Gleipnir

Update: Aight so I wrote this after ep3 came out, but now that ep 4 is out I'm entirely convinced this show is completely self aware of it's own tropes and is even trying to take advantage of it. Not by deconstructing what's bad or funny about them, but by actually justifying them. The tropes were just a hook so at first they may have seemed shallow, but the more episodes come out the more the tropes pay off in very clever and most of the time realistic ways for the characters. This includes the fanservice. I think the current low rating is probably gonna ... go up by a lot by the time the show is over.

This review is gonna be a little longer than I'd typically write because I'm also going to be countering some points already made by other reviews. Because of this there are some spoilers of the first couple episodes, but I don't think they're enough to take away from the experience. Tbh, this show is one of the most objectively high quality of this season, and I'd hate to see it get a lower rating than it deserves just because people like to think edgy=bad. This the wrong timeline if Darwin's game has the same rating or higher.

Story

For the sake of simplicity I'll separate story and characters by the who vs what's happening. The story, or the what, is a seinen death game setup. Death games have been done time and time again, so what makes Gleipnir different? Nothing except for the fact that it doesn't want to waste your time explaining what's obvious. For instance, the rules the gantz ball explains, the know-it-all yandare in Mirai Nikki and Darwin's Game that won't shut up, or the crazed billionaire/game-dev and his powerpoint presentation on a cargo plane in Kablooey!!!! Those shows are interesting, sure, but don't you ever get a little tired of characters explaining what literally just happened, or what was obvious from the first scene? In Gleipnir, we see the main character actively trying to hide his ability to shapeshift into a murderous furry suit from his high school friends. We also see him fight another shapeshifting monster (with the same weird plus symbol on her eye) as she tries to steal a coin from him. Both of these happen in the first episode, and the most anybody does to explain it in words is a hot blonde guy that spawns out of a weird vending machine (the character turns around and the camera looks away the moment he does this) asking you to find more star coins in exchange for some "power". That's it, and that's all it needs to be at the start to stay interesting. If I started questioning my life choices because a dude that came out of a vending machine and told me to find some more coins, I wouldn't be deep, I'd be schizophrenic. Wouldn't you be way more interested in how he came out of a vending machine, or how to stop magically turning into a creepy furry suit? I would be. And I get to be because that's what the show focuses on. Tell the story through the character's emotions, show the story through the character's actions. Not every anime's story has to follow that exact philosophy like a rule, but it's ideal for a death game not to get too overly ambitious in world building over the characters themselves. Although technically speaking, the vending machine guy and incredibly weird and disturbing magical power he bestows on people count as a mystery of world building. A mystery that I'm all in for watching the characters find out cause I want to know wtf that guy is about as much as they do. It'd be boring if somebody just explained it in the first episode. If not for the smooth pacing and wacky mysteries, it would be a 5-6 at most. But this story isn't bad, and it isn't great. It's a good 7/10

Characters

Aight so first you got your vending machine blonde guy. Not sure if I can associate him with that "unknown battle/death god that likes fucking with humanity" trope because I legitimately have no clue wtf this guy is. Done. That's all you need to know for now. That's all the show tells you. I'm intrigued, but the main character's body and the people trying to kill him are more pressing matters than the audiences curiosity (for now). Second, we got the "weak-minded" protagonist trope. Or so people are calling him after he saved a girl from a fire and spent half the first episode trying to live a normal life without letting a single hint of his powers slip. Is that weak-minded? Idk, I'd call that courageous and socially intelligent. On top of worrying more about whether someone's watching than whether he's in danger going into a burning building to save a girl, he also actually succeeds in acting like he still needs glasses for months. If you have glasses, take them off. If you don't, put on a friend's. Now go about your daily life for one day without squinting, feeling headaches or acting differently in any way. He's a complainer, for sure. But you'd be crazy not to feel like shit all the time. I mean cmon, man. I shouldn't have to explain this. Literally all of this applies to Peter Parker. This guy is just Peter Parker except with a way more humiliating and creepy power. Third, you got the yandere-chan. Except she isn't in love with the main character, she doesn't ever feel like killing people for his sake as opposed to her own desire to find out wtf is going on, and the most she'll ever do for the main character is die with him, not kill for him. The reason being that she was already trying to kill herself in that fire before he got in the way, so why not just end it there. Makes logical sense. Also, she seems to act pretty conflicted about her relationship with him. Makes emotional sense. Will that grow into love? Disdain? Maybe. Will she trust him with her life after saving her? Idk about that one. He barely stopped himself from pulling off her panties while she was still "unconscious" after he saved her. At first glance, that extra detail might be shameful fanservice/scummy, toxic masculinity in a main character, but in this case it was used as a tool to make both characters more interesting. Now we know our adolescent boy of a main character has the courage to jump into a fire to save a girl, as well as the restraint to not take advantage of her in any way after leaving her somewhere safe and calling an ambulance. Except because he's stressed af about his situation and is still a teen, he has difficulty doing both of these things. That makes sense, and now it also makes sense why this girl doesn't trust him that easily. And in the process, it also shows how little this girl cares about herself considering she pretended to be unconscious while he lifted her skirt. Tiny details, but if these details weren't added their relationship would be pretty damn boring. As far as characters go, those are probably the only ones to analyze. The show does a pretty good job giving their motivations, back stories and inner thoughts the right balance of screen time, but it also doesn't waste your time on characters if they arent as interesting as the main ones. There's a very clear difference in pacing between background-kuns, side characters, one off villains and the two mc. Characters aren't perfect, but pretty well thought-out. 8/10

