Interviews with Monster Girls

Episode 5

While she played an important role in the story last week, this episode offers a much more thorough introduction to Yuki as a character. In a conversation with Tetsuo, she explains that she's been avoiding social contact because she's afraid of hurting someone with her snow woman traits. Considering that she can apparently make ice form in a tub of hot water, it seems like a valid concern. Tetsuo isn't convinced, however, and he devises an experiment to prove that Yuki isn't nearly as dangerous as she thinks she is. Once she has a better understanding of her abilities, Yuki starts opening up to her fellow demis and reconnects with some of the classmates she'd previously pushed away.

Since all the other demi-human characters came into the story with a solid understanding of their particular quirks, Yuki's uncertainty provides an interesting departure from the usual pattern. Instead of talking about the daily inconveniences she faces, she starts off by admitting that she doesn't fully understand her body's ability to create cold air. She realizes that her self-imposed isolation is an imperfect solution at best, and that inner conflict makes her a more compelling character. As a demi-human who's not yet fully comfortable in her own skin, Yuki has a lot of potential to grow and change over the course of the series. Given the laid-back approach that Interviews with Monster Girls takes to storytelling, it's encouraging to know that at least one character is primed to create a little drama from time to time.

Tetsuo's experiment makes for some slightly odd visuals and the pacing seems overly drawn-out, but the end result is at least a positive one. The mechanic of Yuki's sweat and tears only freezing in response to negative emotions is surprisingly effective from a dramatic standpoint, and it's an easy enough idea to buy into given that we've already accepted a character who carries her own disembodied head around. More importantly, removing some of Yuki's personal fears allows the show to open up some strong chemistry amongst the three demi girls. They make for a well-balanced lead trio, and it looks like we may also get to see more of their interactions with their human classmates.

As we've seen before, much of the charm in Interviews with Monster Girls lies in the details. Instead of just using the fables about snow women as a one-and-done narrative device, this episode takes some time to let Tetsuo ponder the origins of those old stories. His conclusion is an intriguing one: the frequently tragic nature of the folk tales could stem from past generations not understanding how to interact with demi-humans. As knowledge becomes more widespread, it gets easier for demi-humans to lead more normal lives. That increased understanding certainly seems to be helping Hikari; the brief scene of her using Himari to relieve her urge to bit people is pretty entertaining, especially since Himari seems so nonchalant about it.

It's taken a while, but it looks like Interviews with Monster Girls has finally gotten all of its major introductions out of the way. With Yuki no longer giving her classmates the cold shoulder, we have a core group of friends in place with a couple of teachers to watch over them. The question now is where the series will go from here. Will it simply add some demi-human twists to ordinary slice of life storylines, or will it focus more directly on the characters' struggle to fit in? Considering that it seems capable of handling lighthearted and more emotional content equally well, both options have the potential to work out nicely.

Rating: B+

Interviews with Monster Girls is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.