Mieruko-chan

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Alternative Titles

Japanese: 見える子ちゃん

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 12

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Oct 3, 2021 to Dec 19, 2021

Premiered: Fall 2021

Broadcast: Sundays at 22:00 (JST)

Producers: AT-X, Magic Capsule, Tokyo MX, Docomo Anime Store, Kadokawa Media House, BS NTV, Kadokawa

Licensors: Funimation

Studios: Passione

Source: Web manga

Genres: Comedy, Horror, Supernatural

Theme: School

Duration: 23 min. per ep.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 7.40¹ (scored by 224,825 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #2315²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #455

Members: 492,658

Favorites: 3,319

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@mierukochan_PR

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Crunchyroll

7.40

Ranked #2315Popularity #455Members 492,658

Episodes: /12

Synopsis

Miko Yotsuya's eyes water as she fixates on a single spot on her phone—she ignores yet another dreadful, horrific monster that is in her face, uttering the disturbing words: "Can you see me?" Before now, Miko enjoyed her unassuming high school days, with late-night horror shows serving only as a form of entertainment. But ever since one fateful day, she is the only person aware of the invisible monsters walking freely among humans.

Courageously, Miko makes a bold decision: she will never, under any condition, acknowledge the presence of the horrid specters. However, even though she pretends they do not exist, she can still see how they disturb the people around her, especially her best friend, the energetic and lovely Hana Yurikawa. In order to protect them from the monsters' annoyances, Miko gives it her best to continue her school life and avoid every troublesome crisis—even when they scare her to tears.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Mieruko-chan

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Characters & Voice Actors

Yotsuya, Miko

Main

Amamiya, Sora
Japanese

Yurikawa, Hana

Main

Hondo, Kaede
Japanese

Niguredou, Yuria

Main

Sakura, Ayane
Japanese

Toono, Zen

Supporting

Nakamura, Yuuichi
Japanese

Yotsuya, Kyousuke

Supporting

Hanamori, Yumiri
Japanese

Gozuka

Supporting

Imaruoka, Atsushi
Japanese

Yotsuya, Touko

Supporting

Nabatame, Hitomi
Japanese

Yotsuya, Mamoru

Supporting

Toriumi, Kousuke
Japanese

Shrine Spirits

Supporting

High School Girl Spirit

Supporting

More staff

Staff

Cook, Justin

Producer

Ogata, Mitsuhiro

Producer

Maruyama, Hajime

Producer

Isogai, Noritomo

Producer

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Opening Theme

"Mienaikara ne!? (見えないからね！？) " by Miko Yotsuya (Sora Amamiya)

Edit

Ending Theme

"Mita na? Mitayo ne?? Miteruyo ne??? (ミタナ？ミタヨネ？？ミテルヨネ？？？) " by Miko Yotsuya (Sora Amamiya)

Reviews

Dec 19, 2021

Stark700

Recommended

When you hear about cute girls doing cute things in a comedy, the last scene you'd picture in your mind would be a monster popping out like in some sort of horror movie. That's what happens to Miko, who happens to suffer from the unfortuante syndrome of seeing the supernatural. It's everyday normal life turned into a nightmare for a high school girl in this horror comedy.

Mieruko-chan is an anime that you should be thankful for unless you happen to be Miko Yotsuya. She's deals with the unfortunate situation where the supernatural haunts her living life, wherever she goes. Whether it's at school, the park, ... or even in her bedroom, Miko has to live with the reality that supernatural monsters exist in the world of the living. Her own solution is to pretend they don't exist around her but that's easier said than done. From the first episode, we can easily see her fear of the supernatural from her first encounter. It doesn't take long to realize that Miko has built a protective wall around herself and trying to ignore her problem as best as possible. But it get worse!

As the anime ventures on, Miko's personal life is affected when these supernatural entities gets involved with her friends and daily activites. Luckily, they take on incorporeal forms and can't directly interfere with anyone, at least in most circumstances. Miko also takes it her respsonsibility to protect others from the supernatural, noticably her friend Hana. It seems the anime loves to throw Miko and Hana on everyday adventures. The latter has no idea about the supernatural events happening while Miko does her best to protect her friend. It's a goofy yet entertaining delight for those who wants to experience a slice of life-comedic horror story. The anime also loves to experiment with how the supernatural reacts to the world. These include conventional areas such as school, Miko's house, the park, or even the subway station. At its heart, the anime wants to evoke a feeling of uneasiness for the audience whenever the supernatural elements occur on-screen. Other times, it shows us how our charming characters enjoy life such as Hana and her gluttonious appetite.