Art

Time for my favorite category. This show... looks fucking beautiful. Take it from a professional animator, it's badass. I almost feel spoiled this season since literally every show I've watched so far has had really good visuals, even the isekai this season. Among those "good visuals" are about 3 I'd describe with "amazing animation". Then there's Gleipnir. Yup, Gleipnir has better animation than Brand New Animal and that was directed by Yoh Yoshinari (Animation director for Neon Genesis). That's not to say it's that much of a landslide difference. In fact, most people would disagree that one is better than the other. But in situations like that, being able to stay just as expressive as a show with cartoony visuals except with more realism or detail wins in my book. The designs are clean and sharp af with an artstyle reminiscent of of the late 2000s, so on top of being really good looking it's also super refreshing to see that style pop up again this well animated. And by well animated I mean best of the season. The fight scenes get to the same level of quality as the good episodes of naruto shippuden, and it really doesn't get much higher than that in this industry unless we're talking ghost in the shell or cowboy bebop the movie. I try not to use one punch man as a comparison in this case since that entire show had a different goal in mind for the action, but I'd believe Gleipnir has the same level of talent working on it as that. And while the storyboards and shot composition aren't in as iconic a style as the promised neverland or beastars, they can be just as cool-looking during the action and just as smooth during the acting. Easy-peasy very high key 10/10.

Sound

Unfortunately, the soundtrack hasn't stood out that much so far. That's not really a bad thing for a show like this. Definitely could be better, but aside from standing out it does match the tone of the scene pretty well. And while I don't remember too much of the soundtrack, the op is pretty cool and the ed is lit af imo. A solid 6, but mind you, I'm writing this two episodes in tho. Ofc, I'll keep up with Gleipnir and edit it later if I need too, but there hasn't been many huge game-changing moments in the story that has a super well placed soundtrack. And there also hasn't been a moment where I was put off by a weird sound that doesn't make much sense for what's going on. At the moment though, this category falls a little short compared to others. 6/10

Enjoyment/Overall

Honestly, enjoyment is so vague I'd almost call it pointless. Separating it from overall may be a good way to set bias aside from objectivity, but they're still final thoughts. So for starters, subjectively speaking I love this show and don't really want to talk about its flaws because what it does right is extremely well done. I'd easily give it a 9/10 in terms of my personal gut feeling on it. I like it a lot, and I'm gonna have a ton of fun watching it. Overall though, I can't ignore the soundtrack not being memorable or the opening being as skippable as it is. Therefore I give it a 7.5/10. Except that isn't possible so I'm rounding it up to 8. The artstyle compliments the characters really well and although flawed, the story doesn't actually detract from any of this. If it was a 7, I feel like it wouldn't properly imply the level of production value in this show, especially considering it actually got better in the second episode. I'm going to keep up with the episodes and change the review if need-be, but I have a good feeling this will apply to the rest of the show as well.

First Of All, Don't Hate Me Because I'm Giving The Anime 9/10, Its My 3 Episode Review Opinion

Story 8/10
The Story Was Good, But What I Don't Like From This Anime Is Because They Push Some Ecchi Scene That Makes Me Uncomfortable

Art:9/10
The Art Was Great, Mostly I Appreciate What They Do In Fight Scene

Sound:8/10
I Like The Scoring, But Nothing Special At The Scoring
...
Character:7/10
The Character Was Pretty Bad At First 2 Episode, But At Episode 3 To 4 The Chemistry Between Clair And Shuichi Was Great

Enjoyment:10/10
Although I Little Bit Disappointed With Some Character Not Blended Well At First 2 Episode, I Very Enjoy It Because Great Visual And The Story Was Not That Bad

Overall:9/10
This Anime Was Dark At Some Point, And The Art Was Very Nice,I Very Enjoyed, But, If They Not Put Some Ecchi Scene, Maybe I Give It 10

I think this anime is highly underrated. This is a great anime worth watching if ur a fan of action or a fan of anything anime. It’s quality hasn’t gone down since the first episode and the pace of the anime isn’t slow what so ever. I feel this anime deserves at-leasts a 7.8 because it’s concepts from story and production on how it is executed is outstanding. I feel reviews on YouTube and others Cites explain the anime wrongly on what type of anime it is. It is a action pact anime. Although the music isn’t outstanding it does not draw away from the ... anime. The characters that are introduced have their own personalities that can’t be mistaken for one another as well as character design. (I accidentally put I watched 11 but actually ten got it confused with the amount of episodes I watched for tower of god)

I came into Gleipnir not expecting much, or expecting something really weird and over the top in some areas. But I've been proven wrong with how it has gone. Here is why!

It really gives off this interesting vibe with it's coins, and what you can do with them. You can see in the cover what has happened to our main protag. So it just makes you wonder what exactly are these coins, and what else will happen with them. As our MC falls into a right mess, and ends up meeting quite the disturbed girl, and thus the story goes on from there.

As for characters? ... I like them, they seem realistic honestly. The MC has a realistic personality, and the way he has been reacting to things, is very realistic too. He might seem weak, but it's fitting to the story and who he is. Just like the MC from Darwins game. As for the girl? She's way different from what I thought she'd be, which gives it a bit of flavor to the story.

