#And also Izutsumi is a minor???

[sunshinem0ths]

club meshis

[noroniko]

farcille enjoyers i have some 🔞 stuff posted on my patreon rn btw

[sabertoothwalrus]

I'm going to think out loud about the dungeon meshi ages for a sec

I'm going to preface this by saying that this is based on my existing knowledge, and fact checking is difficult because there is A LOT of contentious research out there.

First of all, I think a lot of people come at this from a modern lens, forgetting the context that this is fantasy medieval era. this is fiction. on top of that, this is specifically Ryoko Kui's understanding of medieval era aging. plus fantasy. So before anyone comes at me with a bunch of 'ermmmm actualy's just consider that I don't really care and also it might not matter in this context lol

as far as the "age of maturity" assigned for each race, something I don't see many people talk about is that "teenagers" are a fairly recent concept. For a long time, you were either considered A Kid or Not A Kid. but this doesn't necessarily mean kids were more/less developed then, just our cultural expectations for certain age groups have changed.

Laios says the age of maturity for tallmen is 16. I don't think that means 16 year olds in the dungeon meshi universe are necessarily "more mature" than modern 16 year olds, but moreso that they have more responsibilities. However, things like medicine, smoking, drinking, sun exposure, physical activity, etc all affect age, so it's possible that developmentally they're closer to modern 18 year olds? Izutsumi is 17 (less than two weeks from turning 18, actually), and very much acts like a modern 17 year old.

The age of maturity for half-foots is 14. Chilchuck was 13 when he got married and had his first two children. Even though, at age 29, he's the equivalent of a modern 50 year old, I don't think he was That much more developed at 13 than a tallman. I think if half-foot 14 is equal to tallman 16, then Chilchuck was Pretty Damn Young for a parent LMAO. Even if you're generous and say tallman 16 is a modern 18, he still would've been younger than that.

The long-lived races are interesting. Marcille is obviously a unique case, and not a lot of this applies to her. We do know what Senshi was like as a minor (miner, lol), and he seemed like a modern 15ish, considering he was 36 and dwarf maturity is 40. I think it'd be really interesting to delve into how a culture functions with people being developmentally adolescent for soooooo long. Imagine middle school lasting 20 years. that would fucking suck. I suppose it makes sense why long-lived races are so patronizing.

Moving onto lifespans, I want to emphasize that they're average lifespans. Even in the manga, they say some half-foots live to 100, it's just rare. So it's less that a tallman 60 year old is "older" than a modern 60 year old, it's that it's easier to keep people alive for longer nowadays. Modern medicine is a BIG contributor. Dental health as well, considering how much your health is affected by your diet (and how much the action of chewing alone aids in digestion). Curious to know what the FUCK elven dentistry is like.

It also makes me wonder if half-foots would have a longer average lifespan if they weren't like, used for bait and treated so poorly, but half-foot 29 does seem to be middle-aged for half-foots. so who knows!

In that vein, I don't know if I can see Mithrun quite making it to 400 😬 like, his experience as a dungeon lord took a lot out of him quite literally, and he's doing exceptionally well despite it! I imagine he'd eventually start to develop a lot of heart problems if he doesn't have them already. Perhaps early-onset dementia. His memory seems still quite intact (he corrects Kabru on his story's accuracy) and he doesn't act like, lobotomized. He doesn't seem forgetful or confused, and he has a sense of humor/sarcasm still. It's mostly his task initiation that's been affected.

I almost want to say that mana affinity could affect long-lived races' lifespans, except dwarves have very poor tolerance for mana, so it's probably not that.

okay anyway I didn't really have a point to this post so I'm just gonna end my rambling here

[whoishotteranimepolls]

I've looked through your blog history and apparently you do realize that Izutsumi 17 and you just don't care. To make it even worse you're sexualizing not only a minor but a character from a manga that explicitly takes steps to not sexualize its female characters.

Anime and manga have a horrible history of overly sexualizing their female characters, so the one manga that refuses to overly sexualize them. You still do it with your blog? Why? Because apparently Izutsumi is not the only one from dungeon meshi you have no problem sexualizing the author would be ashamed.

