Mieruko-chan

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"* Based on a horror comedy seinen manga by Izumi Tomoki.

One day, Miko suddenly started seeing grotesque beings that others couldn't. Her response was not to run, not to face them, but to do everything she can to completely ignore them! Can she keep a straight face and continue her day-to-day life while surrounded by horrifying monsters?

Source: Yen Press"

Genre(s): Horror, Comedy, Seinen
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Well I'll be... an honest to goodness horror anime. Not horror themed or horror adjacent thriller, but actual 'trying to make you afraid' horror. It sort of worked, too. I kept waiting for the humor to drop in the first episode, but the spooks just kept coming. The silent flash transitions worked well and the grotesque ghost designs were pretty off-putting. There is fanservice, and it is obvious, so there's a caution if that bothers you. I guess the humor elements will come in next episode? 'Tis the season, so give it a try.

I thought the humor was in Miko maintaining her perpetual deadpan despite her inner turmoil and terror. Which works in keeping the ghosts from killing her.

Amamiya Sora (Aqua, Elizabeth Liones, Mizuhara Chizuru) is killing it on the presentation though. I've liked her since she debuted into main roles, and she's just a top tier VA. Miko breaking down in her own head is such a great contrast to her outward demeanor.

I've heard the fanservice trails off (once the mangaka realized he didn't need it to sell it), and this is really just being overly faithful to the manga.

Eps 2
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Aww, there's a silver lining with Miko's curse...

That, and the big spirit eating others suggests there might be more complex mechanisms at play here that is keeping me interested. The spooks have already worn off, so I'm thankful for that element. I hope third girl is the missing link to really give this story some legs and direction.

4

While I'm still looking for some more concrete application of how these spirits work or aggress (or if they even can), the episode-to-episode hijinks still entertain, and that twist at the end really caught me off guard. Good stuff.

So if I want a well-animated ecchi-horror anime, is that it? Is the story intriguing?

It's pretty well animated, at least no problems so far production wise. The story seems interesting, but more for the potential of what this all means. So far, there is next to no explanation for how these spirits react or behave. That may change, and there are characters to facilitate it, but it hasn't happened four episodes in.

Well animated, yes. For its distinct style of cute-vice-grotesque.

Story? It's very light on that. There's not really a cohesive plot. Just a few related/remembered prior events. It's Miko suffering from her "condition" and trying to do her best to not be killed by a ghost recognizing she's seen them.

But in contrast, the lore is pretty good. It's not entirely scary shit she sees.

My favorite OP/ED this season too (though Mushoku Tensei's OP is good this season, ARIA style in-world).

My cat just passed away last week, so the 2nd episode literally made me cry.

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

(though Mushoku Tensei's OP is good this season, ARIA style in-world).

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HOW CAN YOU TELL?!

I'm not sure what you're trying to say, or if you are sarcastic or dense here.

ARIA was very effective at using it's OP during lead-in and mood setting to the episode (it's one of the things ARIA became known for since few other anime were doing it at the time), which Mushoku Tensei also does. It makes an OP in the musical style that all of the respective songs share, more effective.

Nothing more than that.

Mieruko-chan's OP is just FUN. Amamiya Sora kills it on stuff like this.

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

I'm not sure what you're trying to say

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I'm saying, how the hell do you know what MTs opening is like this season? Just like with S1, they haven't SHOWN it yet!

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

My favorite OP/ED this season too (though Mushoku Tensei's OP is good this season, ARIA style in-world).

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Watch Ousama Ranking's. Best one imo.

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Originally Posted by DarthEnderX

My cat just passed away last week, so the 2nd episode literally made me cry.

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I'm sorry, Darth. Hope it gets better.

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Originally Posted by DarthEnderX

I'm saying, how the hell do you know what MTs opening is like this season? Just like with S1, they haven't SHOWN it yet!

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Okay, I guess you didn't get it then.

That is the OP. Mushoku Tensei and ARIA both use the opening theme song set over added unvoiced runtime to set the tone of a given episode before it actually starts proper. It's just a technique so rarely used that people assume the series doesn't have an OP.

As opposed to Mieruko-chan's, which cuts distinctly, but also gives us some repeated character development and tone setting in the lyrics for the beleaguered Miko, who looks impassive during the gags of the series, but is deeply tormented by her spirit sight. Set to a lighthearted song with not-so-lighthearted lyrics.

The alternative is to just use a random pop song as cross-advertising for both the vocalist/band/group and the anime, set to alternate animation of the series' future (as with Kimetsu no Yaiba or Fire Force) or even just random shit we never actually see in the series proper.

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

Okay, I guess you didn't get it then.

That is the OP. Mushoku Tensei and ARIA both use the opening theme song set over added unvoiced runtime to set the tone of a given episode before it actually starts proper. It's just a technique so rarely used that people assume the series doesn't have an OP.

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I coulda sworn MT S1 had a real OP...it just only showed up in, like, 1 episode.

Episode 5
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I guess Miko was right to avoid them and pretend she can't see them. I would have thought anyone with Spirit Sight can see everything, but I guess that's not the case. Yulia only sees the weak ones, and Godmother could only see the aura of everything.

The ones Miko sees would definitely kill her if she ever let them catch on. She got lucky that the old lady's husband wasn't malevolent.

Hana is safe because of her supreme aura, so presumably Yulia has one too of some degree. She only started to see the big one while Miko choked her out. Miko has nothing defending her.

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

The ones Miko sees would definitely kill her if she ever let them catch on. She got lucky that the old lady's husband wasn't malevolent.

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Really? Cause, like, have ANY of them been malevalent so far? Cause I don't think we've seen a single one hurt someone.

I mean, I'm sure there ARE evil ones, but what if it's literally a Sixth Sense situation where the spirits just need someone to finish their business for them so they can move on?

The big ones that only Miko can see seem to be.

Yulia sees the nicer ones that would fall in with the old lady's husband. Miko doesn't panic about those and they usually don't ask her if she can see them. The ones who ask her repeatedly fall into the category of Japanese ghost horror stories and follow all those tropes like Kuchisake-onna or Aka Manto conversations.

The exes and bakeneko seem to be what happens to someone who can't see them. Hanging around very close to notice any moment of weakness. If either of those three could, they'd be very, very dead. And Yulia starting to see the big one as she began passing out may have some connection? Like the triggers to start seeing ghosts in The Frighteners (or countless anime/manga who do the same "near death now I see ghosts!" thing).

Though lore wise, Miko just started randomly seeing them.

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

The big ones that only Miko can see seem to be.

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SEEM to be, but doesn't mean they are. Just cause they look scary and act creepy doesn't mean they're harmful.

I thought, based on the dad and the cats, that good/evil spirits would be clearly delineated. But the spirit in this one looked like a bad one, but wasn't, so that's out the window.

Even those "evil" cat spirits probably aren't evil. They were victims, and their dark appearance is probably just a reflection of trauma.


I think the giant eating spirit might be, like, the door to the afterlife. And once a spirit resolves its unfinished business, it goes there to be eaten in order to move on.

Well, going by Japanese folklore, the cats are very clearly delineated into Bakeneko (horribly mistreated while alive) and Nekomata (deeply cared for while alive), in their traditional forms and based on the way they were treated in life.

Most ghosts probably can't do anything to their prospective victims because they have auras. Hana's is extremely powerful, so they can't do anything to her despite how many she attracts, like the groper perv ghost. Miko noticeably doesn't have an aura at all. So if we believe Godmother, and there's no reason not to, Miko is in significant danger.

Miko can't see auras, so we don't get to know how those other cursed people are fending them off.

I must have missed Godmother saying she was in great danger. Yes, they are unnerving, yes their actions are as suspicious as it gets, but none of them have actually touched or projected any force upon Miko yet, have they? I don't blame her for not wanting to test the theory, but I don't see any evidence that these spirits are both malignant and capable of corporeal harm. Apparently, people are walking into and through them all the time without ill effect, unless these 'auras' are protecting them, which I also am unfamiliar with.

That being said, this episode pushed me to two opposing extremes of emotion: in the first half, annoyance that the first encounter and 'reset' of Yulia as a subject matter expert feeling squandered. Miko uncovering the origin and moving to remedy her spiritual issue is the most interesting thing this show has going for it, and for it to be so teased and quickly sidelined felt like a contrived bait-and-switch. On the other hand, the second half with the elderly couple was very heartwarming and brought me back down to appreciating taking our time again.

I'll take feeling something over not, any day.

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Originally Posted by neflight86

I must have missed Godmother saying she was in great danger. Yes, they are unnerving, yes their actions are as suspicious as it gets, but none of them have actually touched or projected any force upon Miko yet, have they? I don't blame her for not wanting to test the theory, but I don't see any evidence that these spirits are both malignant and capable of corporeal harm. Apparently, people are walking into and through them all the time without ill effect, unless these 'auras' are protecting them, which I also am unfamiliar with.

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Hana is safe because of her supreme aura, and Miko is admirable for obviously seeing them but ignoring them. We can kind of assume Yulia has a decent aura as well.

So it is inference, not directly stated.

Miko put her face right into the Leatherface style one that same episode, trying to protect Hana (Miko has no idea that they'll cling all over Hana, but can't do anything to Hana).

So, going with traditional Japanese ghost lore, conversing with or admitting you can see one and they notice is the problem.

I wonder how much I may be missing out of this if those Japanese horror tropes are a shorthand for audience expectation? I wasn't getting those impressions at all (outside of Miko's obvious situation), especially with the groping one wrapped around Hana in the nurse's office and her being none the wiser.

I guess I'm waiting for one to interact with the physical world somehow so I can graduate to 'sticks and stones' from 'words can never hurt me'. That itself could be a powerful reveal the author is saving for later though, so it may be intentional.

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Originally Posted by neflight86

I wonder how much I may be missing out of this if those Japanese horror tropes are a shorthand for audience expectation? I wasn't getting those impressions at all (outside of Miko's obvious situation), especially with the groping one wrapped around Hana in the nurse's office and her being none the wiser.

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The pattern most typically associated with Kuchisake-onna is the big one and the one you really need to know to get the vibe. See the convo chart on wikipedia especially.

I'm just not as convinced as you are that the writer is just slavishly following the rules of Japanese folklore.

I'll believe a thing is a certain way when the show tells me it's that way. I'm not just going to assume it's going to be the cliche.

Episode 7
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This is definitely my favorite OP of the season, by quite the margin.

The misunderstanding between Miko and Yulia just gets better every episode. Poor girl has been choked out and suffocated twice now, but she finally has some real friends to call her own.

I am very curious what's going on with the shrine ghost and maiden demons. Is Miko being extra cursed by them, or favored? The shrine maiden demons protected her this time, but it wasn't like the big one was around to feed on the ghost she and Hana had lured.

8

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8 episodes in and still zero evidence that these things are capable of actually harming people. The only violence they do is on each other.

Anyway, cat murderer is back! Hope he dies!

Liking the conflict brewing here, because, as mentioned, no indication of ghosts affecting the physical world.

Post credit scene was genuinely heartwarming. I almost teared up.

9

Her "kya"s were genuinely cute in the haunted house, and the teacher still hasn't been shown being evil- maybe he just forgot to feed his cats?

Nah, that dude is definitely a serial killer.

He's got, like, a dozen curse cats. If you keep getting more cats after letting the first couple starve, it's clearly not simple negligence.

Hana has also been getting hungrier lately, meaning she is burning and repelling more spirits that are gathering around her. Probably mostly at school.

Yulia's completely unfounded arrogance is always so cute. It's very heartwarming that Hana and Miko keep trying to drag her out of her isolation.

Personally, I thought Miko's screams were weird as hell, not cute.

I meant that they were very forced, and I thought that was what made them cute- sympathizing with Mieruko.

Eps 10

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Shrimp, cucumber, tomato, lettuce, ham and cheese on brioche (or maybe challah bread)?!

I kind of believe the gyaru on the mouthfeel of the sandwich. It must be rubbery-meaty, crunchy, salty, and sweet.

Yeah...let's just keep pretending they aren't dangerous. Miko finally confirmed to one that she saw it and it went immediately for her to the degree she triggered the shrine maidens to save her. And it wasn't even an overtly scary one. It was more in line with what Yulia usually sees. Godmother seems to see the completely benign ones that are like Miko's dad.

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

Yeah...let's just keep pretending they aren't dangerous. Miko finally confirmed to one that she saw it and it went immediately for her to the degree she triggered the shrine maidens to save her. And it wasn't even an overtly scary one.

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I'm not saying they aren't dangerous, just that there's no evidence that they are.

Yeah, it went after her. But what happens when it GETS her? Because so far, the show suggests that it's nothing. She's had a goddamn ghost axe in her FACE and NOTHING HAPPENED.

The show really needs to establish stakes by showing someone else seeing a ghost and being hurt by it.


