She can see dead people…she just chooses to ignore them. That’s Miko’s plan, anyway, but it doesn’t
seem to be working for her in this love letter to the horror genre that will send shivers down your
spine—and occasionally tickle your funny bone.
(Source: Funimation)
The story for _Mieruko-chan_ starts off repetitive and predictable but around halfway into the anime is when the story picks up and becomes somewhat interesting. The reason the first half was repetitive and predictable is that our protagonist Miko is constantly thrown into the same scenario with different settings each time. Miko will be in the bathroom and a ghost will appear. Miko is at the store and a ghost will appear. Miko will just be living her daily life and a ghost will appear. Every single time a ghost appears Miko does the same thing, she just ignores them. When the same formula is repeated over and over for 12 episodes straight, it gets stale real quick. The same formula sticks around even after the halfway mark but the story gets much more mysterious after Miko meets 3 spirits who are very different from other ghosts/spirits Miko has met before. On top of meeting these mysterious spirits, she also meets a guy who kind of reminded me of Luka Magnotta-you should watch _Don't F With Cats_ if you haven't already seen it- This made the story a little more interesting for me personally, but that doesn't mean the boring formula of Miko encountering ghosts and ignoring them is completely gone, cause it's not gone whatsoever, it's just a little bit more tolerable knowing the fact that there is something bigger going to happen within the story. The way I look at _Mieruko-chan_ is that the first half is an introduction to the characters and the second half is when the story actually begins. If you check the genre _Mieruko-chan_ happens to be a comedy anime. Unfortunately, _Mieruko-chan's_ comedy suffers the same problem that [Sakamoto Desu Ga?](https://anilist.co/anime/21595/Havent-You-Heard-Im-Sakamoto/) had, and that problem being, the same joke is recycled over and over and over. If someone told you a funny joke for the first time you will probably laugh, but if they repeat that same joke multiple times you will most likely be annoyed and want to tell them to shut the fuck up. That's how I felt watching Meiruko-chan. Seeing Miko meet a ghost and desperately try to ignore that ghost for the first time was kind of funny but seeing her meet ghosts and try to ignore these ghosts for the hundredth time throughout the anime becomes tiresome. img600(https://64.media.tumblr.com/2fe5a957513e3ad8babfa0dc2dfcbe86/59ef05cba9c31282-d9/s540x810/0973a21d261fc4fb4d00d908053a730facb7f7db.gifv) So, how are the characters? I mean they literally had the first half to introduce them to us, how do I feel about them? Personally, I find them to be mediocre at best. There are three characters we see very often, one of them is our protagonist Miko, and the other 2 are Yuria, and Hana. Out of these three, Yuria is the most interesting to me and I will talk more about Yuria after I talk about Miko. Miko lacks development; the only thing that makes her stand out is that she can see big scary ugly ghosts and spirits, other than that she really isn't special in any way. As a viewer, I can see that Miko wants to express herself, Miko wants to just shout and tell these ghosts to leave, but she doesn't. Instead, she bottles all her fear and emotion up inside of her and continues living her life which kind of makes me feel bad for her. Like I said earlier Miko's development is lacking throughout the anime, even after seeing a ghost for the hundredth time she still continues to freeze in place and tries her best to ignore them. For the first 10 episodes of the anime, I kept asking myself At what point will Miko just get over it? At what point will Miko just walk away instead of standing there and being scared for like 2 minutes straight? Thankfully those questions get answered in episode 11 when Miko finally develops and decides to confront a ghost. Unfortunately seeing a character development happen on the 2nd last episode is just disappointing. If this development happened earlier in the first half then the first half wouldn't have to be unnecessarily dragged out and boring. Yuria on the other hand can also see ghosts, but she can't see the big creepy ones like Miko. Yuria is the complete opposite of Miko, Yuria wants to exorcise these unwelcomed ghosts, and she also happens to be fearless, kind of. The only thing Yuria fears is Miko, and a lot of the funniest moments in the anime are because of Yuria being scared of Miko and misinterpreting the things Miko says. Unlike Miko and Hana, Yuria has a goal, her goal is to become a strong exorcist who can take down these ghosts. Ultimately because of these reasons Yuria quickly becomes the funniest and most likable character who I can't help but root for. Finally, we have Hana. Hana is probably the most characterless character in this anime, she isn't really interesting and the only thing that she talks about throughout the anime is food. Her whole personality is just eating food. I mean that's kind of relatable right? img600(https://www.crowsworldofanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Mieruko-chan_Episode-07-Figure-11-scaled.jpg) In the end, I never really thought _Mieruko-chan_ was a bad anime, I dont think it's good either, it's simply alright. The Mundane story along with run-of-the-mill characters didn't help with making the repetitive and predictable first half of _Mieruko-chan_ any more entertaining. Also, the fan service was obviously unnecessary but that didn't stay around for more than 4 episodes which is great. Although season 1 started off low the anime ended on a pretty high note which gives me hope for season 2.