Senshi is specifically designed to be the character that is sexualized. That's why he's the one with the panty shots that are normally reserved for female characters. So why must you include the female characters from Dungeon Meshi in these polls? Many of them are underage and they were never supposed to be sexualized in the first place.

Apparently you guys also enjoy sexualizing Chimera Falin when you know she was stripped of all her bodily autonomy and turned into a monster by the mad mage. Am I the only one that sees how disturbing that is? It's almost like you guys enjoy the glorification of the torture and abuse of women.

Outside of the Falin story arc Dungeon Meshi has a wholesome purity to it that I have not seen in very many manga so I would appreciate you protecting it and not ruining it with your blog and these polls. This is not a horny manga outside of Senshi. So please quit sexualizing the characters

Fandoms vs Illiteracy #2

Feel free to critique the essay but not the person nor the person's intelligence. Do not call names, degrade the person, or personally attack them in any way. The purpose of this series is to critique/analyze the arguments contained in the essays.

Unless you're living under a rock I'm pretty sure if you're on Tumblr you know a Dungeon Meshi is but I'll upload pictures at least of the characters they mention by name.

So now that everyone is a little bit more familiar with everything mentioned in the essay and knows the rules, feel free to do your own research and respond.

[blueguydraws]

Dungeon meshi characters in a modern/real world AU

Laios: Works at a zoo as a tour guide, gets to talk about his favourite critters all day to groups and getting payed for it. And is also kind of a minor online celebrity in the furry community, he draws the most creative OCs, makes fursuits etc. He runs dnd games too.

Kabru: He is propably a business major or something, Laios could be studying zoology and they keep running into each other on campus (i know those two subjects wouldnt be taught in the same place, but in my city for example like 3 diferent universities were in the same general location)

Farlin: She is a nurse or studying to be one (sorry right now i dont have much more ideas for her, tell me what else she could be doing?)

Chilchuck: He is tricky to add to the group beacuse he would be significantly older than the main gang, but maybe he runs a store right below the flat of the Tudens so they all know him and he keeps getting involved wether he likes it or not.

Izutsumi: She had a troubled childhood, maybe she was in goverment care, and eventually run away, one night she broke into Chilchuck's store, got busted, but Chilchuck made an offer that she could help out with the business and in exchange she would have a place to stay and gets payed until she pulls herself together.

Marcille: The equalent of magic gonna be science, and since her goal was to extend life, she propably studies biology or some branch of medical science. Idk what evil biology would be tho that could get her into trouble like black magic. (Maybe she advocates for the genetic editing of future generations to prevent hereditary illneses and such wich could be controversal idk.)

Senshi: He could be one of those people who go out into the wilderness to live off nature for a few months, (there are a few people who post their journey on you tube, its really interesting), but then the others wouldnt know him, so maybe he has a food truck, the best in the city. They could be running into him anywhere.

Do you agree or did i missed the mark? Tell me how would you imagine them, also what would the other characters be up to?

[thenixkat]

It's still just wild to me that between

-> the setting (fantasy medieval-ish europe-y place where it's established that sometimes folks don't get to eat between lack of funds and bad harvests)

-> the worldbuilding (stuff like heavier adventurers likely being more skilled/too skinny means risking being unable to be revived)

-> and the themes (having a healthy relationship with food)

you would think that Dungeon Meshi would actually be kinda fat positive. But no. There's an undercurrent of fatphobia that runs through it that feels so jarring that once you notice it it's hard to stop seeing it.

And it's not just the two really blatant places that it happens in the manga, like characters deciding to insult the only fat noble/rich person in the setting on their weight (which never gets counterbalanced by any character like complimenting a fat character on their figure in the whole manga) or our main characters going 'oh no he might get fat' about the hero gaining what is effectively a disorder (that could very easily kill him due to accidental self inflicted injuries due to no longer being able to feel certain physical sensations) from the defeating the biggest bad in the setting.

