454th G-View: Mieruko-chan

The last time I saw an anime starring a lovely lady with the power to see ghosts was Re-Kan!, which was wonderful. This time we have one where most of the ghosts are far less friendly and the girls bless cultured people more often. This is Mieruko-chan.

Genres: Comedy, Horror, Supernatural

Themes: Afterlife

Number of Episodes: 12

G-Rating: 8/10

Plot Summary: Miko Yotsuya is an ordinary high school student who has the unfortunate ability to see horrifying ghosts and spirits that haunt her and the people around her. Despite this, Miko does her best to ignore the existence of ghosts and tries to live out a normal high school life.

The running theme of the show is “expect the unexpected” with several cool twists and turns at the end of many segments and ongoing stories. Even when viewers figured out a twist the show does a pretty good job leaving a strong impression upon the reveals. That was the impression I had once it became clear what kind of narrative the show had. There is another important theme but I leave that for viewers to discover. Miko is a great protagonist who does her very best to ignore the usually scary ghosts that get scarier over time with a few exceptions. This of course becomes harder over time as the spooks get spookier and harder for her to hide how terrified she usually is. Not only is this to avoid the consequences of the creepy spooks noticing her seeing them but it is also to protect those she cares for, especially her best friend Hana. More on her later.

Besides her main goals of living the rest of her life as sane as possible and keeping her loved ones safe there are mysteries surrounding the ghosts too, be it their cause of death, connection to the living or other conundrums Miko experiences more often as the story progresses, causing her to question the morality of the ghosts who cannot or do not want to rest in peace. Even the episode previews with their simple titles have their secrets. Such a well structured and paced show that despite not really answering the main question of how or why Miko could see ghosts everything else is very well done and presented.

Speaking of presenting let us move on to the presentation. I like the show going for the “fear of the unknown” approach to horror over “jump scares”. It is not about seeing the spooky spooks but more not understanding them nor being unable to do anything against them. Viewers relate to Miko’s confusion and powerlessness for most of the show. How effective the scares are depend on the viewer. I was admittedly freaked out on more than one occasion after the excellently executed frights in the premiere episode.

Besides the well done scares and mostly creepy ghost designs people of culture are blessed with the lovely visages of our heroines gracing us with their magnificence early on. As the show progresses they tone down the frequency of the holiness but it does not go away entirely so worry not. The soundtrack is part whimsical and bone chilling as it should be for a horror comedy, same goes for the OP and ED.

Before we get to the main event let us briefly go over the side-characters. The most noteworthy ones being Miko’s sexy mom and little bro. I already mentioned mom’s highlight while lil’ bro may appear to annoy his older sister but in reality cares greatly about her. One highlight is the episode he suspected his nee-chan involved in some, shall we say, chicanery. Other characters connected to ghosts or otherwise do their jobs well. Remember the above mentioned running theme with some of them. Then there is this mystery girl right here. For most of the first half of the show her identity and motives remain a mystery. I had a running gag where I used this exact screen shot each time she briefly appeared before her formal introduction. While I think she too is a cool character…for some reason she became the MVP of the show for many of my fans and frequent visitors. The curious are better left checking non-spoiler comments below to find out why this girl is considered one of the best characters of 2021. I have no idea but that is how beloved she is. So much so after her appearance I started another running gag of starting each post on this show telling readers if she makes an appearance or not. Personally I would love to have seen more of the token sexy school nurse but alas she only appeared twice.

Lastly we have Miko and her bubbly bodacious bottomless pit bestie Hana. I already talked about Miko so let us go over Hana and their relationship. Hana is a super friendly well-endowed cutie who has her own secret and an amusingly ironic trait. Viewers will spot it when she goes exploring by herself.  As mentioned she loves to eat with her favorite food being peach butt shaped buns. As for her relationship with Miko she cherishes their relationship. Being there for her whenever possible, going on as many dates as they can and most importantly open to having a romantic relationship. Hopefully one day Miko embraces her destiny and sees her as more than a very dear person in her life.

Overall Mieruko-chan is fun and spooky time. The scares are very well executed most of the time, the presentation creepy and sexy, the narrative so well done even expected twists have great payoffs alongside the legit surprises. The side-characters fulfill their roles well and our main duo (later trio) of Miko and Hana are great, especially the potential of something greater between them. While the main question is not answered everything else is well done. Recommended to readers who can handle scares, are people of culture and are ready for occasional feels. Oh, I forgot to mention that? Well I did now.