~~~ __Mieruko-chan Season 1 - Spoiler Free Review__~~~ ~~~img220(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E6Z-2I2X0AQnqE3.jpg) ~~~ When I started watching _Mieruko-chan_, I did not know what to expect from it - a _horror-comedy_ anime series felt kind of strange to think about. Anyways, I decided to watch it and now that it's completed, I can say that it was a different but enjoyable experience overall. So the story is basically about a girl named _Miko Yotsuya_ who, one evening, standing at the bus stop, unlocks the ability of seeing ghosts or spirits around her. And, instead of screaming, she manages to just "ignore" it, suppressing all her emotions! Soon, she starts seeing spirits almost everywhere and tries her best to turn a blind eye to them, in order to save herself and others. But that is easier said than done. The show turns out to be a psychological horror of sort, as the struggle of controlling your fear is one difficult thing to do. It applies some comedy elements to drown out the darker impacts on the audience, and for me, it failed to be a proper comedy as the horror elements outweighed the humor. So, you should not dive into it to find comedy solely; instead it shines in delivering a better experience in other aspects. The show is also a _slice-of-life_, as we get to see the daily school and other activities of Miko, and her best friend _Hana_ - who is an extremely optimistic, always-hungry young girl, who is easily scared. Due to this, Miko decides to not tell anyone about it, so as to help protect her loved ones. A daily life mixed with dealing with supernatural entities is actually interesting to watch, and this show gave us an escape from the usual types of anime we are all used to see. The show turns dramatically more serious at the later half, and we get to see some very interesting developments in the story. One thing which felt a little disappointing was that we never actually got to know how Miko is the way she is now, as it does not give much time in explaining stuff to us. That being said, if we get to see another season where all of this is explored, it will be cool. But considering many good anime don't live to see a second season, this was a let down. The _supernatural_ aspect of the story is nothing ground-breaking, at least not in this season. It relies on some previously-known tropes to progress the story, although this did not feel bad. I like simple stories often anyways. I believe the show's strength lies in its suspenseful nature, which managed to keep me watching till the end of this season. One important message this show tries to convey was that: _you should not judge a person merely by their features on a surface level, rather we must try to understand them better by trying_. The story gets interesting as it moves on, and this is a major selling point of this anime. You can get hooked, but unfortunately you won't get to know the underlying intricacies. But it is worth trying in my opinion. The animation was pretty good I must say. _Studio Passione_, although being somewhat unknown before, managed to do a good job with this one. Not extraordinary, but still good enough, which adds to the show's overall merits. Mieruko-chan was not actually _scary_, at least not for me. But I must say that the spirit/monster designs and voices were well done and they do feel creepy sometimes. The show also relies on some slight _Ecchi_ scenes in its beginning part, and if this is something you want to see, then well enough (always welcome for me though). The major problem this show has is its blending of different genres, which does not always work in its favor. But, if you are looking for something different to watch, I will recommend you to give it a try because despite all of its shortcomings, it is still an enjoyable watch, and I am happy that I gave this one a chance. Definitely keeping my fingers crossed to see another season soon! Thank you for reading. Have a good day/night, keep watching anime and be happy! Written by: __Sekhar08__ December 19, 2021
__Pros:__ - The ghosts are the best part of the anime - The mystery here is interesting - Nailed the horror (don't feel good horror than jump scare city) __Neutral:__ - Characters look weird for me - Music is catchy but I think it's cheap (maybe I'm an old man in music tastes I guess) - Very slow pacing (but maybe because of the horror maybe) __Cons:__ - Too much unnecessary fanservice on the first third of the series. - MC being tortured is not really my type - Julia is underused - Sequel-bait ending It's neither good nor bad. It has something going on here bogged down by a lot of things. The plot is very very slow. It builds up the mystery of the world pretty nicely. They don't tell you right away. The ghosts are spooky but they are so interesting on why they exist and how they operate. If you want for the plot to kick in, you have to watch around the