Interviews with Monster Girls(亜人 ちゃんは語りたい,Demi-chan wa Kataritai, lit. "Demi Wants to Talk") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Petos (ペトス,Petosu). The series began serialization in Kodansha's Young Magazine the 3rd magazine in September 2014 and is being published in English by Kodansha Comics USA. An anime television series adaptation by A-1 Pictures began airing on 7 January 2017.
The story takes place in an age where demi-humans, more casually known as "demis", have slowly started to become accepted into human society. Tetsuo Takahashi is a biology teacher who ends up teaching three such demis, hoping to understand more about them while also managing to catch their attention.
Characters
Tetsuo Takahashi (高橋 鉄男,Takahashi Tetsuo)
Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe (Japanese); Cris George (English)
The main protagonist. A biology teacher who is fascinated by demis and wants to learn more about them. He is occasionally referred to as "Iron Man" by his students, a pun on his bulky physique and his name. As he learns about demis, he starts to understand the problems they face, both as teenagers and demis, and strives to help them in any way he can.
Hikari Takanashi (小鳥遊 ひかり,Takanashi Hikari)
Voiced by: Kaede Hondo (Japanese); Bryn Apprill (English)
A highly energetic vampire. She usually avoids biting other people's necks, instead drinking blood packs sent by the government and using blood substitutes like tomato juice. Contrary to myths, she loves eating garlic and merely dislikes bright lights. She occasionally has the urge to nibble on someone, usually her sister. Despite her lackadaisical nature, she often strives to help others in need.
Kyōko Machi (町 京子,Machi Kyōko)
Voiced by: Minami Shinoda (Japanese); Terri Doty (English)
A shy dullahan whose head is always detached from her body, which has a blue flame coming from where the neck should be. Since she can't move her head by herself, she is always longing for contact with others. She develops a crush on Tetsuo, due to his kind and caring nature. She initially found it hard to make friends as people found it awkward to talk to her without bringing up her detached head in some way, despite her own acceptance of the concept and desire to joke about it. Incidentally, she does possess a neck, which allegedly exists in another space and serves as a wormhole between her head and body.
Yuki Kusakabe (日下部 雪,Kusakabe Yuki)
Voiced by: Shiina Natsukawa (Japanese); Sarah Wiedenheft (English)
A timid snow woman whose body is always cold. She will sometimes spread cold air while experiencing negative emotions and is susceptible to heat. She initially dislikes her demi nature, fearing that she could harm others, though Tetsuo manages to show her that the only things she can actually freeze are her tears and sweat.
Sakie Satō (佐藤 早紀絵,Satō Sakie)
Voiced by: Yōko Hikasa (Japanese); Morgan Garrett (English)
A succubus who works as a math teacher. Due to the aphrodisiac her body produces, she constantly has to take precautions to avoid inadvertently seducing her male students, such as wearing a tracksuit and taking early trains. While her nature as a succubus leads several males to become attracted to her, she herself develops a crush on Tetsuo.
Himari Takanashi (小鳥遊 ひまり,Takanashi Himari)
Voiced by: Lynn (Japanese); Jamie Marchi (English)
Hikari's twin sister, who is an ordinary human. She is much more serious than her sister, both as a person and a student. She often tries to make her sister act more mature, but is unable to. Despite their constant bickering, they care about each other and have many similarities such as similar tastes in food and fashion.
Manga
Petos began serializing the manga in the first issue of Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Young Magazine the 3rd on 5 September 2014. Kodansha Comics USA announced their license to the series in March 2016.
Anime
A television anime adaptation was announced on 3 September 2016. The anime is directed by Ryō Andō with animation by the studio A-1 Pictures. The series' scripts is written by Takao Yoshioka, character designs are done by Tetsuya Kawakami, and music is composed by Masaru Yokoyama. The series began airing on 7 January 2017, and is being broadcast on Tokyo MX, MBS, and BS11. Crunchyroll is simulcasting the series as it airs while Funimation began releasing an English dub on 25 January 2017. The opening theme is "Original." (オリジナル。,Orijinaru.) by TrySail while the ending theme is "Fairytale" (フェアリーテイル,Fearīteiru) by Sangatsu no Phantasia.
Reception
As of September 2016, the series' three volumes had 550,000 copies in print.
Volume 2 ranked at number 13 on the Oricon manga charts during its first week, selling 39,876 copies. It dropped to number 14 for its second week, selling another 32,283 copies. Volume 3 ranked 21st, selling 55,907 copies in its first week.
