Mieruko-chan Sees Anime Review

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I encountered this story a few years ago but kept dropping it after the slow updates. I’d find myself coming back months and seeing only three or four chapters to binge on then forget it exists on my long list of bookmarks. I love it for the visual shock factor and it reminds me of Junji Ito’s works.

Spoilers ahead.

Plot:

Miko Yotsuya, a highschool girl starts seeing horrible creatures one day and despite the hauntings she experiences, she still tries to pursue living a normal life.

End.

This is probably the shortest plot entry I have made so far. I would have stopped at the ‘seeing horrible creatures one day’ and it won’t change what you’re getting into. I’m up to date with the source material and so far it’s been an episodic arc. There’s no explanation yet how she was able to obtain the ability to see but the anime has given some hints not present in the manga that may have foreshadowed this plot reveal.

I wanted to stretch the info written here but the story so far hasn’t really gone off to tackling the main plot point which is knowing how did Miko start seeing and how can she stop seeing. The source material has been focused on the problem of the week and introducing more side characters. It’s a slow paced story given months down the line fans just come back to square one knowing more and less about where the story is heading in terms of the main plot.

Characters:

I don’t specifically have anything to dislike nor like about the characters in the show. The characters lack depth to me despite several chapters/episodes that gone by. By depth, I mean some character trait that would separate them from other casts of other shows. Miko’s best known for keeping a poker face whenever she sees something unpleasant and keeps it together until she can cry later when she’s safe. I guess that’s something?

Animation:

I wanted to enjoy the show without the angles of fan service but they come when you least expect it. It’s like the animators want you to scared and aroused at the same time. I don’t really find it too ecchi but camera angles are really blunt on this one.

It does follow the source material for most of the story flow but presents some scenes at different angles. Some angles are better than the source material when emphasizing form which matters in horror.

Horror manga relies on heavy visual shock factor and panel placement. There’s something about black and white plus negative space that gives the eyes uncertainty. The lack of color and other details actually contributes to the unknown. At the biological and instinctive level, our anxieties lower when we have clear understanding of what goes around us. Therefore, the more details we can make out from what we see the better.

Horror on animation has its charms given that there are more options to influence the story’s atmosphere compared to manga. Conveying motion, color emphasis, and sound are one of the strongest points of animation over manga but this fact doesn’t necessarily translate well with horror.

Music:

The music in building suspense wasn’t that bad. I think they nailed the right moments when it should be. I can’t really vibe to the opening theme for this show. It’s too upbeat for my taste but it makes good contrast to the ending them which is far more suited to what the show is about. I didn’t have a mental voice ascribed to the characters from the manga but the voice acting on this one wasn’t bad.

Conclusions:

I’m not really sure which is better to start first (anime vs manga) if you want to get to know the story. The anime has been reasonable to make the most out of the adaptation and even added more variety from the source material. But my bias has always been caring more for the source material if it’s a horror story due to how raw the images can be. It’s the same feeling when you watch Junji Ito’s works versus the film adaptations.

If you made it this far reading, thank you for your time.