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.
