{"id":693236,"date":"2025-10-06T03:20:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T00:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-monster-wants-to-eat-me-gets-off-to-a-tepid-start\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T03:20:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T00:20:17","slug":"this-monster-wants-to-eat-me-gets-off-to-a-tepid-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-monster-wants-to-eat-me-gets-off-to-a-tepid-start\/","title":{"rendered":"This Monster Wants to Eat Me Gets Off To A Tepid Start"},"content":{"rendered":"
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My expectations for the <\/span>This Monster Wants to Eat Me<\/span><\/i> anime<\/a>, an adaptation of the manga by <\/span>Sai Naekawa<\/b>, were consistently low after watching the trailers. However, the interesting combination of dark fantasy\/supernatural horror and yuri drama, plus a depressed protagonist, meant that I was obligated to keep it at the top of my Fall 2025 to-watch list. After watching the first episode, I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019d stay there for more than another week.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

My impressions of<\/span> This Monster Wants to Eat Me<\/span><\/i>\u2019s premiere were initially decent \u2014 an unhurried pace; rather nice character drawings; sombre piano notes that convey the weight felt by protagonist Hinako (<\/span>Reina Ueda<\/b>), who lost her family and also the will to live. By the halfway point, though, I started to feel that the storyboards (from chief director<\/span> Naoyuki Kuzuya<\/b>) and episode direction (from the series<\/a>\u2019 director <\/span>Yusuke Suzuki<\/b>) were too muted to effectively immerse me into the story, especially since the animation doesn\u2019t stand out. Even during scenes where Hinako is symbolically submerged in water, the shot composition feels a little dry and disinterested in its own subject.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The feeling extends to the supernatural moments of the episode. When a long-haired <\/span>iso-onna<\/span><\/i><\/a> emerged from the sea in an attempt to consume Hinako, who\u2019s app<\/a>arently an appetizing lure for monsters, I looked away not in terror, but apathy, because the show still felt like it was in neutral gear. Hinako\u2019s rescue by the powerful and composed<\/span> ningyo<\/span><\/i> (basically Japanese mermaid) Shiori \u2014 who\u2019s protecting Hinako just so she can eat the human herself in the future \u2014 is similarly lacking in energy. Despite the solid voice acting from <\/span>Yui Ishikawa<\/b>, the scene doesn\u2019t manage to provide Shiori with a sense of presence,<\/span> and the slaughter of the<\/span> iso-onna<\/span><\/i> is delivered through hazy shots that feel uncommitted. The lack of notably impactful or creative imagery makes it feel<\/span> like the episode just wants to get things done, rather than instill some emotion or reaction in me, and that doesn\u2019t feel like the right match for this show.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t help that the last, recently concluded anime season had Ryohei Takeshita<\/strong>\u2018s<\/span> The Summer Hikaru Died<\/span><\/i>, which also had queerness and the supernatural, but had a memorable series-wide aesthetic and solid animation quality, as well as strong delivery from its individual episodes. I still remember the early section of that anime\u2019s premiere \u2014 the oppressive heat, and the shot of an overwhelmed Yoshiki being embraced by \u201cHikaru,\u201d where the image loses color and darkness consumes everything but Yoshiki\u2019s teary eye, and how the subsequent streak of the tear stands out against the almost pitch-black screen. <\/span>This Monster Wants to Eat Me <\/span><\/i>could stand to have at least 10% of that show\u2019s visual impact.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Other episode staff<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Chief animation director:<\/span> Nozomi Ikuyama<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Series main staff<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Director: <\/span>Yusuke Suzuki<\/b> (<\/span>Duel Masters WIN<\/span><\/i>)\u00a0
<\/span><\/span> \u2022 Chief director: <\/span>Naoyuki Kuzuya<\/b> (<\/span>Sweet Reincarnation<\/span><\/i> director)\u00a0
<\/span><\/span> \u2022 Series composer and screenwriter: <\/span>Mitsutaka Hirota<\/b> (<\/span>Days with My Stepsister <\/span><\/i>series composer and co-screenwriter)
<\/span><\/span> \u2022 Character designer: <\/span>Nozomi Ikuyama<\/b> (<\/span>Yuri Is My Job!<\/span><\/i> OP et al. co-animation director)\u00a0
<\/span><\/span> \u2022 Music composer: <\/span>Keiji Inai<\/b> (<\/span>Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?<\/span><\/i>)\u00a0
<\/span><\/span> \u2022 Animation production: <\/span>STUDIO LINGS<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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Watch on:<\/strong> Crunchyroll, Ani-One Asia YouTube<\/a> channel<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n