any pronouns OK! | rt heavy!!grips onto my favorites and shakes them so hardd auuughh
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Latest Posts by sunsetdeathcity - Page 3
Ryoko Kui Q&A (part of the Autograph event in Shanghai, China
Here's the full Q&A copied from the post by Minute_Profession_34 on reddit
Original on weibo
About Ryoko Kui
Q: You have created a lot of interesting short manga in the past, do you have any favorite short manga by other artists?
A: A classic choice though, I think it's the collection of short stories by Fujiko F. Fujio. Other impressive works include "Hanshin: Half-God" by Moto Hagio, "Hanashippanashi " by Daisuke Igarashi, "茄子" by 黑田硫黄, "Skygrazer" by Ishiguro Masakazu, and "Tabi (The Journey of Life)" by Irie Aki. However, I haven't really read many short manga compilations.
Q: Do you prefer to create short manga or longer ones?
A: Long manga.
Q: Do you have a game that you highly recommend to fans?
A: Although not a game title, Steam Deck is the best thing I have bought in the last few years.
Q: What kind of music genre do you like?
A: I'm really not a music person and don't listen to music at all. Sometimes I listen to something like Tropical House.
About the creation & worldview of Dungeon Meshi
Q: Is the main storyline of the comics conceived at the beginning? Is the final ending adjusted during the serialization process?
A: I decided everything from the beginning. It may sound overly pretentious to say that, but I am the type of person who cannot move forward with each and every story unless I have decided on the main flow of the story. Of course, there are parts that I changed during the process because I thought, "I was going to do it this way, but it might not be natural," and there are parts that didn't work out the way I wanted them to. However, I think the story turned out to be roughly what I had in mind at the beginning.
Q: Will people outside of the dungeon incorporate the use of magic into their daily lives?
A: It would depend on the region. There are many sorcerers in elven and gnome cultures, but I don't think you will find many in dwarf and most short-lived cultures.
Q: What secrets of ancient magic are the elves hiding? Why would one be punished for doing anything related to ancient magic?
A: It is about the existence of Demon. They restricted that information because they didn't know what effect it would have on the world if the existence of Ddemon became known.
Q: How do adventurers know the time? Is there any dungeon having a different time flow from the normal world?
A: Some people bring things like clocks, but most only use their biological clock. There are also Dungeons where the flow of time is different from that on the ground.
Q: In the world of Dungeon Meshi, how do you deal with natural disasters, what would Laios or Marcille or Canaries do when there's a drought or a storm?
A: I don’t think it is so different from us.
About characters in Dungeon Meshi
Q: It’s about to give the new puppy a name again. Can Laos still beat Falin?
A: 7 out of 10, Laios will win. Or it may be decided by rock-paper-scissors or a raffle.
Q: Who will inherit the Golden Land after the passaway of Laios? The children and grandchildren of Yaad? Or the descendants of Laios? Or will there be a new Devourer?
A: Maybe the descendants of the Laios will inherit it, or maybe it will be passed on to someone with no blood ties at all. Or perhaps the monarchy will be abolished.
Q: Will Laios continue to eat monsters in the castle? And who will cook, maybe someone better than Senshi?
A: Many people in Merini are good cooks, but Senshi's cooking must be special to Laios. He may invite Senshi to cook from time to time.
Q: Where will Falin prefer to travel to?
A: She may prefer places where she can see landscapes and cultures she has never seen before.
Q: Would Marcille befriend a half-elf, such as Fionil? Since half-elves shouldn't think too much about longevity amongst themselves. Or would they not consider race as a factor to make friends but by fate?
A: Because mixed species in this world grow at very different rates and have very different abilities from person to person, there is often not much of a sense of sameness when you first meet them. They may or may not become friends as a result of interacting with each other as we would with any other human being.
Q: Is there any special meaning of Marcille and her mother's ribbons on the neck? And what about Cithis’s ribbon?
A: In elven culture, people with magic tattoos on their necks sometimes wear decorations covering their necks to hide the tattoos (mainly military personnel) This has spread to the general population, and many people wear decorations on their necks even if they do not have neck tattoos. Marcille and her mother's ribbons are just for fashion. While Cithis may have something special.
