Fall 2021 was a pretty stacked season when it came to anime. Netflix came out swinging with Komi, Jobless Reincarnation, and 86 got their second seasons and we can’t leave out World End Harem (I’m going to be real I didn’t and am not going to watch that) so with all of these powerhouse anime what did my weeb brain latch onto? A strangely erotic show about a girl that gained the sixth sense. Mieruko-chan is a series that follows Yotsuya, Miko. A girl who one morning discovers she can see horrors most can’t, spirits of beings long gone, and decides the best course of action in regards to this newfound ability is simply to ignore them. Yeah, that’s it, the show just follows Miko as she is in a constant state of terror but keeping the same exhausted bleak expression. That’s the show.
And I loved it.
As much as I would love to delve into the complexities of this show, why it was one of my favorites, or detail some deeper meaning, I can’t. Mieruko-chan is exactly what it tells you right away and nothing really evolves from there. Sure there are some touching moments, Miko able to see her deceased father or a spirit of a miscarriage protecting the birth of its would-be sibling. Hysterical moments like when Miko decides the only way to keep her Medium counter-part, Yulia Niguredou, from bigger spirits she fails to see is to choke her out in a closet before dragging her to the nurse’s office or just the faces Miko makes in general. But that is about it.
The show doesn’t really get past this initial surface. We never learn why Miko can see these things, we aren’t 100% sure what happens if she does acknowledge their existents and to make matters that much more confusing we aren’t even sure if the Kitsu spirit that protects her from time to time is even friend. It is a cut-and-dry comedy that spans 12 episodes and doesn’t really get around to explaining anything.
We get to meet Miko’s best friend Hana whose bit is she eats all the time and has a massive life force. There are charming and adorable moments between Miko and her younger brother and the general deadpan dialogue that gets peppered throughout the series is quite the roar. But even with that, paired with the banger soundtrack the show offers little anything other than amusement. We get vague backstories into some of the characters that play around Miko, mostly her sub-teacher Zen Touno whom she wholly believes is a cat murderer. Alas, it turns out that Zen was abused as a kid but adores cats, being a sort of cat batman as he JUST MURDERERS a cat abuser. Only for the series to never really elaborate or even talk about that ever again.
I actually find that bit very fucking funny.
But when it comes down to it this is all I can really say about the show. It’s hilarious, some of the ghosts are creepy but without the context of why or truly understanding the danger, I’d hardly call it remotely scary. Miko is one of the most adorable characters I have experienced in a while out of sheer innocence of her position and the show likes to make a point to randomly show just how curvy she actually is.
Yeah, I wasn’t expecting underwear and bath scenes but hell, it sure didn’t hurt anything.
If you are in the market for a semi-witty very silly and often humorous series I can’t think of a show I’ve recently seen that made me laugh as much as Mieruko-chan, if you are wanting more of a horror show, I hate to say this series, isn’t it.
I am slowly but surely working through my anime backlog and will be updating it asap, thanks for the read!
Otaku Post 
One of my favourite things was watching Miko trying to keep calm. That ghost on the subway with the axe was crazy, but seeing Miko trying to maintain her blissful ignorance was amazing. I felt like it turned into a series of events where I would wonder if I could keep it together quite like she did in those circumstances.
Also, it was very funny and often in a fairly dark way. That one ghost cooking other ghosts with Hana’s spiritual energy for one.
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Yeah that was one of the highlights of the series, I also like how she considers looking for the ‘axe ghost’ again to possibly help Ten and the ghost that haunts him but quickly disregards it. Honestly the more I think about it I should feel more frustrated by things like that, there is a lot of dynamic that just isn’t really explained at all but for some reason It never bothered me.
I was looking into the manga to see how much they get into the what and whys but sadly the art style quickly deterred me. Either way if I was in a position to see the most horrid spirits I would have caved immediately, though it is nice that it starts out as Miko just wanting to ignore them but slowly turns into protecting Hana whom she knows can’t see/ it would just stress her out.
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Yeah, I thought she would lure the teacher onto the train so the axe ghost took care of his ghost. That would have been a nice way to keep the shrine spirits in the game.
There is definitely a lot more explanation needed, but like you say it was still enjoyable. I’d gladly watch another season.
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