But also the smaller stuff like the gag about Izutsumi being shocked to see the fat-looking succubi after it was drilled into her head that the things are mindbreakingly hot. (Hmmm)

Or how you see folks point at characters like Nemari, Dia, Senshi (and Leed) as examples of positive fat rep but like. If you actually pay attention to like the examples of fat dwarves in the extras or in a few minor characters, what they look like if they were turned into tallmen (more or less if they were built like real world humans), you'd notice that they aren't fat at all. They're just muscular and not dehydrated, much like how Laios isn't fat just built and not starved.

Or even looking at like Leed and Zon (named and important) compared to the unnamed background orcs after the artist changed their orc design by the second time orcs show up in the story. And you just notice how much thinner Leed and Zon are compared to every other orc in a scene.

(And of course, the extras that reveal that orcs and dwarves actually have a lot less body fat than it looks like they have b/c they are *literally just big-boned*. They are leaner than a irl human would be at their height and girth due to literally having thicker and broader skeletons.)

Or the whole thing where apparently fat elves just... don't exist. Not even fat civilian elves or fat adventurer elves. Like we know that there's fat half-foots even though none of the half-foot major characters are fat b/c being able to do their job in a dungeon means they have to be as light as they can to not set off traps. but we at least see some thicker half-foots. But elves? Apparently only come in noodle.

[t1meslayer]

Peanut Butter & Jelly

Dungeon Meshi... Ah, Dungeon Meshi...

Featuring both a Ryoko Kui-inspired surrealist cover image (using collage art) AND an actual piece of art that I drew with pencils! And inserted! Into the fic!!

We've hit the big leagues now, ladies and gents and anyone in between and outside the spectrum.

===

Fandom: Dungeon Meshi

Characters: Laios Touden, Marcille Donato, Chilchuck Tims, Senshi of Izganda, and... Izutsumi.

Kensuke is also there.

Summary: The Touden party encounters a nasty new threat on the dungeon's bottom floor. Senshi is inspired to make a nostalgic dish. Viewer discretion is advised for anyone squeamish about blood and combat bits (though it isn't too prevalent).

Very minor spoilers for anime-only fans!

Click through the Read More below to get a preview of the latest story. Thanks for reading <3

Laios looks up from his kneel, palming a slingshot he'd silently run off to examine. The rubber-like sling snaps back to idle at the apex of a Y-shaped branch.

"I thought Namari might like to get her hands on one of these, is all…"

Marcille, back on her feet, snatches the tool from his hand.

"If she wants one, she can brave her way this deep." Marcille sneers.

She tosses the branch over her shoulder, immediately losing it in a bramble thick as miso soup.

Laios reaches after it.

Marcille plants her palm against his face again. He stops, and his shoulders slump.

[mmikmmik]

I like to think that post-canon, Izutsumi and Kabru are both immune from Falin bias. they both befriend her and enjoy her company because she’s very kind and very clever and interesting, but also neither of them ever see her with intense rose-colored glasses. I don’t think either of them would personally care that Falin has bizarre interests or disregards social norms or has minor personality flaws, but I think they’d both be like “???” at all the Falin-related double standards. Falin does some shit like entering a building by climbing in through a window and Kabru and Izutsumi make eye contact of solidarity with each other while everyone else is completely non-reacting.

[deus-and-the-machina]

the dunmeshi yuri discourse feels wild to me because it just feels like the wrong series to be doing this with. yes farcille is a juggernaut ship but like. the series is still made up of a mostly male cast and the more important side characters are also male. for a while its just marcille until izutsumi gets added and she's a teenager so no shipping with most characters for her. if we're being honest this is not a series where its a shock or an upset for there to be more m/m.

not to mention that farcille is still the most overall popular dunmeshi ship on ao3 by far, the m/m to f/f ratio seems to me that there are several m/m ships being rotated around where with f/f its mostly farcille with a couple of minor ships. the only other f/f ship ive seen any consistent content for in the fandom is namari/kiki, a little bit of izutsumi/tade, and some canary ladies.