Q: Why wouldn’t Cithis wear a gorget? Or she’s not afraid of Dungeon Rabbits?
A: Maybe it’s suffocating or simply not liking it? The head-cutting Dungeon Rabbit is a fearsome monster, but it is not the first thing for the rear guard to be on the lookout for.
Q: How will Izutsumi and Falin get along with each other?
A: They may work together if necessary, but I doubt that Izutsumi will actively show interest in Falin (as she does with everyone).
Q: Itsuzumi has a beast soul mixed with a small amount of human soul, and does she shapeshift between a beast-man and a beast form like Lycion?
A: It can be done, but once transformed, she may no longer want to return to her human form.
*This Q&A seems to be strange
Q: What would Thistle do if he attended the former dungeon masters meetings?
A: Perhaps he would feel angry at the incompetence of other masters (their dependence on the devil).
Q: How did Milsiril accept Helki to stay by her side? After all, she hated elves and was bullied by her Canary teammates.
A: In the past, Helki was abandoned by his comrades for various reasons, and she could not leave him alone.
Q: Has Kabru ever had a real relationship with a girl? If so, what race or personality type of the girl was she?
A: I don’t think he cares about race, etc...
Q: What kind of soba will Mithrun make?
A: I hope he can make delicious soba.
Q: I would like to know the name of Mithrun’s brother or his brother’s crush!
A: His brother's name is Obrin (オブリン). I haven't thought of a particular name for his brother’s crush, so I'll name her appropriately now. Hmmm. Sultha (スルスハ).
Q: Since Mithrun used to assist Canary from behind, I wonder what kind of weapons he was good at using? Or was he good at using no weapons? (this is new info from the Korean Q&A)
A: He used a magic staff similar to that used by Pattadol. He was issued with the same one by the team. However, he no longer carried it because he lost it easily.
i feel like a lot of people do not realize the full implication of the fact that laios and mithrun didn't interact until the last few chapters of the manga. this right here was their first interaction.
i don't think it was a coincidence. there were plenty of situations where they were in a one "room" together, but never had an opportunity to talk: the narrative always made them miss a conversation, one of them was either unconscious or dead or something distracted them etc. the main reason for it is to create tension in the plot, of course, because the inability to properly communicate between two people who work for two different but ultimately reasonable goals is a reliable way to create conflict in your story.
but the other reason why it was written like this is hidden in character development and only becomes obvious when they finally talk. because mithrun doesn't know laios, he barely has an idea of what kind of person he is, he's just some random young tallman to him. but out of the blue he trusts him with literally the most important thing in his life. why? because he knows that kabru trusts laios. and mithrun trusts kabru's judgement.
and like, mithrun is still very pissed at kabru at that point, because kabru forcefully stopped him from going after the demon, but when i'm saying that at this point in the story their conflict is a lot more personal than ideological, that's what i mean. he's angry but he still trusts kabru the most, he's on his side, even if he didn't fully realize it until this point (and he's stubborn as hell).
this is also why kabru is such an integral character to the plot, it's not that he simply helped laios along the way, he is the one who connects people. he was the reason why the good ending was even possible.
this is also what makes the slap scene even more hilarious. because just like the fistfight scene with toshiro and laios was the moment of weakness for both of them, this scene is not only kabru's (and marcille's) moment of weakness and panic, but mithrun's too! i bet his thoughts right there were: "maybe it is your fault actually, you stopped me and you trusted this guy and i listened to you and now the world is ending". and kabru didn't even understand what's happening, because this is the first time mithrun spoke to him in hours.
Dungeon Meshi Volume 9 Part 3
Welcome back! Finishing up Volume 9!
What's with the random snake on the cover? There weren't even any snakes in this volu- wait.
Mithrun, that's rude.
And coming from someone like Kabru, that's saying something.
