Publisher Summary
Hinako, a high school student with a dark past, lives alone in a town by the sea. Haunted by a constant sensation of drowning, she can barely go through the motions of her tedious life…until the day a monster tries to eat her! After passing out in the struggle, she awakens to find she’s been rescued by a beautiful mermaid. However, salvation comes at a cost—the mermaid’s protection will last only until Hinako has matured into the perfect meal! Hinako’s first instinct isn’t to run or scream, though, and an unlikely relationship between monster and prey unfolds… “I’ve come to devour you."
Author: Sai Naekawa
Translator: Caleb Cook
Letterer: Bianca Pistillo
I received This Monster Wants to Eat Me volume 1 as an Advanced Review Copy from Yen Press in exchange for an honest review.
Background
This Monster Wants to Eat Me is a Seinen Yuri/Girl's Love manga series that runs in ASCII Media Works magazine, Dengeki Maoh starting from 2020. Yen Press announced they had licensed the series in January 2024.
Review
The story opens up with Hinako dreaming about sinking into the ocean. Every time she gazes out to the ocean, she recalls the trauma from a tragic accident that occurred in her past. On her way to school, she gazes out into the ocean and before it could draw her in, she is stopped by another girl who warns her of falling into the ocean.
Hinako continues to school where she meets her friends. After school, she thinks she saw the girl from earlier and rushes after her. Who she meets is a monster who nearly devours Hinako before the girl from this morning shows up. The monster calls the girl a mermaid and accuses her of stealing her prey. The girl claims Hinako is hers and attacks the monster, killing it in the process. The mermaid introduces herself as Shiori and tells Hinako that she has come to devour her. Hinako, heart pounding, emotions on overdrive, thinks that this girl can grant her true desire: death.
Hinako falls under the silent, stoic protagonist. However, she is not cold towards anyone. Since the tragic accident, she tends to imagine everything is underwater and will periodically imagine being distant from others. Think of the feeling like everyone is in another room. I like how the author portrays her coping with her trauma. It's subtle to the point where her friends don't often pick up on it.
Shiori is the energetic, peppy character to counter Hinako strong, silent type. She's full of energy and a conversationalist. To me, her personality reminds me of Marin Kitagawa from My Dress-Up Darling. She has a unique type of energy that draws Hinako in, having her do things she wanted to avoid or apprehensive in doing in the first place.
With all that said, she continues to be focused on her goal of eating Hinako...when the time is right.
I really like the characters and their dynamic in this. Hinako is the silent type but that doesn't mean she always serious or thinks everything is pointless. She shows different ranges of emotions. Shiori is an energetic person but the mangaka doesn't go too far where the reader is annoyed by it. Miko is closer to being annoying, but it's played for laughs and the mangaka knows when to end the joke. She also doesn't act like this every time she appears.
The Miko/Shiori relationship is something you have seen before: the BFF meets the expected romantic interest and tension ensues. However, I feel like the tension comes from a different place: Miko being protective of Hinako due to how fragile Hinako is.
Miko allows Hinako to go at her own pace and not make her feel guilty for declining an invitation or spacing out during a conversation. A scene I enjoyed showing this is when Miko invites Hinako to the summer festival. After a flashback of Hinako thinking about when she went to a previous festival with her family, she briefly considers the offer and declines. You can see Miko wanting to try and push but immediately catches herself and tries to make Hinako feel comfortable with her decision.
This is counter to Shiori who also invites Hinako to the festival after Miko but pressures her into attending. The situation goes wrong when Hinako ends up having a panic attack due to her trauma resurfacing. Shiori is inconsiderate of Hinako's feelings but her intentions are in the right place (somewhat. She still wants to eat her). The juxtaposition between Miko and Shiori is a fascinating thing and I think the mangaka handled it well.
If I have any complaints, it would be that I wished more monsters showed up for Shiori to kill while protecting Hinako. Maybe one that could have infiltrated the school or something. However, that's a really trivial complaint. When the monsters do show up, the mangaka writes the scenes in a way where you think Hinako is about to be killed by Shiori right there. This is something I prefer more.
Final Thoughts
Overall, if you're a fan of stories of supernatural occurrences in a small town, or are a fan of girl's love/yuri series, I'd recommend This Monster Wants to Eat Me.
Verdict: Buy It
This Monster Wants to Eat Me volume 1 from Yen Press is now available at all retailers
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