Even before the change in tone, “Delicious in Dungeon” was already a delightful fantasy comedy. By focusing on food and survival, it captured a side of “Dungeons & Dragons” that we don’t normally see on screen. Characters not only have to fight monsters, but also find places to rest, manage resources, map the route so they don’t get lost, and other relatively small things that you don’t think about but were essential to the game and the genre. Plus, the food recipes look delicious (for the most part) and are detailed enough to replicate at home.
Halfway through the season, however, something changes. What should be a major milestone for the characters turns out to be joyful and successful when Edward and Alphonse Elric try to bring their mother back to life using human transmutation – in the sense that things are terrible, horrible, not good. This is where the show becomes more of a fantasy epic, an adventure filled with danger and darkness, with a broader scope that now includes warring factions and even ancient conflicts that influence the story of this group of people navigating a dungeon.
But what makes the change in tone work is that it’s always been part of the series, only the characters are so indifferent to the brutality of the dungeon (partly because the magic that created it means death is rarely permanent) that they remain shocked when they realize how complicated and dangerous things actually are.
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