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finished dungeon meshi (manga)!
loose bullet point list of personal thoughts.
* if you're thinking about picking it up; definitely try to stick around past Ch27-29; the first third is a little formulaic/basic but ramps into some neat psychological (and genre) deconstructions much like Neon Genesis Evangelion did.
* this is probably the most..... constructed story i think i've ever read. or at least a story that most cared about mechanics. it's real clever how intertwined with the story the "mechanics" were even up until laois eats the winged lion; like it's a puzzle of a narrative that all clicked-clicked together seamlessly. ironically on that note it feels like one of the only....? comics i could actually see adapted flawlessly into a videogame, with the puzzle like approach directly woven into the gameplay/storytelling choices.
* holy shit people were not kidding when they said this is the vore manga lol. literal jaw drop at how many times that the author could write in vore both as a metaphor and like... extremely literally, multiple times, and frankly even as an all-encompassing conflict-set-up for the whole story. it's a little interesting reading this after I drew a one-off vore piece somewhat recently to pick up on the "tells" of the appeal for people. (if you're at all sensitive to vore as a kink this will be a hard pass.)
* that end was soooooo evangelion-"everything turns into tang" in a neat way; laois' final confrontation with the winged lion was pure storytelling brilliance, and in fact part of that scene was what got me to pick up the manga to begin with since i saw one of the pages out of context and had it resonate with laois being a stealth misanthrope. of other stories that remind me of this one, kind of a mix of breath of the wild zelda... little bit of last exile as well.. ghlibi with the food...
* ironically i think of everyone i most relate to the captain of the elves, mithrun... total absense of desire partly out of [stuff] and partly out of self defense (and the arc being like, learning to actually.... want things again). so that was a neat subtext to reading his part. it was real clever how the canaries were set up about halfway through as appearing to be the villains but then ended up actually being part of the forces that helps laois in the end. (there's something about the ending that almost feels too neat/"wrapped up"/conclusive. i don't know that if it actually bothers me; but starting to find a pattern where the fiction I really glom onto emotionally has far more loose threads emotionally).
* the art is freaking gorgeous and i don't know how the mangaka keeps up that consistency. the first third was already "real tight" but after the red dragon fight it just kicks into overdrive with the sheer amount of details. also impressed at the love given to backgrounds / food / characters as seamless parts of each other, with a focus on mini "sets" almost like a dollhouse.
loose bullet point list of personal thoughts.
* if you're thinking about picking it up; definitely try to stick around past Ch27-29; the first third is a little formulaic/basic but ramps into some neat psychological (and genre) deconstructions much like Neon Genesis Evangelion did.
* this is probably the most..... constructed story i think i've ever read. or at least a story that most cared about mechanics. it's real clever how intertwined with the story the "mechanics" were even up until laois eats the winged lion; like it's a puzzle of a narrative that all clicked-clicked together seamlessly. ironically on that note it feels like one of the only....? comics i could actually see adapted flawlessly into a videogame, with the puzzle like approach directly woven into the gameplay/storytelling choices.
* holy shit people were not kidding when they said this is the vore manga lol. literal jaw drop at how many times that the author could write in vore both as a metaphor and like... extremely literally, multiple times, and frankly even as an all-encompassing conflict-set-up for the whole story. it's a little interesting reading this after I drew a one-off vore piece somewhat recently to pick up on the "tells" of the appeal for people. (if you're at all sensitive to vore as a kink this will be a hard pass.)
* that end was soooooo evangelion-"everything turns into tang" in a neat way; laois' final confrontation with the winged lion was pure storytelling brilliance, and in fact part of that scene was what got me to pick up the manga to begin with since i saw one of the pages out of context and had it resonate with laois being a stealth misanthrope. of other stories that remind me of this one, kind of a mix of breath of the wild zelda... little bit of last exile as well.. ghlibi with the food...
* ironically i think of everyone i most relate to the captain of the elves, mithrun... total absense of desire partly out of [stuff] and partly out of self defense (and the arc being like, learning to actually.... want things again). so that was a neat subtext to reading his part. it was real clever how the canaries were set up about halfway through as appearing to be the villains but then ended up actually being part of the forces that helps laois in the end. (there's something about the ending that almost feels too neat/"wrapped up"/conclusive. i don't know that if it actually bothers me; but starting to find a pattern where the fiction I really glom onto emotionally has far more loose threads emotionally).
* the art is freaking gorgeous and i don't know how the mangaka keeps up that consistency. the first third was already "real tight" but after the red dragon fight it just kicks into overdrive with the sheer amount of details. also impressed at the love given to backgrounds / food / characters as seamless parts of each other, with a focus on mini "sets" almost like a dollhouse.
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