Mieruko-chan

I'll be honest, at first it caught my interest because of the artwork but I was worried that the story wouldn't have been as good. I am so glad to admit that my worries were for nothing, as this is by far one of the most well-balanced manga I've ever read - easily in my top 3. Here I'll try to explain you why I think so.

Let's start with a thought about its classification, what's the prevalent element in this manga? You'd think it's the horror one, but is it really true? I find that, while reading it, the amount of horror is an additional part to a slice of life manga, in which the comedy elements are perfectly placed to balance out the scary parts. In more than a few chapters I found myself exquisitely surprised at how well they go together, bringing an impressive mixture of fun and terror.

So, what about the story? What makes it so great? I'll try to be as generic as I can to avoid spoiling anything. Initially, the story begins with the main character starting to experience paranormal activities and acting accordingly to make them stop, but as time goes on the focus shifts more on the characters growth and it makes it so that you can relate to them on what they're feeling and thinking in almost every situation. To put it simply, reading this manga feels like reading about a person trying to overcome a mental illness through a journey full of hardships and to me this is marvellous and a bit poetic.

As for the characters, even though some of them aren't really anything special you can tell that you need to have this contrast between wonderfully written characters, such as the main character, and someone more "normal" like her best friend for the story to keep the balance between the real world and the more obscure paranormal one. Also, I'm also very intrigued by the development that some side characters are going to have in the next chapters, but I'll stop here for now and say nothing more. Just be sure to look forward to it.

Lastly, the part that attracted me the most and got me to read this incredible manga: its art. The art style used for drawing the characters is one to be expected of a normal slice of life manga, with charming and soothing traits that make you think of having a good time reading a relaxing story about some everyday stuff. On the contrary, the monsters are gross-looking, surreal but so detailed that they almost look real at the same time, just like they should look like in a great horror themed painting. The greatness of the art shines when the two are shown together; the contrast gives off an atmosphere of darkness and despair hardly achievable with other techniques. Obviously, an all-realistic style is more fitting for an horror, but since the main objective of this manga is not to scare the reader, rather to make them feel uneasy, I believe that it achieves its purpose splendidly.

In conclusion, this manga is a roller coaster of emotions: it can make you feel sad, anxious and scared as well as happy, relieved and amused. I'm so glad I got to find such an unexpectedly brilliant manga. I am convinced that if it keeps up with this pace, it's going to be a true masterpiece, something that you shouldn't miss no matter what.

Mieruko-chan is one of the best mangas I've had the pleasure to read recently. It's a very young publication, and there are only abut a dozen chapters out. Despite that, it is already showing a lot of potential and talent.
The story is episodic in nature. It's not concerned with how the main character got her power to see ghosts, or her progression in skills. It is more like a weekly fill of horror and comedy. Currently it's difficult to judge the story right away since the manga has barely started, but like I said, it's showing potential that it can achieve something substantial even with its episodic nature. For example, chapter 4 + 4.5 melted my heart. While he characters and plot were predictable, the execution through pacing and art made it brilliant.
Plus the main character, Mieruko-chan comes across as admirable and brave. She always seems to make the best choice in a given situation, and so, as a reader, you naturally admire her. Even the supporting cast is distinct. Her best friend, a younger brother and a rival. They support the story without ever being an annoyance.
My favorite thing about this manga has to be the art. It is simply beautiful. One of the best illustrations of ghosts and monsters I've encountered. Not only the grotesque imagery, but also how the reveals are handled in a panel format is genius. I can't praise the artist enough for how disgusting and primordial he makes his creatures look. Especially in chapter 11. It's a show of ambition, with the talent and skill to back it up. Additionally, the human characters are well drawn every time. Especially their reactions. Although the designs of the characters borders on cliche, but the author imprints his own style so that it remains unique.
Overall, I would highly recommended checking out this manga regardless of your tastes. The only caveat is this: Don't go into the manga expecting a deep story or a dark and twisted plot. While the concept of having to see ghosts everyday might sound inherently spooky, this manga isn't trying to scare you. It's not about that. It's a humorous manga, with strong horror elements, and the humor aspect is derived from Mieruko-chan trying her best to ignore these (incredibly drawn) abominations in her everyday life.
I can't wait to see where the series will go from here, and I hope you join me for that ride by checking out this manga.