I will say, that kid ghost was cheating.

I wonder if she can replenish her shrine ghosts by making another offering.

Axe ghost didn't know she could see it. So it chopped into her to check for ghosts, but not her. Same thing when Miko stepped into the chain ghost to protect Hana from contacting it (before she knew Hana has a super aura).

That acknowledgement of being seen changes them very quickly to much more menacing behavior. Like granting them permission to interact. She's been safe so far because she keeps convincing them that they were mistaken.

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

That acknowledgement of being seen changes them very quickly to much more menacing behavior.

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Changes their behavior, yes. But there's no evidence that the behavior change does anything to change their capabilities.

If being hostile doesn't actually do anything about the fact that they're intangible, then they still can't actually do jack shit to her. Other than, I dunno, harass her more emotionally?

Well, the rules at play here are still fuzzy to me. For instance, how sentient are the ghosts? They can only have malice and repeat simple phrases, but are able to tell that people are probably screaming at the ghost house actors instead of me? Why aren't there other instances of people being attacked by ghosts, like a string of unexplained murders or disappearances? What if a ghost thinks someone sees it because they are daydreaming and happen to be staring into its space- surely there's room for that kind of happenstance. Strange that they expect someone to be able to see them at all, actually, since they constantly ask Mieruko. All we're saying is that some evidence of consequence would really help cement the tension here, as everything so far can be attributed to a fever dream, corporeally speaking.

Animal abuse is sad to see. This is building up to an interesting confrontation; will sensei get his comeuppance, and if so, how will Mieruko's powers play a role in that?

Eps 11

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Worth mentioning that both things Miko's mother and brother suggest feeding to the cat would kill it. Consistent with the background gags all being a bit on the morbid side, including the book they are still reading in class.

I guess the entire theme of the series is seeing things and judging them prematurely from appearance. Both positively and negatively. It is sweet that his friend from childhood kept up their friendship despite Zen's mother forbidding him from doing or engaging with anyone.

The juxtaposition of Miko deeply caring for Hana to Zen taking care of stray cats was intentional and quite funny.

So who is the sociopath running around killing cats?

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

So who is the sociopath running around killing cats?

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My guess is either the childhood friend, or the grouchy looking neighbor woman.

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Originally Posted by DarthEnderX

My guess is either the childhood friend, or the grouchy looking neighbor woman.

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The childhood friend is the vet, and he's pretty husky.

We do know it is a guy person with a similar build to Zen from the scene in the alley.

Misdirection!

Charges spent, Sensei redeemed, and a cat killer at large. What is the focus of the story now? Was that a clean break from that arc, or will these events continue?

What happens when Miko hits three shrine maiden saves, would be my guess.

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

What happens when Miko hits three shrine maiden saves, would be my guess.

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She goes back and donates another 500 yen!

Eps 12 (end)

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Ah, so the cats were indeed going into bakeneko mode to protect Zen from his mother's ghost.

I guess you were right that the neighbor lady was fucked up, but it was in a weird pervert way instead. But woah, Zen outright killed the guy responsible after tasering him!

I guess it isn't clear what will satisfy the Shrine God Ghost and the kitsune twins. Godmother seemed to be quite concerned.

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

But woah, Zen outright killed the guy responsible after tasering him!

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Or maybe just fucked him up so bad he left town.

I would think if he'd killed the guy Mieruko would be seeing a new evil spirit around him.

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

I guess it isn't clear what will satisfy the Shrine God Ghost and the kitsune twins. Godmother seemed to be quite concerned.

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Maybe they wanted her to bring Hana back so they could get more of that good energy.

Though that scene does imply that maybe the shrine spirits aren't so good after all.

The ed song credits scene brought some nice animation cuts.

No concrete story continuation, but enough story threads have been left dangling to warrant another season. Still not enough details about how spirits work to go on for my taste, but it does beg questions.

for the first time(s) we saw some spiritual interactions. First the kitty-lick on Zen's hand, if that counts, and the kitsune rotting the dango on the plate. I'll take what I can get that this isn't all happening in her head, and that more or less was the proof I was wanting.

It's going to be quite a while until we get another season, if we get one.

The manga is currently at Chapter 38, and the anime covers up through Chapter 23. Very rare for a series with this few manga chapters to get a full adaptation, but I guess that speaks to its popularity.

It was absolutely my favorite OP all season (and possibly the entire year).