Thought Prism Recommends: Gleipnir · 2:26am Jul 10th, 2021
It’s a very, very good anime. So good that I’m reviving this blog series I haven’t used in… six years? Wow, I’ve been here a while. As for the show, I just rewatched it - but dubbed this time - since the blu ray is now out. If I had to describe the show in one phrase, it would probably be ‘R-Rated Fullmetal Alchemist’. Jump in blind, it’ll be fun, I promise.
If that’s not enough to convince you and you want a more in-depth explanation, read on after the break.
Okay, so. ‘What makes this show comparable to FMA?’ you may be asking. See, the reason FMA is so universally beloved as an anime classic, I believe, is that it had something for everybody. Gleipnir is the same way, to an even greater degree. It has bits of essentially ever single fiction genre within its gripping narrative. Gleipnir is a sexy rom-com, but also a slow burn character drama, a chilling mystery horror, and a science fantasy action thriller, all at the same time. You’d think that wouldn’t work at all, and yet it does, brilliantly.
Here’s the initial premise: Shuichi is your fairly typical Japanese high school boy, save for the fact that he has the ability to transform into a living fursuit with super strength. However, he has no idea where this power came from. He saves the life of Clair, an assertive, charismatic, and kinda crazy girl. She’s trying to uncover the circumstances behind her parents’ deaths at the hands of the monster her sister, Elena, became, and Shuichi ends up helping her. In fights, this involves Clair literally stripping down and climbing inside of transformed Shuichi to pilot him like a meat mech, complete with craptons of innuendo.
The animation quality and score are also not worth sneezing at. Case in point, the OP, courtesy of Funimation, which is where you can legally watch the show:
So, yeah. Go watch it. And then read the manga. It's criminally underrated; literally nobody on AO3 has written a single fanfic based on the series, which makes me sad.