Art and music are pretty good. No complaints there. From the op, to the ending theme. Even the fight scenes look well done right.

I'm gonna keep watching, and so should you!

Of all of the original shows this season, this has the most promise, despite being the most bizarre premise I have seen in a while.
The main character seems to be normal. Except he has the power to turn into an animal suit. Don't worry, he is still flesh and blood, but that flesh expands outward into the shape of a suit. He also has animal-like instincts and attributes that he has to put his all into covering up, such as his extreme sense of smell.
One day, flesh suit boy smells a fire and someone that is trapped inside the building. He saves the girl but ... can barely keep himself from sexually assaulting her, due to his "animal instincts." In the end she finds out who he is and blackmails him because this is anime.
Yeah, there is a lot of her making him turn into a flesh suit so that she can...go inside of him.
10/10 would see flesh suit boy again

Well, it is not today that we see shows that deceive by their relevance in debates in the forums. It has become common to see not-so-good animes stand out, while others that need more attention cease to be seen, precisely because of their not-so-good numbers, when it comes to popularity. Sword Art Online, Mirai Nikki and Darling in the Franxx are clear examples of too popular animes. While there are established shows that are not even commented on: Monster, PPTA, Tatamy Galaxy, etc. Where do I want to go? Is that Gleipnir was one of the anime that backfired and ... will always be remembered, whatever the anime did.

Gleipnir is the type of anime that divides opinions between the anime of the season. Whether for the story, or for the relevance that the anime had, the show was constantly questioned about what different it would bring (besides the dog costume, of course). The anime has a clear difference between being the darling of many and having an absolutely weak and dull story. I felt it myself a lot while watching.

At first, we saw a pair that met by "chance" and decided to fight together for coins, that can make any wish come true (obviously, restrictions like resurrection exist, which is a positive aspect in the coherence of the story). In the end, the anime left more questions than resolutions. Shuichi's past, Alien's goals, confusing dramas and narrative have been punished over time and haven't resolved at all. Neither the action scenes, nor the team coin search arc saves the anime. Things were artificial, they gave no emotion and were uninteresting. I've seen this happen before, even this year, with Darwin's Game. Gleipnir worsened the situation. The dramas were not coherent and had many exaggerations. All problems were solved with deaths, fights or something, it seems that the characters do not know how to talk harmoniously (the suicide scene was very uncomfortable).

The end doesn't like it either, the quality only declines even more. A bad resolution, which gave aspects of a "coin hunt, part two". And speaking of the coins, I didn't really understand their purpose. Is it really a device used only to place orders? Alien does not seem reliable. Even in his dialogues with the other characters, all I understood was that he would need coins to rebuild his ship and return anywhere on the map. But what would he gain from seeing a possible carnage happen in his eyes? This is the most correct method to do? Honoka should be feeling uneasy to see this in the sky ... No, wait! Oh, never mind. Even the "death" concept was broken and Honoka became a protector of Kaito. It seems that the same consistency that I praised has been destroyed, doesn't it?

I don't totally disregard the show, its first half is okay, because in addition to starting the work well, it managed to bring a darker side that perpetuated until the end. In that sense, I did not feel an exaggeration, besides supporting the idea previously. But I think that was left out in a very abrupt way, since the rest of the show just used confrontations as a way to explain who is the strongest among the characters. A fake and very destructive technique, which degredolated Gleipnir.

I don't question the production, nor the staff's attempt to improve the anime, it was a decent job. Sometimes, it is necessary to watch some work, even if it is bad, to appreciate the effort of those who made the anime. It is a pity to see that they were unable to make the work good. For me, Gleipnir is nothing more than a popular anime and that, again, will always be commented for having failed, when it comes to pretending to be good. Even though it has more seasons, I don't think it will go to a good place in the end. There is the manga, which has advanced things a little more ... but, frankly, I am so tired of your work, that I will wait some time to read the original material. Overall, the anime only has good production and good opening and closing themes, because otherwise, it was a complete show of disinterest.

I enjoyed Gleipnir but the last 2 episodes felt like they were completely rushed. The entire season was building up for a big unveiling of everything but only ended with more questions. If this is a line up for season 2 then I can see how this ending can be acceptable but the final fight scene felt inconsequential and confusing.

I knew what I was getting into based on the Ecchi tag so everyone that's complaining about that have no basis to complain. Why watch if you are turned off by something that is advertised.

The best parts of the anime were the animation and ... music in my opinion and that's what kept me watching. Before the last episode I had the show at an 8 but I had to drop it to a 7 because the finale was so disappointing and frankly, ruined the story that was built up. Hopefully there is a season 2 to actually conclude the story since there are still so many questions. The ending was a read the manga ending so hopefully when there is more source material, s2 will come out.

Gleipnir starts out by following the edgy death game formula to a tee, but then creates its own identity and becomes something truly special. It's definitely the kind of series that you have to be open-minded to get through because the first episodes are a bit slow and dominated by fanservice, but once you hit the last third of the season you're in for a treat. In spite of its faults, throughout it all Gleipnir has very well-choreographed action sequences, characters that are more-than-decently fleshed out, and a concept that becomes more and more interesting as the series progresses and new information is given. Also, ... I honestly think Episode 12 is the best individual episode of anything from the Spring 2020 season, it's an emotional masterpiece and the episode that made me decide "Okay, if there is a Gleipnir season 2, I am definitely tuning in."

