Mieruko-chan

Mieruko-chan (見える子ちゃん, "The Girl Who Can See Them") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tomoki Izumi. It began serialization online via Kadokawa's ComicWalker website in November 2018, with ten 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

Miko Yotsuya (四谷 みこ, Yotsuya Miko)

Voiced by: Sora Amamiya (Japanese); Alexis Tipton (English)

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.

Hana Yurikawa (百合川 ハナ, Yurikawa Hana)

Voiced by: Kaede Hondo (Japanese); Sarah Wiedenheft (English)

Miko's air-headed best friend who is oblivious of Miko's current situation. She is fond of eating. However, her eating also increases her life aura, which makes ghosts more attracted to her.

Yuria Niguredō (二暮堂 ユリア, Niguredō Yuria)

Voiced by: Ayane Sakura (Japanese); Lindsay Sheppard (English)

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.

Zen Tohno (遠野 善, Tōno Zen)

Voiced by: Yuichi Nakamura (Japanese); David Matranga (English)

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.

Mitsue Takeda (タケダミツエ, Takeda Mitsue) / Godmother (ゴッドマザー, Goddomazā)

Voiced by: Ikuko Tani (Japanese); Wendy Powell (English)

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.

Kyōsuke Yotsuya (四谷 恭介, Yotsuya Kyōsuke)

Voiced by: Yumiri Hanamori (Japanese); Suzie Yeung (English)

Miko's younger brother, who is determined to protect her while oblivious of Miko's current situation.

Tōko Yotsuya (四谷 透子, Yotsuya Tōko)

Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame (Japanese); Elizabeth Maxwell (English)

Miko and Kyōsuke's mother.

Mamoru Yotsuya (四谷 真守, Yotsuya Mamoru)

Voiced by: Kohsuke Toriumi (Japanese); Michael Sorich (English)

Miko and Kyōsuke's father, who died prior to the events of the story.

Junji Rōsoku (ロウソク淳二, Rōsoku Junji)

Voiced by: Nobuo Tobita (Japanese); Steven Kelly (English)

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 ten tankōbon volumes as of February 2024. 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 "Mienai Kara ne!?" (見えないからね!?, "I Can't See Them, Okay!?"), as well as the ending theme "Mita na? Mita yo ne?? Miteru yo ne???" (ミタナ？ミタヨネ？？ミテルヨネ？？？, "You Saw Me? You Saw Me, Right?? You're Seeing Me Right Now, Right???"). 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.

Reception

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.

References

External links

• Manga official website (in Japanese)
• Anime official website (in Japanese)
• Mieruko-chan (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia