Mieruko-chan, by Passione, is an anime adaptation of the manga by the same title, written and illustrated by Tomoki Izumi, with twelve episodes of 23 minutes each. It began serialization online via Kadokawa’s ComicWalker
website in November 2018, with five tankōbon volumes released so far.
The narrative follows Miko, a girl whose life was turned upside down when she suddenly started to see and hear things that ordinary people couldn’t. It is mainly focused on her daily misfortunes while facing frightening spirits and trying to avoid dying from a panic attack (whilst the monsters are illustrated in the most grotesque forms the narrative itself wasn’t particularly scary, although there are some parts that will have you clinging to the edge of your seat in anticipation and suspense). She takes the stance of simply ignoring these spirits and pretending they’re not there. Thankfully, this tactic is the key to keeping her alive. Admittedly the character shows some amazing willpower.
As the narrative continues, Miko’s best friend, Hana, is introduced as Miko attempts to protect her from these monsters only Miko can see, and Hana is a bit of an air-head. Yulia joins Miko and Hana as she sees herself as something of a rival because she too can see monsters just not as well as Miko, although it’s only Yulia who sees herself this way and Miko and Hana are oblivious to this, also Yulia is annoying. An old lady is also introduced when Miko tries to buy a protective charm from her. These supporting characters are somewhat disappointing as they are a bit mundane, seeing as there are so few supporting characters, some time and effort may have been dedicated to improving them and turning them into more solid characters. Only the old lady warrants some interest, but although she seems clued up about the situation Miko is in, it seems the old lady is not interested in getting involved.
Initially, the narrative seemed to be along the normal slice-of-life lines with nothing of particular import, something you could watch to kill time and enjoy for the comedy, and the comedy was okayish. To my appreciation, this did change with the introduction of the shrine spirits and their role in protecting Miko and it became a bit more interesting. The narrative also reveals some interesting facts about Hana and the powers she has but doesn’t know about. It would be interesting to see where the narrative continues on this in a follow-up season and the old lady’s role in all of this. Honestly, it’s just left me asking questions with no answers.
When reading up on how the people feel who read the manga, the anime adaptation does differ and the manga version sounds a lot more horror-themed than comedy. Currently, I would only suggest this as a good watch for some laughs and kill time or rather read the manga, I’m told it’s more interesting than the anime series. Regardless it was enjoyable to an extent and kept me entertained, it doesn’t have me pining for the next season, but I would watch it if one did release. Enjoy the fan service 😉
