“Dungeons That Surely Slaughter Adventurers” is a Japanese isekai fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Dowman Sayman that blends dungeon crawling with tongue-in-cheek humor and character development. The main premise revolves around two girls ending up in a dungeon, only to turn it into an impossible death trap. Let us take things from the beginning though.
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The story begins with two friends, tall Nacht and short Aine, believing they are invincible due to the recent wave of trucks crashing into people, only to get pancaked by a falling jet engine. In the particular world they inhabit, this means they end up as dungeon staff after their death, and in their case, cleaners for the dungeon they find themselves in. The two of them start by cleaning dead slimes, but they soon realize they have landed in a rogue dungeon that is attempting to change itself now that the adventurers are gone. Expectedly, the two die again, but it seems that in this dungeon, this simply means they respawn in the staff quarters.
Gradually, they begin to adapt to their new jobs and even enjoy them, as they discover ways to make more money, kill more adventurers, make new friends, and in general have fun in a way only the potential for respawning can allow.
The most intriguing aspect of the manga is definitely Dowman Sayman’s sense of humor, which is decidedly adult oriented, something not so common in the industry, but also quite smart. There is a definite sense of crudity here, with the succubus death and its aftermath and the child of the porn star episode highlighting this fact quite eloquently, while the sexual undertones of the jokes appear one after the other. This, however, is handled cleverly, with the combination of wit and a somewhat blasphemous approach resulting in a number of hilarious moments.
Another interesting aspect of the humor is the mocking of RPG players and their tendencies, with the episodes involving the elixir, the taunting, and the casino highlighting this approach quite eloquently and, once more, in hilarious fashion. The fact that the writing comes from someone who has clearly played RPGs extensively is evident, adding quality to the whole work. Lastly, the appearance of absurd characters for the setting, such as the Wi-Fi sprite and its consequences, cements the varied and rather intelligent approach to humor here.
The narrative approach is evidently episodic, with the book containing 15 chapters of only a few pages each, each presenting a new joke or story and very few recurring charactes. This choice works nicely in terms of variety, while the recurrence that does exist is well placed and revolves around the two protagonists, whose antithetical chemistry is one of the best aspects of the manga. A bit more analysis of their characters would help, but it will probably come in the next volumes.
The artwork is not particularly special, with the focus here clearly being on context and humor. There are, however, a number of characters who are especially well pencilled, with the level of detail on them being of the highest caliber, as in the case of Domitia for example. Others, particularly those who have smaller roles, do not share this quality, with the sketch occasionally appearing somewhat dismissive. The backgrounds are functional, without any particular exaltation.
“Dungeons That Surely Slaughter Adventurers Vol 1” is a very smart and very funny book that will definitely appeal to RPG and isekai fans with a taste for self deprecating humor.
