Pulling out all the stops, This Monster Wants to Eat Me Episode 1 is beautiful, peaceful, and creepy with eye-catching animation and an instrumental score that makes you more than ready for the ost to drop.
This Monster Wants to Eat Me Episode 1 starts with a bang, or rather, the crescendo after something’s bubbled to the surface. The main protagonist, Hinako, narrates, and viewers see a stunning, blue-black haired girl, covered in blood, holding her wrist. Then the rest of the episode is a “how we got there,” building up to that startling visual. Pulling out all the stops, This Monster Wants to Eat Me Episode 1 is beautiful, peaceful, and creepy with eye-catching animation and an instrumental score that makes you more than ready for the ost to drop.
Created by and based on the manga by Sai Naekawa, the story revolves around Hinako, voiced by Reina Ueda (Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba), who, after losing her family, longs for death. So enters Shiori, voiced by Yui Ishikawa (Undead Unluck, Attack on Titan), a gorgeous mermaid who promises to grant her wish, once she’s ready to eat her. The first episode introduces us to this surprising dynamic. It sets up plenty of intrigue, some humor, and lots of deep-seated pain.
This Monster Wants to Eat Me Episode 1 Is Immersive Drama and Horror
Given the release of Silent Hill f, it seems like fate and good fortune that another story involves a young girl named Hinako. It’s incredible how it captures the muffled, restful, but unsettling feeling of submersion as Hinako goes through her day. Before and after she first encounters Shiori, there’s a silent, withdrawn quality to her. Her moments of animation, if you can call it that, when talking with her friend Miko, voiced by Ai Fairouz (New Saga, Kaiju No. 8), appear tired and halfhearted.
Plus, the instrumental music captures Hinako’s emotional state. This is a girl who cannot cope with what she lost and wishes to join her family in the next life. The music captures the mix of beauty and haunting quality. This Monster Wants to Eat Me Episode 1 uses water to muffle the conversations around her, creating a sense of distance and standoffishness.
Where It Goes Nobody Knows
Well, surely manga readers know, but for people only watching the anime, there is plenty of uncertainty, similar to The Summer Hikaru Died. With the relationships, it teases a possibility of yuri romance. Yet there’s an underlying dread that the ethereal quality of certain scenes and the music lean into. After all, Shiori’s endgame is to devour Hinako. And Hinako, unable to move past the grief, desires it. There’s also an underlying question of what if, when Shiori’s ready to feast, Hinako changes her mind? This Monster Wants to Eat Me Episode 1 leaves so much for audiences to consider in the first episode alone.
This Monster Wants to Eat Me Episode 1 is a strong start to a story that raises questions of grief, love, and individual autonomy, steeps it in fantasy with a stunning lightness that creates terror underneath. When the monster comes out, the animation and colors capture the audience’s horror and Hinako’s peace. Will this turn to love? Will it be a triangle? Because Miko does not seem the type to be happy with her friend being around someone else. This Monster Wants to Eat Me Episode 1 weaves a story that’s equal parts sorrowful and sensational, leaving viewers adrift till its next episode.
