Anime Expo, the biggest anime convention in the US, has made its latest Guest of Honor announcement weeks ahead of this year’s installment on July 4-7, with the confirmation that Ryoko Kui, author of the hit manga Delicious in Dungeon will make their first US appearance at the convention as a Guest of Honor. Kui will make several appearances during the convention weekend through multiple signing events.
To celebrate their appearance, the manga’s US publisher Yen Press will also sell a convention-exclusive acrylic standee that will be sold during the convention. More specific details on the standee and availability will be announced by Yen Press prior to the convention on their social media channels.
The appearance for Ryoko Kui follows the reception to the Delicious in Dungeon anime adaptation that premiered in January of this year on Netflix. Produced by Studio Trigger, the anime has become one of the most popular series on the streaming platform, aided in large part to the decision to simulcast the series weekly, rather than adopt Netflix’s more conventional complete series drop and marathon watch model.
Yen Press began releasing the Delicious in Dungeon manga in 2017, where word of mouth and social media drove attention to the series focused on the inversion of RPG tropes by focusing on what a party would eat during a dungeon crawl. This inversion drew in readers from all over, including those that would have otherwise never read manga at all, thanks to its focus on food as a narrative element. The manga will be complete in English with the forthcoming release of its 14th and final volume on July 23.
Yen Press describes it
When young adventurer Laios and his company are attacked and soundly thrashed by a dragon deep in a dungeon, the party loses all its money and provisions…and a member! They’re eager to go back and save her, but there is just one problem: If they set out with no food or coin to speak of, they’re sure to starve on the way! But Laios comes up with a brilliant idea: “Let’s eat the monsters!” Slimes, basilisks, and even dragons…none are safe from the appetites of these dungeon-crawling gourmands!
Source: Press Release
Anime Expo is historically known for drawing fan-favorite Japanese industry guests, but this announcement demonstrates that the convention is on top of what is current in anime and manga fandom again. Is Ryoko Kui’s appearance enough to get you to go?
