Based on some stuff that comes up later in the manga, and on the author's other works, I'm 100% convinced that she wrote Laios as autistic on purpose, not just accidental autism vibes

IDK if anyone's mentioned it, but in the lorebook there's a page that explains that Resurrection magic burns through your fat and muscle mass super fast - it's why they needed to use the dragon the way they did. The author even pointed out that Kabru has gotten very thin compared to what he looked like before going into the Dungeon, and seeing a thick/fat adventurer in the dungeon usually indicates that they're very strong. Laios being kinda squidgy over all his muscle is literally a flex.

Japanese fantasy manga has been ruined by the isekai protagonist, whose jaded "seen this all before" attitude has made stories stinky and boring. Laios is a genuine breath of fresh air.

Ryoko Kui (the creator) draws everyone like someone who loves real human proportions. Laios has a genuinely realistic body shape with plenty of muscle and also fat in all the places you would expect from someone who eats and exercises every day. Marcille and Falin have very respectable body shapes as well, which is freaking unheard of in anime. It's so refreshing to see an artist create characters who look like they are real human beings instead of just existing for fanservice. Well.... Okay, there's Senshi, but... you get what I mean!

What also just really highlights Laios's autism is when he gets to meet Kabru and Kabru just has absolutely no idea what to think of him. He's a person who is overly-analytical and tries VERY hard to sus out the motivations and reasonings of the people he talks to, and here comes a man who is so honest and open and painfully ernest in who he is, and it short-circuits Kabru completely.

Liaos is one of my comfort characters. He's non judgmental, embodies his passions, and has such a goofy charm to him. He ain't that smart, but he's got the spirit!

With Senshi winning all those tumblr sexy man polls is a sign to me that the world is healing. Senshi is prime husbando potential.

In addition to Senshi keeping them healthy, I love that Liaos is legitimately a good leader because he knows how to AVOID fights and minimize damage when fighting monsters is inevitable, where other groups like Kabru's try to fight and kill every monster they come across. Dude would kill it as a speedrunner.

16:20 he said in episode 9 that since he’s paid in advance he can’t leave a party until the job is complete. Also he’s just that guy

*MANGA SPOILERS* . . . . . We actually know from the adventurer's bible Senshi's first death didn't occur until meeting Laois' party. Everybody but Marcille dies to the rabbits. He was doing fine on his own before that lol

There aren’t respawn rules there are revival rules, they just want to be fast enough to get to Falin’s corpse so there is still enough of her to revive since healing magic needs organic material.

Laios's voice actor is also on the spectrum himself! He's identified as such on his socials and twitch streams, and expressed how much he's loved the opportunity to voice a neuro spicy character 🥰

you get the kingdom with the dungeon because the dungeon IS the kingdom. like the upper floors are the tallest towers of a castle. it’s just all underground

The mangaka is amazing with diverse body types for character designs, she’s made an adventurers Bible for dungeon meshi where you can see a lot of other drawings she’s done for characters and a whole lot of different character designs for random people

As mentioned in other comments, Laios being autistic is pseudo canon; essentially we know the author takes representation seriously and would have done a lot of research into making it accurate and respectful, and there are just kinda too many indirect references to it for it to NOT be true. Honestly I think the only reason it isn't outright stated is because dungeon meshi takes place in a world where that diagnosis doesn't exist yet. But anywho, I think where dungeon meshi really shines in it's representation is how people react negatively to Laios's behavior (that sounds bad but stay with me (also this will discuss events of the manga but will do so in a spoiler free way, so no worries)). Not too far ahead in the manga, there are characters who express how they find Laios's difficulty at picking up on more subtle social cues very grating, but, rather than the standard, cliche, and insulting "I wish I could be 'normal'" moment that happens a lot, Laios actually gets frustrated in return, calling them out for being so backhanded; basically just saying that he doesn't care whether or not they like him, but, he hates that they won't just talk to him about it. Dungeon Meshi's stance isn't that Laios needs help to fit in and understand social cues, but rather, maybe the fact that these social cues are so ambiguous and can be misread in so many different ways is evidence that people should stop beating around the bush and be honest with each other; that petty things like pretending to like people you hate or saying yes to things you'd rather not do are concepts that make sense to neurotypical people even though doing things like that offers no benefit. No one comes to an understanding, no solution is found, and continuing that behavior only ever damages the relationships of the people involved. Not that Laios needs to try harder to understand everyone, but that everyone should try harder to understand Laios.