Yes i must say it's one of the best manga i have ever read. I'm actually saying it. Yes very cool Indeed. Guess everyone else even me thinks same way. Uhh it's good. Can't find anything nice to write

Excuse me,,, wth! i mean chapter the end of chapter 7 ,,, i thought,, i mean for a moment i thought I'm reading doujinshi or something. Guess it's literally no big deal. Anyways...

Table took a turn just the moment all those holy bracelet broke. I thought ending was near. What a great twist.. yess indeed!

(Literally sorry for the spoiler and writing too much of same thing! I cant submit this if it's not big enough i guess so i had to)

Mieruko-Chan is a collection of mostly stand-alone chapters about a girl (Miko) who can see monsters that no one else can see. At this point you must be thinking that you've already seen the "girl sees things no one else can see" thing done a million times, right? Well, actually that's not entirely the case with Mieruko-Chan. This isn't your feel good story about a girl becoming the "heroine that fights and beats the monsters that she can only see" nor the "girl helps the spirits so they can finally cross to the other side instead of lingering on this earth". Mieruko-Chan is an authentic black comedy, derived by the absolute terror Miko feels when encountering those monsters in every place imaginable (from her classroom to the girls' locker room and from her bathroom to her own bed).

These monsters whose origin is still to be determined, are drawn in the most horrifying way possible. The designs are vague, as they are mostly deformed masses of flesh with some eyes and mouths thrown in there for good measure, but they get the job done in two levels: 1) It scares the living hell out of our heroine and 2) they make for an interesting visual contrast between the horrific monsters and the girls that are drawn in the most attractive way possible (and in the first few chapters, with a lot of fan-service thrown there for good measure).

It's still early in Mieruko-Chan's run (only 8 chapters out so far) but there are definitely some concerning trends should this series go the distance. After eight chapters the formula of Miko being extremely terrified for an entire chapter is getting a bit repetitive and you would like to see the story move forward in some how or way. The repetitiveness in Mieruko-Chan's formula makes its characters feel a bit shallow and stereotypical up until this point in the story (Miko's best friend Hana is your stereotypical attractive happy-go-lucky girl who has no idea what is actually going on around here, Miko's little brother is your stereotypical younger brother who is kind of concerned with his sister and her erratic behavior).

It will be interesting to see if Mieruko-Chan can find a way to build upon its formula and get closer to any sort of progress in its story and depth on its characters, because the comedy in Mieruko-Chan is not as good at this point to overcome its repetitiveness; a reaction face can only be funny for so long.

damn so I started reading this at like 5 am one time and I enjoyed it! It started a little bit out of context and moved forward onto being a pretty good manga.

The story - In terms of the story its basically a girl who can see weird creepy shit everywhere she goes. inc her own home. she goes on to pretend not to see these things. Later she meets others who can also see what she can. It gets pretty interesting sadly the chapters come out really slow.

Art - The art is really good! its not using some shitty re - print on the monsters/spirits. Every character has their own unique design and traits. Especially the spirits. Spirits are drawn after incidents that take place in the manga.

Character - The main character is really cool. as more of a fact a badass. If I were in her shoes i'd lose my shit considering she is viewing some terrifying stuff. She makes brave faces and treats days as if it was normal.

Enjoyment - Not much to say in terms of enjoyment but the manga is great its good to read on a car/bus ride, library idk man just some place to chill.

Overall - Would recommend if you're into spirits and dark themed manga. I enjoyed the manga so far its really good one down side is that you have to wait on chapters that take a while to be released.

Mieruko-chan is by far the best manga that I have read! It was super enjoyable as with the dozens of chapters that released. The characters are written well where the main and the side characters are developing throughout the story. There are even parts that gives me straight up chills. And the art man, the art style is amazing what made reading it even better.

This manga is great for some 3 am nightmare fuel as it has disturbing, horrific scenes that gives a fright.

