Delicious in Dungeon Season 1 ended on an interesting note as it teased what fans can expect to happen next, but that wasn’t the original plan, with the initial ending being more open ended.
Before we discuss the original idea for the ending, note that this article contains major spoilers for Delicious in Dungeon’s first season, so proceed only if you’ve already watched Episode 24.
The first season’s finale showed Laios’ party going deeper into the dungeon while in a magical trolley. There, the party discusses the wild plan of cutting off and eating Falin’s dragon parts. Laios is (perhaps as expected) fine with this idea, except for the fact that it may take years to accomplish. Elsewhere, various parties are shown entering the dungeon, including Kabru, Namari, and Shuro; and even the Canaries.
In an interview with Newtype (via Anime News Network), the anime’s director Yoshihiro Miyajima revealed that this wasn’t their original ending idea.
Instead, their initial plan was to have Episode 24 end with a scene where the party is eating together. This gave the scene more finality, and the director said that their intention was to “close it out in a way that anyone else could continue the story where [they] left off.”
The original ending idea was largely because they were unsure if a second season would be greenlit. In the latter half of the production though, the second season was talked about within the team. This lead to the ending being changed to what we have right now so that it ties into season 2 better.
On its own, Miyajima’s original Delicious in Dungeon Season 1 ending idea is fitting, and it’s also a satisfying one in an alternate scenario where season 2 was not greenlit. Given that it was quickly renewed for a second season though, we do like the current season 1 ending more, especially as it teases the next phase of the story without ending on a cliffhanger.
Delicious in Dungeon Season 2 is in the works, though there’s no word yet on when it will be released. In the meantime, you can watch Season 1 right now on Netflix.