English Dub Review: Delicious in Dungeon “Red Dragon I”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
The crew finally faces the Red Dragon, but their grand strategy quickly unravels. With the beast’s fury escalating, who will get the final bite?

Our Take:
With enough monstrous food in their bellies, Laios and the gang have enough energy to finally face their greatest adversary: the Red Dragon. While they are three members short compared to their previous struggle with the dragon, that doesn’t stop them from conjuring a new “brains over brawn” plan to take it down for good. This brings us to this week’s episode, which places monster-sized cuisines on the side in favor of the showdown between Laios’s adventure party and the Red Dragon. Granted, the characters trying out monster food is one of the show’s main highlights, in addition to its comedy. However, the rescue mission to save Falin had enough moments in its character depth to make it more than just a throwaway appetizer.
The episode sees Laios and the crew enacting their plan, trapping the dragon with the building. However, given the dragon’s tremendous strength, that plan quickly falters, leaving them to switch to offensive measures, including Senshi’s Mythril-covered kitchen knife. Following an intense struggle, the crew finally managed to take down the Red Dragon, with Laios delivering the final blow to its unprotected throat. Unfortunately, that victory cost Laios his left leg. This moment, along with Laios’s flashback to his childhood with Falin, would’ve been a shocking change to Laios’s growth regarding his injury, but Marcille’s healing magic changed all that. But, of course, it’s not without an amusing yet painful side effect that came from her spell.
“Red Dragon I” sets its formula from the previous episodes aside in favor of an enticing battle between Laios’s team and the Red Dragon. The result is unsurprisingly a tension-filled struggle packed with strong animation work by Trigger and mildly shocking surprises. While Laios’s injury left me stunned, it was quickly diminished by Marcille’s healing magic. However, the episode compensates it with another stunning revelation that would heavily affect the characters in next week’s episode. While the crew succeeded in killing the Red Dragon, it appeared their victory was all for nothing, as they discovered that Falin may have already bitten the dust, much to their horror. It looks like there won’t be a victory feast for us.