Well, overall this manga I recommend to people all ages who enjoy some midnight binge
and horror that can offer.

This manga is honestly one of the best mangas I've ever read. The story revolves around a girl named Miko who is able to see terrifying and disgusting monsters that no one else can see. Although this story seems generic, it really isn't. Instead of the MC fighting the monsters and becoming some op hero, Miko puts on a poker face and attempts to ignore them. The story develops and gets very intense, it's not just a collection of standalone chapters. The story gets more fleshed out and introduces very interesting characters that leaves you on the edge of your seat wondering what kind of development will come next. The art is beautiful, the characters are very funny and lovable, and the manga as a whole is fantastic and absolutely worth the read.

This started off as just a bunch of gag chapters about a girl who can see this creepy terrifying spirit monsters and has to avoid acknowledging them. However, it has quickly become a full fledged series with backstory and an overarching plot is beggining to show. We begin to learn the rules governing these spirit monsters alongside the MC.

The writing is actually very funny which works great when combined with the sudden horror segments. The author changes from a lighthearted scene to a tense high stakes scene with ease and it really engages the reader. We're never told exactly what's going on but we keep learning new stuff so its very easy to empathize with the MC.

The artwork is actually amazing. It's impressive how the author is able to mix the two styles(cute shoujo girls and evil creepy monster spirits) without either looking out of place.

I advise reading to chapter 23 as that chapter showed me this manga has great potential and will turn out great. The strange contrasting artwork in combination with the mysterious story makes this something worth checking out.

One of the best mangas I have read, and so very impactful. Yeah, looking at the covers I also expected an edgy slice of life with schoolgirl pantyshots – and maybe this manga even was it for the first half of the first chapter. But then the author fell victim to his dirty desire to make a good horror story, and Mieruko-chan degraded into a supernatural thriller to behold. There’re two main things on which this unexpected greatness rests:

The first is that the heroine tries to live her normal life while constantly internally screaming. That’s what made me finally pick this manga up. I mean “normal” life is indeed hard as nails and horrifying, I cry inside silently every day for hours. I felt the premise in my bones and I was not disappointed, the mood and the irony of the unending utter terror Mieruko-chan must at all costs contain felt fresh and delicious. Interestingly it’s what most seers actually do, from what I know. No one has no time to deal with hostile astral entities, so they screen, tone down, and hide.

The second is the power and the energy of monster designs. It’s hard to stress this enough, since commending monster designs in so par of the course with manga, I myself do it for many other works, but the monsters here are genuinely one of the best in the medium. The main qualities that distinguish them are:

The style. The author underlines the otherworldliness of monsters by drawing them differently – with expressive dynamic black strokes, as if scratched by a terrified hand on paper. They seem to shimmer and warp slightly from panel to panel. The rest of the manga is done in a clean detailed modern seinen artstyle that allows for a great contrast.

The presence. When the monsters become visible, they are very much in the space, interacting with the environment, active, and aware. They are very dangerous, and the rule of the fictional world dictates that if Mieruko-chan as much as acknowledges them, they will likely attack, so they are a constant palpable danger just a hair away, which creates tension and drives the events of the manga.

The malice. Again, it is difficult to experess it believably, but the designs are just so fully realized and so strong, that you don’t need to make any effort to feel that they are scary, you don’t need to be understanding or to suspend your disbelief – the scary comes naturally. These are mean terrifying bad bad things you never want to meet, you can’t do anything about, you just can’t – yet here they are in all the disturbing glory.

To place them on the chart: There’re monsters by Ito – a mindfuck between Lovecraft and an anatomy theater, covered in offensive surrealism. There’s eroguro with its body horror, damaged sexuality, and the joys of irreversible defilement. There’re urban legends of, say, Seeds of Anxiety. There’re demonic fighters of action series. And there’s subversion for every type. Manga simply has a lot of monsters to offer. In this manga the monsters are reminiscent of Silent Hill – they are terrifying unholy shapes that used to be human souls but then degenerated into otherside predators. The mangaka doesn't use cheap tricks like sexual details or subverted childhood imagery too much, these are simply dead people ground to the pulp and mixed up with the evils of human dwellings to reemerge as some huge cursed beasts. The designs are complex, varied, and plentiful. If we continue to reference games, this manga shows off elaborate horror bosses in every second chapter, sometimes several of them at once. It’s hard to not respect the amount of imagination and work invested, it’s difficult to not admire the results.

