LAIOS TOUDEN

Laois is the ideal protag for me. Quite honestly it's astonishing Ryoko Kui could write such amazing and loveable characters. Laois' devotion to saving his sister is moving...the many flashbacks you get to see in the manga do such an excellent job of showing how much he cares fpr her. Also his monster peverted-ness is delightful. I can't believe there isn't any fanart online of him getting fucked by monsters. At least he gets ryona-ed to hell and back in the manga. Thank you Ryoko-sensei...

NOTE: I wrote this in a pre-anime world. I was hoping the Dungeon Meshi anime would spawn more awesome drawings of Laios getting fucked within an inch of his life by monsters. and GUESS WHAT. NO!!!!!!! No one is drawing this. I hate you all.
I know I should just do it but. But. I'm busy. I'm busy writing my own visual novel about a guy having sex with monsters in a consensually dubious manner. Anyways. I like these panels of Laios.

FALIN TOUDEN

As a self proclaimed "Woman Liker" I am unfortunately caught in the constant psychic battle of navigating the world of fictional female characters. If you describe yourself as a "Woman Liker" but then proceed to primarily engage in fujo adjacent activies or become attatched to male characters, this declaration can be silently judged by folks who spend too much time on the computer as performative behavior. As someone that definitely also spends too much time on the computer, I can't help but self reflect about this behavior as if it has any meaning at all.

But. It's kind of true. Most woman characters I encounter in stories and media don't really do it for me. A combination of media primarily being written by men, and women who write fanfic not exactly sharing my exact world view, it's easy to sink into the warm bath that is junk food yaoi bait and checks off many boxes that allow me to avoid an existential crisis every time I want to jack off and/or write fanfiction in my head.

This is why I treasure Ryoko Kui and her storytelling with every corner and chamber of my beating heart. I think every female character in Dungeon Meshi is a ray of sunshine. Compelling characters with complex inner worlds... it's a feast...a feast for a gal like me. Falin's relationship with her brother, her lovingly detailed intimacy with Marcille, her habit of self sacrifice. And lest we forget, her gigantic breasts. A 10/10 for me.

I am not the type to "kin" characters, but Falin definently falls in that camp for me. Though I wonder if I'm anything like her...I suppose it's moreso I wish I was like her. I want to be as warm and kindhearted as her. So if I think of myself as her, then I feel like a better version of myself? Hmm...maybe I just don't have the confidence to otherkin. She's wonderful.

SHURO (Nakamoto Toshiro)

For the duration of the manga's run I kept my love for this character locked away deep in my heart. I took much care to never let anyone know I desperately wanted to yank on his ponytail just to hear what sound he would make. My friends would write many a tweet about how Shuro is a shallow, pathetic excuse of a man who selfishly projects his sexist and pithy fantasies onto Falin who is CLEARLY in an intense lesbian relationship with Marcille.

I don't care. He's sexy. Sad stressed out guys with eyebags and black hair are sexy as fuck. And also honestly I'm not sure why people dislike him so much in the first arc anyways...I felt all of his emotions and reactions felt in line with how someone would act in that situation...but maybe I'm simple under the hypnotic control of the sad stressed out Japanese guy with eyebags.
We'll never know.