Gleipnir

Authors Note: Spoilers, also A Rascale Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpia soft spoiler.

So, when one watches enough anime there comes a time where they will need a pallet cleanser. Now for me these cleansers are those echhi trash shows that come by from time to time. Some of these that come to mind are like Kiss x Siss, Aria the Scarlet Ammo, or maybe a Mayo Chiki! A show that is interesting, usually kinda fun, but straight shit. A show filled with fan services, overtly sexual context and nothing but action. So when I heard of this Spring 2020 drop, Gleipnir I thought, this is it. This is the new cleanser. Boy how fucking wrong I was about that.

Now don’t get me wrong, this show is echhi trash to a T. I mean I don’t think I seen Clair in clothes and I watched 13 episodes. But that’s what’s wrong with this show. It was advertised as a horny on main and it kept it’s word but part of me wished it didn’t. Because as I closed out episode 13 the main thing I wanted Gleipnir to have was simple, self respect.

What really surprised me about this show wasn’t really how ‘good’ it was, but how much fun it was to watch. The sound is meh, characters interesting enough given their powers and the animation was fine. Pine Jam the studio that did the show made it crisp but nothing really jumping out from the screen. The fight scene were for the most part boring and most of the chills came at the end as Clair brings down the morally correct Shuuichi.

So with leading up this review with just a shit ton of it was ‘ok’ I am going to try to hash out what really stood out about this series, and what lead me to not only watch it, but to get caught up on the manga as well. So without further ado, let’s try to hammer this out.

The story follows super nerd Kagaya, Shuuichi. A young man set for college greatness only to turn it all down because something changed in him. Not knowing how or why, Shuuichi had gained a power to turn into a monster. Now what immediately stood out to me was how stupid his monster form is. He is Zeke the Wonder Dog with a gun and on face it was the most asinine ability that I could even conceive. In a nut shell he becomes a dog mascot costume and gains super strength and a heightened sense of smell. Now I will admit, even though he looks dumb and I thought the overall idea was rather dumb, this part did grow on me. And as he and Clair figure out what his abilities are like it becomes a rather complex plot point I was not expecting.

Right away the thing that stood out to me was Clair, the yandere painted main heroine that Shuuichi saves from a suicide attempt. This of course back fires leading to Clair throwing him off a building forcing him to turn into his beastly form to survive. It is at this moment he breaks all of Gigguk’s guide of how to survive a yandere and instead puts his dick in crazy, kinda. In a nut shell Clair blackmails him, stating that her sister is also a monster, and if Shuuichi wants to keep his ability to change on the down low, he has to help her. Putting up little of a fight he agrees and the dynamic duo of super smart nerd and hot lower classmen with a morbid sense of morals begins.

Right away the duo decide to goes to Clair’s place to start planning, once there she immediately undresses, I have no idea why, she never has clothes on. But shortly after they are confronted by someone on her balcony, a mysterious girl who is there to try to steal the coin Clair’s sister gave her. This turns into a fight in which Shuuichi transforms, holding the mysterious girl while Clair takes off her hood and mask. Sadly however it turns out the random woman is also a monster and a fight enthuses ending in Clair pepper spraying her and Shuuichi being too chicken shit to capitalize, grabs Clair and runs.

Now this comes to a boil at a shipping yard in which Clair makes it blunt that whoever that woman was, she was going to try to kill them. It was around this time Clair noticed something particular about Shuuichi’s monster form, that a zipper existed on his back. Opening it she discovers that he is empty, and for some reason thinks getting in him would be a five head idea, so she gives it a shot. Que up sexual innuendo scene, then boom she hijacks his body just in time for crazy monster girl to find them. Now in control of this power Clair makes quick work of her as Shuuichi gives her full control, not stopping her as she lifts the gun killing the woman. This would be the first of many deaths Clair will orchestra throughout the series and in doing so sets Shuuichi down a dark path.

Not getting much out of the now dead girl they decide their next best option is to use Shuuichi’s nose to find any trace of Calir’s sister, Erena. But as luck has it after a long stake out he gets a whiff of her, only to discover that it wasn’t someone who had contact with her, but Erena herself. Getting into his suit they head out to catch her at the exit of the station, the plan being to wound her leg and drag her off to talk to her. But as the time near Shuuichi, being able to feel Clair’s emotion, clearly can tell she has every intention of killing her and stops her last second jerking the gun up. This is where the show scares the fuck out of me because Clair is indeed not the Yandere, it’s Erena. Flexing her power she pounces but stops when she realizes who it is, Shuuichi. Getting all fluster she offers to walk with him somewhere else so he can murder her without inconveniencing other people. It is at this point you realize that Shuuichi’s past isn’t what it seems to be and he and Erena definitely have some history. Apologizing and repeatedly saying that she understands why he wants to kill her since she turned him into a monster both Clair and Shuuichi are taken back. All the way to the point Clair makes a noise, sending her sister in a blinding rage ripping off Shuuichi’s head to see who is inside.

It is the moment you kinda figure out that Erena has a few screws missing, and the pure jealously of someone being inside of Shuuichi leads her to almost killing him. Seeing Clair inside however she talks to her for a moment, stating her parents where bad people, that is why they died. And that both her and Shuuichi need to stop following her, then simply walks away. Clair, feeling a cluster of emotions and seeing Shuuichi’s beast head still lifeless decides it’s time to stay true to their pack, if one dies, they both die, but is stopped by the soft groans of Shuuichi. After taking him to the alien, the guy who started this whole ordeal, he was able to heal him and reattach his head, saving the main nerd from death from crazy ex.

Around this time pieces start falling together. These beast are not rare and they are all fighting for these coins that scattered when a UFO crashed near by. In exchange for the coins the alien will grant you a wish and after 100, you will get the greatest wish. Doubling down on their vows to each other Clair and Shuuchi decide to stay together, and fight this fight as one in the forest. The series kinda slows down at this point story wise, but it doesn’t make it any less fun to watch. Action, ass, Clair’s grin, sudo sex scenes. There is a lot going on to get you towards the end of them confronting Erena again. However this is where the story for me becomes a rather bummer. You find out that Erena wipe the memories of both Shuuchi and Clair to ‘protect them’ and as they fight to get them back there is a moment that Erena takes them in a fight, wiping them once again. And if you have read literally anything I have ever read, I FUCKING hate groundhog dayings. Lose your memory or repeat a day once? Cool, twice? You are trying my patients, six times? You are one of the best shows I have ever seen.

Fucking Bunny Girl Senpia.

Like I said, I went into this show thinking it will be straight trash. A Big Order of sorts (not going to lie that show dropped the ball BAD) but what I ended up finding was a rather interesting world of death, relationships, confusion, and gauntlet. Gleipnir is horny, and the manga doesn’t get any better. But it is fun, attention grabbing, page turning. It leaves you wondering what the hell is actually going on here? There are times I even think that Shuuchi is the bad guy, like Erena wiped his memories cause HE became too strong. Honestly I have no idea if that is true or not but the way the story plays out, it could go that way.

I think really that was the one thing that really took me back about this show. Where I thought it was going, it didn’t. What I thought it would be, it wasn’t. This show took me for a ride I wasn’t expecting to go on and that alone really shocked me. The world is complex and dark, the story matches, the characters, well could use some work, but where still fine enough honestly I didn’t care. I went to clear my pallet with some nice hot garbage and found myself having a hell of a time.

In short watch Gleipnir, alone, preferably. Unless you are okay with your parents, partners, friends, or animals see you being horney on main. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not going to set this in the hall of fame, it is no where close, but it deserves attention and I will leave it at that. 6.8/10

Thanks for the read!