At least this is an anime that I can't understand.

Many action and fantasy anime that presents creatures called monsters and usually they have a cool or terrible form. However, this does not apply to the Gleipnir anime, the main character Shuichi Kagaya can turn into a monster that looks like a dog mascot. The Gleipnir anime was adapted from the manga by Sun Takeda, which was released in October 2015. The anime was worked on by Pine Jam studio and directed by Kasuhiro Yoneda.

This anime focuses on the main character's dilemma in living his life, both about the continuation of his education and the ... secret of his strength that is able to turn into a monster. Coins, mysterious girls, and monsters I don't understand about this. At least they can explain in more detail about this, because stories like this are very difficult and take a lot of time, at least I have to rewind the video just to repeat their conversation.

Once again, the story line is quite slow considering that most of the duration is used to explore the environment, mindset, and behavior of the main character. One of them is when the main character discovers the corpse of an animal which is considered unnecessary to display.

Ecchi? Fan service? Do not expect with this anime, do you think there will be a big oppai or nudity scenes? that are just a bullshit. Claire's character behavior also gives color to this anime, because the atmosphere is quite dark coupled with the character Shuichi who is not like the main character in general (boring). Plus Claire often gives fan service scenes, like the scene of changing clothes in front of Shuichi.

Gleipnir animation is perfect for creating an atmosphere of supernatural anime and counted beautifully in the eyes of fan service. Unfortunately for this anime there has not been a battle scene to judge the action elements of this anime, Although there will be a lot of battles later but that is not a fight in my mind. Is this a debate match?

A good opening and ending theme.
This is probably one of the best opening songs in this season. Intro can show the dark nuances of the anime also suitable to build mood before watching. While the ending song is pretty good. Success gives a different aftertaste according to the story and theme raised for each episode.

As usual, this anime doesn't have special graphics / art like low-budget anime. The coloring is not so contrast, for some reason it seems like an anime ona adaptation. Character design is very boring, why do they have to add zits to the main character's face? it is not necessary.

Overall Gleipnir managed to make the audience curious by leaving some questions unanswered.

this is my first review, sorry if it's bad :)

So, you might've heard that this anime is weird and boring, and I'm going to tell you straight off the bat, it is.

the first few episodes are boring, up to episode 3 you'll find yourself looking around from your screen because the action is not what you want. but it's very necessary as the character development in these few first episodes is VERY important. and the whole anime is a very adult anime as you need to be able to read in between the lines to understand what the anime is actually telling you about the ... MCs and how it might affect them in the future. If you cannot do that you will not have a good time watching this anime, however if you can read in between the lies and understand what the characters have gone through, you will be able to understand this anime in its integrity and that will leave a great memory of this anime.

The art in this anime is not impeccable but it does the job quite well, even though the chara design for shuichi's transformation is hard to get by at first you get used to it and I really shows one's transformation and powers quite well.

the sound is quite normal, nothing caught me off guard for being bad nor good, it does it's job and the SFX aren't bad, but they don't bring a whole lot to the normal interactions even though in the fights you for sure notice a few that link especially well with the action,punch whatever is happening

I think the characters are what Gleipnir's biggest strength is and it really shines through when you see who Clair is at the 1rst episode, you think shes a manipulative women who'll do anything to reach her goals, when you reach later on you'll see that she changes a bit (I won't spoil you no worries friend!) or the same happens with shuichi the character progression is very good and with certain characters it's very obvious that they're setting up the rest of the story so I honestly thin that the characters are the best part of this anime.

Overall I enjoyed this anime very much and enjoyed all the episodes that came out and I think that the anime is very much enjoyable but not made for everybody and that's the main problem of the anime but except from that it has a good balance between main story lines and more laid back scenes that still do a good job at laying the main story line even though it's rhythm is quite slower.

"Gleipnir" is an anime that proves to be better than what it initially sets out to be and stands out significantly, even with excessive ecchi (personally, I'm not a fan). What seemed to be "just" a story of a protagonist who transforms into a monster and teams up with a classmate, under blackmail, to learn more about these "monsters," reveals immense depth in its plot.

As the episodes unfold, we witness the deepening of each character, including some that are not so central, demonstrating careful storytelling. A perfect example of this is the "monster" that appears at the end of the first episode and confronts Clair ... and Shuichi. She doesn't last more than two episodes, but we come to understand how she ended up there.

However, the best examples of this are Shuichi and Elena. We comprehend the feelings that led Shuichi to take on the monstrous form and his past, as well as the reasons behind his actions. Much of this is connected to Elena, Clair's sister, who initially was seen as a monster that murdered her own parents. We follow her entire backstory and how it is directly related to Shuichi and his transformation.

We discover how these transformations occur and the reason behind them, along with the game that involves all of this and how it began. The series develops a complete story with plot twists, psychological elements, and even macabre scenes in certain situations. There's also the evolution of the protagonists throughout.

Additionally, "Gleipnir" boasts a magnificent opening and ending that leave a lasting impression. I would also like to commend the excellent character design and, at times, fluid animation in action scenes. The soundtracks are also of high quality.

It's a shame the series doesn't have a second season, but I will undoubtedly read the manga from start to finish.

Glepnir, from Norse mythology, the name of an enchanted chain that tied Fenrir, a monstrous wolf.