While dunmeshi is a great series that resists a lot of anime tropes about portraying women and body types I feel like we still owe it to ourselves to be honest in that most of the central character are men who, with the exception of senshi, are pretty slim, women included (falin is fat in my HEART-). I dont really say this to critique ryoko kui, but just because I think its best to temper our expectations about what the story actually includes. you cant hang everything on "but look how well farcille is written" when, while I do love them, falin admittedly spends a good chunk of the series as a plot device more then a person. the glimpses of her self we get are really fascinating to me, and I would confidently say she's a character in her own right, but it would be disingenuous to claim she couldn't have used more screen time or depth into how she feels during all this crazy shit that's happened to her.

[room-surprise]

Dungeon Meshi Anime Review, Season 2, Episode 16 review

My darling Kabru returns again...

Another good episode!

Kabru's English voice actor does a better job in this episode. I still think he sounds like he's congested or like he's talking with a sock stuffed in his mouth (nasal? muffled? mumbling? it's hard for me to describe what this vocal quality is and why it grates on me) I'm excited to hear his performance in the next episode, maybe he'll impress me with his range once things get more serious...

This episode had a few cuts that were sad! Some internal dialog, and the moment where everyone in the party pats Chilchuck on the head and tells him he's a "good little lad"

Cutting thoughts out isn't new though, Trigger's been mostly excluding thoughts from the anime whenever it's been reasonable... and the cuts in this episode aren't too egregious.

We'll see if they keep in some of the more essential mental dialog in the next episode or not.

This episode is very talky but I like it a lot, I kind of wish there was more time to slow down and appreciate all the things that are happening... but I know they need to keep things moving. The great thing about manga is you can read it as slowly as you want, and take your time to absorb it.

Laios is being soooo cute about Toshiro. He likes Toshiro so much, it's so adorable and so sad lmao.

They kept in the bit where Maizuru calls everyone else something rude but calls Rin O-Rin... kind of annoyed that they didn't translate it as Lady Rin or something, since that means viewers that don't know O- is an honorific won't understand that Maizuru is only treating Rin, who is Asian-looking, with respect. A minor but important clue/foreshadowing for later!

I think unfortunately it's much more obvious that Izu's a catgirl in animation, since they made her head covering move with her ears... would have liked for it to be more of a surprise.

Dub specific thoughts:

I really don't know what to think of Bang Zoom's casting choices... They've clearly gone out of their way to cast minority characters with minority actors, and they are clearly trying to keep things somewhat accurate...

But then you have Kabru, an Indian-coded character played by a black American actor.

And then you also have all of Toshiro's party played by East Asian actors... except for Toshiro and Izutsumi. The two characters who are actually the most important to the story, the two biggest roles.

(I could of course be wrong about the ethnicity of Toshiro and Izu's English voice actors.)

I of course understand that things happen! Sometimes the person you hire for a role is mostly based on schedule availability! But still... Seems weird, seems a little sus.

Especially with what they did with Leed.

Despite all of this, the performances are still great! So now I'm looking forward to the next episode...

[timeskip]

Rating Dun/meshi ships:

Falin/Marcille - 10/10 no notes. For a series I'm not super into shipping for (because I think the story lends itself to nonromantic discussion more) this ship has latched itself onto my heart rather nicely <3 I like them and the Far/cille backstory anime adaptation made me tear up for reasons I can't quite articulate

Laios/Kabru - 3/10 I understand why people ship this, I really really do. But it went from me right after reading the manga going "I mean I guess if I shipped any M/M ship that's a good one" to being EXTREMELY annoyed by how it took over the fandom. The idea of Kabru having onesided feelings for Laios is cool. Them being in a relationship is. um. not my thing.

Kabru/Mithrun - 8/10 I really like it actually. I like the idea of them staying close post-canon. Not super Into it into it or anything tho idk I don't have much to say here

Chilchuck/Senshi - 0/10 ????????????????? okay I get it but also uhhh Senshi sees him as a literal actual child 👍 onesided only

Chilchuck/his wife - 9/10 one point deducted for his wife not existing onscreen. But I like Chilchuck's development regarding his relationship and feelings for her and how he doesn't know why she left... I want happiness for them. Sniffles

Izutsumi/anyone - 0/10 Izutsumi is too young and also she's aroace anyways

Marcille/Laios - 1/10 she's into his sister not him. Extremely het option.