I don't remember where I saw it, but someone said that Laios' magical creature 'recipe' book is just a guide for kids that gives them fun facts about the dungeon monsters😭 I found it so charming and unserious that he was essentially whipping out a, "fun ocean facts for kiddies!" as they were being attacked by a megladon😂

Senshi is very focused on being a *part* of the ecosystem of the dungeon, rather than coming in for just resource mining or fighting the mad mage. This is not only reflected in him having a wok rather than a shield, but also in his axe. Compared to his cooking utensils his axe is beat to hell, to the point where Namari scolds him for not taking good care of it. But here’s the thing, Senshi isn’t a fighter, he’ll only take what’s necessary, he sees no use in fighting monsters in the dungeon unless he 1. Has to cuz they’re aggressive, or 2. For food. He’s very efficient about it and he doesn’t want to fight any more than he needs to. Heck, he’s so trusting of the ecosystem he nearly gets tricked and killed by a kelpie he considered a friend.

The reason I love Delicious in Dungeon so much is how mundane and down-to-earth it is, despite its fantasy genre, like the foods treated as just regular foods (although its using very bizarre ingredients), not something that gives you magical buffs or something, like in other fantasy (especially isekai) anime.

Fantasy anime has just been oversaturated with crappy iskeai to be the point its the same damn story of boring/self-insert npc protagonist, pointless harems and always defeating the damn demon king but dungeon meshi is so good binge watch the recent episodes and loved all of it getting ACTUALLY back into the fantasy and the Dnd vibes and yes I love Laios, i love that blonde autusic man and do want him.. also Faine x Marcille for life!!

"why does defeating the dungeon make you king" ANIME ONLY GIRLIE JUST WAIT!!!!! THE LORE DROP WILL HAPPEN LATER

As an autistic person I ADORE Laios, that is my MAN. He is such a weirdo and it's beautiful, he has my exact brand of autism too which is "freak for monsters/animal nerd" so I latched on immediately. Ntm he's fine AF. Also, not only does his English VA headcanon him as autistic, but he also actually is autistic, which is very rare to see and makes me super happy.

As an autistic person myself I almost *immediately* interpreted Laios as being autistic (or at least autistic-coded) when I was reading the manga. I love him so muchhhhh he’s great

I love dungeon meshi so much for many reasons, but as you said partially for how it portrays disabled and neurodivergent characters. As an autistic person, Laios means a lot to me. Hes never portrayed as naive or childlike or stupid; he's oblivious in some regards, sure, but he's also immensely competent and knowledgeable. That guy's a straight A biology major! Marcille, too, to some extent. She's burnt out and fussy and likes rules a lot, but she's still depicted as deeply caring and competent. Though i think my favourite would have to be Mithrun, due to how despite both his physical and mental disability he's a respected authority figure AND gets a healing journey which doesn't magically fix him but rather offers a start to getting better. Ryoko Kui really created something special with this manga

D&D classes: Laios is almost certainly a fighter. They can use any weapon or armor, so they typically wear the heaviest armor. A paladin is a holy warrior. They can also use any weapon or armor, but they have the whole religion thing on top of that. Laios seems to be more of an eldritch knight (fighter with some spellcasting) rather than a paladin.

All Im gonna say is Im glad marcille's one rule was "no demi-humans" cuz i am positive he woulda ate goblins and orcs and stuff.

Part of the reason I love the show so much is that every character is a type of social outcast on their own. Laios has autism which has made a lot of his interpersonal relationships difficult, like all the misunderstandings with Sureau, Marcille due to her parentage and academic achievement has left in an awkward place, Senshi because he lives in the dungeon and has isolated himself, Chilchuck has become estranged from his family. Even getting into the larger cast such as the Canaries, the mad mage also has a queer identity.

as someone who knows the whole story, be patient. every question you have, even ones you didnt know you had, will be answered with well thought out answers

I love how the author went, "You know what, elves are Italian in this world."