LA came for Gleipnir for Nao Touyama, what LA got was a crazy bizarrely almost nihilistic team battle royale deathmatch for alien coins (no seriously).

Gleipnir's premise is one of the more audience alienating (HA) animes out there, from our main protagonist Shuuichi Kagya voiced by Natsuki Hanae being able to transform into some stuffed plushie dog suit monster, it's not until an incident where he saves a girl, that girl by the name of Clair Aoki voiced by Nao Touyama that she pretty much blackmails him to keep his secret ... but she also is trying to find a "monster" similar to Shuuichi, it's her sister.

The premise towards Gleipnir takes several swerves from this and gradually builds into something bigger and bigger to what LA said above, a team deathmatch situation in finding alien coins, as you see it's those alien coins that MADE Shuuichi into the dog suit monster and Clair Aoki finding her sister dives deeper into not only those coins but the ultimate reasoning to gathering the coins. There are little subplotline, like Chair and her sister Elena Aoki voiced by Kana Hanazawa's relationship to latter on when Clair contacts a gathering group for the coins which gets deeper to more monsters after the alien coins.

Before LA talks about the world building of Gleipnir, the entire relationship of Shuuichi and Clair is extremely dysfunctional with Clair doing whatever it takes for her not only to survive but for her to get answers about not only for the coins but her sister, but the entire dynamic of Shuuichi and Clair's relationship is more like "using" him and her methods, mostly viciously killing for survivable that makes Clair and Shuuichi's relationship rocky, BUT LA will defend Clair in saying that because of the entire alien coins making normal lowest of the low humans into powered up monsters and the prospects of what the coins are actually capable of, it's all of nothing in trying to gather them thus Clair's attitude, thus LA actually "gets" Clair's perspective on things and was pretty much why LA continued to watch this anime (Nao Touyama voicing her was a GREAT BONUS). Shuuichi does grow a backbone throughout this anime and also starts to "get" Clair's perspective as jaded as he becomes of Clair's perspective but as dysfunctional as their relationship is, they more or less have the same goals, finding out how Shuuichi turned out this way and maybe able to reverse it as finding out what Elena's deal with Shuuichi is AND finally to save the world from the lowest of low monsters to an extent.

On speaking of which, the "monsters" in this anime also gives us a certain perspective form their point of view and guess what they made us sympathetic to their cause, as they just aren't inherently evil, it's the environment they were brought up in that caused them to be jaded and lash out on the world and the coins gave then power and with that they want more power. In a ways, almost ALL of Gleipnir's cast aren't all inherently evil, just the methods they do things does but that they have some sense of humanity in their monstrous forms and power may indeed morphed them into those monsters...now was LA talking about Clair & Shuuichi or Elena?.

The animation done by Pine Jam, well shows off their grittier atmospheric animation on display and even a good jump in animation for battles as graphic as it does become. Pine Jam kinda went all out with this anime's animation, from the detailed and striking character AND monster designs, fluid and graphic battles and nice background work. Pine Jam stepped up for Gleipnir and it REALLY shows, LA will say one of their more pristine yet gritty animations work they've done and to think LA first thought it was studio Ezola who did Happy Sugar Life who did the animations at first, man was LA surprised.

Nao Touyama is showing off her femme fatale side in mature glory as Clair and MAN LA loved Nao Touyama as Clair in this anime and once again shows Nao's RANGE in this anime,pretty much gonna give Nao Touyama MVP for this anime. Natsuki Hanae was good as Shuuichi with his timid but dramatic performance with Kana Hanazawa giving off an almost Rize from Tokyo Ghoul cadence as Elena. The other two notable voice actors for Gleipnir for LA would be Kana Ichinose as Chihiro Yoshioka as being the polar opposite to Nao Touyama, though typecasted in this role, she does give some nice dramatic performances and her butting heads with Clair and finally Shizuka Ito as Sayaka Koyanagi was a surprise as being part of the main cast. As LA doesn't remember if Nao Touyama and Shizuka Ito's characters ever spoke to one another in different animes, but seeing this just made the voice cast for LA for LA soo much better, sure objective look LA is being VERY biased but let LA have this. Nonetheless the voice cast in Gleipnir was GREAT with MVP easily going to Nao Touyama for her extremely mature and almost viciously femme fatale cadence.

Gleipnir if anything shows ALOT of nihilism through the alien voiced by Takahiro Sakurai and the unwitting instigator to the entire anime and the worst thing is, he doesn't care. Hell his entire "goal", he doesn't care about, as he sees it more of a game and giving humans powers for the lulz as he sees them as "fun", even more fun than gathering his own "alien coin friends" as he NEVER cared about them and found THEM annoying too. From the backstory given through several characters, he unwittingly wants to the best for humans, but he himself is a false trickster genie type character without a care about the world he landed in and wants to "play" with the humans for fun. The humans he transformed for power may be the "monsters" of the anime, but truly, for once as much as Gleipnir shows the lowest of the low of humanity, this time...the alien is the true villain and monster of Gleipnir.

