This Monster Wants to Eat Me

Episode 13

Let's talk a bit more about Miko. While I've already advocated for the throuple solution to everyone's problems, it's worth praising how she is handled within the confines of the text. Outside of her arc in the middle of the season, she doesn't lead the big dramatic swings. She plays second or third fiddle to whatever Hinako and Shiori have going on at the moment. Nevertheless, Miko treasures and leans into her tertiary role as much as she can. Maybe some of that stems from jealousy or an ambition to usurp the position as Hinako's number one bae, but I think it's more about Miko's comfort in the “team mom” role.

This could be played for comedy—let's all point and laugh at Miko's futile desperation—but This Monster Wants to Eat Me wisely understands how important her actions are. The first half of this episode is a great example. Their trio needs some denouement, and Miko jumps on the opportunity for a quick getaway. While the narrative takes a few pot shots at her motivations, it is, for the most part, cognizant and appreciative of her thoughtfulness. Shiori even points out that she is surprised Miko could join them there in the first place, calling Miko a “charmer” when she handwaves the yokai loophole that allowed her to do so. That might be the nicest thing Shiori has ever said about her!

As a whole, the gang's hot springs visit is a fluffy treat filled with cute character moments and interactions. Miko loves old-fashioned steam locomotives. Shiori tries to buy booze while posing as a teenager. Hinako burns her tongue on a croquette. They are acting and goofing around like normal high schoolers. “Acting,” however, is the key word there. It's not like they're putting up a front; they enjoy themselves on this mini-vacation. But none of them are normal high schoolers. Shiori is a (wo)maneater mermaid. Miko is a guardian fox spirit. Hinako is a dead woman walking. Hinako's promise to continue living, at least for the time being, allows her to fleetingly forget how painful everything else is for her. Sometimes, that's all any of us have to look forward to, and that, I believe, is a vital part of human existence. We can't exorcise pain completely, but we can construct routines and experiences that minimize it.

Miko knows this, and given the terms of Shiori and Hinako's new pact, she also knows that they need plenty of open and honest communication, despite their mutual reluctance to do so. In their room at the inn, Miko unleashes her master plan as the group mom, whining about ice cream so she can force the two of them to leave together. Her sly grin at Shiori's ticked off countenance, followed by her genuine concern for the two of them, is everything I love about Miko.

Alone with Shiori, Hinako does open up. She realizes that pretending to have fun is the first step towards genuinely having fun. True happiness, unfortunately, is a “fake it until you make it” type of situation, if I may speak from experience. Miko, surely, knew this as well. She did not expect Hinako to be fixed with one free vacation day, but she knew it could function as an important increment. Shiori, too, recognizes that she and Hinako are in this for the long haul. They can't magically fast forward to the day when she fully heals Hinako's heart, nor would she want to, given what she must do when that moment arrives. Instead, Shiori chooses to luxuriate in days like this one—fleeting moments when she can pull Hinako away from her fascination with death and show her something more beautiful.

Shiori, too, has changed. The flashback to their first meeting reminds us of the scallop shell that she tried to return to Hinako before accepting the young girl's gift as her own hair ornament. This time, Shiori stands her ground and gives Hinako those hairpins. She can't let her partner dictate everything, because if she had, Hinako would no longer exist. Shiori has learned that a properly reciprocal relationship requires both partners to be a little selfish. Absolute deference is a dead end. The joy of spending time with another person is, in the most basic sense, the joy of being with someone who is not you. Too much time alone in one's own head is generally bad for one's mental health, and both Hinako and Shiori are prime examples of why that is.

Lest it leave us on too healthy a note, This Monster Wants to Eat Me wraps up the season with a reminder that love and pain walk hand in hand. Shiori resents Hinako. She will have to devour the woman she loves one day. She will bite into her skin, grind her bones between her molars, swallow her intestines, feel her warm and wretched blood stick to the back of her throat, and she will do all this as she retches and cries the whole time. That is the price she has to pay for the privilege of caressing her lover's hair in the present. Hinako forced her to choose this. Hinako wants this. It's the only kind of intimacy she can stomach, broken and scarred as she already is. For her, becoming one with Shiori in this manner, and in a way that provides sustenance for her, is the best outcome she can imagine for herself. This, too, is her revenge for the life Shiori forced upon her. She will make Shiori choke on her affection. She will ensure that this ageless monster shall never forget her taste.

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

Sylvia is on Bluesky for all of your posting needs. She recommends a balanced diet. You can also catch her chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.