{"id":707359,"date":"2026-01-12T21:55:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T18:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-monster-wants-to-eat-me-didnt-satisfy-all-my-cravings\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T21:55:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T18:55:14","slug":"this-monster-wants-to-eat-me-didnt-satisfy-all-my-cravings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-monster-wants-to-eat-me-didnt-satisfy-all-my-cravings\/","title":{"rendered":"This Monster Wants to Eat Me Didn’t Satisfy All My Cravings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This review includes mentions of suicidal ideation and depression<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This Monster Wants to Eat Me <\/span><\/i>is a good story, but I\u2019m not sure if <\/span>This Monster Wants to Eat Me<\/span><\/i> is a good anime<\/a>. Positioning itself as Fall 2025\u2019s gay supernatural tale, I had high hopes for this adaptation by Studio Lings<\/strong> that quickly plummeted after the first two episodes. It was hard to keep my expectations high for both the animation and the narrative after my initial impression, and for the most part, the anime remained lackluster \u2014 but the last five episodes left me unexpectedly reeling, and for that, I cannot discard it as a completely worthless watch.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

On the way home from a road trip<\/a>, young Hinako Yaotose and her family get caught in a terrible car accident, fatal to everyone but herself. Years later, as a high schooler, Hinako is still despondent from the loss, wishing she too had died but unable to end her own life out of respect for her family\u2019s dying wish for her to stay alive. Consumed by her misery, Hinako is unaware that <\/span>yokai<\/span><\/i> have been trying to feed on her until a different monster, Shiori Oumi, app<\/a>ears in front of her and slays one of these predators. Shiori offers to protect Hinako from all <\/span>yokai<\/span><\/i>, but only if she gets to be the monster that devours Hinako once she becomes the tastiest version of herself. Hinako, jumping at the chance for a passive death, complies, but only later does she realize that Shiori has ulterior, non-ravenous motives.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a92024 Sai Naekawa\/KADOKAWA\/Project Watatabe<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I read the premise of this show, I went in with the assumption that the monster-eating pact would be a tragic metaphor for the way love consumes you, or the way your hunger for love can push you to the point of destruction. In actuality, there is little desire to \u201ceat\u201d at all in this story; instead, there is more of a deliberate fasting. When Shiori happened upon a young Hinako, whose overwhelming kindness toward her monstrous form only inflamed her desire to devour her limb by limb, she staved off her hunger in hopes of preserving the one precious human in the world that allowed her to experience joy and belonging.<\/span> Miko, Hinako\u2019s friend and kitsune <\/span>yokai<\/span><\/i>, goes feral at the metallic aroma of a mere cut on Hinako\u2019s hand but controls herself by sacrificing her own flesh, gnawing off two of her foxtails. Hinako is the only one among the main trio who really shows any hunger at all, and it\u2019s a craving for emptiness, nothingness, death, that constantly clashes with Shiori and Miko\u2019s restraint.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I really loved this subversion of expectations, especially with the way it spins the dynamic of Hinako and Shiori on its head. The reveal that Shiori had actually been trying to save Hinako\u2019s life, that she found Hinako\u2019s smell so vile she couldn\u2019t possibly fulfill her promise of eating her, filled me with so much relief \u2014 the monster who wants to eat her wasn\u2019t actually interested in eating her at all! Then Shiori reluctantly rekindled their pact, and the lump of dread re-lodged in my throat. This hurt more than my prediction that the eventuality of Hinako\u2019s happiness would make both parties reluctant about their agreement. In reality, Shiori has never been in the predatory position she claimed to be in, and she resigns herself to the whims of Hinako in a desperate attempt to keep her alive. The contract they renew on Hinako\u2019s terms reminded me of the many unspoken promises people form with themselves in real life: the vague deadline of a certain age or goal that marks when you will end your life, and that being the only real hope worth enough to stick around a bit longer.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a92024 Sai Naekawa\/KADOKAWA\/Project Watatabe<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Much of the heavy lifting in This Monster Wants to Eat Me<\/em>\u2019s heightened moments is done by the phenomenal performances of the voice actors. Reina Ueda<\/strong>, who voices Hinako, delivers some stinging lines throughout the show, like the heartbreaking insult she barely whispers out when Hinako tells Shiori that she\u2019s a monster, in the worst form of the word. <\/span><\/p>\n

