This Monster Wants to Eat Me

Episode 8

First of all, despite anything I may have posted on Bluesky, I know I can't honestly take credit for Crunchyroll subtitling the on-screen text in this week's episode of This Monster Wants to Eat Me. But by the same token, I can't disprove that the publishing of my little screed at the end of the last review exerted some pressure on their higher-ups. Who's to say what happens behind closed doors? I will let my readers draw their own conclusions.

Onto the episode proper, this is by far the strongest section of the story yet. The conflict between Hinako, Ayame, and Shiori branches into powerful and dramatic directions. We see entirely new shades of Shiori's character that recontextualize everything we know about her. There's a big scary yokai brawl with a hot scary mermaid lady. I only wish the anime didn't hold your hand so tightly when leading you to the one “twist” that I figured out last week, but even then, the concluding stinger adds a fun additional wrinkle that surprised me.

Ayame is pretty complex for a character who (I presume) will not show up again in the story. When she first revealed her yokai nature, I assumed that she became that way due to some past unresolved abuse that molded her into an undying spirit of vengeance, although one also driven by hunger and frustration towards Hinako's innocence. However, the credits paint a different portrait of Ayame as a woman and mother who felt suffocated by her family. The starkest tableau shows Ayame dispassionately sewing while her daughter lies sick and emaciated on the mat behind her. It's a scene that provokes us to villainize her as a terrible and unfeeling mother, which are descriptors Ayame would likely agree with.

However, This Monster doesn't villainize Ayame. Outside of Shiori and Miko, she's the most humanized of all the yokai we've seen Hinako attract. In fact, it's Hinako calling her “mom” that triggers her attack, not anything to do with Hinako's delectable body. Ayame wants to use that axe to excise something that reminds her of her past—a very human motivation. Later, though, a more reflective Ayame confesses that her entire existence is likely a self-inflicted punishment. And I sympathize with her. Reading between the lines, Ayame was born into a time when marriage and motherhood would have been the average woman's most aspirational prospects, regardless of what she might have truly wanted. Ayame wouldn't have had much choice in marrying or carrying a daughter, and resentment would have naturally flowed from that. Those pent-up feelings gave birth to her yokai half, and it's at that point that we can see her shedding tears for the first time. Ayame is and was just a person, but circumstances and society molded her into a monster as well. Frankly, this is a lot more nuanced than I had expected from This Monster, so I hope we can see even more complexity in the future.

Ayame is also a cautionary figure for Hinako. Both are women who, at one point or another, chose to define their lives by their pain. Given Hinako's own suicidal ideations, I think we can assume that Ayame's “accident” with the axe was at least partially intentional. And rather than grant her the release of death, it turned her into an undying yokai. Hinako, therefore, might begin to think twice about her own desire for an untimely end, especially now that she knows there is yokai blood mixed in with her own.

On that note, the events of this episode are the most generous to Shiori's character. I had previously noted that Shiori seems to put up a blithe front in between rare glimpses of vulnerability, and now we have confirmation that I clocked her correctly. Shiori is straight-up protecting Hinako's life under the pretense of saving her meat for later. She is, despite her scaly exterior, a big softie. And it's because of that softness that Shiori tries so hard to keep Hinako at arm's length. She saved her life all those years ago, and now she's trying to do the same on a psychological level, yet Shiori's own psychology remains a mystery to Hinako and the audience. It's possible that she doesn't want to fall in love with a mortal, but Miko is a yokai who has zero qualms about that. Perhaps, instead, she feels guilty for the pain she put Hinako through, and that's why she doesn't believe that she is worthy of accepting Hinako's affections. I think that's more likely, because it would mean she and Hinako are kindred spirits, afraid to love others and themselves.

While Hinako isn't exactly a paragon of straightforwardness either, her words and actions are far more transparent. When she sees her mother in Ayame, she blurts out “mom” like an elementary school student called on by their teacher. When Ayame attacks her, Hinako's survival instinct kicks in and blocks the blade. And when Shiori, in an uncharacteristic fit of desperation, transforms into her full mermaid self, Hinako is transfixed. She immediately switches into her high school poet mode, monologuing to herself about “faintly glimmering, sharp scales” and “huge antlers that twine like coral.” Girl, you are down bad for that fish.

Obviously, a vital confrontation between Shiori and Hinako lies on the horizon. Hinako will need to know why Shiori saved her and lied to her, and Shiori isn't going to be able to deflect those advances with a joke and a pained smile this time. One funny detail is that, once Ayame realizes that Hinako shares some of Shiori's blood, she immediately concludes that Hinako “belongs” to Shiori. I initially thought she meant that in the way you might pick out a lobster from the tank at a seafood restaurant, but Ayame already knew that Shiori couldn't eat Hinako. Clearly, she assumed that Shiori and Hinako were an item. In the yokai world, sharing blood might even be an antiquated sign of betrothal, if Ayame is to be believed. Is Shiori just embarrassed? I'm sure there's more to it, but it would be cute if that's a part of it. Either way, I'm eager to see how this revelation shakes up This Monster's core.

Rating:

This Monster Wants to Eat Me is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Steve is on Bluesky for all of your posting needs. They recommend a balanced diet. You can also catch them chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.