Looking up the This Monster Wants to Eat Me manga reading order and worried you might be missing a spinoff or side story somewhere? Good news: there’s nothing to miss. This is a single, straightforward manga series — a Japanese comic book printed in collected volumes — by Sai Naekawa. It’s published by KADOKAWA, one of Japan’s largest media companies, and serialized in Japan’s Dengeki Maoh, a manga magazine where chapters appear before being collected into book-format volumes. None of that magazine history matters for your reading order, though. No prequels, no companion manga, no alternate-timeline side volumes. You pick up Volume 1, you read in numbered order, and you’re doing it right.
The series blends suspense and yuri — yuri being a manga genre focused on romantic or emotional relationships between women — in a way that makes the horror feel genuinely threatening rather than playful. It’s rated Teen by Yen Press, the English-language publisher that brings the series to Western readers, and while that rating keeps things accessible, don’t let it fool you — the tension running through this manga is real and unrelenting. One of the two main characters is a dangerous, inhuman predator, and that threat shapes every interaction between the leads.
As of the most recent catalog information, the series is ongoing in Japan with 12 volumes published. Yen Press has released 6 volumes in English so far. That means English readers have a solid chunk of story available, with more on the way.
The Short Answer — This Monster Wants to Eat Me Reading Order From Volume 1
There is exactly one reading order:
Volume 1 → Volume 2 → Volume 3 → Volume 4 → Volume 5 → Volume 6
That’s it. No branching paths, no standalone side chapters you need to track down, no anthology chapters scattered across other publications. Sai Naekawa has written one continuous story, and the volumes are numbered sequentially. If someone online is making this sound complicated, they’re overthinking it.
The reason people search for a reading order is usually because they’ve been burned by other manga franchises that have spinoffs, extra half-numbered volumes (sometimes called “.5 volumes” — bonus content published between main installments), or side stories released out of sequence. This Monster Wants to Eat Me doesn’t do any of that. The horror here is in the story itself — not in figuring out which book to read next.
One important note: the yuri genre tag might lead some readers to expect a lighthearted romance with spooky window dressing. That’s not what this is. The “monster” in the title isn’t metaphorical fluff. One of the central characters poses a genuine, sustained predatory threat to the other, and that danger defines the relationship between them. If you’re coming to this for horror with real emotional stakes, you’re in the right place.
Complete Volume-by-Volume Reading Order
Here’s your full reading order with spoiler-free orientation for each volume. Each description tells you what kind of story territory you’re entering without giving away specific plot points.
English Volumes (Yen Press)
Volume 1 — The foundation. This volume establishes who the two central characters are, what makes one of them dangerous, and why the other can’t simply walk away. The atmosphere-building here is critical — Naekawa uses slow, deliberate pacing across many pages to layer tension from the very first chapter. Skipping this volume would leave you missing the character dynamics that make everything else land.
This Monster Wants to Eat Me, Vol. 6
Volume 2 — The stakes clarify. After Volume 1 sets the stage, Volume 2 introduces complications around the characters who seemed like they might offer safety. The boundaries of the world — and what’s actually possible within it — start to sharpen.
Volume 3 — The story moves past its initial setup. Consequences of the central relationship become harder for the characters to ignore, and the suspense shifts from “what’s happening” to “what will happen next.”
Volume 4 — Relationships that have been simmering start to shift in ways that feel dangerous. The horror elements move closer to the surface, and the story opens up new questions about what the characters actually want from each other.
Volume 5 — Momentum builds. By this point, Naekawa has trained you to distrust any moment of calm, and Volume 5 uses that accumulated tension to keep you turning pages.
Volume 6 — The most recent English volume available from Yen Press. This is where English-only readers currently have to pause and wait, and it leaves plenty of story threads pulling you forward.
Japanese-Only Volumes (Not Yet Available in English)
Volumes 7 through 12 exist in Japanese. The series is ongoing, meaning Volume 12 is not the ending — more volumes will follow. If you read Japanese, these are available through Japanese retailers and digital platforms. For everyone else, Yen Press is actively releasing the English editions, so future volumes should continue appearing.
| Volume | Language | Publisher | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Yen Press | Start here |
| 2 | English | Yen Press | |
| 3 | English | Yen Press | |
| 4 | English | Yen Press | |
| 5 | English | Yen Press | |
| 6 | English | Yen Press | Latest English volume |
| 7–12 | Japanese only | KADOKAWA | Not yet available in English |
Three Ways to Approach the Series
The reading order itself is simple — Volume 1 through 6 in order. But depending on your situation, you might arrive at the series from a different starting point. Here are three common paths.
