Delicious in Dungeon is a terrific work, so it does makes sense to have the author do more stories. As in, short stories, which is what Ryoko Kui did within some time frame for Fellows! magazine. Now it’s all collected in one somewhat meaty paperback version (254 pages), and Yen Press decided to bring this over in 2019.
So what type of tales can Kui tell now that it’s unrelated from Delicious in Dungeon? Well, many stories — some whimsical, some weird!
Seven Little Sons of the Dragon is 7 stories that mix fantasy, the surreal, and some comedy. We have a story involving two factions at a stalemate due to a dragon and its nest; a mermaid doing her best to crawl out of the ocean to go somewhere; a not-so-smart kid with anxiety about her future meeting a fish god; and there’s even a story involving an artist who can breathe life into the works he creates — even intimations, which he needs to get what he wants.
Out of all the stories though, three stand out the most to me. The first is actually a two-parter, but the first story focuses on Yukari Umetani, who happens to be raising a kid with WWS — WereWolf Syndrome. It explains in manga form the trials and struggles she goes through as she raises the kid, and it all comes to a head when mentally and physically she becomes out of it and isn’t sure what to do aside from venting her concerns. The second part focuses on that kid, Keita Umetani, as a high schooler, and his syndrome has affected how he interacts with people and his family at large, and he wants to stop it for good.
The second story to stand out for me is an artist who’s broke, so he uses his special talent to breathe actual life into a drawing that…can’t seem to do much right. But that artist will do just about what it takes to succeed, and for that, it makes the humorous parts stand out as their struggles continue. The final story that stands out is the Inutanis, a family where each person has a supernatural power — either telepathy, pyrokinesis, telekinesis, floating, invisibility, changing clothes into pajamas, warp dimensions…wait a minute…? Yep, for Arisa, let’s just say her “powers” don’t seem to jive with everyone else’s. So how exactly does it a play a role when a hotshot detective meets the Inutanis?
Yeah, you can probably guess why that story stood out for me.
For the most part the stories in the collection are fine, with it getting stronger the more I read of it. Some I actually want to see more stories of (give me the Umetani family manga!), some I’m good with just reading once (the mermaid story), and some are just the right length and perfect as a one-shot (see the broke artist story). But the stories you’ll like will ultimately depend on your tastes and what gets at you the most. While all the stories have a humorous bent, they all contain a theme to relate too — so you’ll have the falling in love story, but you’ll also have a story where a character is motivated to do better after a misunderstanding.
The art is wildly varied, which means while we can see Kui’s storytelling in action, we can also see the types of styles that she has, the settings in each story, etc. There are characters that will look the same in one story but will differ in another, and that’s totally for the best. Between that and the fun in most of the stories, Seven Little Sons of the Dragon is a worthy add to your collection, especially if you’re in the market for self-contained works.