humanist + humorist

Roundup of reactions to more animated series that I’ve watched…recently-ish.

Dungeon Meshi (Delicious in Dungeon)

I don’t understand why that’s the translated title. “Dungeons & Delicacies” was right there.

This was…fine! There was a stretch of time when it seemed like everyone I followed was talking about this, so I added it when I saw it on Netflix. And, well. It wasn’t bad or anything, it just wasn’t quite as mind-blowing as I was expecting from all the hype.

It’s very watchable, with some standout “oh, that was really clever/original/special” moments. I got all the way through both seasons. But it wasn’t so gripping that I’m on the edge of my seat for the next season, either. Guess it’s TBD whether the hype from people watching S3 will suck me back in.

Ranma 1/2

This one’s really good!

For comparison, I rewatched some selections from S1 of the original ’90s anime. (Turns out that’s on Peacock. Last time I saw any of it was in the early 2000s.) They’re condensing it pretty strongly — Ryouga’s intro, for example, went from 4 episodes to 2, mostly by cutting little subplots and side gags — and I’d love to read some analysis from long-time hardcore fans about “what kind of choices are they making, and how does it affect the overall tone and thrust of the show?”

But to me, it seems like a really lovely, faithful adaptation. With the bonus of modern digital-art tools and higher budgets, which is a big plus in a series that has lots of fight scenes. And they’re doing some fun experimental things with the animation styles.

Watching the new version, I was a little surprised about “they didn’t decide to tone down some of the dodgy sex-related jokes? I know it’s not a modern AU or anything, but they don’t expect a 2025 audience to enjoy as much Accidental Boob Grabbing as the 1995 audience did, right?” And then I went back to the original…and, oh, they did tone down the jokes. I just had rose-colored nostalgia glasses about how dodgy the ’90s series can get.

The pace of the first few episodes was also slower than expected, given how much I remembered the original as “nonstop fast-paced wackiness.” Then it started to pick up. Which makes sense: they need time to establish the plot mechanics and character traits, before they can take full advantage of “bouncing all these things off each other like ping-pong balls and expecting the audience to keep up.”

Remake S1 uses “Shampoo arrives in Nerima to kill and/or marry Ranma” as the grand finale. Then I watched Original S1’s finale, because it goes further into the very important follow-up, “Shampoo mails the gang a cat to be Ranma’s new pet.”

I wasn’t quite hooked enough to keep watching Original S2 (the original had 7 seasons, adding up to 161 episodes), but I’m looking forward to Remake S2.

Krapopolis

Adult sitcom about the Greek-myth era, where tetchy demigod Tyrannis is trying to invent civilization, with the help (ish) of his dysfunctional relatives.

Unlike a lot of adaptations/retellings of Greek mythology, the main characters are all original. Not sure I ever thought about how uncommon that is, until it happened here and I was surprised! You’ll get appearances from the occasional Hermes or Daphne or Hercules, but they’re secondary/background characters. Feels like the writing has more room to breathe and stretch, when it doesn’t have “whoo boy, gotta do a fresh take on this famous character you all have preconceived notions about” hanging over most of the cast.

It’s fun! Some good Weird Family dynamics. Lots of “dramatic irony because it’s a prequel [to the modern world]” jokes, e.g. “sure wish someone would get around to inventing written language.” The S1 finale ups the ante on that, with a time-travel-communication gimmick. If any of that is up your alley, it’s worth a watch.

Exploding Kittens

Adult sitcom that is theoretically the same IP as the card game, although I don’t know if they actually have anything in common? (There’s a plot-based reason for an explosion of kittens in one (1) episode.)

To teach him to reconnect with humanity, God is transformed into a house cat and sent to live with a human family. To teach her to be more evil, The Devil Jr. is transformed into a house cat and sent to live with the same human family. Hijinks ensue.

There’s some very typical Sitcom Family stuff, although the details felt more specific and modern than I usually expect from those. (One of the kids’ hangups is that he got filmed screwing something up in a school play, and it went viral online.) And the Heaven/Hell stuff isn’t just there as window dressing, it’s integrated with the worldbuilding, in a way that reminds me of The Good Place. (There’s an episode where our heroes accidentally send a kid to Heck, the T-rated alternative to Hell, and have to sneak in to get him back.)

So again, if any of those tropes sound like your jam, give it a look.