Mieruko-chan

I went into this show completely blind, not knowing anything about it - I just knew it was a horror-comedy. I thought it was gonna be a meh show with a lot of surface-level stuff. But boy was I wrong. This show was so good. I loved it! I enjoyed it way more than I thought I was going to. What I admire and love most about it was how it was able to surprise me throughout the whole runtime. There were moments that completely caught me off guard. Moments where I found myself crying, where I found myself laughing way too hard at something, and moments where I was genuinely creeped out and unsettled. This show has an unexpectedly clever way of evoking emotions and it's all done in the way they execute everything. It's in the way they use the music, how they build up a scene or how they create the right atmosphere. They know how to hit their marks and they do it really well. The beautiful balance between the creepy unsettling moments, the funny comedic ones and the heartwarming sentimental ones is what makes this show stand out so much and why it's so good.

The animations are great and the art style is fantastic. Especially the character designs for the ghosts - they're some of the best I've seen. They're genuinely creepy and unsettling. The way they're conceptualized makes it so that they're very distinguishable from one another. It's crazy how much character they give the ghosts - to the point where you get a sense of their backstory or how they might've died. It's interesting to try and figure out what each one might represent and why they exist. The voice design for the ghosts were scary good, it almost penetrates the soul with how creepy they sound. The soundtrack was another stand out aspect of the show that surprised me as well. The music plays a big role in evoking the emotions. It's the way in which the music is implemented at the perfect time - it ends up elevating and complimenting each scene beautifully. It's honestly pretty God-tier. I loved the way they experimented with different synthesizer noises and audio effects to create a unique-sounding soundtrack. It can be very creepy and ominous while being ethereal at the same time. It can also be quite beautiful whenever the piano, violin or flute kicks in.

It's got good story progression and it never feels like it drags or gets boring. It's a feel-good show. Slice of life done right and comedy done cleverly. It handles it's themes with both a maturity and frivolity. And it's got some really creative ideas that end up feeling pretty fresh and original. The characters are great. They end up becoming very well fleshed out. Miko's dead pan personality and humor are great. Hana is the dense and oblivious airhead that provides comic relief. Yulia is the cute, delusional and manipulate girl that shakes things up. While Zen and The Godmother end up becoming really interesting characters. I think Yulia's my favorite, mainly because she's the most interesting and complex one out of all of them. I loved watching the relationship and dynamic between Miko, Hana and Yulia. Whenever they're all together, it's always an entertaining time. The haunted house scene was hilarious. This show has self-aware humor and it's really refreshing to see that.

Do be warned though: the first 2 episodes, especially the 1st one, is riddled with fan service. It's basically fan service bait. It's very much in your face and it's not subtle about it. It gets to the point where it becomes comedic because it's like every couple of minutes they feel the need to have to show a skirt or groin shot. It ends up feeling pretty ridiculous and campy. Thankfully though, the show starts to pick up after the 2nd episode. It starts to focus more on building the story, the world and the characters and less on the fan service. It actually starts to get quite interesting. The shrine scene is when it has this unexpected shift and it opens up a world of potential for the show. The whole visual conceptualization behind it was so good. I was not expecting all the incredible animations. They outdid themselves.

My only gripe with the show has to do with some of the characters and the lack of development within them. Hana for example, is a character that desperately needs some sort of development or transformation. Some of the characteristics to her personality end up becoming pretty annoying and stale after a while. So I'm hoping that in Season 2 she goes through some sort of change that makes her character more interesting. Miko's character can become kind of frustrating as well in the way she deals with the ghosts. But thankfully by the end of the show, there's at least some development in her character.

The show has a lot of potential. So much potential that it could end up being a slice of life shonen hybrid. They've introduced everything nicely, now all they have to do is go ham with the 2nd season. Give this show a chance, you won't regret it!