First Impression: Pass the Monster Meat, Milady!

A demure young lady is enjoying a picnic alone on a park bench when a middle-aged man with a retinue approaches her, mouth watering, and asks her a question: Can he eat some of her sandwich? Unperturbed, she opens up her picnic basket to reveal a second sandy, delighted that someone should enquire after her repast. The two share a moment of culinary appreciation before the man makes the regrettable mistake of asking what kind of meat is contained within the delightful concoction. Turns out, it’s backhorn meat, and they’ve just been munching on a monster. He gags, vomits, and exits stage right as quick as can be. Sigh. Just another day of ostracization from polite society for Melphiera Marchalrayd, aka the Voracious Villainess. How ever will she secure a husband at this rate? Cut to a harvest celebration where all the eligible nobles and not a few knights have gathered to feast upon the fruit of the land. Melphy’s tastes have preceded her, and so yet again, she finds herself isolated and unsatiated. Where can a girl get a real meal and a fiancé these days? Suddenly, a monstrous beast crashes the party, and a dashing knight fells the beast in one stunning slice, showering himself and Melphy in monster viscera in the process. It’s the Blood Mad Duke of Galbraith! And, well, he’s rather handsome…isn’t he? The two flirt—at first accidentally, and then more intentionally, as they realize that their particular quirks may just be a match made in heaven….’s kitchen! Someone fire up the air fryer because love and the aroma of monster meat is in the air!

Well, I think we’ve just uncovered where all those monster meat recipes came from in Dungeon Meshi! Melphy may be pioneering in her tastes, yet even so, this premiere is a little on the bland side. Don’t get me wrong, the two leads are sweet—the term “adorkable” comes to mind—and I’m happy they found each other, but this does feel a bit more like a tossed salad than a hearty meal of a premiere. The animation is nice enough, but not terribly imaginative, which seems like a missed opportunity with such a fantastical premise. The humor is surprisingly tame and innocent, which is absolutely fine, but given the slightly spicy bent of the characters’ nicknames, and the rapidity with which the duke sheds his shirt, I was nervously expecting something “nearer the knuckle” to break out at any moment, though it seems my wariness was misplaced. The episode does have one thing going for it, though, and that is a consistency of tone and genre that, to my mind, has been lacking in some of the more recent ventures to weave food appreciation segments into their storytelling, like the aforementioned Dungeon Meshi or Momentary Lily (sorry folks, I could not get along with the tonal whiplash of these series, intercutting slice-of-life cooking demonstrations with a perilous race to save a friend’s life—everyone knows that when on a rescue mission, one does not stop to eat, sleep or pee, I’m sorry). Mind you, we don’t get much instruction on preparing backhorn meat, so I wouldn’t expect full-on meal prep guidance here, though there are some handy tips on tenderising meat. The focus is very much on meat, by the way, so vegans beware! And for everyone else, well, this series is a little like the little bowl of water with a slice of lemon that you get at fancy restaurants: Use it or ignore it how you will. It’s not gonna be the thing you remember at the end of the meal—or this season of anime.

He’s definitely a keeper!

Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! is streaming on Crunchyroll.

Bonus images:

Ahem…

So sorry, Butler Chaos! My mistake…

claire
Latest posts by claire (see all)

One thought on “First Impression: Pass the Monster Meat, Milady!”

Leave a Reply