I draw the line at the parasite. Especially a raw parasite. When I first saw that in the manga (I can't wait for another week for an episode so I just read the manga), I was like "Laios, I love you and I know you're not that intelligent but WTF DID YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN?! You ate that shit and got sick from it!" So yeah. I love the story, comedy, characters and the world building which everything I wanted more in fantasy series.

this and frieren revived my liking for anime, it gave me hope

senshi's wok used to be a shield and it's made of literally the best metal that all blacksmiths aspire to work with and he turned it into a cooking utensil

Chilchuck and senshi are peak anime men 😩👌

4:00 no... she's dead, and they know that. But in the dungeon people can be revived and the success rate is based on how damaged the body is. So they're trying to kill the dragon before Falin gets digested and revive her. 16:22 the reason he stayed could be that he was already paid upfront and the job wasn't finished, he needed to do it to maintain his reputation. But I like your explaination too

3:31 The Old king Said so. Literally. Also he's not the grand wizard he's too melenated for that title.

falin is the most relatable character ever, yet I am not a mage nor healer (or dead). the creator knows how to create the most humanistic and relatable characters that I’ve seen in a while, while I do not like certain characters for some aspects of their personality- I can appreciate the parts of them that make them as they are. reading it was a such breath of fresh air, so many unique ideas and characters all executed to perfection (in my opinion). the ending definitely changed my life and made me appreciate so many other things more (namely food haha) [ALSO FALIN LOVES THAT ELF GIRL ITSSSS CANNOOONN- in my mind :3]

It took me 5 seconds of reading the manga and seeing how Laious talks about monsters to say: "Oh, shit... it me." Man is obsessed with weird creatures, and the many facts about them. Honestly... same.

I also tend not to like fantasy fiction (a lot of it gets really repetitive and bland), but I absolutely love dungeon meshi! I love playin dnd, and this show has that exact vibe of assembling a party of weirdos with your friends. Apparently the author is a huge fan of Baldur's Gate, it really shows! Also, as a vegetarian, the question of where to draw the line on which monsters were okay to eat was funny to me. My own issues are more with the global farming industry, its inhumane conditions, and its impact on the environment rather than with eating other living beings, so the answer is "all of them."

Your analysis of Marcille is so on point! There's a depth to her character that you pointed out that I hadn't considered before, and now I absolutely love the author of this manga's commentary. I'm like you, I'm a very sci-fi/other genre kinda enjoyer and this anime/manga finally got me because it does something refreshing to the fantasy genre for me. What a simple theme that's so easy to explore: "What's the importance of food?"

Senshi have never died in that dungeon prior meeting the gang.

Great video! Also, just a bit of lore, the author made a point that to get to the lower parts of the dungeon, you need to stock up on a bit of body fat or else you would have to go back up to resupply. It makes sense for Laios to be built that way and why the orcs also look that way.

Dungeon Meshi ep 1: oh so this is a fantasy cooking anime with shonen elements sounds cute I wonder how it will go from here Dungeon Meshi ep 12: holy shit

It's not that Falin was still alive in the dragon's stomach. It's that if her corpse gets completely digested, there is nothing for the resurrection spell to work on. That is standard D&D logic there. I love it.

This video was actually so good, I love listening to someone talk about such a good show with so much love and appreciation for it

3:09 ok so, if they beat the dungeon, it will bring back a kingdom that they will then get to rule! it's not the same kingdom as the one that's over the dungeon, it's a different kingdom. I hope that makes sense!