Marcille/Chilchuck - 0/10 apparently this has like 20 fics on AO3. ???????????????

Namari/Kiki - 4/10 pretty cool, but I honestly don't see the appeal in shipping such minor characters (Kiki in particular) see the above note in me feeling like the story lends itself to nonromantic discussion more than shipping

[twinkrundgren]

i find it interesting when people talk about izutsumi as a minor in dungeon meshi, when tallmen are established to be adults at 16, and shes 17

its curious to talk about, especially cause the manga DOES go into discussion on the various short lived races age discrepencies and the like. its just interesting because i think everyone accepts halffeet are adults at 15 because theyre a fantasy race, but tallmen seem like normal humans to us so we assume they mature at the same rate as contemporary humans. but we also assume they have the same concept of adulthood that we do.

while 18 imo is a good age to deliminate minor/adulthood, i feel like in the end its just a stopgap, an average, in a larger issue of power dynamics and what it means to understand consent. especially because its a legal hardline so often.

dunmeshi does touch on these topics a bit, but not enough and its interesting that people have mostly glossed over these topics when deciding if a catgirl in a manga is ethically lewdable or whatever.

then again i dont really trust tumblr to discuss these things either and i feel theres far too many people who find the ethical ambiguity to be hot and that just makes me uncomfortable.

[powerpolyculeshowdown]

Idk if you know but Izutsumi is actually 17. It's not stated in canon but it's in the adventures guide so

oh huh i had no idea... i know falin must be 20 cause laios said hes 23 and im p sure they are 3 years apart, and laios said tallmen/humans however u wanna call them reach adulthood at 16 but idk if he meant his country or the race as a whole, so im not sure if that makes izutsumi a minor or not? also idk if it changes due to her being beastkin?

i mean ofc from our perspective she would be, but this is a fantasy setting w different ages of maturity, for example chilchuck said halflings reach adulthood at 14, due to their shorter lifespans, im just curious if for izutsumi adulthood would also be 16 like laios or if maybe eastern standards in the world of dunmeshi is different?

If it's the same, while she's not a minor that is still a three year age gap for izutsumi and falin, with izutsumi barely being an adult, add to that the fact idk how old marcille is or when she wouldve reached adulthood, i can see ur concern.

ill leave them out due to the blurred lines there, but in general i think its important to remember fantasy people dont necessarily age the same way we do, if beastkin age anywhere as fast as halflings, at 17 izutsumi would be older than a 17y/o tallman. thats all hypothetical ofc, and not really an attempt to justify the age difference, more so genuine curiosity about how ages work for her since idk if thats established? im still shocked a 29y/o halfling is old enough to have 3 adult kids for example, but then again they live an average of 50 years so it makes sense? I think the differences are really interesting! because despite only being 6 years apart, chilchuck is inherently a lot older than laios due to their racial traits and customs. Laios is a young adult and chilchuck is more like a middle aged man. Meanwhile, to Senshi and Marcille, 29 sounds like a baby, which means a 29y/o elf or dwarf would probaably be perceived by their own race as younger than even laios is to other tallmen, if that makes sense? at 30 smth senshi was treated like a kid by an older dwarf, maybe thats equivalent to their teens?

Now im just rambling though, i know that's not what the ask was about, it just had me wondering. In a context like this age can be more than a number due to racial traits and lifespans, but since izutsumi is probably closer to a human and idk if beastkin age differently or not, i'd agree that shes quite young especially compared to marcille who's probably a bit older than falin herself (well shes a lot older by literal decades but i imagine only a bit older if you consider elves probably reach adulthood a lot later which likely means marcille is a young adult herself?)

i also havent finished the manga so its difficult to form more concrete opinions on the matter but i hope i explained myself well? i do very much think a 17 year old in real life is a child, i was just rambling about this fantasy world and wondering how different things might be. if their 16 is our 18 then their 17 is our 19 and their 20 is our 22. I dont remember how mature I was at 19 but as a 22y/o i dont think id have felt comfortable dating someone 3 years younger personally? i still dont tbh

oh wow i scrolled back and realized i rambled too much im sorry about that its just my brain is full of dunmeshi!! still, let me know if i misunderstood the age mechanics of this story! Regardless, ill leave them out, thanks for letting me know!

