#someone once said that dungeon meshi is serious even when its funny and funny even when its serious and its exactly that here

[cryptvokeeper]

i havent even watched the new episode of dungeon meshi yet but just seeing all the posts abt it is bringing back memories of the manga and like.

Oh, right, it was actually really vital to have this episode go here.

Because we've just spent the last several episodes being told over and over by everyone around him that Laios is bad with people, that Laios is socially inept, that Laios cannot handle interpersonal party dynamics.

And all of that is 100% true! But it is absolutely vital to remember that even with zero social awareness whatsoever, Laios is still a good friend. He may not pick up on the typical, expected social cues but he does pick up on other things. He knows his friends' habits, their beliefs, their personalities, and uses those things to find differentiate his friends from the fakes. It ends up kind of overshadowed because he still has to go dogboy mode to actually defeat the monster, but Laios was right on all three counts. He still does it through the lens of his knowledge of monsters, and not the way a "normal" person might, but its the way that works for him and gives him at least some understanding of his team.

TLDR; Laios may be stupid but he's not an idiot and he knows his friends.