I havent seen this video all the way yet (on my lunch break) BUT I wanna say im so happy that damien haas is getting noticed for his role in the show! I always loved him on so random and smosh :)

I GET YOUUUUU Im so not a fantasy girlie but Dungeon Meshi hits so good

every time i see ryoko kui's drawings of characters in their underwear with their different body shapes I go insane

I see myself in Laios so much dude. It’s honestly a little comforting to see an adult act the way Laios does. It makes me feel a little less childish.

idk if you watch smosh, but Laios' VA is Damien Haas from smosh, and he's actually autistic. he also helps write and direct the show, so that probably contributed to how he portrayed Laios - pure autism rizz

It's like One Piece, find Gol'D Roger's treasure and you are King of the Pirates. Awesome we get this super sweet autistic golden retriever man ^^ Thank you for gushing over these characters.

The Island Dungeon is unique in the setting in the specific two ways: The Anti-Death Curse that makes resurrection within the Dungeon limits effortless, this is Metaphysically true about the setting that all Mages flocking to the Dungeon are aware of, interested in, and trying to study. The second unique feature is the Prophecy, which was in the prologue of the first episode: Person claiming to be The King of Golden Kingdom trapped beneath the Dungeon has offered the throne as a reward to whomever is able to save his kingdom from the Lunatic Magician. Given that King vanished immediately after promising this, the Prophecy is a lot more dubious but prospecting Adventurers are tempted by the idea of being able to claim the wealth, power, and entirety of the Dungeon as their own. Thouden Party seems to operate agnostically of the Prophecy, trying to score profit by pursuing scouting bounties posted by the Governor of the Island.

1:19 the dungeon mesh brainrot has been so bad for me right now that I know exactly what twitter post your talking about 😭😭💀

This Anime is Too Dangerous to be Watched at Night Time Especially getting hungry

I love the implementation of biology and explanations about magic in Dungeon Meshi SOOOO MUCH I could listen to Laios talk forever and never get bored

i honestly think laios is so well written as an autistic character, that it doesnt even need to be explicitly stated ,,, i love him so so much

In the English version, laios's voice actor just brings that next level of unhinged obsession. I highly recommend the dub ❤

no because idk who you are but keep talking about Dungeon Meshi because I love it just as much

Intentional or not laios and even falin are the best autistic rep I’ve ever seen

im a dunmeshi manga girlie who has been enjoying the reactions of anime onlys and this vid really was a treat to watch

is explained in the intro of the first episode that a man came crawling out of the dungeon claiming to be the king of a golden kingdom and whoever might defeat the mad sorcerer would become the new king of the dungeon/land. Through out a few of the episode is also mentioned how the dungeon used to be a sort of kingdom. That's the end of the non--spoiler explanation SPOILER EXPLANATION The dungeon is actually part of the kingdom laios saw in the moving paintings episode. After the king died everything started to go downhill and the court jester, the dark skin elf, who was raised as basically the previous king's son and the new king's (delgal) brother attempted to preserve the kingdom cuz the new said he was afraid of dying and the jester searched for a way to fulfill that wish by asking a what they thought to be a god for 1 wish: that the kingdom would be safe and nobody would ever die again (you can already see the problem with this wish) and so the kingdom became the dungeon but after a long time the people of the old kingdom started to wish to just die in peace, but the mad mage wont listen to them cuz he is dead set of keeping everyone "safe" so the only way to free the people of the old kingdom is by killing the current dungeon master aka the mad mage, which in turn also grants whoever does so complete control over the dungeon and thus, complete control over the kingdom

my friend who I play dnd with recommended me this series, and as someone who barely ever watches anime its such a banger. marcille sweep.

i think the reason why getting a hold of the dungeon basically grants you ownership of the land is bc the entire surrounding area runs on the dungeon like the local businesses and its population n stuff

I like the comparison you made to powerlifting

I wonder if your lack of enthusiasm for the fantasy genre has to do with the fact that sometimes, fantasy worlds just don't have explainations for how they work, they opperate under the "a wizard did it" rules. I'm a fantasy girlie, but mostly for the speculative biology parts of a fantasy world. If you can explain to me how magic functions in a way that sounds believeable, I'm INSTANTLY hooked and want to learn more (this goes for sci-fi as well and is why I gravitate towards stories that actually explain how aliens are different to humans and how different their home planets are compared to earth). Dungeon Meshi being so thurough with it's explainations of it's world, magic systems, and monsters are what has given me such massive brain rot about it. Dragons sleep a lot of the time because of their size and energy consumption, they use the inedible parts of their prey and store it as fuel. Some mimics are hermit crab-like things. Slime senses your breath and is how they determine what to attack, their bodies are surrounded by their digestive fluid which is how they can eat by just moving over something. Some monster plants ensnare their prey and uses it as fertilizer. The living armor being MOLUSKS??!? GOD I love it all so much.

