Brief Anime Thoughts: This Monster Wants to Eat Me Starts Off Rather Tepidly

©2024 Sai Naekawa/KADOKAWA/Project Watatabe

My expectations for the This Monster Wants to Eat Me anime, based on the manga by Sai Naekawa, were persistently low after viewing the trailers. Nevertheless, the intriguing mix of dark fantasy/supernatural horror and yuri drama, along with a depressed protagonist, compelled me to keep it high on my Fall 2025 to-watch list. Following the first episode, I’m uncertain whether it’ll remain there for much longer.

My impressions of This Monster Wants to Eat Me’s premiere began decently — a leisurely pace; quite appealing character drawings; somber piano notes that reflect the burden felt by protagonist Hinako (Reina Ueda), who has lost her family and the will to live. By the middle of the episode, though, I began to feel that the storyboards (from chief director Naoyuki Kuzuya) and episode direction (from series director Yusuke Suzuki) were too subdued to effectively draw me into the narrative, particularly since the animation fails to stand out. Even in scenes where Hinako is symbolically submerged in water, the shot composition feels somewhat dry and uninterested in its own subject.

• ©2024 Sai Naekawa/KADOKAWA/Project Watatabe

• ©2024 Sai Naekawa/KADOKAWA/Project Watatabe

• ©2024 Sai Naekawa/KADOKAWA/Project Watatabe

• ©2024 Sai Naekawa/KADOKAWA/Project Watatabe

• ©2024 Sai Naekawa/KADOKAWA/Project Watatabe

• ©2024 Sai Naekawa/KADOKAWA/Project Watatabe

The sensation carries through to the supernatural elements of the episode. When a long-haired iso-onna emerged from the sea attempting to devour Hinako, who seems to be a delectable bait for monsters, I turned away not in fear, but indifference, as the show felt like it was stuck in neutral. Hinako’s rescue by the strong and composed ningyo (essentially a Japanese mermaid) Shiori — who’s safeguarding Hinako only to consume the human herself later — lacks energy as well. Despite the impressive voice-acting from Yui Ishikawa, the scene fails to give Shiori a palpable presence, and the slaying of the iso-onna is presented through hazy shots that come off as uninvested. The absence of notably impactful or imaginative imagery makes it seem like the episode simply aims to conclude, instead of evoking any emotion or reaction, which doesn’t align well with the show’s premise.

It doesn’t assist that the most recent anime season featured Ryohei Takeshita‘s The Summer Hikaru Died, which also explored themes of queerness and the supernatural, but offered a striking overall aesthetic and solid animation quality, along with compelling storytelling in its individual episodes. I still recall the initial part of that anime’s premiere — the oppressive heat and the shot of an overwhelmed Yoshiki being embraced by “Hikaru,” where the image drains of color and darkness engulfs everything aside from Yoshiki’s tearful eye, how the subsequent streak of the tear stands out against the nearly pitch-black screen. This Monster Wants to Eat Me could benefit from at least 10% of that show’s visual impact.

Other episode staff

• Chief animation director: Nozomi Ikuyama

Series main staff

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

Watch on: Crunchyroll, Ani-One Asia YouTube channel