The Fall Anime 2025 Preview Guide – Pass the Monster Meat, Milady!

What is this?

Melphiera is an earl’s daughter who’s shunned by most of the nobility, thanks to rumors about her proclivity for monster-based cuisine. When she attends a party in hopes of finding someone to wed, she’s attacked by a vicious monster—only to be saved by Aristide of Galbraith, feared as the “Blood-Mad Duke.” He begins to take a liking to Melphiera…and before long, he’s even interested in the “hobby” she never dared to tell anyone else.

Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! is based on the light novel series by author Kanata Hoshi and illustrator Peperon. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll on Thursdays.

How was the first episode?

Bolts
Rating:

I promise I’m not projecting, but it’s very sweet watching a show about a couple coming together with a particular hyper-fixation. Cooking anime can be fun because it can also serve as a good introduction to the art of cooking itself. I found that anime can make the most mundane tasks very interesting. However, Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! came and said, “What if we swap out that potential relatability for the sake of going in a more quirky direction?” Instead of preparing regular dishes that you could do in your own kitchen, we’re preparing meals using monsters as the main ingredients.

I wish this episode had delved a bit deeper into the specifics of preparing many of these meals. The premiere focused on the reactions to people eating the meals and discussing how they need to be cautious with the meat, rather than focusing on how they can actually be made. I do hope that’s something the rest of the show does, because that feels like a missed opportunity—crafting unique cuisines and using unorthodox ingredients. However, I understand why the premiere took this approach because this isn’t a standard cooking anime, but a romance at its core.

I was surprised at how much I bought the romance between our monster-eater Melphiera and Duke Aristide in this episode. I understand why people might feel put off by a girl prepping ingredients that should be dangerous. It reminds me a lot of when I would come across people who were afraid to try exotic foods because of what they heard was in them. Sometimes that caution can be understandable, but people are also, unfortunately, just that shallow. That makes it all the more rewarding when she comes across someone who takes a genuine interest in what she is doing. You can tell that this knight is very weird and quirky in his own way, which is nice. He’s not just eye candy for the sake of it, but a similar odd personality that she can bounce off well with. Even if we don’t get a lot of insight into the cooking angle of the show, if we continue to explore this romance thoroughly, I think I’ll be more than satisfied.

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