latter half of the anime. Before that, enjoy the first 4 episodes where they put ecchi shots fairly frequently. I don't blame you if you dropped this anime in this part because of the excessive fanservice. Thankfully it was significantly toned down Episode 5 and onwards. For the people that dropped the anime because of it, try again because there is some decent story here. The ending is kinda meh and unsatisfying. Sure, the supposed main antagonist was sorted out in episode 11 and 12, but it has unresolved mysteries in play here with the dreaded "putting more mysteries in the last episode". If you're going to do that, give us assurance that you're making a new season. Character wise, they're pretty okay. Miko is the main character which usually show a deadpan face :|. My nitpick here is that her face looks off and weird. She could see ghosts clearly though not Hana's auras. Biggest problem for me is that I hate the main character gets tortured constantly. I got scarred for life after watching the hot trash of post-movie Spongebob and later seasons of FOP. Admittedly, it's handled so much better than those shows. Rounding off the cast is Hana, energetic and a glutton. ~!She can't see but has an aura that could cook ghosts!~ then Yulia? Julia? _I don't know which is the correct name._ ~!She could see small ghosts though not the big ones and can see auras.!~ She's kinda underused here usually explaining their powers and fearing Miko for a fair amount of her screentime. Visually it's okay. Some good, some bad. Ghosts are a highlight and the sore thumb. 90% of the time, they're spooky owing to the decent effects they put around it. The other 10%, it's not that great because of the color choices on some ghosts. Other than that, there's nothing of note here. ~!The ones with the gold outline that represents Miko's protection against ghosts can be difficult to see because of the warm background which is always there when they appear!~ Music in the anime, it's pretty good. It ramps up the atmosphere of the stuff that happens there. The OP/ED? same though I think it's pretty cheap with it's repetition of words especially the opening. That's just my taste in music. If you like this style of music then good on you, This is a pretty good horror anime even though this isn't my cup of tea. The plot is pretty good albeit slow paced and the characters are nice to have. It gets dragged down by a poor first impression (because of fanservice), slow pacing and an unsatisfying ending. Give it a watch if you want some spookies and I hope they get the greenlight on a season 2.
__MIERUKO-CHAN__ What do you think would happen, when one day, you suddenly had this otherworldly, supernatural abilty to see the unknown? Would you run? Cower in fear? Or would you simply ignore, for fear of being tormented endlessly, your life a living hell, unable to confide nor escape this sight of horrors? This mishmash series of horror, slice of life, and comedy integrates these elements against the backdrop of the paranormal. These many constituents in a normal series would normally drag and become a lesser version of itself. Mieruko-chan, on the other hand, deftly balances all these components together and works wonders in delivering a fascinating experience to view through a mere diversative glance. Miko Yotsuya, an ordinary, yet rather complacent high schooler, living day to day with her best friend and merely enjoying the niceties of life. A chance encounter irreparably throws her world upside down. Not even she herself knows what ramifications forced her to miraculously obtain the sight, the power to walk into the world of spirits, ghouls and malevolent apparitions. It's interesting to see a real, and insightful take on what would actually happen if you really were able to witness these specters, lingering about as they were. Instead of exclaiming in shock or reacting in an obvious manner, it's more understandable to disregard their existence, lest they themselves bring harm to you or something worse. Her daily life with Hana, loved ones and acquaintances does an exemplary job in exploring many concepts not usually explored when it's interspliced with the small but not heavy comedic bits sprinkled here and there. They're not downright weighing down the material, but make the story even better. When the eventual jumpscares, and/or scary, frightening moments happen on or offscreen, they really sell on the scare factor, as some of them elicit a reaction out of the audience. It also deals with relevant subject matter that is not at all distasteful. In fact, it merely provides a real and materialistic existence for itself. Topics that occasionally are handwaved in other recent fare of media, this series treats them with the amount of respect it deserves. These integrated moments greatly develop Miko and her worldview in terms of how she should approach this gift of hers. Whether she should