I get not liking the base of a genre. There are so many things mixed into fantasy in anime now adays. Like I don't like Mecha anime, but I can name ones I have enjoyed! I'm so glad so many people are into Dungeon Meshi, the manga is so good and the anime is a great adaptation. Laios, Senshi and Izutsumo are my favorite characters!

I have to say that the person responsable for the voice actor casting did an amazing job in casting Damien Haas as Laios, because... Damien is pretty much Laios irl. Laios is a big guy with a heart of gold, has autistic traits, a person who cares about his friends, is dedicated to his job, and loves eating and trying new foods. That's Damien irl!

its always exciting to see new people appreciating this gem !!! instantly subscribed

Marcille having the biggest aversion to eating monsters and doing anything she perceives as icky is SO funny when you learn that she majored in the Dark Arts in magic school and has no qualms about necromancy and forbidden magic lmao

yessss dunmeshi i'm not much into fantasy either, but i like the characters and people are constantly talking about how the plot gets more complex and how much it escalates. so i cant wait to see that

First time I’ve seen one of your videos and you’re so charming and enthusiastic!

I don't usually follow animated shows -- I like dunegeon meshi because I like dnd. For that reason I don't think I'll subscribe to the channel but I have to say THIS VIDEO IS SPECTACULAR. The production is so good, you are soo funny and charismatic. Truly, what an entertaining video! Kudos!

As someone autistic, as soon as I saw Laios i genuinely cried because i felt so seen in this freak(lovingly) of a man

Marcille then sees that she has a very powerful reason for being so strict with the rules. She uses black magic, it's her specialty and she knows that her moral compass is not very good. She always knew that she could be dangerous if she abandoned the rules. That character steals the series.

Loved the video, though as an aside, Dungeon Meshi is not actually directly inspired by Dungeons and Dragons, but by Ryoko Kui watching her dad play Wizardry, a once-popular fantasy video game series from the 80s. IIRC she didn't even start playing fantasy video games until she started working on the manga (she's since become a big Baldur's Gate fan). The five "human" races in Dunmeshi (tallmen, halffoots, elves, dwarves, and gnomes) are the races you could choose for your party members in Wizardry, and the series revolves around delving into a dungeon and defeating a mad sorcerer (though in one game you actually play AS the mad sorcerer). While its popularity faded in the West during the 90s IIRC, it remained hugely popular in Japan and got sequels there ages after the main series died. It was a huge influence on game series like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest (and Dragon Quest by itself is THE blueprint for Japanese fantasy), so in a way Wizardry is the grandfather of modern Japanese Western-style fantasy. That said, there IS a big DnD-related Japanese franchise that was also hugely influential in Japanese pop culture, Record of Lodoss War, which is quite literally a Japanese guy writing up one of his DnD campaigns into a fantasy epic, which became a novel series and subsequent anime. Though as another aside, while RoLW was hugely popular, DnD does not dominate tabletop role-playing in Japan like it does in America. That honor goes to the horror TTRPG "The Call of Cthulhu", which is why you'll see references to HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos here and there in anime and manga.

I was always asking my d&d group if we can eat the monsters we kill 😂 ive found my new favorite show now lol

Don't worry, the dungeon mechanics are all explained in detail by the end. I think all plot points get resolved, I can't think of anything left behind.

The reason their designs are so good is because a woman drew it. Istg every Shounen show drawn by female mangaka iust has the best designs. Theres a variety of body types for both genders outside of the basic good looking body types you see in most anime.

Okay, after you've posted this, your comment on autism swag has lived rent free in my head and I've been wanting to see your reactions (as the anime has practically confirmed everything you've said).

