Not Recommended
Gleipnir, what could we ever do in a world without you? A whole lot actually. For instance, I don’t have to suffer every week watching some kid in a creepy mascot animal outfit running around. Watching Gleinpir was not a pleasant experience and by unpleasant, I mean the type of unpleasant that makes you want to turn the television off. First of all, let’s ask ourselves, just what the hell is Gleipnir? It’s not a real word but a creation made by Sun Takeda. With that out of the way, you may probably want to take a closer glance at the synopsis because it’s full ofbizarreness. Even our main protagonist Shuuichi Kaguya has a strange characteristic – the ability to transform into a monster. And after encountering a mysterious girl named Claire Aoki, his life gets even stranger. As with supernatural mystery stories, I tend to think Gleipnir as the type that tries to be as mysterious as possible. In this base form, we see our main characters trying to find answers but it’s obvious that something darker and sinister lurks behind the scenes. Does Gleipnir takes its opportunity to capitalize on its premise to make this into a pleasant experience? Hell no.
There’s actually nothing wrong with a show being edgy or even use shock value to be appealing. The main problem lies on how Gleipnir executes its ideas. The mystery seems intriguing on paper until you see how thin the storytelling really is. From the first episodes, I got the impression of a ridiculous show without a clear target audience. Let’s face it, this isn’t an easy anime to recommend to anyone. At its core, we do have the relationship between Shuuichi and Claire, two characters that are practically polar opposite of each other. It doesn’t help that Shuuichi is a reserved individual with little social experience. Take away his ability of monster transformation and there’s literally nothing special about him. On the other hand, Claire is a clever girl who managed to blackmail Shuuichi and can be deceptively hard to read. Even though her goal is to find the truth about the monsters and her older sister, it seems no one can really understand her. Despite her age, she doesn’t seem to retain a moral sense for humanity. What I mean is that she actually kills others without hesitation and isn’t afraid to take daring risks. After gaining control of Shuuichi’s body, she literally becomes a killing machine although not mindlessly but with a purpose. Throughout the series, she shows no mercy towards her enemies and it’s shown to be taken lightly. Gleipnir seems to force body horror and fan service at numerous amounts, sometimes perhaps way too much for its own good. Shuuichi and Claire’s relationship is built on trust although with more episodes progresses, they seem to grow more intimate. Don’t expect true love blooming between the pair though. The author didn’t want to pull the trigger because this is obviously not some fairy tale romance.
While Shuuichi and Claire has to carry this show on their backs, there are a few individuals worth mentioning. First, there’s Elena, Claire’s older sister who possesses a twisted obsession towards Shuuichi. Perhaps one of the most mentally unstable characters in the show, she represents the dark side of humanity and is willing to do anything to get what she wants. If you’re familiar with the term ‘yandere’, that’s basically what she is. Then, there’s the mysterious ‘Alien’, a character who is looking for other aliens on their planet. Truth to be told, he is a big question mark as no one knows exactly what he is. Taking the form of a young man, we do know that he will grant a wish to anyone who can help him achieve his own goal. Unfortunately, the show doesn’t devote enough time to explore his own story as we are constantly fed with Shuuichi and Claire’s relationship. Being a show about monsters, this came to me as no surprise although I do wish the show made more time on characterizing Alien. He seems to be much more than just a mystery. For what’s worth, most of the other characters this season are less appealing despite some having important roles. Kaito, Honoka, and Sayaka are a few examples as it’s hard to get invested into their characters. It seems the anime wants to evoke emotions for the viewers but with such limited storytelling, these characters aren’t worth to watch for. Even in the case of our main leads, they don’t strike to me as anything special. Shuuichi and Claire’s relationship is saturated by lazy writing that anyone could easily come up with. That’s also to say, the overall direction of the plot is mediocre at best and couldn’t be salvaged even if it’s twice episode count length. Thank goodness it isn’t.
I sincerely hope you don’t plan to watch Gleipnir with your family or kids around. This isn’t a show suited for the faint of heart. Gleipnir seems to be in love with itself, being that it loves fan service. It uses it in the form of nudity, body horror, and gruesome action scenes. It isn’t ashamed to pull the trigger with violence in ways with heads being tore off or body ligaments being blown to pieces. Claire is also a walking billboard of fan service as she’s half naked nearly half the show. And let’s not forget, she literally climbs into Shuuichi to control his body. That’s like some twisted form of metaphoric union. Of course, let’s not forget the appearances of the monsters themselves. I don’t know if it’s just me but somehow, Shuuichi’s monster form looks unintentionally comical. It looks like a creepy oversized toy that came to life. Here I am sitting wondering what made the author create a monster to look such way. Is how they see stuffed animals from nightmares?
No, I can’t recommend Gleipnir to you and it’s more than just because it’s “edgy”. Even without the shockingly amount of grotesque elements stuffed into this show, it still remains mediocre by the contents of its plot and characters. It’s barely watchable at best and sometimes, I wish I didn’t jump into the manga either. Because for me, watching Gleipnir is kind of like eating junk food and you feel too guilty to know the mistake until it’s too damn late.