But my favorite line delivery appears in episode 11,<\/strong> when Hinako\u2019s rocky emotions begin to crumble completely in front of Miko. When Miko tells Hinako that she is selfishly grateful that Hinako survived the fatal car accident that killed the rest of her family, the thin veil Hinako has been wearing over her feelings is torn apart by the flood that spills out. The shakiness in each of Ueda\u2019s syllables culminates in a despondent cry as Hinako apologizes over and over: \u201cEven though you care about me so much, even though I know it would hurt you for me to say this, even though I know all that, \u2026 I wish I\u2019d died with them.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m an easy crier when it comes to watching television, but rarely am I so moved by something that it physically suffocates me. To me, this scene provided such an accurate portrayal of someone experiencing the persistent throes of trauma, of the guilt and responsibility you feel for influencing others with your pain despite the pain wounding you the most. The choked sobs from Ueda rang so real and pulsating and horribly in my chest that I had to pause the show to make sure I could still breathe through my own fit of tears.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hinako\u2019s painful acknowledgment that Miko\u2019s feelings cannot change her own, as well as Miko immedia<\/a>tely running to Hinako to hug her because it\u2019s the only comfort she can provide, felt like the apotheosis of the show\u2019s nuanced exploration of depression. If this show does anything perfectly, it\u2019s portraying the guilt that each of the main three experiences because of the reality of their desires: Hinako unable to let go of the pain her trauma inflicts despite the attempted support of her friends, and Shiori and Miko unable to hide their relief that Hinako is alive despite knowing how surviving that accident has gravely, unbearably upended her life.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a92024 Sai Naekawa\/KADOKAWA\/Project Watatabe<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The dialogue in this scene, done by series<\/a> composer Mitsutaka Hirota<\/strong>, is expertly written, but it would not have been as impactful had Ueda\u2019s acting not been so gut-wrenching and raw. In a similar vein, Yui Ishikawa<\/strong> delivers a stellar performance as Shiori that elevated her character in places where other elements of the anime did not. Though the coy inflection Ishikawa maintains can be grating because of how blank Shiori often looks, it makes a lot of sense once Shiori\u2019s true motivations are revealed. The aloofness in her voice almost never wavers, but when it does, it\u2019s a glimpse at the aching cracks in Shiori\u2019s soulless facade.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ishikawa is masterful at conveying these subtleties in her performance, but I only realized her meticulous craft when the show provided a flashback to a previous conversation from Shiori\u2019s perspective, uncovering the gravity of Shiori\u2019s words in hindsight. The flashback scene supplies little foreshadowing on its own when it first appears, mainly because the animation is very unmoving, both literally and figuratively. The voice acting is, unfortunately, not enough to make up for how bland the earlier parts of the show feel; surely there could have been a way to plant seeds of suspicion about Shiori while maintaining intrigue.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a92024 Sai Naekawa\/KADOKAWA\/Project Watatabe<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For all the praise I can give to the voice acting and the way this show tackles the nuances of depression, I can\u2019t discard that for most of the anime\u2019s 13-episode run, I was incredibly bored. The animation as a whole felt lifeless, and not intentionally. I was just as unmoved by the shallowness of the \u201cdrowning\u201d imagery at the end of the show as I was at the beginning, its repetition making the symbolism almost tacky. In my <\/span>review of the first two episodes<\/span>, I noted the show\u2019s bizarre choice to pair its brightly-colored chibi interjections with a morose, dawdling soundtrack, and this too continued to happen again and again throughout.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Could this dissonance between the show\u2019s sonic and visual elements be deliberate, an attempt to recreate the dissonance Hinako feels when she masks her misery with happiness? Perhaps, but if that was the intention, I\u2019m not sure it executed its desired effect. Either element could\u2019ve sufficed on its own, but the clash in the humorous and grim tones left me confused rather than uneasy.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a92024 Sai Naekawa\/KADOKAWA\/Project Watatabe<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Only at the introduction of Shiori\u2019s backstory in episode 8 did I feel that the anime captured my full attention, and even then, it was because of the story rather than the artistic direction. Hinako\u2019s hollow eyes convey her sadness but fail to capture the whole spread of her emotions, which makes watching her onscreen uninteresting. Shiori\u2019s facial expressions similarly rarely change, even when she\u2019s more dejected than conniving; I found myself drawn more to Shiori\u2019s ghastly mermaid form once it was revealed, because at least her expressionless despair in that form mirrored her torn-up physical and mental state at that time. At the very least, her frustrating feelings should have been apparent visually and not just vocally when she assumed her human form.<\/span><\/p>\n

The recurring issues I had with the production choices, despite how deeply the plot and the characters\u2019 dynamics ended up moving me, led me to believe that I would\u2019ve enjoyed this story more had I just read the source material. I can imagine how the various comedic quips<\/span> and weary complexions would appear in the manga in a way that complies with the overall sullen tone. But in a medium where each \u201cpanel\u201d lies in a singular widescreen frame with nowhere to hide, in a medium that manipulates auditory effects to elevate the ambience, in a medium that requires <\/span>movement<\/span><\/i> as a critical conveyor of emotion, this adaptation didn\u2019t blow me out of the water as much as I\u2019d hoped it would.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a92024 Sai Naekawa\/KADOKAWA\/Project Watatabe<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The girls\u2019 love progression, even with its sparseness, is the one other aspect of the production I felt was executed artfully. While it wasn\u2019t what I expected, I thoroughly enjoyed the subtlety of the yuri elements and wasn\u2019t phased by the lack of clear romance, though I understand how the genre label could feel misleading. The romantic gestures are implicit and slight (except the blood-feeding pact and the biting kiss in episode 12, which, okay, were very gay), but given where the story is in its progression, it makes sense to put the more pressing concern of Hinako\u2019s life at the forefront. This is only the beginning of a much longer correspondence between Hinako and Shiori, and I\u2019m okay with witnessing a snail\u2019s pace of a slow burn.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The thirst for romance is also quenched through the addition of Miko, whose meddling between Hinako and Shiori adds extra life to what is an underwhelming handful of get-to-know-each-other episodes in the first half of the show. Fall 2025 has really been the season for \u201canime with love triangles that should end in throuples,\u201d in my opinion, and this show is definitely included in that roster. Sometimes, I was even more intrigued by Shiori and Miko\u2019s dynamic, their initial hatred for each other adding a nice enemies-to-lovers flavor once they realize they\u2019re working towards the same goal. I also thought it was a smart choice to have the first person to catch on to Shiori\u2019s true intentions be Miko, and for her to be the one Shiori confides in; their outsider positions as <\/span>yokai<\/span><\/i> in the human world distort their lives in a way only each other can understand.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Still, my giddiness at the intricate love lines was also not enough to shake my lingering disappointment at the creative direction of this adaptation. If <\/span>This Monster Wants to Eat Me<\/span><\/i> receives another season, I can only hope that it irons out the kinks of the first while highlighting the small treasures that made me stick around. As it stands, I\u2019m not desperately reaching for seconds.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n