There's a really fun extra where Mithrun complains that Kabru cut out all the bits leading to the punchline. While it's partially true that Kabru simplified it so people would understand, I like to think Kabru cut out Mithrun's deeper motivations and desires to maintain his privacy. People don't need to know that. Even if Mithrun doesn't care, Kabru still treats him with basic respect.
It's rather heartwarming how much these two come to respect each other. I'm not sure if either of them has ever had anyone treat them as an equal.
See? He's laughing cause that very much isn't what was really going on. No need to air out Mithrun's struggles with superiority.
You say that, but... that look in his eyes doesn't look very happy to me.
Good for him. What? What are you readers giving me that look for?
I hate the demon. I really really hate it. It acts nice, and may do nice things, but at the end of the day, it's a groomer. And a r*pist. Seriously, it is really that awful.
Ah, I see the demon is also a gacha gamer. The most evil of hobbies.
Maybe I don't get how desires work, but I feel like you wouldn't want to turn into a mushroom, because it would prevent you from getting revenge? I dunno, the rules seem pretty fuzzy.
First, why were you sitting on the other side of the portal? Second, how malnourished was Mithrun that a single week of questionable food has him looking healthier? Third, please let Fleki sleep.
On the one hand, this is probably because Laios is a direct lead to finding the demon. On the other hand, it's because he and Kabru are friends now! :D
Also, I think I figured out why this volume is only six chapters. I haven't done page counts or anything, but chapter 62 feels twice as long as a typical chapter. So I guess that leaves the anime with 1 episode worth of wiggle room.
Plausible deniability at its finest.
I don't know how, but I really hope this makes it into the anime. It's a really important bit of Chilchuck characterization.
And that's it for volume 9! Hope you enjoyed, because next time we're headed right for the heart of the dungeon. With plenty of dramatic irony! We may want to rip the lion a new one, but our hapless heroes have no idea the danger they're in! See you!
i dont think ppl understand that thistle is a good example of the “1000 year old kid” trope. it was used right, it makes such a good allegory to the adultification that happens with brown kids. everyone around him ASSUMED he was an adult and gave him adult responsibilities, and it backfired tremendously. but the thing is people in this fandom are so ship brained it flies past people’s heads so they do shit like ship him with an adult like laios or his brother.
he’s not a *literal* child but there is a reason why kui has deliberately drawn him several years younger than his first appearance lol. even his tallman form looks like a child, whereas short elves like fleki and otta look like adults as tallmen
remember, wrt full-blooded elf aging 80 year olds are equivalent to 16. if thistle was brought into the castle when he was 20, and delgal was 40 by the time the dungeon was made, he’d be 60 at most
Every time I revisit chapter 86 and the events right after the group talks Marcille down, I'm always struck by this bit here:
In particular, how similar it is to this:
The Winged Lion ate the same desire in both of them, more or less (I'm sure there are some nuances in both flavor and intent, but they are clearly similar things here). The Lion basically used this technique to kill Thistle, and for Marcille it was... not insignificant, but something she and her friends overcame without even fully realizing it was an obstacle.
I feel like this is another small piece of the story that shows how important support and love are - in navigating mental illness, in dealing with abuse or addiction, or in working through any other similar struggle that can be read into the Lion and his eating of desires.
It almost feels like Marcille was able to borrow the desires of her friends. She loves them and she trusts them, so even when she didn't have a desire to free herself from the Lion, the care they had for her well being still mattered to her.
It's the same thing later, with her hair.
She isn't able to notice the way her messy hair is making things harder, let alone do anything about it. But when Chilchuck points it out and then braids it back for her...
It's better. She likes it, things are easier now. Even though it isn't a desire she can feel for herself, it's not something that doesn't effect her. And because her friends care - because they know her well enough to notice the difference - she is given the chance to have a preference and to ask for their help.
We can obviously see some parallel ideas here with Mithrun and Kabru as well, but I'd also like to point out that Thistle gets this grace, too. Thistle, who had no one to help him up once he lost his will to resist, or to encourage him to find new desires once the Lion ate them all.
Thistle says he doesn't need anything, anymore...
But he is given an apology anyways.
