Staff Picks: Savor 2000s nostalgia and exotic dungeon cuisine
Remember freedom fries? Or would you rather consume scorpion stew? Either way, we've got a rec for you
Image: Miss Me Yet (Means TV), Delicious in Dungeon (Netflix) Contributors: Drew Gillis, Cindy White
With the November election just around the corner and the presidential race heating up, even political junkies may be feeling a little overwhelmed by all the news from the campaign trail. For those who would rather escape down the rabbit hole of an earlier, though perhaps not simpler, political era, News Editor Drew Gillis recommends a documentary that takes you back to the George W. Bush years through archival footage. On the other hand, if you’d rather leave the world behind entirely, you may want to check out Associate Editor Cindy White’s pick instead—a fantasy anime series that really cooks.
Miss Me Yet
Photo: Means TV
The George W. Bush years: not great. That’s not exactly breaking news, but it can be easy to memory hole considering, well, everything that’s happened since. But there is hardly a better way to remember it than to simply watch the footage put together and to try to make sense of it. That’s exactly what filmmaker Christopher Jason Bell does with his series Miss Me Yet.
Streaming on Means TV, an independent, worker-owned streaming platform, Miss Me Yet consists of archival news footage, television clips, and commercials. Each of the 10 episodes runs between 20 and 37 minutes and focuses on one year between 2000 and 2008, plus an epilogue. Starting with the 2000 presidential debates, the series is “an attempt to replicate what the proceeding years felt like,” as it states in the introduction of each episode. Miss Me Yet does so ably, presenting the footage without editorialized narration, but plainly to highlight the absurdity, the fear, and the consumerism of the era. A commercial for an episode of Jerry Springer about a woman who maybe married her long-lost brother cuts to a taped message from Osama Bin Laden; footage from the aftermath of a bombing in Afghanistan is broken for commercials for Attack Of The Clones and Sketchers.
Similar to the works of documentarians Adam Curtis (Hypernormalisation) or Ed Perkins (The Princess), Bell’s point-of-view is unmistakable even without voice-over and crafts a compelling narrative. Bush’s assertion in the preliminary debate that he would use military force if it was of “vital national interest,” “if the mission was clear,” “if we were prepared and trained to win,” and “if there was an exit strategy” can’t help but feel like foreshadowing for the quagmire that would come in the following years. Miss Me Yet also spotlights a lot of the dissent that isn’t highlighted as often; not just from celebrities like Michael Moore at the 2003 Oscars or the (Dixie) Chicks on the stage in London, but from people on the streets during the Florida recount, during inauguration day, during the genesis of the War on Terror. The footage from the Middle East is an unbearable travesty and demands you not to look away. Oh shit, was that Janet Jackson’s nipple? Trading Spouses is on.
But it’s not just the general culture on trial; Miss Me Yet is focused on the degradation of Bush the president and the man. The (relative) restraint the former president showed in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 when he said “Islam is peace.” By 2004, when running a presidential campaign amid a war in Iraq that was already becoming unpopular, his rhetoric had changed to: “They’re cold-blooded killers, they will kill ya just like that.” Yes, he does specify terrorists, but when others are killed indiscriminately, what good does the specificity of the words do?
Miss Me Yet is obviously not the most fun watch, but it’s undeniably compelling. When I stumbled upon the series, I ended up watching the entire thing in one sitting. Part of its effectiveness is its mining of nostalgia, using your wistfulness for Soulja Boy YouTube videos and American Idol both as respite and a weapon against you. You can miss the past, but you can recognize that it was kind of awful, too.
Miss Me Yet streams for free on Means TV. [Drew Gillis]
Delicious In Dungeon
The calendar may say that fall officially begins tomorrow, but some of us have been trying to get into an autumn state of mind since Labor Day (if only the weather would cooperate). This time of year I always find myself drawn to the kitchen—cooking old familiar recipes and trying out new ones. As the temperature drops there’s nothing like a freshly cooked meal hot from the stove or oven. Maybe that’s why I’ve been watching a lot of Delicious In Dungeon lately, an anime series that celebrates the search for exotic cuisines not only as part of an adventure, but an entire adventure in itself.
If you can get past the loose grammar in the title—the original Japanese title is Danjon Meshi, or “dungeon meal”—you’ll find a charming animated series that gradually gets more complex as it goes on. The story begins when a party of explorers encounter a red dragon in the depths of a storied dungeon. They are saved when their mage, Falin, teleports them to safety at the top of the dungeon, but she is left behind to be eaten. Her brother, Laios, who was in the party, figures that they have about a month before Falin is completely consumed by the dragon’s slow-moving digestive system, and sets off to rescue her with the help of the remaining party members—Marcille, a half-elf mage, and Chilchuck, a halfling with expertise in picking locks and disarming traps.
Since they have no money or supplies to sustain them on the long journey, Laios comes up with a plan to cook and eat the monsters they encounter in the dungeon. He invites Senshi, a dwarf who has been living in the dungeon for years and also happens to be a highly skilled chef, to join them on their quest. Marcille is disgusted by the idea of eating gross creatures and plants, but when she tries Senshi’s first meal of giant scorpion and walking mushroom hot pot she has to admit it’s quite tasty. So it goes, with our adventurers traveling down through each level of the dungeon, getting attacked by various creatures, defeating them, and turning them into a delicious meal. No matter how bizarre or repellent the monsters are when they’re alive Senshi has a way with description and presentation that makes the things he cooks sound and look appetizing. Once they’re prepared, the show gives us a nice little glamor shot of each dish with a title like Naturally Delicious Treasure Insect Snacks or Eisbein-Style Cockatrice or Exorcism Sorbet.
As the characters go deeper, so does the story. There are mysteries and secrets waiting to be revealed in the dungeon, including its magical origins. The series plays with larger themes, too, and really makes you think about things like sustainable ecosystems and our place as humans in the food chain. As Americans, we often approach our food the way Marcille does—we don’t want to think about where it comes from and are reluctant to step out of our comfort zone. The message here is that once you get over that initial reflexive repulsion a whole world of culinary delights can open up for you. Conversely, the series also poses moral questions that would stump even the most militant carnivore. Which living things are acceptable to consume and which are not? Senshi and Laios are constantly moving the line (e.g. demi-humans like mermen are off the menu, but their eggs are fair game), and Marcille often raises legitimate objections to their evolving standards. It’s an interesting balance.
Like many anime series, Delicious In Dungeon started out as a manga first, and the published English translations aren’t difficult to find. The manga recently concluded with its 14th and final volume, so if you finish season one and want more of the story, the complete arc is waiting for you in print form. All 24 episodes of season one are available now on Netflix and a second season is on the way, though no release date has been announced yet.