[whoishotteranimepolls]

one thing i've noticed about the people ranting about characters being underage is it's always the girls. there are plenty of polls with underage guys (for example there was one with edward elric, who is 15-17 over the course of fma) and it struck me as really performative of people to get weird over underage girls being in the minors polls but not the boys.

Someone mentioned Edward was 15. It was not so much a complaint as a throwaway comment, but I'm now deleting comments or hiding reblogs that mention a character's age if they're a minor as fast as possible to avoid issues or fights breaking out in the comments.

But you are correct. I've only gotten complaints about two male characters being underage, and it was Edward Elric and Sasuke. Plus, the Sasuke incident was weird because they wanted to argue that he was 13 in the picture, so I needed to delete the poll when I knew the photo was from the later part of Shippuden. He was 17 in that specific photo because of the character design and the chapters they covered. I've done too much research into Naruto characters, and at what point in the story does everyone turn what age? And they still wanted to argue with me, and you wonder why Naruto was with the problem child fandom until Dungeon Meshi showed their true colors.

Now, female characters. There are so many of them. But complaints about Izutsumi are so bad right now it might just get the Dungeon Meshi Fandom put in time-out if they're not careful because I'm getting so tired of dealing with them. Now, some of it could be performative, but I also have some other theories on what could be going on

[drbtinglecannon]

top 5 favorite characters? (from anything)

From anything you say? Let's do Dungeon Meshi then since it's been thoroughly rotting my brain haha

#1. Marcille my beloved, she's so powerful and funny and the big reveal for her made me realize how even more tragic her situation is than originally assumed. Who doesn't love a woman desperate enough for her goals and to save the one she loves to use dark magic?

#2. Laios. God he's just Such a great protagonist it's so fun having such a loving freak being the leader. Ch70 was the greatest display of his talents, it was so cool seeing the protag survive what was "an impossible situation" through sheer knowledge of his hyperfixation and minor healing skills. His relationship with Falin is everything, and I adored watching his friendships with everyone else grow into genuine love

#3. Chilchuck. He's so funny he's such a bitch why is he hot. I wish him luck reconnecting with his wife, I hope she laughs at him when she hears a bicorn bit his hand off

^ Those 3 are all so close it's paper thin choosing which is which spot

#4. Izutsumi. The best catgirl ever, she isn't sexy or coy she's a teenage brat that happens to be a catgirl with awesome ninja skills. The use of her pupils dilating is so good and watching her become a real part of the group was lovely

#5. Kabru. I love how in any other story he'd be the protagonist but here he's just the hyper intelligent morally righteous highly charismatic guy obsessed with the protagonist. He and Laios are so opposite it's really fascinating to both their characters, and when I remember the panel where he thinks about how he'd never want to be back to the elves living an easy life full of cake I am floored by how much he's gone through to still become the motivated kind person he is. Also he blushes when watching other people's drama which is hilarious

Honorable mention goes to Senshi I love you too king if it weren't for you the story wouldn't have happened cuz the party would've gotten nowhere with you

[hamigojade]

🌸Pinned Post:

Hoi!

🌸 I'm Jade/29/Transbian/Poly/US

🌸 I have a lot of interests I'll post about like: Dungeon Meshi, Pokemon, Hamtaro, Witch from Mercury, Bocchi the Rock!, Zelda, One Piece, and more. Will definitely Izutsumi spam a bit when new DunMesh episodes drop (*♡ω♡)

🌸 Currently watching a lot of older anime like Lupin the Third, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura (New and Old) and have a bunch more that I would like to catch up on :3

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🌸 If you're interested, I am working on a One Piece wiki which you can find here. Theres also a tumblr that'll be filled with lil goodies and such :3

🌸 Queue is almost all filled with art and posts a few a day, they are tagged #tran-q

🌸 I ask for no minors as I do post NSFW on here, and on this note I do check follows and block pretty liberally, also if you would not like to see (or maybe you would), the tag is #hushgo :3

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