It can be challenging to go back to the beginning on something you have been following for a long time, to see where – and how – it begins. You’ve watched the story develop, the character mature,  and now you’re back with everyone unsure of the who and what and where. A good example of that is Steven Universe, where a return to the beginning, as Steven is so immature and very, very loud, can be difficult to watch after later seasons.

Not so for This Monster Wants To Eat Me, the anime adaptation of the manga by Naekawa Sae (one of the guests at this year’s AnimeNYC.) 

This story has always been atmosphere first, plot second and the animation really leans heavily into this. One of my favorite things about the visual narrative in the manga is how Hinako is always “drowning.” The darker her thoughts are, the deeper and darker the world around her. Bubbles float past her even in the classroom, as if she takes the deep ocean with her everywhere she goes. 

This is a story about trauma and depression and surviving, and how the horrors of the world take many forms. Including yokai.  Yokai, like vampires and werewolves, are born of fears shaped by the primal dark, the noises of the night,  of getting lost, of the inevitability of death. They are the horrors that we know are not real, but are real enough when we are faced with the truth of the world. A car may go off a cliff and fall into the ocean, but the ocean will not give back what it has taken. If you have ever watched a riptide in the North Atlantic, you may have seen that it is not angry, but it is dark and very hungry. Won’t you come and play in the surf?

This is the vibe of This Monster Wants To Eat Me. 

Something wants to eat Hinako, and Hinako is not opposed, but somehow cannot manage to successfully be dead.

This anime is being spoken of as a “Yuri” anime, but again, I remind everyone that the story is not a romance as such. Yes, Miko’s affection for Hinako is strong, and definitely a kind of love. What Shiori and Hinako may be to one another will not be revealed for a while. In the mean time, sit back, watch the ocean rise up to claim Hinako, and see how her life changes now that Miko and Shiori will vie for her attention…and her life. But not in the way you think.

Ratings: 

Art – 10
Story – 9
Characters – 8, but give it a few episodes
Service – 0
Yuri – This will be debated

Overall  – 10

Beautiful, atmospheric, dark, immensely sad, This Monster Wants To Eat Me, streaming on Crunchyroll, is fantastic.