confront the surroundings that mess with her psyche and stand up for herself. It implements some usual well-worn tropes that don't necessarily drag the story down, but provide an enjoyable experience. The back-half of this season instantly segues into an emotional and satisfying story arc that benefits Miko as a character. There's a main theme running throughout that lingers besides her environment. You shouldn't judge people's overall character based on the impression they give, the features they exhibit on a surface level. Rather try to reach that middle ground, inching closer to deeply connect with them, without fear of repercussions. This becomes an entertaining experience, and a major selling point in our overall enjoyment. The visuals are breathtaking, courtesy of Studio Passione. While their usual animation techniques are present, i.e. their ecchi and erotic traits, it sparingly applies them in favor of an emotional backswell that rewards our patience. The more important plot beats endear us to Miko's progression as a character, as she ploddingly advances toward confronting and moving on from her initial fears and takes a stance to being true to who she is. This series isn't for everyone. If you can't stand the perverse closeups sometimes, or meandering interactions, it's understandable. The terror, scarily presented in equal quantities of fright and comically unknown measure, are also a utility to this adaptation of a special blend of themes. Fantastic voice-acting sell on the fright and malice sometimes exhibited during these episodes' run. With clean and sparing animation-styled frames, it's managed to keep me invested throughout, regardless of its reserved plot beats. If you're aching for something a tad different from your usual fare, give it a shot. The mix of genres shouldn't at all deter your enjoyment of it as a whole. It can surprise you without any reservations.
# __Sobre:__ Mieruko-chan é um anime estreado em outubro de 2021 animado pelo estúdio Passione, tendo os gêneros de Comédia, supernatural e horror. De primeira vista iria ser um anime que eu iria ignorar por não gostar tanto do gênero de horror, ainda mais depois que vi cenas de alguns espíritos bizarros de feios, mas depois de um tempo decidi dar uma chance pro anime, já que eu tinha gostado bastante dos designs das personagens. O tema é sobre Mieruko que de repente começa a ver espíritos, o problema é que esses espíritos são assustadores e tem aparências bizarras que acabam atormentando a vida da protagonista que tenta ao máximo ignorá-los. ~~~img570(https://i.imgur.com/FjXcbe3.gif)~~~ Embora seja um anime com tema de horror e supernatural, ele consegue ter momentos bem alegres e descontraídos principalmente pela personalidade energética e positiva da Hana que serve como alívio tanto pro público quanto pra protagonista que é atormentada pelos espíritos todos os dias. A obra consegue ilustrar bem a ideia de realizar espíritos com aparências bizarras, sendo um mais feio que o outro, também tem os seus momentos tensos que por muitas vezes trazem um ar de mistério do porquê algumas coisas acontecem. Uma das melhores coisas também são as caras bem expressivas que a protagonista faz demostrando que está desesperada e desconfortável com a sensação de ver esses espíritos. Um problema um pouco negativo do anime é que ele tem bastante cenas ecchi sendo a maioria em momentos desnecessários, mas isso acontece mais no inicio do anime pra tentar prender alguns certos tipos de públicos, visto que o tema do anime não é algo para crianças e sim para um público adolescente/mais velho e deu certo porque já vi algumas pessoas que gostaram mais ainda do anime pelos momentos de ecchi. ~~~img570(https://i.imgur.com/e6w7DJb.gif)~~~ Depois que o anime já consegue assegurar um pouco tanto o público interessado pela trama e tanto o público interessado apenas pelas personagens, essas cenas ecchi desnecessárias param de acontecer na mesma frequência exagerada que o inicio tinha e aí que a história começa a desenrolar ainda mais, tendo o folclore japonês ainda mais abordado, já que esses espíritos remetem bastante à Youkais, espíritos que podem querer ajudar as pessoas, porém a grande maioria querem matar ou assombrá-las; coisas como templos, oferendas, orações também são representadas com o decorrer dos episódios. Em certos momentos o anime vai começar a ter cenas bem significativas e que tentam passar uma boa mensagem para o público que assiste, coisas como respeitar entes queridos já falecidos, não julgar os outros pela aparência, ajudar pessoas e tentar entende-las mais. # __Personagens:__ Acho que o autor acertou em cheio ao escolher as personalidades das garotas, elas são bem diferentes umas das outras e podem representar grande parte do público. A [Miko](https://anilist.co/character/139631/Miko-Yotsuya) por exemplo é aquela pessoa não que não gosta de terror, mas mesmo assim controla