“This Monster Wants to Eat Me” Episode 1 and 2 Promises a Deep Dive Into the Feels
There’s a hundred and four days of summer vacation, and Hinako Yaotose absolutely hates it.
Even throughout the rather cheerful opening of This Monster Wants to Eat Me – where the picturesque seaside setting of Ehime, Japan is breathed to life with the vibrance of the summer sun and the energy of waves hitting the shore – Hinako is all too eager to end it all.
So when a mysterious long-haired girl saves her life from a sea monster, the premise implies she may just be what our protagonist needs to change her view of summer. That is, until this long-haired girl reveals her nature as a mermaid… and she wants to eat Hinako.
Cue a crazy love story.
No, not really. This isn’t what This Monster Wants to Eat Me is all about. The only semblance of normalcy in this anime lies in its title. The rest is a deep dive – pun intended – to what happens when life throws its worst.
TRIGGER WARNING: The anime explores themes of su*cide, with the anime showing some depictions of blood and violence.
This Monster Wants to Eat Me, but why?
Adapted from the work of Sai Naekawa, This Monster Wants to Eat Me is the story of Hinako Yaotose, a girl orphaned after an accident takes the life of her immediate family. She spends much of the years getting by, with her childhood friend Miko Yashiro acting as somewhat of a guardian at school while Hinako’s timid nature led to many of her peers isolating her.
As such, much of Hinako’s everyday life is about her just wanting to fast forward into the next day. When she’s not zoning out into her deep sea mindscape, Hinako wishes for the sea to sweep her away.
So when another person – a girl named Shiori – seems to be capable of granting her wish, Hinako becomes intrigued. Can Shiori really take her to her family? Can she finally spend a summer with them?
SPOILERS AHEAD.
Episode 1 frames a deep dive into what’s been lost
It’s immediately implied that Hinako lost her entire family to a horrific accident during the summer, leaving her image of the season tainted with survivor’s guilt. And sadly, this season often reserved for a delightful time with family is always reminding her of what she’s lost.
Even the subtle inconveniences of the day to day reopen deep wounds.
Hinako’s closest friend Miko Yashiro was running late, and her auntie wouldn’t be able to make it to her family’s death anniversary. Hinako had to walk to the first day of school alone.
In a seaside town where waves crashing by the sea should’ve provided some solace to those who needed a semblance of normalcy, the sound of children laughing with their parents and youngsters catching up on vacation stories doesn’t really help Hinako who just wanted to get most days over with.
The way the anime shows this is remarkably tied to the sea. It’s implied that Hinako always keeps herself at arm’s length – although this time, the anime shows her as hundreds of feet away, as though she drags herself in the deep sea.
Everything around her is pushed aside, the voices deafening to insignificance in the seas around her, as even the mundane reminds her of what she is: alone.
So when this mysterious mermaid, Shiori Aoi, offers to “eat” her, Hinako genuinely smiles for the first time.
Because finally, there’s a way to end it all.
Folklore and psychology blend in an artful but honest depiction of sadness
This Monster Wants to Eat Me is originally praised for the artistic vibrance of the manga’s melancholic backdrops. These are brought to the screen with an unhurried pacing, with somber piano notes and long stretches of silence conveying the sheer weight of Hinako’s trauma and this profound sense of isolation.
Hinako plunging herself into the deep end and cutting herself off to the vibrance of the surface – this willingness to “drown” in her mental mindscape – is a compelling depiction of one’s inner sorrow. Such are the depths that Hinako uses to “drown” the rest of the world that her mindscape is shown teeming with deep sea creatures.
And somehow, this seascape permeates past her psyche and into the real world, as Hinako seems to be prime food material for yokai in the sea.
It’s for this reason that This Monster Wants to Eat Me offers a more personal take on Japanese folklore. The story’s use of more regional monsters and bringing them to the quiet rural backdrop of Ehime Prefecture make their presence more intimate – and the “threats” to Hinako’s life even more evident.
The implication is clear, though – Hinako’s trauma related to her family’s loss has made her somewhat vulnerable to supernatural threats.
