If Delicious in Dungeon episode 11 could be compared to something, it would be to that one quiet kid that everyone likes but then shows up to homeroom with an AR. What, up to this point, had been a light and fluffy story about eating random crap while trying to save someone, has turned into quite a dark story with a pretty awesome fight.
It’s refreshing to see protagonists express uncertainty about their ability to handle a situation because of their circumstances. Usually, we get self-doubt or self-esteem issues as the reason why someone questions their ability to complete a goal. But here, that’s not the case. The Delicious in Dungeon party knows that they’re outclassed and outgunned. It’s possible that not only is there a chance for them to fail to kill the dragon, but they may also end up meeting the same fate as Falin.
Knowing they can’t just charge in, they decide that the best way to deal with the threatening overgrown iguana that’s bumming around the town is to bring down a building on top of it and hope that KOs it. With explosive magic laid down, the guys in the group run around town, trying to channel the dragon into their trap. It’s explained that dragons store fuel in their bodies and use their tongues to ignite it. And, believe it or not, this is scientifically possible. All dragons need to do is produce a flammable substance like ethanol (which pupfish already do in nature), have a way to expel it in a pressurized manner, and ignite it with sparks produced in their teeth. Then, you have a living and breathing flame thrower.
As they lure the dragon towards their trap, they’re blasted by dragon fire, much to their relief. Senshi’s pans actually shield them from its fiery breath. However, they distribute heat so well that they’re useless as a shield as they can’t even hold them due to the extreme temperatures. But they manage to get the dragon to where it needs to be, and Marcille drops a house on it like Dogo Koba drops cute anime girls — with gusto and pride.
But that works as well as telling weebs that they need to shower before heading to conventions. That’s to say, it was completely useless. As the dragon rises from the rubble and stands over the stunned Delicious in Dungeon party, Laios mentions that dragons and t-rex are both vision-based predators. If you stay really still, they won’t get you. If only taxes worked like that.
As they lay there, they were probably contemplating what they did to deserve their current situation. Laios notices that the dragon’s weak spot is right over him. All he has to do is just stab it, but his little monster friend yeets himself and his sword out of that situation, leaving him unarmed, altering the dragon to their presence.
As the dragon tries to get them into its belly and then out, it’s poop-shute. An interesting thing happens: it won’t flame them while they’re under it. This could maybe mean that it isn’t immune to dragon fire. Meaning it can hurt itself with its own flame. It can also mean that it cannot breathe fire while its head is cocked downward. Either way, they’re stuck there, and to help them out, Marcille begins to attack, but it’s a fruitless gesture. Because of sheer desperation, Senshi takes out his Mithril chef knife and states that it can cut through anything. And cut through anything it does. As with it, they’re finally able to superficially wound the dragon.
But while the cut was skin deep, the insult went to its very core, and the dragon started to rampage. Senshi tries to distract it so that Laios can pick up his sword but gets squished like a turd in a dog park in the process. Laios rushes to help him, but Chilchuck tells him to meet up with Marcille and devise a new plan, and he runs off to help Senshi. Once there, he dislodges the knife and throws an impaling hit into the dragon’s eyeball. This gives him and Senshi enough time to get Laios’ sword back to him, but they’re quickly knocked out by falling debris.
Once he’s back with Marcille, they devise a plan to shoot him towards the dragon with one of her magical explosions, and it works! Though he tries to keep himself on the dragon while it’s thrashing around, he lets the beast bite his leg as he swings below it and manages to place the fatal blow. As he lays on the ground, bleeding out, we get a flashback to his younger days spent with Falin. One in which she bids him farewell. And that’s what we call a promise of the worst to come.
As Delicious in Dungeon episode 11 continues, we finally get the answer to the question of how long a dragon takes to digest someone. Spoiler alert: not long enough. As Marcille heals the group, Senshi questions the validity of fast healing, but his protests fall on deaf ears. Laios fares better when his leg is reattached, but their celebration is short-lived. As they reach the stomach, to their horror, there’s no Falin. In the intestine, there’s no Falin.
In desperation, Laios checks the dragon’s flame sac, and as they dig through the digested matter, they find Falin’s staff. And then, to the group’s horror, they find what little remains of Falin. A decomposed skull. And with that, Delicious in Dungeon episode 11 ends with a cliffhanger.
Trigger did one hell of a job with this episode. There’s no way around that. No praises that shouldn’t be sung. Everything, from the pacing to the voice acting, was so perfectly executed that not only can nothing be added, but nothing can be taken away. Every piece, no matter how small, plays an integral part. The breaks and pauses, the quiet moments — all lent themselves to a knee-shaking, abdomen-tightening experience.
Seeing as how the lore of the dungeon resurrection has been covered, and in a prior episode, we were told that someone had been successfully revived from poop, Falin has some pretty good chances of coming back unless the show pulls a sucker punch. Either way, the way this show went from a fluffy gourmet slice of life to a trauma-inducing show, was flawless.
Screenshots via Netflix
© Ryoko Kui, KADOKAWA/Delicious in Dungeon PARTNERS