seus medos ao máximo, já a [ Yuila](https://anilist.co/character/156860/Yulia-Niguredou) é aquele tipo de pessoa peculiar que se interessa bastante por coisas estranhas e tem a [Hana](https://anilist.co/character/139632/Hana-Yurikawa) uma personagem fofa e alegre que é totalmente medrosa com coisas de terror e prefere viver a vida bem tranquila sem pensar nessas coisas. A interação entre elas acaba encaixando muito bem e gera cenas bem descontraídas e engraçadas pra tirar todo aquele clima tenso que a protagonista passa durante o anime. ~~~img570(https://i.imgur.com/GLA9xfY.jpg)~~~ #__Conclusão:__ Mieruko-chan é um anime muito bom, que conseguiu misturar bem a comédia com o horror/supernatural, eu que detesto coisas de terror acabei gostando bastante do anime e recomendo dar um chance mesmo que você não goste tanto do tema. A obra me surpreendeu bastante com as mensagens simples que ela passa e acabei gostando muito das personagens, é lógico que não é aquele terror que faz você não dormir de noite, pelo contrário não dá medo algum e tem um clima bem divertido até, por isso vale a pena dar uma chance mesmo que não goste desse tema de terror. __Obrigado por ler :O__ ~~~img570(https://i.imgur.com/4S4VCoK.gif)~~~
You've seen the summary, you know I’m going to praise this show to heavens and back, so lets start with the negatives: img(https://files.catbox.moe/arechi.png) _a negative_ No, really. If you are alone right now, click on the directors name. Look at the animes he was involved with. The man basically spent the last 10 years of his life drawing and/or directing various shades of horny, and that influence is laid wide open in the first 3 episodes of the show (and its not the only thing that's laid wide open, if you catch my drift). If you have an allergy against pointless and unfitting fanservice, this shows beginning might be enough scare you off, and i can't deny that it's not exactly conductive to the atmosphere the show is trying to establish. img(https://files.catbox.moe/apkwdg.png) _CCTV footage of the animation studio after the third episode (colourised)_ Thankfully, _something_ must have happened after the third episode, because the fanservice-meter suddenly gets turned back down to an acceptable level, and we are left with what is one of my absolute favourite shows of the last decade. #The basic Formula img(https://files.catbox.moe/8mw61o.png) _What’s wrong? Are you not hungry?_ The show follows our main character Miko, who gains the ability to see a varying set of usually very unpleasant spirits – and chooses to ignore them. Not out of disinterest, or out of some comedic defiance, but because it was the natural thing to do in this situation – if you or me were in this situation, we would have done the same (except maybe with less success). This isn’t always easy however, and repeatedly gets her into situations that, depending on the surroundings, vary between comedic when she makes up awkward excuses for not wanting to go to a certain place, to severely psychologically unnerving, and anything in-between. Miko herself is designed to carry the unnerving parts of these encounters. She acts comparatively grounded and realistic, even outside of the ghost encounters (which is already incredibly rare for animes, where characters are usually highly exaggerated, let alone for horror shows). This helps sell the less pleasurable encounters – when you see Miko lose her nerves, you _believe_ it. The rest of the cast are the typical types of personalities that you’d expect from a comedy or slice of life anime. Throw both of these together at one scene, and you’ve got a constant (and usually very well timed) shift in tone between light-hearted slice of life and psychological terror, which builds the foundation of this series. #Horror? Comedy? Slice of life? What exactly is this? img(https://files.catbox.moe/zbbkoi.png) Its not _really_ a Comedy. Jokes are few and far between, and usually placed to break up an unnerving moment, or to cleanse the pallet after a longer ghost encounter. They are definitely functional, but not the central point of the show. There is quite a lot of slice of life in here, but that too is more of a logical consequence of the setup rather than the focus of the show – it’s about Miko trying to ignore the monstrosities around her, so logically, we are going to watch her try to live her normal life, try to get through everyday situations. No, this really is a horror show – just not the kind that we here in the west are used to. Genres can be a pretty confusing thing. Like with all broader words in life, different people tend to have a radically different understanding of the details, and this show is a pretty good representation of this fact. If you are looking for something like the gruesome horror of a saw movie or the cheap jumpscares of a round of five knights at ferdinands, you have come to the wrong place. The show