Welcome back to Anime Rants. I’m finally covering episodes 8 and 9 of This Monster Wants To Eat Me, which I’m still keenly enjoying. Before we jump into the episode reviews, however, I will point out a few weaknesses of this anime that have come to my attention. The writing isn’t brilliant, and feels like it was done by a younger, less experienced person. The dialogue is odd at times. The plot is (for some people) too easily predictable. The drama definitely feels like a teenager’s story – but is that a bad thing? The monster romance element might also rub people the wrong way, and chances for interesting fantasy lore were lost at several points.
Clearly, this anime has some weaknesses. That being said, it seems like many of the complaints about this series come down to people not understanding Hinako. I’m not saying WataTabe is a masterpiece, but it’s much more enjoyable for me as someone who can empathize with the main character. I’ve said it before, but I spent four years living with nearly constant suicidal ideation and at least one serious attempt. Trying to make rational sense of this is useless, as it’s a deeply irrational desire to stop existing in most cases. But I still remember being trapped in that dark and painful place, so I get it.
Respectfully, if you don’t want a story that appeals to depressed teenagers, don’t watch shows about depressed teenagers. Also, don’t judge the character of Hinako too harshly if you have never felt the desire to die yourself. That’s my little rant for today.
Note: Spoilers are present in this article
Episode 8: The Cause of the Cracks
Episode Rating: 8/10
First, we’ll talk about Ayame. I haven’t been making any real attempt to predict where events are going in this anime, so I was fairly surprised that Ayame turned out to be a yokai. (It probably would have been easy to predict if I had tried – at least, so I tell myself to feel less stupid.) It was interesting and unsettling to see the kind of creature she was and her story. Ayame was a woman from long ago, who married a man who already had a child. She hated that child, and the ending visuals suggest that she may have starved the poor little girl on purpose. Either way, the child died young.
Soon after, there was a horrific accident resulting in Ayame’s head being split open with a rusty axe. Thinking this was her punishment, and drowning in regret, Ayame became a hideous yokai. (I love her creepy design!) She lived probably for several centuries after, perhaps trying to become a better person. Ayame said that humans were not her typical diet at all, but when she got a whiff of Hinako’s delicious blood, she felt compelled to partake. She showed Hinako her true form and pursued her with a rusty axe. Soon, Ayame cornered her prey, telling her not to move for a clean death.
Hinako’s response was a key moment for her character – but before we get to that, let’s go back to Ayame for a moment. She had a special moment with Hinako shortly before revealing that she was a yokai. Hinako was spaced out and strongly reminded of her mother, so she accidentally called Ayame “Mom.” As Ayame later stated, this made her happy. For her, it was a healing moment, washing away some of the regret of her past. Yet, typical to the nature of a hungry yokai, she didn’t respond with appreciation. Instead, she proceeded to hunt Hinako like a rabbit.
Now back to Hinako. She is probably a frustrating character for some viewers – maybe even most viewers – due to their inability to understand suicidal ideation. It makes no rational sense, but I deeply understand wanting to die because I was stuck in suicidal ideation for about four years straight. Rather than being frustrated at Hinako, I was proud of her for moving even a little out of the range of the axe. She avoided death but sustained a cut on her arm. The blood was enticing to the yokai, who tasted it with her long, tentacle-like tongue. That’s when she said something strange.
According to Ayame, Hinako’s blood was mixed with that of a mermaid. In other words, at some point in the past, Shiori fed her blood to Hinako. This is probably the only reason she survived the horrible burns from the accident. It seems that mermaid blood boosts healing. But before Hinako could ask any questions, Shiori appeared and began to tear apart the yokai. Hinako beheld the true form of Shiori – a huge, horned entity with a great fish tail, long hair, creepy grey scales, and truly monstrous claws and teeth. She tore Ayame to pieces. To Hinako, this creature looked familiar.
Though she was full of questions, Hinako returned to her room as instructed and let Miko treat the cut on her arm. Miko was upset she that couldn’t tell Ayame was a yokai and that Hinako got hurt. As things settled down the next day, Hinako went alone to get her forgotten phone. Much to her shock, she saw Ayame appear before her again, looking like a beautiful young woman. She explained that she didn’t plan to kill Hinako anymore because she had been claimed by the mermaid long ago. Ayame also said that only her head was real, so as long as it remained in tact, she could survive dismemberment.
Hinako couldn’t help but ask about the mermaid blood remark. Ayame said she was surprised that a mermaid took an oath with a human and gave her blood when that has not been the custom for a long time. Hinako, confused, said she’d never taken any kind of oath with Shiori, and that the mermaid had promised to eat her. Ayame was taken aback by the idea that Hinako and Shiori were “just friends.” I wonder if mermaids used to choose their human lovers by giving them their blood. It sounds like it could be some kind of yokai marriage ceremony.
Anyway, Ayame observed that Shiori’s arrangement with Hinako didn’t really make sense. After all, she stated, when a yokai gives a human her blood, the human becomes so disgusting to that yokai that they are inedible. After dropping this bombshell, Ayame took her leave, not wanting to be dismembered again. She only stopped by to tell Hinako “I’m sorry” and to thank for reminding her that she was a mother. It was a hopeful ending for Ayame, though not a great ending for Hinako. It can’t feel good to realize that your crush may in fact find you disgusting. And that she has been lying to you.