Gleipnir is an interesting edgy anime for Spring 2020 and LA says "interesting and edgy" as honestly as possible. Sure the fanservice does take the edge even further but for what the character focused plots and especially the mysteries behind Shuuichi and the alien himself makes the anime interesting let alone gives different perspectives of even the villains in showing that the human villains "aren't exactly evil themselves". Gleipnir has an audience alienating (HA) premise, but for the edgy stuff it did, it's characters and the mysteries behind ALOT of the plot points were it's best strengths towards mitigating the edge it had and more or less Gleipnir becomes an oddity, a GOOD oddity and another breath of fresh air in the same vien of Darwin's Game form the previous season but BETTER. LA was at first intrigued by Gleipnir with Nao Touyama voicing a main character attracting LA into the anime, but LA actually got pretty invested in the anime, from the mysteries of the anime itself to it's characters being mostly in the gray morality throughout.

Gleipnir is an surprising oddity of Spring 2020, something with edge WITH the nuances of it's plot, character and mystery elements and follows through with it, Gleipnir is something you REALLY need to leash onto...

Ok, so what we have here was another anime taken from the manga, where it has supernatural , mystery, action, and ecchi...basically this anime's target audience were seinen.....So, to get to brass tax, here were my ratings:

Story- Good 7: Cu'z the story isn't boring in fact it wasn't the kind that one can easily comprehend, cu'z of the complexities that comes with the plot, especially when it come to one antagonist Elena whose backstory wasn't clear as to how and why she ended up being that bad and how one protagonist got involve in such dilemma where unbeknownst him becomes this mascot that has all ... the ability to fight and yet it needs someone to pilot it and yes we're talking about the antagonist's sister Clair who has some beef with the antagonist herself... there were also some subplot where it involves the Alien that seemingly serves as the main antagonist given that he was the one who let's just say the one who started it all.....and as this reaches the last episode, we're left to wonder if there will be a season 2 or just continue with the manga....


Art- Good 7: The illustration in general was not good,the only thing that this relied on was a lotta fanservices....

Sound-Decent 4: Cu'z i just don't a damn as to who did who...

Character- Poor 3: Ok lets go over each of them:

Kagaya, Shuuichi- Ok, so he's the man around here, but at one point I kinda hate him for being this guy whose special ability was being this fighting mascot dog with a gun , I also hate that Clair get to be the only one to get inside him and leaving Yoshioka out of his life when it was kinda obvious that Shuuich would have been a much more effective fighter when he pairs up with Yoshioka especially when they fuse up......

Clair Aoki- She would have been better off being her sister's lackey than being Shuuichi's partner, though I do admire her for being this smart ass kind of girl, I still hated that she has to be the guy's partner......

Yoshioka, Chihiro- She was a waste when she has to be this double crossing sweet girl who sold Shuuich to Elena.......To be honest she could have been the guy's partner given that when they've fuse they were able to kickass so much so that any bad ass collector would have been crying uncle.

Koyanagi's gang- total disappointment when all they can do was run away like pussies.

Enjoyment- fair 6: Cu'z I basically have mixed feeling about this anime as a whole, cu'z one part of it was to sell sex when we see a lot of panty flashes around and one would scratch their heads asking " What did he/she just said?"

Overall- fair 6: One part of you would wanna want to watch this for the fanservices and one part of you may wanna go to the manga to check out the finer details as to what the fuck is the fuck.......season 2???? Hummm, maybe.

I like where the anime is going, they do rely on the power of boners a little much, but at least its not a straight up romance, the characters develop in their own way, and that makes them feel more alive rather than the female just being a damsel in distress for the male to save. The main point i would like to emphasize is the lack of a strong, relatable lead, the girl is suicidal, the guy has no balls, and the sister is hard to read. I don't hold it against this series, i just wanted to point it out. I like the ... way this anime distinguished itself by making a super powered male lead that isn't actually the lead, simply the conduit. It adds more depth to the story than just a shounen. The way other characters have been introduced also adds complexity to the world, showing where they were relative to the main character without adding anything too outlandish. It's good to see other characters existing when the main isn't specifically interacting with them.

Wow I am shocked! I looked at the promo an was like this looks weird as hell and it is going to be really bad, however for me maybe due to lack of other anime being released in the last couple of months due to the unfortunate events in world currently.

This has been the best anime for me released this year currently. This can only be described as echi, psychological, supernatural gem with some great fight scenes. It very much has you hooked the entire 13 episodes and story has great development through out.

Really do hope there is another season in the future.

This ... is for sure one of those where the meaning of don’t judge a book by cover is appropriate.

Gleipnir belongs to the schlock action type of anime, and it’s not even doing a good job at being guilty pleasure. When the main attraction of the show is a beta loser school kid in a dumb looking mascot animal suit, you realize early on what you are getting yourself into. When the dream pixie girl of the show is a slut that is not missing the chance to do sleazy fan service, you also know how little the show cares about respect to its own characters. And when the fights are full of gore and nudity, you know there is not much depth in ... the themes. So yeah, it’s another one of those edgy nonsense shows for horny virgins who are still turned on by girls flashing their panties and who think violence equals maturity.

If for any reason you care about the plot, it’s about the beta loser helping the slut to fight others who can transform into monsters, by basically undressing and merging. Why are they fighting transforming superhumans? Because an alien wants to gather his lost coins and hands around superpowers to anyone who helps out. Does any of that make sense or even connect to each other properly? No, but then again you are not watching Gleipnir for the plot. It’s a mindless power fantasy about a loser virgin merging erotically with a naked slut and butchering to pieces a bunch of crazy people who are fighting over wish granting coins from space. And no, it’s not building up to something that has enough theme exploration for mitigating all the dumb parts. It doesn’t even end! They stop in the middle of nowhere, flip you the bird, and tell you to go read the manga.

