Are we the predators, or the prey? When an unsuspecting father and daughter stumble upon a strange gathering of humanoid animals with a taste for fine cuisine, their worst nightmare is about to begin. Here, creatures who are not quite human—and not quite animal at that—raise humans as livestock and slaughter them to put meat on the table. Through this bizarre and horrific tale, society's morals are put to the ultimate test: What does it truly mean to consume another living being?

Animan has story and art by Takuya Okada. English translation is done by Ko Ransom and lettering by Elena Pizarro. Published by Yen Press (December 16, 2025). Rated M.

Erica Friedman
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There is no taboo more taboo than the eating of human flesh. The very idea will make most people feel pretty nauseous, so when in Animan, humans are carved up as food, exactly as we do to animals, it is instantaneously effectively horrifying. But that is not where the true horror of Anima lies, because these hybrid creatures are much, much more terrifying than just human-eating animals. There is something out there breeding these animal-human creatures and planning for humanity's destruction.

This is really effective horror. Every chapter leaves one feeling unsettled at a very deep level, right from the get-go. The creeping feeling begins from the first key scene where the animal-humans sit John and his daughter down for a meal, and continues as fresh horrors of animal farming are revealed. The story mocks the way humans treat animals as cute, but edible, throughout. The children visiting the “cute” humans in the pen was especially awful, in a clever, vile way. I imagine that this was very much the point here.

I'm really glad that I read this book while I was not feeling hungry, as eating is a central theme, and it would have been even more disquieting than it was if my stomach had been growling as I read.

The story really takes off when we begin to follow one of the animals in his quest to learn what is going on, and when we do, it's exactly as one might expect…until it's not. We learn that the hybrids are a much bigger, more terrifying problem than we thought. It was a great place for me to stop. I was impressed by this book; the art and storytelling were solid, tense, haunting even, and I think I'm perfectly okay with not reading any more.

If horror-thrillers are for you, I absolutely recommend this book. It was excellent and gruesome.

Kevin Cormack
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Sometimes when reading random books for a manga guide, I find myself stopping halfway through and asking myself, “What the hell am I reading?” This happened during last season's guide with My Gorilla Family, another animal-themed horror. While Animan doesn't quite reach My Gorilla Family's so-far unbeaten score on the WTF-O-Meter, it comes pretty damned close. Suffice to say, if after the first chapter you think you know where this manga is going, you're wrong.

I couldn't help thinking that the main antagonist character, a humanoid deer with lethal torso-rupturing antlers, was a lot like if Louis from BEASTARS developed a ravenous appetite for human flesh. To begin with, we follow a human man and his daughter, survivors of a road traffic accident, who find themselves in a strange village populated by animal-human hybrids who keep humans like cattle, gleefully devouring their meat, and sometimes hunting them for sport. It's an extremely on-the-nose critique of human attitudes towards carnivorism, with the tables turned between humans and animals. It's almost enough to make you think about the nature of the food on our plates, in between the gruesome episodes of bestiality, rape, cannibalism, and grievous bodily harm.

Animan is grimly humorous, with a truly gonzo twist towards the end that seems to set up an even more insane second volume. Honestly, this first volume stands alone quite satisfactorily as a bloody, violent, Twilight Zone-esque morality tale. It's not my particular cup of animal protein extract, but it's an entertainingly bonkers read for fans of more visceral horror. I can't imagine reading any more, personally. It does leave me with a certain ache in my belly and a strange desire for a nicely roasted pork leg, though.