Originally published as a webcomic on artist hosting website Pixiv, the horror comic series Mieruko-chan originally aired in 2018 and received an anime adaptation in 2021. He tries to deal with this problem, and by ignoring it and hoping it goes away, Mieruko-chan can be really creepy, funny and even touching. This unique blend of emotions makes Mieruko-chan an underrated gem that fans of horror anime should check out.

The title is based on Miko’s name, which is hard to describe in English, but it works like “Miss Able-To-see Them”, where “they” are ghosts that Miko sees everywhere she goes. Although not particularly scary, Mieruko-chan is still one of the best horror anime on Crunchyroll. This is thanks to the unique premise and horror comedy angle, which is clearly explained in the series on Crunchyroll.

She can see dead people…she chooses to ignore them. That’s Miko’s plan, anyway, with terrible (and sometimes hilarious) results.

Mieruko-chan is a unique blend of scares, humor, and fun moments.

Mieruko-chan (2021)

Fans of traditional horror may be disappointed by the amount of horror in Mieruko-chan. While many of the ghosts Miko encounters aren’t scary, most of them don’t actually do anything. Miko’s ongoing attempts to avoid dealing with ghosts by pretending they exist are mostly successful and inspire a lot of humor. There are some tense scenes as Miko and her friends are actively tormented by more malevolent spirits. When simply running away isn’t enough to escape them, Miko is saved when she happens to pray to the mysterious and extremely sinister fox god at a local temple.

More than Mieruko-chan’s scary aspects, the series’ biggest strength is its sense of humor. Despite being ghosts, Miko and her friends are fairly common secondary anime characters. Miko and her friends and family have a wonderfully written relationship and engage in genuinely entertaining conversations. At the same time, Miko’s reactions to scary ghosts that suddenly appear in strange places are always hilarious. Aside from the horror comedy angle, Mieruko-chan also has several surprisingly touching moments. There are several instances where Miko has seen kind spirits help their living relatives and even help them perform one last act of kindness before helping them move on. These moments have a really nice emotional weight and a great thematic point to the scares and humor of the rest of the series.

One of the biggest complaints about anime adaptations is the series’ over-reliance on fanservice. While it’s never overt, there’s a tendency to frame the characters in suggestive locations even during the anime’s tense moments. This was in the Mieruko-chan version of the original manga, though it was eventually abandoned as the manga continued. The fan service in anime is often enough that it can turn off some viewers, but Mieruko-chan is still a series worth watching.

Mieruko-chan may not be as scary as other classic horror anime. Even so, it’s a very memorable and unique mix of horror, humor and genuinely touching moments. There is no other horror comedy quite like Mieruko-chan, making it an underrated gem that many horror fans should check out.

The Mieruko-Chan anime adaptation is available to stream on Crunchyroll, and the official English release of the manga is available on the Crunchyroll store.

Watch Mieruko-Chan now on Crunchyroll