I kinda wasn't too sure how to rate Mieruko-chan, maybe since I hadn't watched anime in two months, or that I hadn't really seen much anime that take on both Horror and Comedy. But I do think it's somewhere between 6 and 7. Even though it's labelled as Horror, I didn't really see it try too hard to become that, or at least fully succeed in being it. Some of the story is a little over the place too.
I liked how they portrayed the first episode, such as when Mieruko's phone suddenly acts up, with no answers to know where and why it's happening - I liked how they did that plus a couple other things, it even made my heart start racing haha. But then when she actually sees a strange monster for the first time, there's no reaction other than dialogue of her freaking out inside her head. Which is fine, but to me it doesn't really fit how her state was in that scene. She gets frightened by the messages being very strange and the image that she sees in it, dropping her phone, yet is frozen when that creature appears out of nowhere. I think they should have added at least a tiny bit of a reaction. I am kind of nit picking with this one, and I was interested in her take of how to react, without reacting. In a situation like that I think that thought process was pretty smart, especially under that pressure which does suit her character.
But after a short while, the show just doesn't come close to being scary anymore. You know how most things will play out, that the characters will all be safe, and they focus a little too much on the comedy side which takes away from the horror aspect. And a lot of times it seemed more like a slice of life than what the actual genres are labelled as. The monsters just stop being scary because they never show anything of them actually doing something other than talking and threatening. But that's it. We don't see much of what they are capable of, and it's almost like they can't do anything except wander around while sometimes possessing people (which doesn't come across the way it wanted to since we also don't see much of that).
The interactions of the main two friends are great, I really enjoyed just watching them hang out, having conversations and the places that they go to, with Mieruko's inner monologues. It's always just a fun great time. Her and Hana becoming friends with Yuria was really nice too, again just fun to watch. Yet when there's monsters nearby, again it just doesn't do anything. You see Mieruko and/or Yuria worrying, but in the end you know it's going to be okay.
Some of my thoughts about how this anime could have used all it's potential is by showing what exactly the monsters are capable of, maybe kill off some characters (even if they're just side characters) just to give us the fear from them instead of repeating the situations that we know how will play out. There are some other details that haven't been answered yet, though I think the series is hinting at a sequel also since the manga is still airing, so hopefully they will work on that and give us more of what the monsters can do for the people who are interested. I do wish the series had continued having the same or similar atmosphere as the first episode though.
Anyway to wrap this one up, I still enjoyed it, there were quite a few moments that even just a little bit, emotionally moved me with the characters and how not all of these monsters are what we think of them as which are great highlights. These are just my overall thoughts and if you disagree that's okay. To me I just wish it had done better with trying to be scary, but other than that, again I still enjoyed Mieruko-chan.
-27/02/2022
