The genre of horror doesn’t necessarily see as many series in the medium of anime when it comes to franchises that focus on the likes of horror, with series like Paranoia Agent and Junji Ito’s Horror Collection being two examples, but a new series that may strike a chord to fans of the video game franchise of Five Nights At Freddy’s has arrived in Gleipnir. The anime series tells the surreal story of Kagaya, a young boy who has a terrifying ability to transform into a monster that looks like a mascot that was ripped out of the spooky video game series.
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For those who might not know, Five Nights At Freddy’s is a game series that revolves around you, as the player, standing watch over an establishment much like “Chuck-E-Cheese”, wherein the animatronic larger than life cast members attempt to find their way to you to take your life. With the ability to lock doors, but only having a limited amount of power in order to do so, it makes for a tense experience that has spread over the course of a number of games!
The Giant Scary Mascot
Let’s look at the “elephant in the room” that unites these two franchises in that they both focus on giant creepy animal mascots, though in slightly different ways. In Gleipnir, the young student has the ability to transform into a large beast rather than being permanently trapped as one, like the souls dwelling within the animatronic nightmares of Five Nights At Freddys! Regardless, both are terrifying in their own rites, with the idea of a robotic children’s mascot coming to end your life is certainly one that not only makes a good hook for a story, but also a nightmare inducing affair!
The Overwhelming Sense Of Dread
Both Gleipnir and Five Night At Freddys are clearly horror stories that are also wrapped with a light sense of humor along the way, but both overwhelmingly have a sense of ever encroaching dread thanks to the events taking place in both. Rumor, lore, and horror are big parts of both series, though the use of transforming like a super hero into this legendary monstrous mascot differentiates Gleipnir from the spooky video game franchise!
Missing Persons
Both Gleipnir and Five Nights At Freddys deal with the idea of missing persons, with the characters of the anime attempting to find a lost sibling and the players of the scary video game franchise dealing with a mystery that involves lost children and murder most foul. Five Nights At Freddys story is fairly cut and dry, with the lore established for the franchise, and the lore created by its fan base, filling in the empty spaces that take place in the franchise overall.
Room For Growth
We doubt that Gleipnir will ever hit the same heights as Five Nights At Freddys, but both franchises definitely have the possibility of growing even larger than they already are. The popular video game franchise has already conquered the domain from which it was established, there have been past plans for the series to become a feature length film, though those plans appear to be in limbo at present. Should Gleipnir become more popular, it would clearly be able to garner an animated movie in a similar vein, though it would definitely be ironic if it received a video game.
The Intrigue Of The World Of Deadly Mascots
Both Gleipnir and Five Nights At Freddy’s are chock full of mysteries, making each episode, or video game, a heart pounding, noodle scratching endeavor. While the latter certainly focuses on jump scares, the lore establishes quite a few questions that can be more thoroughly explored at one’s leisure, while the anime uses its story arc to set up a number of quandries for the future!
