A scary but also depressing manga about a girl and the monster who wants to eat her yummy flesh.

I already had this one on my radar for a while, but when I heard that there was going to be an anime adaptation in 2025 I moved this one up my list. And so I ended up reading this strange/depressing read in Spooktober. I am happy I did though, because despite it being depressing, it was also a good read. And while I am still a bit out of anime (after years of watching tons these days I am mostly going for manga/manwha) I hope that by the time this anime airs I am back into it again.

In this one we meet a girl named Hinako. She used to be very happy. Very bright. But these days the light has gone out in her. Her family died in an accident (and we slowly learn more and more about the accident as the story continues) and she is just done with it all. She goes through the motions of daily life, if she can get herself to do it, but she also stares forlornly into the sea, hoping the water takes her. During one of those moments she is saved by a girl who wears the same uniform as her, but she has never seen her before. The girl tells her that she wants to eat Hinako, that she is a mermaid. I am definitely happy that Shiori doesn’t look scary. Well, until later, haha. It just makes the gap much more fun. From cute to murderous.

We see that Shiori isn’t the only one hungry for Hinako’s meat, and we see that Hinako doesn’t even cares if she is eaten or not which just broke my heart. But Shiori is definitely not having it. Hinako is her meal, and that is final. And we see that Shiori is more than eager to protect her meal, often leading to much blood everywhere. We learn that Shiori first wants to fatten Hinako up. Mostly with happy feelings and fun experiences, but I wish her luck with that given that Hinako has just given up on things and things are often just too much for her or remind her too much of her family.

Then there is the best friend Miko, who is full of energy and tries to help out Hinako. I really liked Miko. Sometimes over-energized characters can be a bit much, but Miko was just too cute.

I wasn’t too happy at one point in the story. Hinako doesn’t want to go to the festival when Miko gently asks if she wants to try it this year, but when Shiori gets to her home she says yes. I would have been much happier if Shiori and Hinako had gone to Miko’s home to bring her along. Now I was just, wtf Hinako. You dump your bestie who has been there for you all this time for a new girl who wants to eat you? I know you are desperate, but think of the pain you are causing to your bestie here.

I am curious to see how things will go next and how long Shiori will take before eating Hinako, or if maybe she just doesn’t do it in the end. But for now I will just wait for the series to be finished/wait for the anime and see how that goes. I would recommend this one, but again, be warned it is quite depressing at times.