And don’t expect to get much mindless entertainment either. The production values are mediocre, the characters are shallow, and there is nothing here you won’t find in other equally mindless yet also better animated anime such as Highschool of the Dead. Heck, even Gantz was better. Skip this one.

Can't wait for Season 2.
Well now that that is being said let us review it. Finally since a longer time, I found a nice Seinen Anime, which is just 13 episodes long. Sure it ends in a way, which leaves you expecting a sequel, there is some more to be shown.
Anyway, the plot is exactly as I like it, more of a dark one, just what a real R - 17+ Rating needs, Action, Mystery and Supernatural with a small flair of some Ecchi. To be Frank, do not get discouraged by the first episode cause it is just, well OK and the following second ... and third also leaves the Viewer Sceptical. Just like it said, it need time to kick in. After it every episode is more interesting than the previous, cause the plot thickens and more is revealed about Gleipnir. And last few Episodes are really cool. The plot itslef centers around some magical coins which when you find, give it to a alien and he will grant you a wish, of course downside is, you will want more, more wishes granted and powers gained from gathering the coins for the alien the less Human and more of a monster you become.
Now the wishes that are being granted are various, everything from new car, more money, sexy Bitches, to changing you form, gaining more power and eradicating all Life on earth. That also says a lot about characters, some want to have more arms to molest women, some just grow flowers and plants, others, kill without effort, manipulate minds. The Moral of Gleipnir, is I would say, Fear not the supernatural, fear the people that can use those mysterious powers.
I also must say, the OP song and ED song are really good, perfect matches for those sequences. In my playlist already.
What is left is season 2.
I recommend you all, give this anime a shot.

As much as I enjoy watching anime with a complex story, deep characters and thorough mysteries, sometimes it can just as enjoyable watching dumb, ecchi, edgy s**t. Something that does not require much thinking and is just there to be entertaining. There is not much analysis as to what qualifies as too much edginess, as it mainly comes down to personal preference and the tolerance of much one person can take. So personally, Gleipnir (which is fun to pronounce every time) hits that sweet spot of it being enjoyably edgy without it going overboard. Well not yet at least.

So Gleipnir follows the story of ... Shuichi Kagaya, a seemingly normal high school boy has the ability to transform himself into a monster but has no idea how he even got the ability. To protect himself, he hides this secret from everyone. But one day after saving a fellow classmate, Clair Aoki, from a burning building, she now blackmails Shuichi into helping her find her sister or she will reveal Shuichi’s secret of him being a monster.

There are hints of a more deep story with monsters secretly among them and the mysterious coins but then I saw Clair half naked wear Shuichi’s monster form like a flesh suit and say she kind of p**sed in it at the end and I’m like, “Yeah this ain’t the reason why I’m watching it.” Because if there is one word that I have to describe Gleipnir, it would be shameless. It doesn’t try to play down what it is and merely embraces it but doesn’t go too far with it to the point of sheer ridiculousness. You want fanservice? It’s got fanservice. You want crazy? It’s got crazy. You want edge? It’s got edge. It’s got elements that makes it entertainingly stupid which is fully embraced by our main female lead, Clair.

Clair is a shameless, sadistic and crazy b**ch who is merely using Shuichi for her personal gain and does not understand the concept of empathy. She matches the tone of the show. Is she a great character? No. She is really unsympathetic and a bad person. Is she entertaining? Yes, because of those traits. But of course, because she is crazy, our main lead suffers because in order to emphasize these traits. Shuichi is stereotypically the wimpy, pushover character you would expect in this scenario who is scared of his power and really doesn’t have much else going for him. Even by this show standards, I really didn’t care about Shuichi’s plight about him worrying that he is slowly losing his humanity. Mainly because Clair’s personality and drive completely overshadows Shuichis and, as such, takes away all of the spotlight from Shuichi. Easily the weakest part of the show.

Now one thing that really surprised me was the production value in this show. The show’s animation is done by Pine Jam, who’s last TV work was back in 2017 with Just Because! and Gamers! They did some other stuff between but it’s not really worth mentioning. The show looks great and the animation is impactful. I point to the big fight in episode two where you can really feel the impact of the punches and kicks. They really got some force behind them; which you would expect from monsters. Character designs are solid as well, with Claire really rocking the crazy b**ch look with her expressions and that smile. Something I don’t know whether to protect or to eliminate. The ost is solid and matches the tone of the show with it trying to be gritty and dark with a dab of techno thrown into there, but I wouldn’t say it really stands out. The opening, “Altern-ate-” by H-el-ical is okay if not a bit plain with the usual character showcase, character drama and the fight scene at the chorus. While the ending "Ame to Taieki to Nioi" by Mil, I actually really like, mainly due to the visuals as it looks good maintains a calm tone to relieve from the chaos from the episode.

So is Gleipnir worth checking out? Well depends really. Like I said earlier, everyone has a tolerance as to how much they can take this kind of ecchi edginess before just getting annoyed by it all. For me, it’s entertaining as to how stupid this show is. Because let’s be honest, this show is stupid. It’s not exactly brimming with scenes of deeper meaning or just simply clever writing or directing. But it is fun and has not bored me yet as the great animation and Clair have carried the show pretty well. Come in with that mindset and you will see a ridiculous but fun show that definitely has its moments and that’s enough for me at the moment.


