So I’m a Spider, So What? is the story of “Kumoko,” a girl reincarnated as a spider-monster in a fantasy world after her classroom exploded. Now trapped in a dangerous dungeon where everything is out to kill her—including those of her own species—she struggles to survive and grow strong enough to escape.
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But Kumoko is not the only one to reincarnate in this fantasy world. Everyone who was in the classroom—both the students and the teacher—have also been reborn. Some are humans, others are elves or dragons but a handful have managed to reunite at the Analeit Royal Academy.
Throughout the series, we switch back and forth between these two locations—the dungeon and the academy—as we follow what our separated heroes are up to. However, built into this story structure is a trick that hides the true nature of what is going on—even as it gives you the pieces to figure it out yourself.
[Note: This article contains massive spoilers for So I’m a Spider, So What?—so massive that it will change how you see everything that has happened so far.]
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The first time we meet Kumoko is the moment of her hatching. She comes out of her eggshell and is shocked by the horror of seeing her siblings feeding on each other—and then her mother eating them as well. From there, her fight for survival in the dungeon begins. She learns new skills, builds a home for herself, finds a giant egg, and encounters a party of humans eager to kill her like any other monster.
The first time we meet Schlain and his fellow reincarnated classmates, they are about to start attending the academy. They also run into their teacher, Filimøs, who has been reincarnated as an elf. In this scene, the show is quick to point out that, while Filimøs may look young, this is only because of her elf blood—she is actually the same age as all the rest of them.
And that’s the first major hint to the big trick being pulled on the viewer.
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The second hint comes in the form of Fei. While the others were reborn as humans, Fei was reborn as a monster like Kumoko. She is an Earth Wyrm, a type of lesser dragon. Not only do we see an evolved version in the form of Fei’s mother, Kumoko encounters earth dragons inside the dungeon. In fact, we have also seen Kumoko come upon a large, incredibly resilient egg—one that a group of human adventurers steals from her when they burn her out.
That would be the second big hint.
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Despite the crossfades and overlapping voice lines, the big secret of So I’m a Spider, So What? is the fact that Kumoko’s story is not happening at the same time as Schlain’s. Rather, her story is taking place a decade before theirs. As is hinted at by showing that Filimøs is the same age as Schlain and friends, all the characters were reincarnated at basically the same time. Thus Kumoko’s egg is laid around the same time that all the human characters are born. And the egg that Kumoko tries to eat? It’s a yet-unhatched Fei.
Once you know this secret, so much of the story takes on a whole new dimension. Why hasn’t Kumoko managed to rejoin the rest of the class? How did Fei end up with Schlain? How did Fei’s mother get out of the dungeon? What’s going on out there in the world and is Kumoko related to it? All these are just a few of the ever-growing number of mysteries that come from realizing the non-linear nature of the plot.
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And the fun part? This isn’t even the biggest directorial trick the show throws at us. There an even bigger way we’re misled in the first episode—complete with hints right there on the screen—but it’ll take dozens of episodes (or about nine light novels) before that one is revealed. So it’s probably better to leave that mystery intact.
So I’m a Spider, So What? can be seen on Crunchyroll.
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【公式】TVアニメ「蜘蛛ですが、なにか？」好評放送中！ on Twitter.
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