Speaking of replacing members of the team, a cool thing to notice is that Namari (a dwarf) and Shuro (an easterner) were effectively replaced with the the same things, Senshi (a dwarf) and Izutsumi (an easterner) to round out the party.
A lot of fast moving predators have very high prey instincts, aka, targeting the weakest and easiest. When Senshi ran away, he turned his back to the griffin AND separated himself from the others, making himself a huge target thus setting off animal instincts to target him instead.
woooo senshi backstory is finally here!! also i don't think i could pick someone to remove from the story. 😅 the mangaka's such a good writer that i think she's well-utilized every single character she made for the story she wants to tell. removing a single one would alter the story drastically. i get why you picked shuro, but him being missing means not being able to meet the rest of the easterners (i.e. izutsumi). and it's not super obvious since we've barely seen him fight, but he used to be the party's strongest melee fighter before he left. namari's a strong fighter too but she's more of a tank than a heavy hitter.
Marcille giving her all on creating the lamest familiars possible had me rolling! So good. You'll be missed sky fish. And yeah, sorry Shuro but you get the short end on this one.
Everything about this story is so amazing and I even had to read it a third time to notice all the details, oh and there are funny parts in the manga that make me laugh just looking back at the pictures. Although anime is very good, the manga is much better, so I hope everyone collects or reads the manga
There's actually a pretty popular concept of "what if Senshi found & raised Izutsumi" instead of Shuro's family & it's very sweet, so i feel like wishing he wasnt as prominent in the story is a relatively universal preference
I think I'd choose to lose Namari. A lot of people have said that the fight between Shuro and Laios was incredibly impactful for them, and I think it's a central moment for defining Laios's lifelong relationship with friendship and animosity. That's a character defining moment that the story would be lesser without. Namari is great, and it'd be a shame for her to go. The most important thing she brings to the story, in my eyes, is worldbuilding and outside perspective. Her chapters, where Marcille confronts her about leaving, remind us that adventuring is a job. It isn't something you do for friendship, it's a livelihood. Namari leaving the party instead of chasing what seems like a hopeless situation feels cruel, but the reality is that she needs to eat and pay rent, just like anyone else. There's also the aspects of the adventuring community that we learn about through Namari--how everyone knows each other, how a bit of bad rumors can be severely detrimental to your job prospects. It'd be a shame to lose these things that expand the world of Dungeon Meshi, but I think there are ways to work them in without Namari. Chilchuck, for example, is very practical-minded like Namari is. He's also the one who explained to Marcille how devestating a bad reputation can be to an adventurer. He's got the experience and the personality to bring to the focus all the same things Namari does. It wouldn't be the same, and doing it with Namari is better, but it could work.
Namari is the absolutely least impactful character among those listed. You could remove her and wouldn't lose anything. Shuro is stronger than Laios and a better fighter. You need a melee DPS. Also, you're lacking everyone that came with him, i.e. IZUTSUMI
Nah I'd say if someone had to go it would be Namari for me. No hate no dislike but one narrative bit shuro brings I love is showcasing how socially stunted Laios is, we wouldn't have gotten that moment of Shuro and Laios fighting like toddlers a few episodes back due to feelings unsaid and that scene hit me like a brick when I read the manga
Namari doesn't really DO much anything in the story, unfortunately, so it'd have to be her. Shuro's squad at least was important for one arc and he gave us Izutsumi.
I would also take away Shuro/Shiro. He is a seemingly skilled swordsman which is brawn or strength but without him the group would still have that because of Laois and Namari. I would rather have a joyful but still useful Laois than a stoic and grumpy (or overly serious) Shuro. Although we didn't get to see that much of Namari and she seemed about her business, I feel like her personality was a better fit with the group than Shuro.
I don't think it's really a spoiler since it's vague and doesn't give away at all what actually happens in the episode. It's like if I said, "Free up your schedule tomorrow because we're going somewhere to celebrate your birthday." I wouldn't call that "spoiling" because yes you know that we're going somewhere now but you still have no idea where you're going or what you're going to do tomorrow so there's still plenty of room to be shocked/surprised by what I had planned.
