Saturday, November 9, 2024

2024 read #139: Delicious in Dungeon: Volume 14 by Ryoko Kui.

Delicious in Dungeon: Volume 14 by Ryoko Kui
Translated by Taylor Engel
191 pages
Published 2023 (English translation published 2024)
Read November 9
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Delicious in Dungeon: Volume 1 was the very first book I started reading after my partner R and I moved into our house, back in April. We had moved to New York in part to position ourselves for a potential return to Trumpenfascism, planning either for blue-state protections or for proximity to Canada, should that prove necessary. But as we settled here, and the Harris campaign became the can’t-possibly-miss-it choice for America’s future, those anxieties quieted. I dared to imagine a life of humble satisfaction and community joy instead of mere survival. Dungeon remained a fixture through all of that summer into fall, as I finished the first season of the anime and spaced out the manga.

I finished Dungeon in a different world, a darker and meaner and shallower world. This week, I sped through the last few volumes to wring out what comfort I could. I’ll miss it, going forward.

Volume 14 serves as a loving coda to the characters, quickly but thoroughly tying up loose ends and giving each of the central cast a lovely moment of farewell. Kui’s storytelling continues strong even in this victory lap, doling out just the right amount of closure for the characters and their story. After the unrelenting gallop of the final climax, I’m so happy Kui gave us this last little time with characters I’ll never forget.

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