While Miko is known for seeing the supernatural, there's also other characters that can affects the story as later episodes shows. We meet Julia, a girl who can also see supernatural auras. She gets involved with Miko and Hana through various misunderstandings and brings in together a peculiar tone of humor. Unlike Miko or Hana, she has trouble expressing her personality but and somehow sees Miko as a 'rival'. And that's the appealing element of Mieruko-chan. This show knew from the start with its setup and builds itself along the way by introducing various characters that connects with Miko's daily life. Miko has to balance herself by pretending to ignoring the supernatural but sometimes, she also takes on the role of helping the helpless. In essence, her ability is both a gift and curse. The anime shows that Miko is able to put her ability to use when there's someone or something important to be protected. And while the show does maintain a mostly moderate comedic tone, there are occasionally serious moments that can evoke fear and anxiety. Two examples includes the Train Man spirit in the subway and Miko's investigation of Zen Tohno, a human with suspected malicious intent. For all its worth, the anime is able to balance out the humor and horror to deliver us this unique piece of work.

As a horror comedy, Mieruko-chan does its best to showcase the character personalities. This is especially true for our poster girl, Miko who shows her normal cool self while putting up a poker face whenever she sees the supernatural. In contrast, Hana injects a huge amount of her playfulness. Studio Passione takes adventage of opportunities to throw the pair together in both normal and awkward moments to stir up an audience reaction. Sometimes, that also includes the supernatural. And before anyone asks, there's actually a surprisingly amount of fan service in the show. It appears the anime loves to showcase Miko's chest and legs whenever it gets the chance. Thanks to her appetite, Hana is also a target for fan servicy camera angles, most specifically aimed at her boobs. It's similar to the manga but the anime turns it up for the first few episodes. Otherwise, I am pleased to say that the animation quality lives up to expectations with its colorful chereography, character designs, and highly decorated OP song performed by the ultra talented Sora Amamiya.

Maybe in an alternate world, Miko can live without fear. But for now, we know that she has to accept her curse and gift. Venture into this story to see what Miko life is like and maybe you'll discover something enjoyable about horror comedy. I know I did.

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Dec 19, 2021

LordSozin

Mixed Feelings

Even though Mieruko-Chan labeled itself as a horror anime, the series itself was never about horror. It’s more about you watching Miko, the protagonist, doing her best to not give out any sort of reactions to the horrific-looking spirits that happen to exist and only people like Miko can witness. And that’s where the entertainment really lies. This show, Mieruko-Chan, instead of keeping its viewers constantly at the edge of their seats and anticipating the next jump-scare, it’s more about following the daily life moments of someone who can see these hideous spirits and not lose sanity. These creatures were supposed to be presented to ... incite the feeling of creepiness in both of its characters and the viewers. But the reliance on this element in the anime does get aggravatingly repetitive and can lose its purpose.

While some of that concern is valid, I think the series does a good job of surprising its viewers every now and then in unexpected ways. One of the aspects of Mieruko-Chan is that it’s unclear what these spirits truly are because the series never really delved into it for possible explorations. But it’s safe to say that a spirit can be a deceased family member or a relative, or even an entity that can express emotions. One such that was presented in the series: A deceased elderly man who found his way to his current living family and helped his equally old spouse to remember a key lock to a small metal box that she had long forgotten. Another random incident in the show was when a spirit hid inside a cardboard box with a cat, intending to provide protection from an evil spirit. It’s random moments like these that I’m quite fond of because it was something that I was not expecting. To a degree, moments like a deceased spirit interacting with the world of the living can provide a deeper meaning than it seems.

In a way, the belief in benevolent and malevolent spirits is something that I think is universal because we can acknowledge that there’s no such thing. However, we do subconsciously think of it from time to time. It’s pretty much a reminder, for me, at least, that these feelings and beliefs can still creep their way into the scientific and progressed world.

