Gleipnir (manga)

Gleipnir (グレイプニル) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Sun Takeda. It was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Young Magazine the 3rd from October 2015 to April 2021, transferred to Monthly Young Magazine, where it ran from May 2021 to April 2023. Its chapters have been collected in fourteen tankōbon volumes as of July 2023. The manga was licensed by Kodansha Comics in North America. An anime television series adaptation by Pine Jam aired from April to June 2020.

Plot
High school student Shuichi Kagaya receives the ability to transform into a giant monstrous dog. It resembles a mascot costume with a zipper on a 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

 * Shuichi Kagaya (加賀谷 修一)
 * A high school boy with the ability to transform into a dog-like mascot costume, complete with a large pistol on the belt and a zipper up his spine which, when any female human climbs inside his empty body, increases his physical and mental abilities. When transformed, Shuichi gains the physical ability of a human at peak levels of fitness, strength and endurance, and when paired with a partner inside him it becomes superhuman. He retains some abilities in his human form, such as a sense of smell even keener than dogs. His human appearance is average with the exception of a noticeable scar around his neck after fighting with Elena.
 * A high school boy with the ability to transform into a dog-like mascot costume, complete with a large pistol on the belt and a zipper up his spine which, when any female human climbs inside his empty body, increases his physical and mental abilities. When transformed, Shuichi gains the physical ability of a human at peak levels of fitness, strength and endurance, and when paired with a partner inside him it becomes superhuman. He retains some abilities in his human form, such as a sense of smell even keener than dogs. His human appearance is average with the exception of a noticeable scar around his neck after fighting with Elena.


 * Claire Aoki (青木 紅愛)
 * 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 Clair being born from an affair, between her father and one of his mistresses.
 * 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 Clair being born from an affair, between her father and one of his mistresses.


 * Elena Aoki (青木 江麗奈)
 * 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.
 * 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.


 * Alien (宇宙人)
 * 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.
 * 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.


 * Nana Mifune (三船 奈々)
 * 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.
 * 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.


 * Abukawa (アブカワ)
 * Shuichi's classmate.
 * Shuichi's classmate.


 * Hikawa (氷川)
 * 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.
 * 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.


 * Tadanori Sanbe (三部 忠則)
 * 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.
 * 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.


 * Chihiro Yoshioka (吉岡 ちひろ)
 * One of Koyanagi's allies, a girl with fox ears and the ability to understand animals.
 * One of Koyanagi's allies, a girl with fox ears and the ability to understand animals.


 * Ikeuchi (池内)
 * 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.
 * 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.


 * Subaru (スバル)
 * 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.
 * 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.

Manga
Gleipnir is written and illustrated by Sun Takeda. It was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Young Magazine the 3rd from October 6, 2015, to April 6, 2021. It was transferred to Monthly Young Magazine, where it ran from May 20, 2021 to April 23, 2023. Kodansha has compiled its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was published on March 18, 2016. As of July 20, 2023, fourteen volumes were published. The series ended with the 14th volume.

In North America, Kodansha USA announced they had licensed the manga in July 2018. They released the first volume in English on March 19, 2019.

Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced in the fourth issue of Young Magazine the 3rd on March 6, 2019. The series is animated by Pine Jam and directed by Kazuhiro Yoneda, with Shinichi Inotsume handling series composition, and Takahiro Kishida designing the characters. Ryōhei Sataka composes the series' music. It aired from April 5 to June 28, 2020, on Tokyo MX and other channels. Hikaru performs the series' opening theme song, while international music group Mili performs its ending theme song "Ame to Taieki to Nioi". Funimation (now branded as Crunchyroll) has acquired the series globally, excluding Asia and streams the series on FunimationNow, AnimeLab and Wakanim. 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. The Gleipnir DVD and Blu-Ray set was released in North America on July 6, 2021.