Shounen Mieruko-chan by Tomoki Izumi

Brandish μ · Apr 18, 2021

Mieruko-chan
aka The Girl That Sees "Them"
Author: Tomoki Izumi
Genre: Comedy, Supernatural

Synopsis from MAL:
Miko is a typical high school student whose life turns upside down when she suddenly starts to see gruesome and hideous monsters. Despite being completely terrified, Miko carries on with her daily life, pretending not to notice the horrors that surround her. She must endure the fear in order to keep herself and her friend Hana out of danger, even if that means coming face to face with the absolute worst. Blending both comedy and horror, Mieruko-chan tells the story of a girl who tries to deal with the paranormal by acting indifferent toward it.

Brandish μ · Apr 18, 2021

I'd lay my life down for Miko.

@Hermit do you still read this?

Hermit · Apr 18, 2021

Brandish μ said:
I'd lay my life down for Miko.

@Hermit do you still read this?

Ofc man, it's actually one of my favorite ongoing manga. Hana-chan is a gem :glomp

Where did you get to? Are you up to the latest chapter?

Brandish μ · Apr 18, 2021

Hermit said:
Ofc man, it's actually one of my favorite ongoing manga. Hana-chan is a gem

Where did you get to? Are you up to the latest chapter?

How often do the chapters come out? Hana is nice too. I dig the fanservice :nod

I got up to chapter 20, will be caught up soon, need to protect Miko.

Hermit · Apr 18, 2021

Brandish μ said:
Hana is nice too. I dig the fanservice

The ghosts dig it too :lmao

Brandish μ said:
How often do the chapters come out?

Monthly, if I am not wrong. The schedule is a bit irregular

Brandish μ said:
I got up to chapter 20, will be caught up soon, need to protect Miko.

Curious your opinion on Julia. Btw, the ghosts in Mieruko are kinda like the curses in Jujutsu Kaisen :XD

Brandish μ · Apr 20, 2021

Caught up.

Hermit said:
Curious your opinion on Julia. Btw, the ghosts in Mieruko are kinda like the curses in Jujutsu Kaisen

In the sense that Julia is annoying? No, although I don't like her character type generally. What makes her work is how she's involved with the comedy (true for the other two girls too), the parts where Miko's powers contrast with Julia's are well done. She was cute with her hair down. Not sure what her role is now that Mitsue and Romm are heavily involved now. I guess she notices Hana's aura for Miko. Her wink attempts are also cute. What do you think of her?

I agree with the JJK comment with how spirits are seen by the 'sorcerer' types lol. I love how Miko tries her best to ignore them, it's a clever play on scared girl and cinnamon roll tropes (I don't know trope names). The writing progression is something. First it's kinda ecchi, and has you adore how brave Miko is in episodic events as she discovers different monsters. It's funny and cute, building a setting and character interactions, without necessarily feeling the situation Miko is in. Then the story grows a plot, and while it's still funny, the monsters become truly terrifying, like we can feel some of the horror Miko had to since chap 1. The art is top tier.

Hermit · Apr 20, 2021

Brandish μ said:
In the sense that Julia is annoying? No, although I don't like her character type generally. What makes her work is how she's involved with the comedy (true for the other two girls too), the parts where Miko's powers contrast with Julia's are well done. She was cute with her hair down. Not sure what her role is now that Mitsue and Romm are heavily involved now. I guess she notices Hana's aura for Miko. Her wink attempts are also cute. What do you think of her?

Naah, I don;t find her annoying. I actually like her quite a bit. I thought it was funny how she kept on thinking Miko was threatening her :lmao

Also her taking her lunch alone in the washroom

I think its nice how her and Miko have managed to become friends. And yeah, Miko can't see aura, but Julia can. Though I wonder if Julia will get to a point where she can see special grades :darn

Brandish μ said:
. It's funny and cute, building a setting and character interactions, without necessarily feeling the situation Miko is in. Then the story grows a plot, and while it's still funny, the monsters become truly terrifying, like we can feel some of the horror Miko had to since chap 1. The art is top tier.

That arc with the teacher and his mother though. That was so dark. I thought it was interesting how they chose to draw the mother in such a 'disturbing' art style, to portray what she was like as a parent.

@Shobu_Yoruichi I see that avatar btw :pleased

Arjuna · Apr 20, 2021

Dunno if you know it this series has been confirmed to receive an anime adaptation

Mieruko-chan

Miko Yotsuya's eyes water as she fixates on a single spot on her phone—she ignores yet another dreadful, horrific monster that is in her face, uttering the disturbing words: "Can you see me?" Before now, Miko enjoyed her unassuming high school days, with late-night horror shows serving only as a...

myanimelist.net

Hermit · May 5, 2021

New chapter out

This was quite plot heavy, which was nice. I still think that Romm is actually a good person who is just grossly misunderstood :hmm

Brandish μ · May 9, 2021

Hermit said:
New chapter out

This was quite plot heavy, which was nice. I still think that Romm is actually a good person who is just grossly misunderstood

He's definitely got some other angle, or approach to Miko's situation. My guess is he's interested in the truth and how things work rather than being concerned for anyone, in contrast to Mitsue.

Hermit · Jun 14, 2021

Chapter 35 is out

Sensational chapter. Miko looked great in that get up btw :pleased

Hermit · Jul 16, 2021

Brandish μ · Aug 1, 2021

Hermit said:
Miko looked great in that get up btw

She had some swag. Seriously though she is so brave. When the charms shattered and she was barely standing I wanted to jump in to the manga to protect her :crying

--- Double Post Merged, Aug 1, 2021, Original Post Date: Jul 17, 2021 ---

Romm's making his move. Fuck me, that was pretty scary.

James Rye · Aug 7, 2021

What's really scary is that nobody knows what Romm's move actually is about. Is it power? Is it revenge? Is it madness? Is it for protection? etc.
This series does a great job with show, not tell, as we get to see a lot of stuff but don't get the explanations for them, especially with all the spirits stuff. This way we know as much as Mieruko-chan and are left just as clueless and confused and scared as her. The usage of the fear of the unknown is well-done in this series. I hope the anime gets it more fans.^^

Brandish μ · Aug 8, 2021

James Rye said:
What's really scary is that nobody knows what Romm's move actually is about. Is it power? Is it revenge? Is it madness? Is it for protection? etc.
This series does a great job with show, not tell, as we get to see a lot of stuff but don't get the explanations for them, especially with all the spirits stuff. This way we know as much as Mieruko-chan and are left just as clueless and confused and scared as her. The usage of the fear of the unknown is well-done in this series. I hope the anime gets it more fans.^^

The author has a way of subverting expectations too. So while I think he's a curious individual and is driven by that, he could very well turn out to have a much different motivation set on a past event (eg revenge) or similar. I enjoy the writing style too, how it goes from vignettes (to give us time to get used to the characters and world) then start to develop a plot that is engaging and terrifying, and relates to some of the stuff not in explained earlier in the more skeletal sections.