Furthermore, while the manga is initially slicey, it has a plot. The major, overarching story is forming as of now, but in previous arcs the author has established a sturdy cast of characters with their own quirks and complex relationships, laid down hooks for suspense. Even the schoolgirl mains end up being relatable and human-like, without excessive schoolgirl fetishism. The girls are somewhat sexualized, the author likes to draw their bodies, but it’s not disrespectful or lecherous.

The main criticism that can be directed towards the narrative is that the heroine seems weirdly inactive in looking for the cure for her condition. But it’s also shown that there’s not enough info to go by, she expects the “sight” to go away as it has appeared, by itself, and this is absolutely a series that grows a plot out of the initial slice-of-life status quo. There’re many chapters dedicated to the initial situation before the characters start to actively move. The initial setup is complex enough and deserves it however, plus there’s also a subplot to follow now and then. There’s also a side of very black comedy to this work, which can come onto the forefront at times.

The author is actually also an expert in subversion of expectations. This manga plays with perception in multiple ways. It does focus on perception as a topic, cause the characters have different points of view and abilities to view, which the mangaka uses to create alternative panels (a thing in one pov, the same thing in another pov), and the plot also carefully builds and then betrays the expectations of readers.

For me this manga has a lot of things that I tend to enjoy: dark tension-filled mood, black humor, elaborate meaningful monster designs, urban fantasy, mysticism, relatable down to the earth characters, mind games, compelling plot, ability to genuinely surprise me. I switched the lights in my corridor at nights way more often during the week when I read it! I urge readers with a taste in topics similar to mine to give it a chance. The only thing you are to watch out when picking it up is that it's actually scary. (This manga is also very recommended to people with a fetish for scared girls, obviously.)

Mieruko-chan is a clever nightmare fuel with great art and outstanding monster designs. It is a rare work that deals with urban mysticism head on – with proper esoteric rules, stakes, and dangers. Narratively, it may start slow and have unneeded ecchi in the first chapter, but it quickly gains impressive storytelling depth, emotional range, and power. Even the main characters are likeable and make sense. This is a disturbing, great, and genuine manga I heartily recommend to all readers except for the easily scared who also don’t want to be scared, and maybe even to them on this Halloween night.

Before reading this manga I never would have thought that horror and comedy could actually successfully mix. The closest thing to it might be the movie Cabin in the Woods, but even that doesn't manage to be genuinely scary enough to really be called horror. However, Mieruko-chan is somehow both genuinely funny and genuinely scary, and actually uses each genre to highlight the other.

I'll start with the horror, and the thing that stands out the most to me is how grotesque and terrifying the monster designs are. I'd say the worst of the spirits in this manga beat out even the worst apostles of Berserk or the worst devils in Chainsaw Man in terms of their sheer ability to creep me out. The author is also a master at using panels transitions as jump scares, with perfectly lighthearted scenes commonly leading into double page spreads of disfigured demons. Now this isn't to say that Mieruko is Junji Ito levels of horrifying, but it's most definitely scarier than I expected.

On the other side of the spectrum, the comedy in this manga consistently lands for me. I'm particularly fond of comedy where characters act as though strange events are perfectly normal, and this series hits the nail on the head with that. Seeing the MC's friend smiling happily next to a demon holding a butcher's knife, or another medium being confident in their abilities but failing to notice spirits devouring each other right next to them manages to make me laugh every time. Just FYI though the beginning has some kind of awkward fanservice, but it mostly stops after the first couple of chapters.

TL;DR - Mieruko-chan somehow blends horror and comedy in a way that each genre makes the other better. I've never seen another series quite like this before, manga or otherwise, and I'd 100% recommend this to both fans of horror and to anyone who's looking for something new and unique.