“WTF did I just watch!?” and “I can’t stop looking at this” are two things you often associate with anime or just Japan in general. Japan has this uncanny ability to take the weirdest of concepts and just either make them weirder or highly entertaining. Gleipnir is a show that definitely falls into one of those categories… but which one?
Let’s Go!
First Episode Synopsis
One day, a boy named Shuuichi Kagaya stumbled upon a vending machine that accepts this odd-looking coin with a giant star on it. He inserts it but never gets the item he wants. Shuuichi goes to walk away when… kerplunk! Some random bishonen pops out which oddly gives me an idea for a Vend-A-Boys-Love series. Suddenly, Shuuichi has the ability to transform into a monster… except his form looks like a sports team mascot.
He notices a fire way off in the distance… like WAY off in the mountains and mentions “Wow, that’s so close!”
Okay.
He goes to check it out. After climbing down from where he is, traversing the entire size of the town he lives in and hiking half-way up a mountain, the fire just so happens to not grow in size. In fact, someone is in there and he can smell them due to his monster-like powers. He transforms and rescues said girl who is a mix between 02 from Darling in the FranXX and Yuno Gasai from Mirai Nikki. She wants to know the meaning behind him transforming into a monster.
As she has him inside her home, they are attacked by another girl who can also transform and, thus, our first episode comes to an end.
Worth Watching?
YES – As odd and plot device-heavy as some of these story points are, I couldn’t stop watching this show! I plowed through episodes two and three and the show doesn’t get any less weird. In fact, Kurea Aoki, our Tsun-yan-dere, finds out that there’s a zipper on the back of Shuuichi when he’s transformed that leads to his hollow insides. If you know Japan and their inability to shy away from sexual innuendo, then I’m pretty sure you can guess what happens next.
The fight scene in episode two is worth the price of admission alone as it was done really well. The partnership between Shuuichi and Kurea forms pretty quickly and their personalities adjust rather accordingly which is nice to see because watching an entire cours of Kurea just being a psychotic bitch to Shuuichi would have been rather dull. Now we just get to see her be a psychotic bitch to everyone else!
I’m not sure what the main plot is going to end up being but there are a few directions that it could go. Right now, I’m guessing it’s about the bishonen looking for his coins while something else that happens in episode three could end up taking the spotlight or, at the very least, end up as an important sub-plot. Most likely the latter versus the former.
In any event, this show is definitely out there but it is in a good way. Check it out but I feel this might be a love it or hate it kind of show; however, I’m loving it and I know a few people who are also enjoying it as well which is why I’m leaning towards YES rather than MAYBE. It just has enough good things going for it to outweigh some of the obvious flaws.
