This Monster Wants to Eat Me

Hinako lives alone in a small seaside town, quiet and careful after losing her family years earlier. Her days are small and steady until a strange rescue upends the calm: a mermaid named Shiori appears and drives off a monstrous threat, then tells Hinako that she plans to eat her someday, just not right away. Shiori offers protection and company in the interim, and Hinako feels a fragile hope that this unusual bond might finally give her the ending she has wanted for so long. The series watches how safety, desire, and mortality tangle around these two women without resolving into simple answers.

This 2025 animated drama was created by Mitsutaka Hirota and Sai Naekawa, and features voice work from Reina Ueda, Yui Ishikawa, and Fairouz Ai. It premiered as a television series, presenting intimate animation and a restrained visual style.

Early viewers rate the show highly, with an average of 8.708 out of 10 from 12 votes, noting its patient tone and emotional risk-taking. The series focuses on grief, companionship, power dynamics, and how people imagine endings for themselves, often refusing tidy moral judgments in favor of ambiguity and feeling.

The image of a gentle but ominous mermaid living by the shore has generated conversation in anime communities, inspiring fan art and lengthy threads about the relationship at its center. Its quiet seaside atmosphere and unsettling premise encourage viewers to talk about consent, care, and the ethics of protection, making it a frequent topic among niche online circles.

As of its initial run there are no widely reported major awards or prominent nominations tied to the series. Its strong fan response and distinctive tone could attract critical attention later, but for now recognition remains more grassroots than institutional.