This Monster Wants To Eat Me has us sitting on the edge of our seats for Ep. 5 “The Beast of Affection”. All over the question of whether Miko Yashiro truly has Hinako’s best interests in mind, or if she too is merely a yokai predator in disguise?

This Monster Wants To Eat Me Ep. 5 “The Beast of Affection”: Details in Brief

This Monster Wants To Eat Me NA key art
How many predators are in this anime, I wonder?

This Monster Wants To Eat Me Ep. 5 “The Beast of Affection” is the fifth episode (you can read my review of Ep. 1 (and others), Ep. 2-3, and Ep. 4 here) of this supernatural dark urban fantasy and horror yuri anime series. Said anime is the anime adaptation of the manga of the same name by Sai Naekawa.

Studio Lings (Tachibanakan to Lie Angle, Yuri is My Job!) is the animation studio behind this anime. Naoyuki Kuzuya is the chief director of the anime, with Yūsuke Suzuki as the director, Mitsutaka Hirota as the writer, and Keiji Inai as the composer.

The opening theme song for This Monster Wants To Eat Me is “nie” (“贄-nie-“; ‘Sacrifice’) by Yoshino. Meanwhile, “Lily” (リリィ, Rirī) by Reina Ueda is the ending theme song.

Synopsis

Is the monster really a monster here, or something more?

Alas, This Monster Wants To Eat Me is an ongoing anime. In fact, Ep. 5 only made its debut on October 30, 2025 exclusively on Crunchyroll. So for all those who haven’t seen this anime yet, here’s the synopsis for Ep. 5 directly from Crunchyroll below:

“Miko reveals the truth behind her friendship with Hinako.”

This Monster Wants To Eat Me Ep. 5 “The Beast of Affection”: The Good

This Monster Wants To Eat Me Ep. 5 "The Beast of Affection" screenshot 1
Not looking good for Miko here.

The main reason why This Monster Wants To Eat Me Ep. 5 “The Beast of Affection” is such a compelling episode is, once again, Miko Yashiro (voiced by Fairouz Ai (JP)). The revelations around her being a yokai makes her the focal point of this entire episode, and the previous. It’s also the focal point of all the drama and conspiracy in this episode around Miko’s deceiving of her best friend Hinako (voiced by Reina Ueda (JP)) about her true nature. That combined with the story revealing Miko’s true past in a flashback sequence results in this episode being a superb case of drama and mystery.

All capped by the shocking scene at the end of this episode of Miko apparently about to devour Hinako in spite of all her characterization indicating otherwise. Is this actually the case? Or is the scene meant to be a red herring to obfuscate Miko’s true intentions? In any case, we will have to wait for the next episode to find out. If only to relieve the tension of the cliffhanger at the end of the episode.

Of course, all this drama and conspiracy is helped by the animation style employed by the animation team at Studio Lings. Indeed, there is a noticeable attention to fluid animations during the fight scene between Miko’s monstrous kitsune form and Shiori (voiced by Yui Ishikawa (JP)). That fluid animation is indicative of additional frames drawn by that animation team for the scene, resulting in movements that feel more fluid and dynamic. That same additional fluidity occurs during the more horrific scene of Miko’s enormous mouth apparently about to snap shut on Hinako, so you can easily tell where their priorities are.

This Monster Wants To Eat Me Ep. 5 “The Beast of Affection”: The Bad

This Monster Wants To Eat Me Ep. 5 "The Beast of Affection" screenshot 2
Not looking good for Hinako either.

Unfortunately, the same tension that This Monster Wants To Eat Me Ep. 5 “The Beast of Affection” that pulls taut at the end with the cliffhanger is both brilliant and intensely frustrating. That cliffhanger basically pauses the story right at the climaxes of each part of that story, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats for a week. It’s a tactic meant to keep audiences watching for the next episode, but it can be quite annoying for those same audiences.

Anime Recommendations

Alas, the action between Miko and Shiori was quite brief. If you wish for more action and violence in anime, then you might enjoy Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Kaiju No. 8, DDDD, DAN DA DAN, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II, Zenshu, Blue Box, Solo Leveling, Black Butler, Nyaight of the Living Cat, and May I Ask for One Final Thing?. However, if you wish for more relaxing anime to cool down, then you might want to check out Senpai is an Otokonoko, Apocalypse Hotel, Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf, The Ancient Magus’ Bride, and/or My Dress-Up Darling.

What did you think of this week’s episode of This Monster Wants To Eat Me? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.

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