Mieruko-chan

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tomoki Izumi. It began serialization online via Kadokawa's ''Web Comic Apanta'' website in November 2018, with twelve ''tankōbon'' volumes released so far. The manga is licensed in North America by Yen Press. An anime television series adaptation by Passione aired from October to December 2021.

Premise

High school student Miko Yotsuya has the unfortunate ability to see horrifying ghosts and spirits that haunt her and the people around her. Despite this, Miko does her best to ignore the existence of ghosts and tries to live out a normal high school life.

Characters

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:The protagonist of the story who suddenly became able to see ghosts without any known reason. To keep her usual daily life, she pretends not to see them, as well as making efforts to prevent her best friend Hana from seeing them.
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:Miko's air-headed best friend who is oblivious to Miko's current situation. She is fond of eating. However, her eating also increases her life aura, which makes ghosts more attracted to her.
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:Miko and Hana's schoolmate who, like Miko, is also able to see ghosts. She is very fond of a local fortune teller and is disappointed when she closes her business.
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:A teacher who temporarily replaces Miko and Hana's homeroom teacher after she went on parental leave. Miko suspects him as someone who abuses stray cats. It is later revealed that he takes care of cats due to an incident during his childhood, as a result of a poor relationship with his mother.
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:A fortune teller who ran a spiritual business that Yuria frequented often while it was open. She gives up the business after Miko visited, but is curious about Miko's abilities.
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:Miko's younger brother, who is determined to protect her while oblivious of Miko's current situation.
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:Miko and Kyōsuke's mother.
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:Miko and Kyōsuke's father, who died prior to the events of the story.
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Media

Manga

''Mieruko-chan'' is written and illustrated by Tomoki Izumi, and began serialization in Kadokawa's ''ComicWalker'' website on November 2, 2018. Kadokawa Shoten began publishing the series in print in April 2019 and have released twelve ''tankōbon'' volumes as of March 2025. The series is licensed in English by Yen Press.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced on March 18, 2021. The series is animated by Passione and directed by Yuki Ogawa, with Takahiro Majima serving as assistant director, Shintarō Matsushima serving as directing assistant, Kenta Ihara supervising and writing the series' scripts, Chikashi Kadekaru designing the characters and serving as chief animation director, and Makoto Uno designing the monsters. Kana Utatane composed the music for the series. Sora Amamiya performed the opening theme , as well as the ending theme . The series aired from October 3 to December 19, 2021 on AT-X, Tokyo MX, KBS Kyoto, SUN, and BS NTV. Funimation licensed the series outside of Asia. Muse Communication licensed the series in South and Southeast Asia.

On December 10, 2021, Funimation announced the series would receive an English dub, which premiered on December 12.

Film

A live-action film adaptation, directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura, is set to be released in June 6, 2025.

Cast

* Nanoka Hara as Miko Yotsuya

Reception

Manga

In 2019, ''Mieruko-chan'' was nominated for the 5th Next Manga Awards in the digital category and placed 10th out of 50 nominees. As of October 2022, the manga had over two million copies in circulation.

Anime News Network (ANN) had two editors review the first volume of the manga: Rebecca Silverman praised the final chapter for taking the story in a more sustainable direction than the first two Hana-filled ones, but critiqued that it felt "pretty disconnected" from the beginning, concluding with: "Since it does have interesting art (and mild fanservice if you're looking for that) and an evolving mythology, I think it will be worth giving it that second volume to even itself out." Caitlin Moore commended Tomoki's creative designs on the horrific ghosts and Miko's "body language and facial expressions" when ignoring them, but was critical of the horny "gaze-y camera angles" and "random, subtle out-of-place fanservice shots" distracting her from enjoying the manga's concept, concluding with: "I'm having a hard time not thinking of the manga this could have been with a different author – one where the horrors Miko encounters are metaphors for the intrusions a teenage girl faces, instead of the paneling intruding on her itself."

Anime

Fellow ANN editor Nicholas Dupree placed ''Mieruko-chan'' at number five on his top 5 best anime list of 2021, praising the adaptation's combination of deadpan comedy with "absolutely rock-solid horror fundamentals" and delivering "sincere, heartwarming moments" that show the afterlife's sentimental side, concluding that: "All of that combined gives you a show that can scare you, punch you in the gut, and then make you laugh like an idiot in a single episode." Allen Moody from THEM Anime Reviews wrote: "I'm calling this an interesting failure. The situation is not without its fascinating aspects, but you usually like to see some progression in the protagonist's situation, and it's largely absent here."

References

External links

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{{Passione

Anime series based on manga
AT-X (TV network) original programming
Comedy anime and manga
Crunchyroll anime
Horror anime and manga
Japanese webcomics
Kadokawa Corporation franchises
Kadokawa Shoten manga
Muse Communication
Passione (company)
Seinen manga
Webcomics in print
Yen Press titles