doesn’t try to scare you out of your seat or make you eerily eye the dark corner of your room. The only person who is experiencing any horror here is the main character Miko – any feelings of horror or unease you will have are purely out of empathy to what she must be going through. The whole thing is really about observing psychological terror. Sometimes it surprises you with multiple rapid swings in atmosphere, other times it decides to hide all spirits from you so you can see her acting as if she has bipolar disorder, and sometimes it just makes you feel relieved that Miko gets a second to feel easy for once. To a Japanese, this probably seems like a regular description of the "horror" genre, but over here in the west, people would probably call that "psychological thriller" or something. Words are difficult. Either way, its a pretty good horror show – but the _real_ good thing about it, and what ultimately sold it to me, is the _mystery_. #A perfectly executed mystery Following the trend of confusing genre names, i don't mean what an American usually considers "mystery" – that is, a crime show that doesn't tell you who did it right away. Over here in Krautland, mystery has a very different meaning, and just like this show is a good representation of japanese horror, it too is an absolutely _perfect_ representation of german mystery. Not to undersell the psychological horror the show is trying to go for: it definitely does that pretty well. If that was all there is to this show, it would already be good _enough_. But the true strength of the show lies in something completely different: how it decides to tell you about its world and the rules that govern it. img(https://files.catbox.moe/rfhs3m.png) _Do you think that axe is safe?_ Every World needs _some_ form of logic. Isekai writers like to come up with elaborate magic systems that nobody ends up caring about. Older cartoons from the last century loved to play with your expectations of its logic, moving mountains to clear otherwise insurmountable gaps, drawing paths or objects that suddenly become "real", or pulling ludicrous amounts of equipment from small pockets. Poorly written shows love to just wing it, constantly introducing new rules and breaking them again when they have become inconvenient. The spirits in this show, too, seem to follow rules. However, no one ever tells you any of them. There is no intro that gives you background information on the world. There is no knowledgeable veteran that shows up and tells us what the ghosts can and can’t do, where they come from, how they act. Instead, every new ghost encounter comes with a slight twist to it, revealing _some_ new information about how they work – never by outright telling us, but rather by showing us new types of interactions that we haven't seen before. The encounters never devolve into a “ghost of the day”-format or become repetitive, not because there is much of an iteration on the formula, but because every single new encounter rewards us with a new piece of information that we can analyse and try to put into the slowly growing puzzle that is this shows world building. It's also incredibly careful to make sure that, at any point in time, we know pretty much as little as Miko herself – which means, in those moments where she is trying to figure out how things work, we are just as unsure about the outcome as she is. At the same time, Miko herself is smart enough to make the same inferences that we do, and curious enough to try and push the boundaries – at least as far as her fear allows her to. Then, when new information appears, the show itself is considerate enough not to blurt it out in an unnatural way (as animes tend to do; Jujutsu Kaisen even turned that into an in-universe mechanic) – instead, it's trying to be as natural about it as possible. Sometimes we can hear relief or disgust in Mikos narration over it, sometimes Miko just gives out a small sigh or has a change in her facial expression, but most of the time it isn’t even mentioned at all, and we are forced to just carefully observe Miko for the next few minutes to see if she altered her behaviour accordingly. Combined with her relatively grounded and realistic behaviour, this makes it incredibly easy to emphasise with her and her decisions. Look at the picture above. We can be sure that she isn’t going to die here – that would end the show. But is it really save? Do you think she ends up getting hit and finds out – or will she make an awkward excuse and walk away at the last minute? It’s always easy to be smug about a situation if you already know the answer – but in this show, we _don’t_. And the consequences of being wrong could be pretty severe, so as much as we would like to find out, it’s also perfectly understandable if she decides not to. That is not to say that there are no more knowledgable people in the show; in fact, it makes it quite clear that