Mieruko-chan is not a character’s name. It (見える子ちゃん) translates roughly to “girl who can see.” What can she see? Freaky fucking ghosts. This series was not what I expected. I’ve had it recommended to me a lot when I’m browsing Japanese kindle stuff, and after seeing it there and in many Japanese horror recommendation aggregate blog posts, I figured I had to check it out. I always assumed it was straight horror, but it starts out feeling more like a slice of life horror-comedy. The horror typically comes from ghosts revealing themselves to Miko (the protagonist), and her hiding that she can see them. If they find out she sees them, she could be in danger. What’s interesting about the horror-comedy is that the ghosts are rarely, if ever, used as the punchline. Miko’s or other characters’ reactions are sometimes played for humor, but that leaves the disturbing ghosts to remain tense and frightening.
I found myself hoping that the series would move away from the monster of the week format and introduce more characters or a purpose for the story to keep going, and as my wish came true, I found myself somewhat mixed about the result. I felt that as more of a narrative and a few other characters were introduced, the sense of horror became a bit muddled in the process. Very few serialized stories have their whole direction plotted from the beginning, but a great writer won’t let the reader feel like that’s the case; they’ll weave the plot carefully so that every new direction feels organic. Mieruko-chan did feel like it was still figuring out its path, and I’m sure the editor(s) wanted to help the mangaka, Izumi, find a way to stretch it out due to its popularity. That’s not all bad, though it’s hard to tell if the series will end up better for it or not right now.
One thing I really love about Mieruko-chan is how Izumi uses different art styles to depict the ghosts compared to other characters or scenery. Beyond just the designs differing, heavier shading and deeper outlines give them a sense of danger. Sometimes, there’s some crosshatching drawn in a way that makes the ghosts feel ethereal, messy, and dreadful. That’s very well done.
The humor is sometimes sorta lame due to the fact that the punchline is obvious, but I did find myself chuckling at the situations several times, so I guess it’s more successful than not. I liked the gangster getting a kitten from Miko and being really sweet with it, and Miko’s best friend, Hana, admitting that she eats what’s essentially “second breakfast” as some hobbits are wont to do.
(a gangster is pictured here bringing his cat home and trying to think of names for it, like “Nyansuke” or “Nyangoroku.”)
(Hana goes to the school clinic, because she has hunger pains. She believes the cause was skipping “asago-gohan,” meal-after-breakfast/second breakfast.)
One thing that has bothered me from chapter one is that the danger of the ghosts finding out she can see them is never made explicit. It’s dangerous, but how? Can they physically hurt her? It seems like she can walk through them, so I don’t know how that would work. Would they haunt her and constantly speak to her? That would obviously have a major psychological effect on her, but it ends up feeling like ghosts are scary because… they’re scary, and that’s not too compelling. There are moments where ghosts try to attack her, but it’s still unclear whether that would result in physical harm or death.
Overall, I’m enjoying the series and look forward to see where it’s going. The current arc introduced a potential antagonist and seems to be pushing more into an overarching story. I just hope the author doesn’t lose track of what made parts in earlier chapters disturbing.
Aizo, Oct 2020
Manga OT 