Earlier on in Mieruko-Chan, there were bickerings among the viewers about the unnecessary fanservice in the show. Ranging from ass shots of Miko and other characters to a horny spirit that’s dedicated to an episode. In the end, however, the fanservice served no purpose to the show and as the series progressed, Mieruko lessened its usage as the plot changed direction to more interesting aspects.

Other than those little moments, Mieruko-Chan as a show really doesn’t shine much in the horror compartment. However, that’s not to say there aren’t any horror moments. The very few horror moments in the show were decently executed in my eyes, it’s just that there aren’t that many. Additionally, the series is not about finding the intricacies of how these spirits came to be and I think that’s perfectly fine. If the show isn’t really aiming for an in-depth explanation and is still able to provide a sense of entertainment, then I believe that is more than justified for its existence.

Score: 6/10

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Jun 20, 2023

moozooh

Not Recommended

Mieruko-chan tells the story of a high school student Miko Yotsuya who suddenly became highly receptive to spirits of the dead and other otherworldly beings, and now she constantly runs into them trying to pretend she doesn't see them so that they leave her alone. Fortunately, that helps every time. The title is a play on the word "mieru"—"to see", and that's just about the last clever thing you'll see the series do.

The whole premise of "a girl sees spooky ghosts and is scared but keeps her cool" sounds like something that would wear itself thin almost immediately—and indeed, that is exactly what happens! The ... situations keep repeating themselves almost one for one: Miko notices something odd but doesn't really do anything about it, a spirit approaches her and starts questioning whether she sees it (they are, apparently, very inquisitive), she maintains her poker face while being terrified on the inside, spirit goes away, Miko moves on with her life until she runs into another one. That's it—that's the formula. The very few exceptions either have the otherwise very distinctly looking spirits inexplicably mimicking regular people so Miko doesn't realize it, or she just attracts their attention on purpose. At no point do we receive any indication that her past experience has somehow taught her anything, or that the encounter has actually affected her to the point where it would affect her life going forward. Nothing ever changes, and Miko adapts to her life of being bullied by ghosts immediately. If you add it to the fact that why or how she acquired that ability is never explained, you end up in a situation where it's nothing more than a tacked-on gimmick rather than a plot device used to its true potential.

It doesn't help, either, that Miko's character is a walking lump of contradictions. Her internal monologue suggests she is scared, but she doesn't really act the part. She pretty much never fails to keep her cool in the face of unspeakable horror, but such mental fortitude comes seemingly out of nowhere (is she secretly a Navy SEAL?). She drops her phone out of shock when it starts behaving erratically, but does well not to flinch at the grotesque imagery that presents itself to her at any other time. Miko's friends are almost completely useless and do nothing except providing occasional comic relief. They never seem to notice how terrified she is, let alone confront her about it. They are non-characters.

It could be said that it's made this way because it's meant to be played for laughs. Except nothing about it is funny unless you're easily amused by all sorts of gluttony jokes and distressed girls on the verge of mental breakdown—in which case, please go see a doctor about it. I think comedy and horror are a very difficult combination to pull off in general because the emotions that drive them are almost polar opposites of each other. So in the end, you either get something that is too funny to be scary (as it happens most of the time), or too scary to be funny—but never both in a similar measure. Works that successfully balance between the two to ratchet up the excitement just enough before changing the tone can probably be counted on one hand. Nevertheless, Mieruko-chan is eager to do both... and, predictably, fails at both. And it's paced so dreadfully that if you were to start watching it at 125% speed, you'd only notice something was wrong during the OP/ED sequences.

I'll give credit where it's due: *some* scenes have unexpectedly solid cinematography and sound design, and they capture the horror atmosphere pretty well for an anime... That is, at least until the camera decides to focus on one of the female heroines' tits, ass, or thighs, with buttock curves, panty lines and cameltoes well defined—and it lingers there for many seconds on end. The manga is somewhat guilty of this as well, at least in the early chapters, but the TV adaptation takes it to entirely new and completely unnecessary heights, courtesy of Passione—the studio that made its name on some of the more degener— ahem, "cultured" TV series out there. Yeah, the word is still used ironically in this context, but you can already get the feeling that very soon this will become its primary meaning.

