English Dub Review: Delicious in Dungeon “Dryad/Cockatrice”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Trapped in the dungeon, a concerned Senshi cooks up a nourishing meal for the famished crew—giving Marcille enough energy to come up with a plan.

Our Take:
Following a surprising intermission involving Kabru’s party, we are now switched back to the main dungeon-crawling, monster-eating crew as they’re attempting to return to the surface. Unfortunately, their new mission has already proven to be as challenging as they thought, as Laios and the gang are suddenly trapped in the shifting village-esque dungeon with no exit in sight. Even worse is that the gang hasn’t eaten anything since the Red Dragon’s defeat. Man, losing Falin again to the villainous mage is already bad enough for the unique party. Fortunately for Senshi, there are still more creatures in this magical dungeon to consume until they figure out an exit. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not without the issues they confront amid these battles.
The first of the two monsters they face is a group of dryads, whose infectious pollens can cause hay fever to those who breathe into them. While Senshi, Laios, and Chilchuck got hit with the dryads’ pollen, they succeeded in killing them due to Chilchuck’s sixth sense, resulting in the party making a sauté out of the dryad fruits. The other is a cockatrice, an animal similar to a basilisk but with a snake’s bite that turns its victims into stone. Sadly, Marcille became the latest victim of the cockatrice’s curse while distracting it for Senshi to kill it successfully. Luckily, because Marcille taught Laios how to use healing magic, Laios managed to reverse the curse despite taking four days to do it because of his mana sickness.
Amid these confrontations, the episode provided more of the show’s world-building involving magic, which Marcille explained while teaching Laios healing magic. While it was a bit complex sometimes, it didn’t drag the episode down for me regarding its slapstick, including Marcille becoming a statue in a humorous yet unbalanced pose. While I didn’t mind its focus on Kabru’s party in the previous episode, I also welcomed back its return to the usual formula that made me adore this delectable series, such as its unique food education and humor. Of course, despite solving their hunger problem, there’s still the matter of solving the dungeon’s maze, too.