It is not a kindness he desires. It is not a kindness he is able to ask for.
But it is a kindness that helps. It is a kindness that matters.
plays a funky tune that is so captivating and endearing that i permanently embed myself into the fabric of the kingdom
anyways while senshi is canonically a feminine elf mithrun is canonically a masculine one since like senshi with all his alternate race appearances making him look more cute and feminine mithruns other race appearances have him as an absolute hunk of a man like kabru is fucking teaching self care to a middle aged veteran who sometimes says racist shit like you think kabru ever sighed and was like 'lets get you to bed soldier you're talking nonsense about half foots again"
Every week now I see this and I go 😭😭😭.
felt inspired by this weeks dungeon meshi ep
Before I watch the new episode everyone promise to be normal
anyway kabumisu is for people who want to see mithrun get better and labru is for people who want to see kabru lose his mind
you are the first person that comes to mind when i think of delgal and thistle so… the song passerine with them?? (thinking of delgal pov specifically)
Honored. Thank you. I LOOOOOVE THIS FOR THEM!
The chorus especially - it's about someone who defines and illuminates the narrator's life, but that importance doesn't stop the narrator from hurting them. If that isn't Thistle and Delgal, I don't know what is...
Cause you were the song that I'd always sing You were the light that the fire would bring But I can't shake this feeling that I was only Pushing the spear into your side again
I see Delgal during the dungeon years as someone who was crushed under a huge burden of self-imposed and unrealized guilt. According to Yaad, Delgal blamed himself for making Thistle use dark magic, and yes! He is guilty for that in a general sense, but Thistle had already been researching the dungeon before the pivotal moment when Delgal's begging made him decide to take the plunge. Guilt about that one moment doesn't address the root of the issue which is that Thistle's treatment by the Melini family, starting with Delgal's father acquiring him on a whim like a christmas puppy, turned Thistle into someone so wholly devoted & bereft of identity outside of them that he would do literally anything for his chosen family.
Did Delgal ever realize the scope of what they'd done to Thistle? Did he just take it for granted until suddenly Thistle wasn't doing exactly what Delgal wanted anymore and he had to start re-evaluating his relationship to Thistle? "I can't shake this feeling that I was only pushing the spear into your side again."
When he comes a knocking at my door What am I to do, What am I to do, oh lord When the cold wind rolls in form the north What am I to do, What am I to do, oh lord
made a few dungeon meshi photocards, having a lot of fun just putting mithrun in situations
yaad keeping thistle around like one of those crusty old chihuahuas that has every health issue known to man but won't die
grown-ass man literally pouting
Hello!
Would you have a collection of the instances where they talk about Mithrun’s noodle shop?
As far as I know it is mentioned only twice, once when they're trying to cheer him up so he has a new dream and once when Cithis asks "weren't you gonna open a noodle shop" in the second life extra
Actually now that you mention the "shop" part wasn't said out loud, I guess it came from the visual in Laios' imagination? Lemme know if I forgot any!
thistle portrait keychain ft. thistle beer
plus the various other thistle ideas,,
Thinking About Fictional Character while you have music on is such a risky activity. there’s no way EVERY song on this album is literally about Fictional Character. and yet……..
⚠️DUNGEON MESHI MANGA SPOILERS
The demon
Song: LUNCH by Billie Eilish
there are not enough words to describe how much mithrun means to me. there is something wonderful about a character who has to rediscover themselves after having their sense of identity stripped away from them except for one thing that they have for their reason to keep going.
as someone who was in a similar position, mithrun's journey means a lot to me. someone who acted on a desire that, at least in the short term, provided some semblance of direction but would inevitably burn out in the long run. desiring revenge wasn't sustainable, yet it was the only thing that kept mithrun going. because that was all he had left of his identity.
but in the end, when mithrun realized that he wanted to do something else? that he wanted to live? i cried so hard.
