Gleipnir Episode 1 [First Impressions]

Ahh, the old hot guy in a vending machine trope… yes, yes, a tale as old as time. So this is an ecchi battle royale where people turn into monsters, eh?

For a show with that genre which, let’s be real, is usually mediocre at best, this was a pretty great first episode. Not too, uh, enticed by the rapey vibes so hopefully that kind of goes away, but I don’t mind him being a bit of a perv. If I survived Highschool DxD I can get through pervy, to an extent. It seems like it’s going to be extremely dark and gritty, which from the costume was not my first takeaway? I don’t know if that’s just his though or if they’re all like that. The girl at the end only went half transformation so it’s possible she also turns into a mascot character.

So Shuichi just randomly started transforming and has no idea why. Claire knows about these monsters, but wants to know more so. She’s tried telling people but no one ever believes her so she was going to kill herself, and now here we are. Shuichi has a character type that I normally don’t like. The wimpy, I just want to be normal thing that usually prevents him from acting in important moments. But thankfully, he also seems like he dives in anyway and the wimpiness goes away fast. I really hope that’s the case. He seems to get dog senses, smelling shit from far away and animalistic instincts, so maybe that’ll help override his teenage boy angst. He did end up burying the tanuki! My boy! I gotta say, the fact that when he transforms he can barely see and he trips over his own feet is pretty disappointing but I’m sure he’ll improve if he wants to survive.

Claire, on the other hand… how smug can you be?! Every other shot of her face had the most smug, confident smile I’ve ever seen! She seems trashy af, but I don’t even care. She’ll probably be dragging Shuichi into this whole thing, and she looks like she knows how to fight based on the stance she took, so I’m sure she’ll be the driving force behind Shuichi’s growth.

It’s so odd to hear that going to college is so abnormal. I feel like what I know of Japan, admittedly from anime, it’s usually the goal to go? I know that since middle school I was basically indoctrinated to go. It didn’t really feel like a choice after it was just assumed I would for 6+ years.

Also, Mifune (Nana), the short girl in his class has already gotten a first glimpse. I wonder if it’ll be that situation where she has a crush on him/cares about him and Claire will start pulling him away from normal life and she ends up finding out the secret and tells Shuichi to stay but he’s all like, ‘nah, I don’t want to put you in danger and Claire can help me more’ thing. Well, we’ll see.

I like when the animation looks very hand drawn. Kind of messy, can be all over the place, but if it’s kept consistently good then I think the style works great. The background music was good, especially that jazz flare at the end when she was undressing in her apartment. I am hopeful that this will keep a comedic aspect to it.

The detransformation sequence is something to behold. What an awful mess to catch halfway through. I think that’s part of the charm though. This show seems ultra-realistic, aided by the art style, and very down to earth. I’m honestly excited to see where it goes.

Possibility of Blogging: Very High