r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Dec 04 '25

Episode Watashi wo Tabetai, Hitodenashi • This Monster Wants to Eat Me - Episode 10 discussion

Watashi wo Tabetai, Hitodenashi, episode 10

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103

u/Syokhan https://myanimelist.net/profile/Syokhan Dec 04 '25 edited Dec 04 '25

Aw, Hinako captured Shiori's heart just by being a sweet little ray of sunshine.

Ah, finally we got Shiori's full backstory. Now that we've peeled back some layers I can stop trying to hide that she's my favorite character.

Her story explains a lot about her, doesn't it? How she doesn't understand humans or connections because she just poofed into existence one day, and never got any family or friends or anyone to bond with. And the only people she came in contact with were either terrified of her or treated her like some sort of a deity, so not on equal footing at all.

Or why communication is such a huge issue for her that led to making some pretty big errors in judgement. She usually means well, but the combination of her not truly understanding humans + never really communicating is a really bad one.

Well at least she did learn from the first time, and only gave Hinako her blood instead of her flesh. But life is sometimes random and cruel, and turns out it had devastating consequences for Hinako all the same. Honestly I found the juxtaposition of Shiori wishing her a happy life and the visuals of the accident so, so sad.

Now it remains to be seen whether she listens to Miko's advice or not. Which is pretty simple really: "oh my god just TALK to each other!" lol.

And special mention to the soundtrack again, which was beautiful.

64

u/mekerpan Dec 04 '25

But Miko has been talking with humans for many centuries, she needs to cut Shiori a bit of slack. ;-)

Truly a great episode this week.

41

u/Syokhan https://myanimelist.net/profile/Syokhan Dec 04 '25

Well if Shiori wants one day to be a yokai who has talked with humans for many centuries, she gotta start somewhere! May as well be with, like, the only person she cares about, and before she vanishes from the world. Chop chop, get to it.

Glad you liked the episode!

11

u/mekerpan Dec 04 '25

So many great shows this season -- not sure why one hears complaints about its "weakness". This show is not at the very top of my personal list -- yet it is one that I do (in fact) find "fully satisfactory" (and "love").

One wonders, at this point, whether Shiori will want to continue to exist if she loses Hinako?

11

u/Syokhan https://myanimelist.net/profile/Syokhan Dec 04 '25

not sure why one hears complaints about its "weakness"

At this point I've seen this so much over the years that I just glaze over these comments now. Yes yes, every season is a weak season, moving on.

One wonders, at this point, whether Shiori will want to continue to exist if she loses Hinako?

That would hurt a hell of a whole lot, that's for sure. I think Miko could help her navigate through her grief because she's lived the same kind of thing, but that's if Shiori would be willing to stick around even with Hinako gone.

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u/AskovTheOne https://myanimelist.net/profile/askovtheone Dec 05 '25

I cant see her staying around, With the only human that ever matter to Shiori gone, Staying in human world would be meaningless and painful

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u/HornedTurtle1212 Dec 06 '25

Unless she went on some.kind of rampage hoping someone would put her out of her misery.

1

u/SirRHellsing Dec 16 '25

doesn't seem like the type to me. I feel like she would be really sad but definitely not "die long with hinako" levels of depression

1

u/SirRHellsing Dec 16 '25

if Hinako actually wanted to live by the end of the series, I'm pretty sure giving her abit of flesh will make her not die. So vanishing from this world is entirely her choice tbh

42

u/ClemFire Dec 04 '25

Shiori is my favorite too, so I was eagerly waiting for this episode and it more than delivered. I was pretty much a mess through her backstory with little Hinako.

The reveal that Shiori loves Hinako so much because of something seemingly mundane that Hinako did for her so many years ago is so beautiful to me.

39

u/Syokhan https://myanimelist.net/profile/Syokhan Dec 04 '25

The reveal that Shiori loves Hinako so much because of something seemingly mundane that Hinako did for her so many years ago is so beautiful to me.

