun art of the world.

[Elwyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great supplement to the Delicious in Dungeon series! I think there are a few bits that could have had a note about how earlier editions of the DiD had mistranslations, and perhaps a note at the beginning that there are spoilers for the books after a certain volume? But besides that, all of the additional comics showing character backstories and personalities was great! I also loved the fold out poster of the dungeon with all of the characters itty bitty in it.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun little extra to the series. I like that it isn't just a recap or simply reuse material. It is full of new art and short comics that show a mix of past events and hypotheticals that round out the characters and the world. The series has done a good job of providing world building in asides, but it is nice to have a top-down view of how things stand.

[Iridescent_Tangerine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is everything I've ever wanted a dungeon meshi world guide to be. Details which give more depth to the characters, useful and complementary world building information and beautiful art all in one book.

It is clear how much love Ryoko Kui puts on her characters and story, creating an amazing and realistic world which calls you to find more and more about it.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recent Reads: Delicious In Dungeon - The Adventurer's Bible. A companion to Ryoko Kui's on-going cooking/dungeoneering manga, with encyclopedic entries into characters and monsters plus a set of short vignette strips. A fun adjunct to the books, but probably for the completist.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book will make the most sense for fans of Delicious in Dungeon. It is dense and filled with a lot of information about the various characters that the team meets on their journey. This could be a helpful resource for anyone who would like to make a Delicious in Dungeon role playing campaign.

[Tyler Leto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly what it says it is

You want lore? Here's all the lore. The mini-comics included are really delightful. Ryoko Kui puts more thought into the little details of her world than I have put into my own real life.

[iota diamond · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is insanely good. Ryoko Kui’s dry humor never fails to make me laugh. Senshi’s journal by the end of the book is So Funny and wrapped the whole thing nicely. I need more side books about the lores or just funny daily conversations amongst these people because they’re all just so good and funny