I want to underline just how intently Mieruko-chan is willing to die on the hill of misplaced erotic titillation: every few minutes, as part of building up dramatic tension, you're forced to look at a vulnerable underage girl from some of the least appropriate angles just to funnel that elevated heart rate into something else entirely. This is easily the creepiest thing about this show by far. In case I'm not being clear enough on what the problem is and how it's different from a typical instance of fan service in an ecchi anime: a brief panty shot or boob slip in a setting where the mood is light and the girl in question is largely in control of her situation (in other words, it's safe for both her character and the audience to assume it won't escalate from there) is one thing. But protracted, persistent creepshot angles in a setting when the girl is vulnerable, afraid, and clearly unhappy, and we expect it to go downhill for her—that is completely different. The kind of difference that separates a joke made in poor taste from being on a list of registered sex offenders.

It's important to understand this difference because the end result seen here just feels bad in a very irredeemable way. Why in the world would anyone who is mentally healthy be aroused by the sight of a visibly uncomfortable, distressed girl? Is her sexual performance somewhere in the first hundred of questions you might be having at that moment? Do you find being bullied or terrorized somehow cute, romantic, or funny? If so, again, please go see a doctor before it ruins your future relationships or, god forbid, someone else's life. I'm sorry; I'm at the age where spooky scary skeletons do nothing for me, but realizing how many people get off on this drivel is truly disturbing. Fascinating how the series itself is less scary than the thought of dealing with someone who gave it a 10. Miko is a victim in the spirit encounters presented, and most of her actions are just mitigating the damage already done to her mental state. It's not exactly a funny subject, at least if you think about it for more than half a second. Personally, I find it the opposite of funny: it's actively making me unhappy.

Sure, it gets a tad better near the end, like around episode 10–11, when Miko finally starts taking some agency to behave like a protagonist in her own show, and the director—the Interspecies Reviewers guy—becomes slightly less of a creep. The problem is it merely gets from the level of a raging dumpster fire to being almost mediocre. "Better" doesn't mean good; it's far from good. Should you read the manga instead? Eh, perhaps—as far as I'm concerned, neither is worth the time, but the TV series stops at the point where the manga just about gains the semblance of a plot. If this show ever gets a second season and gets rid of the pervy cameraman syndrome, I can imagine it becoming comfortably mediocre. What I find truly puzzling is the glowing reception the series had gotten long before it even started to attempt delivering on the potential of its premise (and mind you, the manga at almost 40 chapters in is still nowhere near where it could've been if written by a competent author). Seriously, if you want good monster horror, try John Carpenter's The Thing or maybe David Lynch's Eraserhead; enjoy your nightmares for weeks. If you want a comedy, try literally any comedy: if you laugh even once, chances are that's already more than Mieruko-chan can get out of you. It attempts to do a lot of things that are completely opposite to each other but does none of them well—not a single thing.

Lastly, there are some very misguided comparisons floating around between Mieruko-chan and Natsume's Book of Friends. The idea is so wonderfully asinine it deserves its own paragraph in this already long review. So let's get this straight: the two are nothing alike beyond the most surface-level similarity. Natsume is a very kind-hearted series with a pronounced feel-good vibe and a great deal of respect shown to all of its characters. And while it also tends to succumb to the "monster of the week" formula with little to no overarching development, the protagonist shows a great deal of agency in how he goes about solving the issues he is presented with in almost every case, with his friends meaningfully supporting him. Miko doesn't: she's just passively drifting along the similarly episodic plot, doing little other than getting distressed (with no lasting effects) and showing ass—and being none the wiser for it. It doesn't feel good, it doesn't feel appropriate, it's mean-spirited in both form and spirit.

tl;dr scared gurl funey and has nice ass

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Mieruko-chan

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Yotsuya, Miko

Yurikawa, Hana

Niguredou, Yuria

Toono, Zen

Yotsuya, Kyousuke

Gozuka

Yotsuya, Touko

Yotsuya, Mamoru

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Mieruko-chan

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Episode Videos

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