“They respect what he can do with a sword” 😂 saved it

I'm a Kabru girlie his desperation is amusing

3:25 Someone else probably brought this up but it's actually said outright in the manga on the first page that the old king from 1000 years ago crawled out of a hole (the first dungeon entrance) and told the first people he saw that if they defeated the mad mage at the bottom of the dungeon they'd have his blessing to inherit the land as its new king, and then immediately crumbled to dust stone dead!

This anime and the manga is such a breath of fresh air as nowadays watchers are bombarded with mediocre fantasy setting anime. The author of this series has done an exercise of drawing different body types (slim, wide, short, tall) and also first person perspective based on the character's height. That tells a lot about the author's dedication and passion to create something this amazing. Glad that you enjoyed this show as there are new episodes coming out every week. Also, Senshi is best boi

It feels like they took a classic Roguelike and turned it into a manga/anime instead of D&D. There is this mechanic where you pulp bodies and just eat them... RAW.

I wonder how you reacted with one of the latest episodes and Marcille's "WOAH HEY" Like people have been talking about how the mangaka is VERY clearly trying to imply something when Shiro is always mirrored or paired with Marcille when it comes to Falin, considering the one thing we know about Shiro is that he tried to marry her out of the blue. Also apparently the reason for a lot of the character's design is the original creator was like "Yeah drawing the same thing over and over wasn't really making me a better artist so now I do lots of silhouette practice and stuff"

I haven’t seen the show but I know the main characters voice actor is Damien from SMOSH. He is autistic in real life he’s perfect for this role.

13:20 is, I believed, the second anime exclusive Senshi fan service, so far.

I love good fantasy, but not so much anime fantasy or really GOT I’ve realized. However, I saw a clip or something of this anime online, and decided to check it out because I was intrigued. It was so unexpectedly good! I thought I would drop it quickly, but I binged it all and then read the manga and it honestly just feels so different from other things I’ve seen.

Idk how far you have gotten, but this is 100% the series that starts off with a single concept (food in dungeon) and by the end devolves into crazy mass holy shit insanity by the end. (In the best possible way) This manga/anime is so much like an actual DnD campaign. Especially how it ends up going completely off the rails! Even if you don't usually like fantasy, this is a must see anime!

The only problem I have with the story is that Laios and the gang were so SLOW while rescuing Falin. Like, Laios, you adorable autistic boi, your sister is getting melted by a stomach acid, stop eating and help her. But yeah, besides that, I love this story.

The way I know exactly which fanart you saw….

actually its kinda crazy how much 2023 has absolutealy popped tf off with classical- styled fantasy anime. if you like how refreshing fantasy elements feel in dunmenshi, i def recommend to check out Frieren, tho tone and many things are different due to the different themes two stories choose to focus on, its an an incredible watch and def deserves your time :) im also someone who feels somewhat ambivalent towards fantasy genre, but these two animes managed to rekindle my excitemment for it just like LoTR and did when i was a kid ❤

I absolutely loved this video!

the part about "you will be the king of the dungeon if you defeat the wizard" is an important part of the series. I won't spoil but the notion of consumption/eating being used to connect desire and necessity is a great discussion coming from the author's intention of the series.

THE WAY IK WHAT EXACT FANART UR TALKING ABTT😭

3:30 it makes you the ling because the king said so. (Like actually) The mage/magician/however your translation calls 'em, was part of the kings' guard(?) Or some other high ranking tier, and they were there for all of the grand events (that also happened to be depicted in the paintings) Old kings death, coronation of the new king, and whatever. And when the dungeon opened up, there was a single man who cralwed out aind said that whoever defeats the mage gets all of the land, who happened to be the king.

Honestly Laios is transition goals for me

Yesss fellow Laios girly

My favorite friend told me that marcile was definitely in love in fowlin and I was like “really?”. The deeper I watch and payed attention I am 100% marcile love fowlin. And if they don’t end up together imma be mad

Chilchuck is the dad of the party and nothing can convince me otherwise. He’s such a vibe and i love him

No spoilers... Laios's Chubby body is more in relation to a specific circumstance from the end of the manga, rather than from the beginning.