I wanted to ask you if there were any notable differences with Mithrun's dialogue in a few specific scenes, or anything of note when he says "Free yourself" to Thistle, the scene with Marcille where he says, "Do you have any idea how empty that will leave you", generally speaking, when he's trying to show care and compassion and empathy, like the therapy scene, and what he says to Marcille there about love, too. I guess I'm wondering if there's any difference with how they're displayed, because, for instance, I've seen people say that he's cruel to Thistle, and I see the ruthlessness easy, but I can also read the autistic sense of justice, which, although people laud this as a "good" thing, it can be really single-minded and actually pretty unconcerned with "right" or "wrong".
It sort of has a way, to me, as an autistic person, of mirroring Laios wanting Senshi to eat the griffin—to know and be free because that's the only way forward, just. Harsher.
Also, um. His interaction with Kabru, too! When he goes on to ask him what he wants to do, or really just that panel. Their interaction. And... um? When he says about Falin, "If she wants to, she will."
Anyway, besides that, it also screams "meltdown", on a further look. He's very restless and distressed and that seems clear. I think he's kind of trying to rush out the conclusion he wants, maybe mistakenly believing he's more cool-headed than he is, and people trust him, I think, because he seems capable, I see a lot of, "he just doesn't care", but he's not very tuned into his emotions, and I think not really caring about the consequences if he can get what he really wants. Some people see malice, but I think his care is genuine, though I sort of believe he's also wanting his conclusion to happen as fast as possible—trying to force it out, and really not as stable as he may seem.
People will say "He doesn't care at all", but then I feel like...? Why try, if you don't care? And I was wondering about that, I guess.
Sorry if this is a big ask. I have Thoughts™️.
if you're asking me about japanese version, i'm sorry to tell you that i'm not that good at it :D. the only noticeable difference i see from his usual way of talking is that mithrun puts a lot of emphasis in his speech when he's trying to persuade other dungeon lords (he ends almost every sentence with [だ], which is usually a sign on emotional speech). but it's already pretty obvious from the meaning of what he says. the one that looks interesting to me is this panel, his pleading face and the way he says [お前になわからないか] "don't you understand?" works so well, it feels like he's truly empathetic here.
when people say that he acted cruel and violent, i say: yeah, and that's the point! mithrun, while being in many ways a unique character, is also an example of very old and very very common character archetype: he's a desperate and angry broken person who wants revenge and literally destroys himself in the process. it's almost impossible to write a character like that without them being cruel or cold or uncaring to other people, would any kind of redemption and healing even be interesting to see if they were perfectly nice, well-adjusted person?
the only reason to even talk about this is to analyze the cycle of cruelty traumatized people often find themselves in. to see how horrible the impact truly is, because kui does a great job portraying this. mithrun didn't even start as a good person, he was already at a pretty bad place mentally before his trauma. and guess what, any form of mental illness and trauma doesn't usually make you a better person, even if it changes you. when you have no desires, it's already kinda difficult to have any love, patience or care for people. what kind of person anyone would be when they don't wanna have friends, to love, to be loved, to live, to do literally anything? while also being constantly dehumanized by everyone, even people who technically care about them? actually, we know, because it happens in real life all the time.
but here's a thing. surprisingly, mithrun tries to care. he tries to care about civilians, he doesn't even kill people who wanted to kill him (kabru did, for example. don't know why people forget about this, pretty easy comparison to make). he tries to care about his squad: he always does the most dangerous job himself. he tries to care about other dungeon lords, because he feels compassion towards them, so he always gives them a choice.
but i love that kui makes him stay true to his character: he's an asshole, he doesn't have desires anymore, he's depressed, but he tries to care... and he fails and gives up. all the time. and he ends up hurting people because he gave up. idk, i find it incredibly relatable. and i think it's kinda weird to "criticize" mithrun for that, he's just a character that we're clearly supposed to empathize with, and we all one day or another find ourselves in similarly dark place in life. and there's something hopeful in his story, he didn't ask to be loved, but people loved him anyway – and he learned to accept this love. doesn’t happen as often in real life, unfortunately.
template was made by @/dunmesh!!
recently finished dungeon meshi and god i have a lot to say. i want to take my time and share my thoughts in a somewhat thought out post tho, so for now heres this...