Really drives home how starved for affection she was that this minuscule amount of kindness meant so much to her.

18

u/ClemFire Dec 04 '25

It's so sad to think that Shiori never even got a chance to share a meal with someone until Hinako

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u/toadfan64 Dec 07 '25

I mean she did kinda share a meal with that one girl in the past, lol.

4

u/rainbowrobin Dec 07 '25

What do you mean, Shiori had lots of people over for dinner--

29

u/SeijunMichi Dec 04 '25

Now it remains to be seen whether she listens to Miko's advice or not. Which is pretty simple really: "oh my god just TALK to each other!" lol.

Miko possesses something rarely found in fiction: Common Sense.

She truly is a divine being.

10

u/HornedTurtle1212 Dec 06 '25

Sounds like it took a monk and a few hundred years to pound that common sense into her, so it might just take some time for the other characters.

16

u/jabberwockxeno Dec 06 '25

For you and /u/ClemFire and /u/djthomp, I have also been eagerly awaiting for us to get to this part of the series, since it likewise shows what makes Shiori my favorite character and IMO the most interesting in the series.

Here's my own analysis of some of the themes you both already touched on:

There's been hints before this and episode 9 that Shiori has more going on then the airheaded, socially clueless cannibalistic gourmet persona, such as her behind the back remark when Hinako thought Yokai don't get lonely, or her talk with Miko at the camp where she says she's jealous of Miko's relationship with Hinako, but Episode 9 and 10 here really shines a light on the depths of her character, to the point where even as a manga reader it's making me ponder different ways to interpret her I hadn't considered before.

Shiori likes to call herself/Yokai as self centered, and there's some truth to calling her selfish, both in what we've seen so far and what's to come (for example, even in EP9 where she concedes she helped Hinako and values her as something other then as food, she says she's doing it for "my own personal sake"), but I think that's reductive, and the truth is one of (or more likely, a bit of both) two more complex realities:

First, is that Shiori isn't really "selfish", because she's not human and doesn't really map onto normal concepts and the axes of kind vs malicious or selfish vs selfless: Her motives and actions come from a totally different set of concepts that don't cleanly align with human ones, or at least she doesn't understand those human concepts and can't recognize how her own behavior fits into those categories: Even when she's seemingly at her most kind there's an air of possessiveness or self interest or even violence, and even when she's being self centered or making threats, it comes off as polite or considerate... or she'll do something totally alien from any perspective. I'm not sure I've ever seen a not-human character really feel not human as well as Shiori does. And then these episodes, we see in her own words how she finds humans, social interaction, having bonds with others etc so utterly confusing, both as something that frustrates her as being dumb but also something she wishes she could understand and participate in.

Conversely, though, there's also moments and statements which imply does seem to understand some of these human concepts and emotions, but puts up a facade and lies to mask how much she knows and what her motives are, to hide her own emotional vulnerability and to avoid getting hurt or things not going her way: She clearly understands what being selfish is enough to label herself and other Yokai as being that, and also knows that loneliness as something painful, given her reaction to what Hinako said. Here we also find out she once did live with a human, but it didn't work out, and she clearly has regrets over this... So it's easy to buy that her ignorance is at least in part a front and she's too scared of repeating her mistakes to be emotionally honest with others now. She seems to lie, be indirect, or acts oblivious (which at least some of the time, is clearly an act, such as claiming she and Hinako are busy so her scars won't be seen in the bath) almost pathologically, even when there's no stakes in trivial situations.

As I've re-read the manga and now watching the anime, it's tough for me to pin exactly what her deal is, but I think it's a mix of both of these things: She's clearly not lying when she's said connections with other beings and how humans think "make so little sense to me" and all the other similar lines, and in the same line she admits that Yokai get lonley behind Hinako's back, she still says she'll "never understand" humans. It may seem odd that she both doesn't understand normal human concepts, yet also is so adept at hiding how she feels and uses those emotions to mask her feelings, and yet I think both are true at once here. Maybe it's that she understands being self centered, but not being selfless and can't recognize her own motives and actions as being compassionate, especially when even things we'd call acts of kindness are also done to make ourselves feel better too.

