This season and this year are finally coming to a close now and it is now time for reviewing all of the stuff from this season. And let me say this, this season has been awesome. We had so many great anime this season and some of them were genuine surprises. Speaking of surprises though, perhaps this season’s biggest surprise hit for me was Mieruko-chan.
I randomly started watching Mieruko-chan when I saw it on Muse Asia’s channel, I watched the first episode and it turned out to be much better than anything I was thinking. Call me an idiot but, first, off I didn’t expect it to be a horror anime. That too something that genuinely managed to creep me out. That is a rare occurrence. So let’s start with the details.
Also, do not worry. The review is completely spoiler-free.
Introduction
Mieruko-chan is based on an ongoing manga of the same name. The manga is written and illustrated by Izumi Tomoki. The manga is fairly recent; it started serialization in November 2018. The anime started airing on 3rd October and ended just yesterday on December 19th. It is 12 episodes long and you can watch it on YouTube thanks to Muse Asia as always. Check out the playlist here.
Mieruko-chan is a horror-comedy anime and it is easily one of the best ones I’ve seen in that genre, if not the best outright. It takes both aspects rather seriously and Mieruko-chan can really creep you out when it wants to. It is rare for horror to work in an anime but it works really well in this one. Yet at the same time, the anime can be funny as hell. So it is a complete package if you’re looking for something entertaining.
Plot
Mieruko-chan has a very simple plot. It follows Yotsuya Miko a girl who suddenly starts seeing “monsters” or “ghosts” others can’t see. Throughout the entirety of the anime, she tries her best to ignore them and not have anything to do with them. The anime follows her struggles with this.
Despite the simple-sounding setting, plot twists are in plenty. Mieruko-chan provides you with enough story to keep you invested but, it’s not so much that you have to ignore what is going on because of the story. So it has this very nice balance and the author knows very well when to insert a plot twist to keep the watcher/reader invested. I love Mieruko-chan’s plot pacing. Extra points on the plot side for this nice pacing.
Characters
Mieruko-chan doesn’t have a lot of characters. It mostly deals with Miko and her 2 friends, Yuria of Londor and Hana. Hana and Yuria aside, (they also do get their share of development) Miko’s character development is very natural. She slowly grows to accept her new lifestyle, treating it only like a bad dream at first. She becomes more adept at ignoring the monsters as the series goes.
Miko’s willpower is commendable. She manages to stay still after seeing all sorts of crazy and twisted stuff. She manages to suppress her urge to run or scream in very complicated situations. Mieruko-chan does side characters really well too. The major side character like Zen-sensei, the Grandmother, and Miko’s brother is well really well done.
Animations and Soundtracks
The animations aren’t anything special. They are not bad by any means but, they are not too good either. I do like the fact that the animations are colorful and the ghosts are all black and white. This really helps up in setting the tone for Mieruko-chan.
As for the soundtrack, they nailed it with the soundtrack. The BGM helps set up the horror vibe and can get really intimidating at times to make you feel more anxious. BGM aside though, let’s talk about the opening and ending themes. Mieruko-chan has banger opening and ending themes! You just can’t help but sing along to those songs. Both of them are really vibey and catchy. I love them!
Conclusion
Here is my final score for Mieruko-chan
- Plot – 8/10
- Characters – 8/10
- Animations – 7/10
- Soundtracks – 9/10
- Enjoyment – 9/10
- Sora Amamiya’s voice acting – 10/10
- Overall – 8/10
So that is it for now. This was my review for Mieruko-chan. It is a very entertaining anime and I recommend it to anyone looking for something fun or horror. With that said, I will take my leave here. Stay tuned because more reviews are on the way. See ya!!