In other notes, the voice-acting is excellent in this anime. I’ve been very impressed with the voice of Hinako, Reina Ueda, who I am now learning to recognize reliably. As always, Yui Ishikawa’s performance is impeccable (she voices Shiori). Fairouz Ai has also done an amazing job with her role as Miko. I noticed that Ayame’s voice was familiar, but I couldn’t place it, so I looked it up and found that she was voiced by Saki Fujita. I know her best as the voice of Ayano from Yuru Yuri, but she’s most famous for playing Ymir from Attack on Titan. I heard her recently as Torako Koshi from Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan. It was a treat to hear her voice Ayame!
Episode 9: A Burned-In Prayer
Episode Rating: 8/10
When eating lunch with Miko at school, Hinako was distant and spaced out. Miko knew there was something wrong, so she asked Hinako to be honest with her. Hinako then told Miko about what Ayame said. Miko was surprised and decided that she and Hinako needed to find Shiori and get her to provide answers. Shiori had been ignoring Hinako and Miko for the last few days since the Ayame incident. Miko was confident she could “beat it out” of Shiori. However, it turned out she was busy with cleaning duty after school, so Hinako went to look for Shiori alone.
Before we get to the part where Hinako and Shiori talk, I want to mention the moment where Hinako offered to give a taste of her blood to Miko to verify if it was mixed with mermaid. That was so stupid and thoughtless. I do like Hinako and understand her for the most part, but this moment still irked me. Not only was it reckless and shows her head is in the wrong place; but in addition, she was putting Miko in a rough position. It was a selfish and bad idea, so no wonder Miko said to never mention that again even as a joke. I swear, Hinako is worse than Bella from Twilight in certain moments.
Moving on, Hinako talked with Shiori at a small bus stop shelter. It was an old wooden structure and there was a bench. Hinako wasted no time asking if Ayame’s words were true, but Shiori clearly didn’t want to answer. She kept trying to dodge the question and keep Hinako in the dark. When Hinako exposed her wound again and came closer to Shiori, looking her right in the face, the mermaid finally caved. She asked, “If everything that yokai said was true, would you reject me?”
This phrasing and the entire scene spells out for viewers very clearly the fact that Shiori has fallen in love with Hinako. There’s also probably more to the story than we got in this episode. We learned that Shiori gave her blood to Hinako 10 years ago at a beach during the family trip. Shiori said it was intended as a talisman of good health to repay a debt she owed. (I think we’ll learn more about that debt later.) But things didn’t go as planned because Hinako’s family got into that accident. As a result, the mermaid blood activated all at once to save Hinako’s life, permanently altering her body.
Because she gave her blood Hinako, the idea of eating her is gross beyond belief to Shiori. This was difficult for Hinako to process and accept. Shiori had been lying the whole time. But things got even worse for Hinako when she heard the “prayer” that Shiori imbued into her when she gave her blood: “Hinako, you must survive.” These are the exact words Hinako thought she heard from her family on the night of the accident. Now, she knows that the voice belonged to Shiori, and that her family had no last words for her. Of course, the Yaotose family certainly wanted Hinako to live on regardless, but that wasn’t immediately obvious or important to Hinako, who only wanted the pain to end.
Hinako was deeply hurt. She walked away wordlessly, but Shiori called after her not to take her own life. If she tried, Shiori threatened to remove Hinako’s limbs and keep her alive in solitude. I doubt Shiori would actually do that, but the threat was important to help keep Hinako alive. However, the violence and heartlessness of it made Hinako turn around in the rain and tell Shiori with tears in her eyes, “You are a monster.” Seeing Hinako cry obviously upset Shiori, but she didn’t try to pursue the suicidal girl.
Miko passed Hinako on the street and saw that she was crying and didn’t want to talk. At once, Miko assumed her fox spirit form and pointed a deadly claw at Shiori, demanding to know what happened. Shiori would not answer and Miko gave up quickly, knowing the mermaid would stay mysterious. That’s when Shiori quietly asked if Miko would go with her on a date. Miko was flabbergasted and it was funny. We needed the humor after that emotional, dramatic scene. For whatever reason, Miko agreed to the date, meeting Shiori at the zoo the next day. While they were looking at the penguins, Shiori began to talk.
Shiori went on an unsettling ramble about how the people and the zoo animals all looked like nothing but meat to her. She even fantasized about destroying the zoo with Miko and devouring every living thing within. Miko, of course, said she would protect the humans even if they had no connection to her. Shiori then expressed envy over Miko’s strong connections to the human world. To Shiori, the human world was quite alien. However, she told Miko, there was one time in the past where she did live with humans.
This is when Shiori began to tell her backstory, starting with the starving human child she met many years ago. The episode ends at this point. Some weaknesses of this anime have been pointed out to me, but I am still enjoying it thoroughly. Is it as good as its counterpart, The Summer Hikaru Died? No, it’s not. That anime is 9/10. But WataTabe is still a solid 7/10 overall so far, so I certainly don’t regret watching it. And by nature of it being a shoujo ai story with fantasy elements, I would probably even give it 8/10 for personal enjoyment. Anyway, that’s all for today.
~Thanks for Reading~
Written by 7Mononoke at Anime Rants
Anime Rants 
It was, indeed, a harem, albeit only for a moment. 😉
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