In any case, it allows for so many interesting, varied readings on her character and actions: When she said "No way" to Hinako asking if she and her could be friends like she is with Miko, why did she actually say no? Because she doesn't care about Hinako emotionally and wants her alive for some other reason? Because she felt saying no was needed to not undermine the lie of her wanting to eat Hinako? Because Shirori simply doesn't understand what being a friend is enough to say yes even if she might want it? Or maybe because she DOESN'T understand what being a friend "like Miko" would mean, and that level of emotional honesty would require revealing the truth and/or opening herself up to be hurt again like with the other girl?

Miko's reveal as a Yokai was what hooked me, but all this insight into Shiori and her interpersonal struggles was what made it an all time favorite piece of media. Also, while I don't (or didn't) value representation in media much, and TBH think even admitting this is kinda cringe, as someone on the autism spectrum, I found it all painfully relatable, and lines like "Your relationship with humans...your connections to this world...it all makes so little sense to me...There is no one who understands me, or thinks the way I do...I am incapable of forming connections with others", to hit hard: The themes of not having the same mindset as others as not being able to truly communicate what you're thinking; Not being sure if you find normal human interactions and relationships beneath you, or if you wish you could easily do it all, to questioning if you DO understand it but are in denial to avoid rejection; and the blurry line between being honest or kind vs manipulative or selfish, and being unsure how much of either you're doing or are subject to in your own relationships etc are all totally resonant.

I will say though that unlike Clemfire, I think the execution of some of this episode was a bit questionable: Not the writing, obviously, but some of the production choices with visuals and audio. I clarify on that further in my reply in the source material corner, but obviously be careful of spoilers!

4

u/ClemFire Dec 06 '25

Just have to say wow this is such a detailed analysis of Shiori's character and the best I've ever seen. Your passion for her clearly comes across.

3

u/ZapsZzz https://myanimelist.net/profile/ZapszzZ Dec 06 '25

I have an academic/selfish curiosity - what other human inhuman characters have you read/seen (at least in anime) and how would you analyse them in comparison to Shiori, at least the part about the orange and purple values, human/social relationship etc. 

E.g. Clevatess, Nagato Yuki [Haruhi late arc 1 spoiler]/ Asakura Ryouko

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u/yatterer Dec 05 '25

What Shiori fundamentally doesn't understand is that it's impossible to just care about one person in isolation. She only wants to care about Hinako, but as soon as you care for one person, you have to start caring for all of the people they share connections with. That's why she didn't understand why her "Hinako dake ni..." prayer wouldn't have the intended end result, and I suspect part of why her previous relationship went south, beyond just resentment over immortality - on that case, it would have been the girl's bond with herself that she abandoned.

So long as she keeps herself at arm's length for fear of everything going as badly as it did last time, she can't understand the bonds between people that made it go so badly. She needs to live close to humans to realize that caring for Hinako means also caring for all the people who care for Hinako, and who Hinako cares about - just like Miko, whose first small tentative bond with the riceball girl slowly blossomed into caring for all of humanity as a whole over hundreds of years. And honestly, Miko had even further to go than Shiori in a lot of ways; Shiori was amoral and fundamentally didn't understand the sacrificed children as living, thinking beings at all, but Miko was downright malevolent prior to being captured by the monk. She might be slowly starting to take the first steps again, given that she reached out to Miko this episode because she recognizes how deeply Miko treasures Hinako as well.

Miko's kind of in the Samwise Gamgee role here. She can't be the one to actually heal Hinako, but without her carrying the person (or non-person) who can, their journey would be over before it began.

3

u/HornedTurtle1212 Dec 06 '25

The whole time she was telling Miko the story I kept thinking, you should be telling this to Hinako.