Gleipnir (manga)

High school student Shuichi Kagaya receives the ability to transform into a giant monstrous dog. It resembles a mascot costume with a zipper on the back and a big smile on the front. He meets a normal girl from the same class, Claire Aoki, whose sister, Elena, was responsible for killing their parents. ==Characters==

; : :A nervous high school boy with amnesia he himself is not aware of. He is capable of turning into a giant mascot costume resembling a dog, with a functioning gun that appears alongside him as well. Whenever any female people enter said mascot costume, they can share memories with Shuichi, and the mascot form's strength and speed is heightened. At some point in the past, Shuichi was in a romantic relationship with Elena, but he has no memory of this due to his amnesia. ; : :A high school girl. She attempts suicide when no one believed her. After meeting Shuichi, she gets obsessed with finding Elena and the truth behind the creation of monsters. At first, she abuses Shuichi, but cares about him to the point she swore to kill herself should he die first so they can stay together. Behind her personality, Claire possesses a determination to kill anyone without hesitation or remorse, and close herself off from her emotions to an extent that Shuichi finds terrifying. Claire is physically weak, but when she is inside Shuichi, she controls his body movement, and receives a massive boost to physical capability and superhuman level. She later uses a coin to gain the power to slow down her perception of time increasing her speed and reflexes. It is revealed that Clair and Elena are paternal half-sisters, due to Claire being born from an affair, between her father and one of his mistresses. ; : :Claire's sister. After receiving the ability to transform into a ghost, she killed her parents, seemingly for the hypocritical manner they acted while the sisters had strict rules. She loves Claire dearly and may be the only person she is unwilling to harm. Emotionally unstable and psychotic even before becoming a monster she has, according to Shuichi after he scented her clothing, committed a staggering number of murders. Elena is revealed to be Shuichi's ex-girlfriend and the one who turned him into a monster. The idea that anyone else might be inside Shuichi makes Elena upset. She removes his head and finds Claire inside him, and he survives due to some unknown ability of his monster form to keep him alive after experiencing injuries. ; : :A member of a highly advanced alien species with the ability to grant a limited wish in exchange for golden coins containing one of his fellow aliens. Should anyone locate all coins he has even offered to grant the person enough power to do almost anything, even destroy a planet should they wish, seemingly regardless for how such a power may be abused. ; : :Another high school girl. She is cheerful, enough so Shuichi once felt better about himself. It is suggested she has a crush on Shuichi as she was the one to notice how depressed he was while everyone thought he just seemed well. ; : :Shuichi's classmate. ; : :One of the Gatherers and a selfish student. She uses a coin to ask the Alien for increased speed in order to excel at sports, but dislikes her abilities after it transformed her arms and legs into monster limbs. ; : :A university student and the first monster siding with Claire and Shuichi. Having found a coin he asked the Alien to make him stronger than anyone else. A martial artist, he created his style to utilize the strength of his body, but finding humans no longer challenged him he has decided to defeat monsters. ; : :One of Koyanagi's allies, a girl with fox ears and the ability to understand animals. ; : :One of Koyanagi's allies. A notorious coward, he is easily controlled and manipulated by others, especially those he is afraid of. He is in love with Chihiro, but is fearful. His monster ability lets him transform his head into a surveillance camera, which he uses to follow and record a video. Any recording he makes he can upload to computers or wirelessly online. ; : :A very powerful Gatherer and Elena's friend. He despises being told what to do and enjoys killing people who try, except for Elena. Subaru summons and controls two large monsters, a male on the left side and a female on the right, calling them his Parents. They are immensely strong and do all by fighting for him, while he is kept safe between their hands. ==Media==

Manga Written and illustrated by , Gleipnir was serialized in Kodansha's manga magazine ' from October 6, 2015, to April 6, 2021. It was transferred to ', where it ran from May 20, 2021, Kodansha collected its chapters in fourteen volumes, released from March 18, 2016, The fourteen volumes were released from March 19, 2019, It aired from April 5 to June 28, 2020, on Tokyo MX and other channels. Hikaru performed the series' opening theme song "Altern-ate-", while international music group Mili performed its ending theme song "Ame to Taieki to Nioi". In Southeast Asia and South Asia, the series is licensed by Medialink, which streams it on the Ani-One YouTube channel in South Asia and select Southeast Asian countries, and on the streaming service Dimsum in Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei. On December 12, 2020, Funimation announced the series would receive a dub with a two-episode premiere the next day. Episodes ==Reception==

Previews Anime News Network (ANN) had three editors review the first episode of the anime: James Beckett praised the premiere for creating "an aesthetic and a tone [that is] worth caring" and the "thoughtful approach to otherwise seedy material", highlighting the weighty and purposeful animation, the editing providing high tension in its scenes, and Shuichi being an interestingly "flawed and messy character" that's neither "boring or outright despicable," Nick Creamer praised the series' presentation of "uncomfortably hormonal adolescence" through its "terrific layouts and character designs, [its] strong sense of oppressive summer atmosphere, and [its] general quasi-horror tone" but was critical of Claire Aoki being used as a "source of pure fanservice" and "an idol of beauty and terror than a human being", concluding that: "Gleipnir is both visually enthralling and dramatically fascinating in its hormonal grindhouse way, and probably deserves at least a glance from any adventurous anime fans." The third reviewer, Theron Martin, praised the writing for keeping the series' concept from going over the top and highlighted the "dark and moody ambiance" and "strong musical score", but was unimpressed by the "character design aesthetic" and animation, concluding that: "On the whole, I can't seeing Gleipnir blowing people away with what it does, but it puts together just enough appeal that I can give it a mild recommendation." Series Fellow ANN editor Steve Jones placed Gleipnir at number five on his top 5 best anime list of 2020, saying while not the "tightest-written story, and [this] isn't a gold star adaptation or anything," he called it "gross, uncomfortable, subversive, and sexually-charged in the best way possible", concluding that: "Although the adaptation concludes without any kind of finality, it left me eager to see how these two broken kids would continue to enable their mutual downward spiral, and I hope I'll be able to sing its praises again in the future." Allen Moody, writing for THEM Anime Reviews, said: "I'm still not sure how I feel about this. Despite Claire's callousness, Claire's and Shuichi's actions are at least ostensibly (though sometimes debatably) motivated by necessity, and a strong bond begins to develop between them (there's some interesting jealousy at times too, when Shuichi lets anyone else "inside" him.) There are numerous things left unexplained just yet (though the show is somewhat less confusing on a second viewing), but I found it all surreal, perverse, and yet weirdly fascinating." ==Notes==