First Impression:
Story: 4/10
Listen, the story so far isn’t exactly fleshed out but the vibe I’m getting from the narrative isn’t that interesting
Characters: 5/10
Clair is such an entertaining character. Shuichi, not so much.
Animation: 8.5/10
Surprisingly good. From what I’ve seen so far, this is definitely a high point.
Sound: 6/10
It’s fine. Does it’s job of setting the atmosphere and the opening is okay. Definitely like the ending though.
My Personal Enjoyment: 8/10
This show is entertaining and fun to watch but that really is my opinion though. Yours may be different.

Overall Score: 6.3/10 Recommendation: Consider it

1- Sound:
There was not a moment when the soundtrack was out of place, that did not match perfectly with the acts and climates of the scenes. It was also not a track that got boring repeating sounds and musical themes.

The greatest feat of sound is the musical fit in the ending and opening. So far it is the best ending of the year, competing with other sensational ones, and one of the best openings. It deserves an extra point just for that. Of course the conceptual and animation artistic part also did a lot in this ending and opening.

2- Image:
Many fluid scenes, detailed scenarios, well-choreographed ... fights, relatively common designs, but very pleasant with traits that were constant and there was nothing ugly with it.

In general, I practically only heard positive reviews regarding the image of the anime, mainly regarding the first episodes. However, there was a single negative criticism about the image that come to me, in which complained that some monsters were represented only by spots. Personally I found it very unfair, there was nothing wrong with that, and even if there, was it was the anime following the manga that portrays the same way.

Colors, shadows, rhythm, framing, changing scenarios, all of that was very good, all very well. If it were to put a defect, it would be because they were not bold enough in things that they could highlight, however it was already a more than satisfactory result.

3- History:
The story comes out of blackmail and I grew absurdly, the plot being well connected, with several mysteries, and some intriguing twists. Reinforced things all the time, which hold the viewer and leave him interested in wanting to watch until the end.

It is an anime for adults, with a story for adults, so it has psychological nuances in the development of the plot and in what the message of the anime wants to convey. Things like: guilt, sexuality, betrayal, sacrifice, suicide, power, and especially what monsters are discussed. The anime brings a reflection and an apparent explanation that monsters are those who have no ties to other people.

Now, negatively, it is a script that I feel had the potential to be more than it was. There was a lot of concern in focusing and it ended up being relatively linear, losing part of the atmosphere of fear that could pass. Despite the wealth of content, it is a reduced plot due to the very grandeur that the proposal allowed.

4- Characters:
The characters had worked past, motivations revealed, and being consistent with the narrative. What was developed in them was relevant to the central plot, and showed psychological human facets that gave it their own identities.

For example: Clair (the suicidal, blond, and psychopathic) has her traumatic past of parental death that motivates her to commit suicide and revenge. So it is consistent that she no longer cares about herself, so she can be promiscuous and indifferent to others. This gave her an identity, showing a psychological state that has a direct connection with the main characters and with the central plot.

I exemplified Clair, but all the other characters were developed in a similar way and had relevance from Alien to Erena, all.


5- Pleasure:
I believe that with everything I have already explained, it is clear why I would have a lot of pleasure, so it is best to try to understand the little pleasure of others.

In fact, the MAL score for most people is not a technical note that does justice to the qualities of anime, but it is a note of satisfaction, and sometimes of perception of values. There are some genres that will always be hated, no matter how they make a masterpiece. As much as the anime is aimed at an older audience, and that does not have an ecchi too much, there will always be people who will make a judgment of values ​​and hypocritically will condemn the anime to the fire pit.

Another point is the prejudice against the gore, personally I usually don't have a lot of problems with that, but I admit there are some gores that are so disgusting that I am repulsed. I confess that the proposal of a girl literally entering a boy seemed to me that it would be something repulsive and I would have prejudice, however when watching it was not. Anyway, I believe that a lot of people gave up on this anime because of that, others maintained their prejudiced (biased) addiction, and others are much more sensitive.

6 - Conclusion:
It is a great anime that deserves tue its merits recognized. It was pleasant to follow, it is an easy and stimulating anime to watch.

Why not ten? My ten needs the anime to be absurdly excellent at something. Gleipnir is great in almost everything, but in no way has it reached the absurdity of good, only the very above average.

Don't dare to give your opinion if you only have seen 3 episodes. The story is set for more than 3 episodes. I'm explaining this now:

I won't say it's the best anime ever made. BUT the story is pretty nice, as a reader of the manga, and follower of the anime I can say so. The characters aren't what they seem to be, it all changes between a few moments, it has really good moments of mistery and you dont know anything until almost the very end.

Gleipnir just punches you in the face when you think you know something.

Yeah the relationship between the main ... characters is pretty toxic. But that is the way things are. Life is not fair.

Life is literally not fair, and the MC is pretty useless cause he is the average student and like all of us, he is not a "hero", what would you do in that world, being suddenly transformed into a monster that is not even "that" strong? Obviously you would fear, fear your environment, your friends, the other monsters... MC fears for his life like everyone would do.

I won't give any spoilers about it but, of everything I said, there is almost nothing accurate. You would have to see it by yourself.


In conclusion, its a mistery/action anime, with a really twisted and (at the beginning) bizarre plot. Give it a chance, first episodes are literally just shit, (I guess because they just wanted to engage?) but they do not relate to the rest.