there are plenty of them; and when we the viewer get some additional information that Miko doesn't get, it is usually through a side-comment from on of these. But even when the story seems to converge into a situation where we would expect to be told more, it always manages to blue ball us by weaselling itself out there without revealing too much. Pretty much everything we know gets drip-fed to us slowly through its encounters, making sure that this basic formula, the bread and butter of the show, stays interesting and engaging at all times. And so we go from spirit to spirit, situation to situation, always waiting for that next slight piece of information, curious if Miko will have the nerves to find out about it at all, happy if she does, understanding if she doesn’t, then completely overjoyed when the show decides to give us a piece without the massive psychological terror of a bad encounter for once. It reminds me a lot of dark souls in that sense: a rather slow and uncertain trickle of massive rewards; except instead of ambition, it’s using your natural curiosity to string you along. By the first half, i was basically like a junkie hanging at the slowly leaking facet that this show drip-feeds you its background informations with, using the pretty well executed other parts to tie me over until it finally releases the next minor drop of information. (And unlike dark souls, I enjoyed every single second of it. But maybe I just have an oddly addictive personality.) #Long story short If you are looking for a traditional western horror story, you will be solely disappointed. If you’re looking for a funny comedy with ghosts, you will also be disappointed. If you want to watch surprisingly realistic reactions to severely unnerving situations, broken up by occasional comedy and slice of life, and maybe ponder about the impact of mind-compromising mental illnesses for a while, definitely give it a go. But if you have an obsessive amount of curiosity for learning and understanding the exact rules of an imaginary world in an animated show that will probably not get a sequel for half a decade or more, if at all, then this might just be the best anime you will ever watch.
Mieruko-Chan is a anime that has been on my watchlist for a few years now. It is one i put off for the longest time but after now seeing it i'm neither disappointed nor amused. The anime presents itself as a horror on the surface, but it's an example of how you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. That is due to the attempt at horror being rather poor indeed. The horror elements are so very tame, making me confused whether it should be classed within the horror genre to begin with. Despite this i do like the design of the creatures and believe it to stand out as a strong point amid mediocrity. The monsters can be frequently visually intriguing but is let down by both their frequency and actions. I also find the movies attempt at comedy to be utterly mediocre at the very best of times. So even as a more comedic horror it still falls flat for me. That being said, for me the most significant issue here is the anime's pacing. The narrative bombards you with "scare" after "scare" with almost no downtime. This constant barrage detracts from the overall viewing as it prevents any meaningful tension from building. The first episode is the sole exception, with a more suspenseful approach showing you how the rest of the series could have been. This is made very obvious by the fact it is by far the only good episode of the entire anime. The story has an interesting idea around a girl who can see scary creatures others cannot. However, if the show focused less on constantly showcasing flashy creatures and more on developing it's plot and characters it would have been far more engaging. I believe the worst part of the narrative is the fact that the (as already mentioned) good monster designs go to waste as the story surrounding them is so very lacklustre it's rather sad. The lead character is quite engaging throughout the early part of the show. That being said the more the anime goes on you find out there is almost no character development throughout the entire runtime. Her surrounding cast is absolutely fine earlier on (but like her) get boring towards the end of the show. Also the anime teases an interesting villain, only to mishandle and butcher the character to the highest degree. This detracts significantly from the overall narrative they were trying to tell, making one wonder if the show would have been better off if that character didn't exist. Very briefly i would like to mention how the opening theme is one of which i did not like. It doesn't set the right tone for the show and feels rather out of place. Overall, the anime has a promising premise and some well-designed creatures, but is damaged by a poor pace and inconsistent character development. Final Score - 4/10