joseantoniosanchezserrano

[aritimena]

I’ve seen an uptick in frustration with shipping culture in fandom and I get it, it’s annoying to see a fandom tunnel-vision on two guys making out when the rest of the cast is as if not more compelling.

but like, is it a stretch to say that shipping works are probably more common because it’s easier/faster to write/draw two characters interacting and it gets increasingly harder the more characters you add?

shipping will happen regardless but if there’s a specific uptick in it, then maybe it’s tied to the content-ification of fandom and it’s “more lucrative” to make works about pairs

anyway talking about fandom as if it’s a business makes me ill so that’s just a theory

[sammysdewysensitiveeyes]

Dungeon Meshi is one of those series where I saw enough memes and gif sets that I knew who my favorite character would be before ever watching the series. Cranky middle-aged divorced dad who is very professional and good at his job and whose crankiness is often related to worrying about his coworkers that seem determined to get themselves killed? "Support" character who usually doesn't engage in fighting but whose skills are essential to the group?

Sounds an awful lot like another favorite of mine!

Honestly, though, I like all the characters. It's one of the rare manga where I love the entire group rather than getting annoyed with the "main" character and latching onto a minor side character.

I love Laios and his monster obsession and his inability to read or understand people to the point that one of his former "friends" could barely stand him, but at the same time he can notice details and analyze well enough to guess everyone correctly in the changeling episode. He comes across as a standard hero at first but he's really kind of a misfit weirdo and also a hero.

I love Senshi and how well he has fit into the group despite being a relative stranger to them and how he tries to take care of everyone, and how he is so knowledgeable and resourceful and cares about the dungeon as a ecosystem to be maintained. Plus the man can cook! And we finally get into his backstory, and damn, I can understand why he so desperately wants to look after everyone and cares about proper nutrition and why he constantly treats Chilchuck like a child even after Chilchuck gives his age (especially since Senshi was apparently a very young dwarf at "only" 36).

I love Marcille and her angry little fits, girl, I get it, I wouldn't want to eat any of that either, and how she is willing to endure ALL of it, and basically break both actual laws and the laws of nature to get Falin back. She seems like the cute elf girl, but she will just blow a monster's head off and she has been studying all sorts illegal magic. Marcille is like the physics student at the top of her class who has been building a nuclear reactor in her basement. I have a lot of love for old fantasy anime like Record of Lodoss War (still one of my favorites), but I'm still relieved that the blond elf girl does not spend the entire series pining after the swordsman hero, if anything she seems more interested in Falin.

I love Chilchuck constantly pretending not to care and obviously caring very deeply. He claims that he is all business and that personal relationships will ruin a party, but he has stuck with the group far longer than it would be practical or even sensible, even if he got paid up front. He cares very much about being useful to the group and doing his job properly, and he will stick his neck out in a fight if he has to, he's mostly just smart enough to get out of the way. Also, after apparently years of refusing to even give his age, Chilchuck just sits down and spills that he has a (divorced) wife and kids in order to get Senshi to feel comfortable enough to talk about his own trauma.

I love how Falin, despite being killed in the first five minutes and basically spending most of the series as the "damsel in distress" needing to be rescued, gets fleshed out through flashbacks so that we can care about her as a character. She is sweet and self-sacrificing but also not a push-over, and seems just as interested in the world around her as Laios.

Izutsumi only just joined the group, but I love her, too. At least she isn't an overly "sexy" fetishized catgirl, even in a scene where she takes most of her clothing off. Actually, this series is pretty good about not relying heavily on fan service, aside from all those sexy panty shows of Senshi.

A fantasy cooking manga/anime is already a unique idea, but it also has a legitimately good overarching story, with the history of the dungeon and the mysteries behind it, and the politics of who controls the dungeon. Paying close attention to the monsters, either to eat them or because of Laios' obsessions, helps the characters understand how to fight them and stay alive, and they often solve problems in creative ways rather than just "sword fight good." It's been awhile since I enjoyed an anime this much.