Ryoko Kui


Ryoko Kui is a Japanese manga artist. She is best known for her manga series Delicious in Dungeon, serialized in Enterbrain's seinen manga magazine Harta, as well as her work Terrarium in Drawer, winning the Excellence Award in the Manga Division at the 17th Japan [Media Arts Festival].

Biography

Kui posted her early works on Pixiv and COMITIA before making her official debut as a manga artist in March 2011 with her short story collection The Dragon's School is on Top of the Mountain: Ryoko Kui Short Story Collection. Prior to this, she published a webcomic on her personal blog named UORIR: Amble which ran from 2008–2012.
In 2013, Kui won the Excellence Award in the Manga Division at the 17th Japan Media Arts Festival for her work Terrarium in Drawer. Her 2014 work, Delicious in Dungeon was published in the magazine Harta and received the 2015 Comic Natalie award, the 2016 Kono Manga ga Sugoi!, the 2016, and the 2016. Delicious in Dungeon received an anime adaptation in 2024, with Kui noted as being "very involved" with its production.

Style

Kui's style is noted for its portrayal of reality and fantasy with her unique point of view. Megumi Sakamoto writing for Comic Natalie described her characteristic style as embodying "unnaturalness". Kui was noted in an interview with Comic Natalie to have an affinity with dragons, and has had dragons featured in several of her works.
Prior to Delicious in Dungeon, Kui read The Neverending Story and The Lord of the Rings, as well as researching the rulebooks of Dungeons & Dragons after having seen it arise several times for her research prior to the manga's serialization. Kui is a noted fan of computer role-playing games, having previously drawn fan art for Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, Baldur's Gate 3, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, and Planescape: Torment. As a child, she observed her father play Wizardry on the Famicom, as well as Dragon Quest, Ultima, and Fire Emblem. Kui cited Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge as one of the primary inspirations for Delicious in Dungeon.

Manga