English-Only Reader
This is the most common approach and the one most people searching for a reading order will follow:
- Pick up Volume 1 through Volume 6 from Yen Press
- Read them in numbered order
- Wait for future English releases to continue the story
The first six volumes give you a substantial amount of story — enough to fully understand what kind of manga this is and whether the tone works for you. The early volumes are especially important because they establish the predatory dynamic that drives everything. The suspense isn’t something that shows up later; it’s baked into the premise from page one.
Supporting the official English release by buying the Yen Press editions also helps signal demand for continued translation. More sales generally mean a better chance the entire series gets brought over.
Completionist Reader
If you can read Japanese and want the full story as it currently exists:
- Read Volumes 1 through 6 in English from Yen Press
- Continue with Volumes 7 through 12 in the original Japanese from KADOKAWA
- Keep following the series as new Japanese volumes release
This path gives you access to everything published so far. The transition from English to Japanese editions is seamless story-wise since the Yen Press translation follows the original volume structure.
A note for readers eager to continue past Volume 6 who don’t read Japanese: the wait can be frustrating, and you may encounter unofficial fan-made translations online. These are unauthorized versions of varying quality created by volunteers — they’re unreliable and don’t support the creator. The official Yen Press releases are the way to go, even if the wait between volumes tests your patience.
Anime-First Sampler
A TV anime adaptation — an animated television series based on the manga — of This Monster Wants to Eat Me began airing in October 2025. If you haven’t read any of the manga yet and want to test the waters, the anime is a reasonable entry point.
Here’s the thing about using the anime as a sampler, though: start the manga from Volume 1 regardless of how much anime you’ve watched. The manga carries tension and character detail through tools unique to the printed page — inner monologue, lingering panel compositions, and slower scene pacing — that anime adaptations typically compress or restructure. Scenes that feel like brief moments in animation often breathe across multiple pages in the manga, and that slower build is where much of the horror lives.
The manga is also significantly further ahead in the story than any single anime season could cover — 12 Japanese volumes of material means the printed version has considerably more story available.
So the anime-first path looks like this:
- Watch the anime to see if the tone and premise appeal to you
- If they do, start the manga at Volume 1 (not wherever the anime ended)
- Read through Volume 6 in English, then decide if you want to continue in Japanese
Where to Buy This Monster Wants to Eat Me in English
Yen Press publishes the English edition in both print and digital formats, making it accessible however you prefer to read.
All six currently available English volumes can be found through major book retailers and digital manga platforms. For physical copies, both online retailers and local bookstores carry the Yen Press editions. For digital, the series is available through platforms like Amazon Kindle and other storefronts that stock Yen Press titles. You can also check Yen Press’s own website for links to available editions.
A few practical tips for collecting:
- Volume 1 is the most important buy. If you’re unsure about committing to the series, grab Volume 1 first. It gives you a clear picture of the tone and whether Naekawa’s brand of suspense-yuri horror works for you.
- Digital editions are a good backup. If a physical volume is temporarily out of stock, the digital version gets you reading immediately while you wait for a reprint.
- Check both print and digital pricing. List prices sometimes differ between formats, and your preference might shift depending on which volumes you’re buying.
Common Reading Order Mistakes to Avoid
Even though the reading order is simple, a few common missteps are worth flagging:
Don’t skip Volume 1. This comes up surprisingly often with manga that has an anime adaptation — people assume they can start at whatever volume the anime left off. With This Monster Wants to Eat Me, Volume 1 does heavy lifting in establishing the horror atmosphere and the specific dynamic between characters. The manga shows you what the characters are thinking and feeling through narration and pacing that the anime can’t replicate in the same way. Skipping it means missing context that makes later volumes hit as hard as they do.
Don’t mistake this for lighthearted monster-romance manga. The title and the yuri genre tag sometimes lead people to shelve this mentally alongside lighter, more playful series. The predatory threat here is genuine and sustained. Characters are in real danger, and the story doesn’t soften that for the sake of romance tropes. If you picked this up expecting something cozy and cute, you’ll be caught off guard — and not in a fun way.
Don’t assume the anime replaces the manga. The manga is ongoing at 12 volumes in Japan, which represents far more story than a single anime season could adapt. Even for the portions the anime does cover, the manga format delivers character detail and pacing through its page-by-page composition that works differently — and arguably more effectively — than animation.
Don’t go searching for companion series. There are no prequels, sequels, spinoffs, or side stories for This Monster Wants to Eat Me. It’s a single, self-contained series. If you see unrelated titles bundled nearby in online stores or recommendation algorithms, that’s just the retailer suggesting similar-genre manga — not connected works you need to read.
The This Monster Wants to Eat Me manga reading order is refreshingly straightforward: Volume 1 through Volume 6 in English, with Volumes 7 through 12 available in Japanese for those who can read them. Start at the beginning, read in order, and let the suspense do what it does best.