This unique take on the supernatural “hierarchy” is a reflection of author Naekawa’s affinity towards the supernatural – especially the way she ties the mythologies attached to them to Hinako’s internal struggle.
Episode 2 establishes the stakes, because there’s more than meets the eye
When Shiori declares to Hinako a desire to “eat her,” the protagonist is surprisingly unfazed. This is something Shiori points out, and it’s exactly this trait that makes Hinako somewhat of a delectable delight to monsters like her.
See, Shiori is a ningyo, the flesh-eating mermaid of Japanese folklore. And a monster named the iso-onna (a long-haired sea monster) just tried to eat her. Until Hinako is “ready” to be served as a dish for Shiori to devour, the ningyo will protect her.
This is the part where relationships get established, because Shiori ends up fulfilling the transfer student trope and is coincidentally seated close to Hinako. Miko, who used to sit behind her, is now front-row comic relief. Shiori ending up in the same school is no romantic subplot, however, but more of a deliberate move to get close to her prey.
Until when will this happen? Shiori doesn’t say. As to why she’s doing it? Shiori compares Hinako to how humans cultivate livestock – doesn’t food taste the best when they’re treated with the utmost care?
And the surprising part here is that Hinako takes this matter-of-factly. In fact, the focal point of the episode is Hinako’s resignation on the matter, emphasizing her desire for death but inability to act upon it.
Perhaps Shiori is her tool for deliverance, to end her suffering without being burdened by her own self-agency. There’s also a compelling element to it – and the fact that it’s heartbreaking to see Shiori see an external threat as a means to her own internal freedom.
A power dynamic that challenges its yuri premise
This Monster Wants to Eat Me is framed as a “classic” depiction of the dark yuri genre, where Shiori and Hinako’s pairing is built upon an unequal power dynamic on top of horror, slice-of-life, and LGBTQ+ themes.
There’s a specific focus on the “imbalance” here – after all, their “relationship” begins with a “contract,” where the dangerous Shiori considers Hinako a very desirable partner – quite literally, too, in the context of food.
This foundation immediately sets up tension, as Hinako being an object of affection becomes the object of consumption, as Shiori’s nature indeed implies a desire to eventually “eat” Hinako.
The inclusion of a “timeframe” is somewhat delayed gratification on the part of Hinako, and implies there might be some “other” motive for Shiori not wanting to eat Hinako at the onset. Is she going to plunge Hinako much deeper into the throes of despair, or perhaps show genuine care and affection?
In the manga, Shiori and Hinako encounter other creatures too, all with different stakes towards Hinako and her relationship with the mermaid. Miko, in particular, will prove to be quite the relevant character later on.
And all of their relationships with Hinako serve to challenge the premise of her mental state. Having resigned her fate at the hands of an external threat, Hinako can “re-engage” with the physical world. She “must,” as her source of salvation wants to “cultivate” her before consumption – transforming her mental crisis into quite a bizarre “journey.”
More somber than dark, but just as important a watch
Viewers of This Monster Wants to Eat Me will find it starkly different from the expected high-tension exploits of dark yuri and the dynamism attached to horror. If anything, these are positioned as more of atmospheric elements – Hinako’s story is implied to have always been about the portrayal of psychological weight, and the depths through which one might be willing to unburden themselves.
Just two episodes in, and it’s evident that This Monster Wants to Eat Me will not be an easy watch. However, it’s just as relevant to those who do end up starting it, as Hinako’s journey is a reminder that everyone carries some sort of burden they can’t so easily let go – and the best we could do is to be there for those who might have them.
Whether one can identify with Hinako’s trauma, Miko’s silent guardianship, or Shiori’s accompaniment, This Monster Wants to Eat Me takes you by the hand and asks you to accompany it to the deep end.
And maybe, just maybe, its monsters can eat some of your burdens, too.
This Monster Wants to Eat Me episodes release on Thursdays at 7:30 a.m. PDT / 10:30 a.m. EDT on Crunchyroll
