So I'm a Spider, So What?

Episode 24

Episode 24, “So I'm Still a Spider, So What?” starts off with best spider girl Kumoko in a bind: a bind that's solved with some handy-dandy new skills from Big Spider Mommy that allow her to reincarnate from an egg she laid ahead of time, making any tension in the opening a moot point. In a way, this rather… inauspicious opening should be a sign for how So I'm a Spider, So What? is going to handle its finale.

Oh yeah, and Kumoko gets that Arachne body finally.

Post-OP, we're in the thick of battle with Shun, Sophia, and the Gloria Units. And…anime gods above, this episode looks bad. It just looks really, really bad. Part of that is tangled up in the series' delay and my personal feelings towards the rising – and increasingly dangerous – amount of crunch to get finales (and episodes in general) done. But honestly, everything in this episode has a slightly gummy quality about it, especially Sophia, who looks like she's been smothered and covered in baby oil at times.

Still, that does not stop So I'm a Spider, So What? from throwing plot thread after plot thread to the wind as it tries to wrap up everything that happened over the past few episodes, starting with Shun tossing himself into the action, resulting in the death of Anna, a character that I'm both sure I've seen before and intensely unsure ever existed until right now. Cue the saddest of BGMs as Shun cradles Anna and she dies in his arms… only to be revived by his skill, Mercy, which gives her a second chance at life. It also activates Taboo, which starts installing a slew of information in Shun's brain, which nearly drives him mad. Everyone is quick to blame Sophia and Wrath, yet… it's not their fault. There's a higher power at play.

Back to Kumoko, who's gone from cute spider to cute monster girl, complete with a spider body. It's fan service and fan disservice at the same time, but hey: do your thing show. We're only with her briefly, however, before the story shifts back to Sophia as a wee tot in the past. It's then that we see her turn Merazophis into a vampire, not by choice, but out of desperation. Thanks to her decision, she is able to protect herself… until Potimas appears, ready to sweep her away. And while Merazophis puts up a good fight, he's ultimately not strong enough to take out Potimas: not without the help of Kumoko, who teleports in, lays down some Evil Eye, strikes a pose, and cleans house.

So much happens in this episode that if I wrote it beat by beat, I'd have written you a short story. There's a lot of content crammed in, and honestly, after two weeks without So I'm a Spider, So What?, it's hard to keep track of it all. And that, I suppose, is what ultimately frustrated me as I closed my time with this cour: there's so much still unanswered, so much still unhinted at, and too many new plot threads in this finale. It's all interesting except… I'd like some resolution, as a treat, and honestly… that just didn't happen, spiderific antics aside.

In the end, So I'm a Spider, So What?'s finale is… deeply underwhelming and overwhelming at once. So much happens that I had to watch this episode multiple times, just to make sure I had a competent review of it. It feels a bit slapped together, creating a hook into a third cour while also overwhelming viewers with so much plot that it becomes a rough ride. My deepest fears from episode 23 seem to have come true: So I'm a Spider, So What? has become way too big for its britches, and as such, barely resolved much of anything in this episode. And while this is perfect sequel bait – well, perfect third cour bait – I doubt I'll remember everything that's happened when it comes to the next cour, which feels inevitable at this point. In this era of too many series, there's no time for rewatches either: I suppose I'll just have to flip through my own reviews again, should I revisit this series in the near future.

That said, I've enjoyed reviewing So I'm a Spider, So What?, if only because it was an interesting enough ride. In fact, I've enjoyed enough of the series that I'm definitely going to pick up the novels, which will probably be more my pace. Plus, I think the novels will also fill in the gaps more effectively than any animated series ever could, and perhaps, will assuage some of my irritation towards this finale episode.

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So I'm a Spider, So What? is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Mercedez is a JP-EN localization editor & QA, pop culture critic, and a journalist who also writes & reviews at Anime Feminist and But Why Tho?. She's also a frequent guest on the AniFem Podcast, Chatty AF. This anime season, she's all about Super Cub, which is great because she's also reviewing it here on ANN. When she's not writing, you can find her on her Twitter or on her Instagram where she's always up to something.