REVIEW: ‘So I’m a Spider, So What?’ Episode 9 – “I Can’t Speak, Isekai?”

Things get very interesting in a fast-paced So I’m a Spider, So What Episode 9, which builds tension towards something much larger. The anime is about a young heroine who (along with her classmates) is reincarnated into a video game RPG-style fantasy world. So I’m a Spider, So What? is from Millepensee and part of the Crunchyroll Originals anime lineup. The show is adapted from the light novel series by Okina Baba. The novels and manga adaptation are available in English from Yen Press.

Schlain is excited to be reunited with his older brother, the hero Julius. It is a brief but rather touching reunion for the family. It is becoming more apparent that the reincarnated students grew up and lived a life in this world. Schlain has legitimate bonds in this world outside of his former classmates, and it shows in how he idolizes Julius. There is also an intriguing link revealed between Schlain’s family, Fei, and our heroine. The way it is revealed is a cringe-worthy string of awkward exposition dialogue, however. This is the first of multiple drops throughout the anime that Schlain and our heroine will likely encounter each other in the endgame.

Speaking of our heroine, So I’m a Spider, So What Episode 9 checks back in with her battle against the dragon. She seemed in dire straights last time, and the finale of the battle is very satisfying. The anime repeatedly succeeds because it isn’t afraid to commit to its premise 100%. The joy comes from watching a spider summon a gate from the depths of hell or slice and dice a giant dragon. It is absurd and joyous in its execution. This is also the first time our heroine is shown next to a human, and she is NOT as small as this reviewer thought this entire winter anime season.

Finally, So I’m a Spider, So What Episode 9 expands more on the questions presented in Episode 7. Viewers get another glimpse at The Demon Lord, as well as how she connects to the many classmates. Additionally, the show allows viewers to learn as they go without too much exposition (with a few exceptions like the one mentioned previously). Through a quite comical, if not puzzling, scenario, viewers learn about the language barrier in this world. Once you think about it, it makes complete sense, but this world speaks a different language. All the other characters were reincarnated into environments that allowed them to learn the language. Our heroine wasn’t, therefore she still only speaks Japanese. It is little details like this that add layers to the world the anime is trying to create.

Finally, without spoiling, the last few moments of this episode are some of the best yet in this anime. The camera angles, audio/visual effects, and musical score make such an incredible impact after everything seen earlier.

So I’m a Spider, So What Episode 9 is one of the series’ best. It is fast-paced and drops layers of detail to make the world more interesting. Things are ramping up to what promises to be an exciting endgame for all the characters.

So I’m a Spider, So What? is streaming now on Crunchyroll.