REVIEW: ‘Mieruko-Chan,’ Volume 4

Mieruko-Chan has been a wonderful blend of adorable, awkward, and horrific both in story and design. Mieruko-Chan Volume 4 is written and illustrated by mangaka Tomoki Izumi and localized in English by Yen Press. The volume is translated by Leighann Harvey and features lettering by Alexis Eckerman.

If you’re unfamiliar with the premise, Mieruko-Chan is about Miko, a teen girl who can see spirits – the good and the evil kind. While she’s been able to move most of her life without meeting anything truly terrifying, it’s just getting worse.  Her “pretend you don’t see them” attitude isn’t enough to keep herself and her best friend safe. And well, murder ghosts are becoming more frequent. In Meriuko-Chan Volume 4, creepy shrine maidens have now saved Miko from three encounters with murderous ghosts. And, in an effort to thank and appease the strange spirits who protected her, Miko is determined to bring an offering back to the shrine where she first met them. The only problem is that shine may not necessarily exist.

Mieruko-Chan Volume 4 is darker than the last three volumes but in that darkness, Miko is beginning to find answers. There is still humor in the volume for sure, especially in the bonus content at the end of the volume, but the designs for the monsters are creepier, meaner, and there seems to be an impending doom working its way into Miko’s life. And with the appearance of new character Rom Shindou, it’s all getting weirder.

While Shindou may be peddling items that really work, to call him a creep is an understatement. Popping up where Miko is, Rom’s street-magician aesthetic does more to unsettle than bring people in, and thankfully Miko is wise to it. Throw in the fact that her saviors may not actually be well, her saviors and you wind up with a set-up for some large plot revelations.

That said, Izumi’s art is the best part of Mieruko-Chan Volume 4 like the volumes before it. The softness with which Miko is drawn casts a stark and impactful difference against the thick black outlines that splatter the page when ghosts appear. But in all the darkness of the illustrations, Izumi manages to carve out enough details to make them even more terrifying.

With just four volumes out now and an anime series on Funimation, it’s not too late to pick up Mieruko-Chan Volume 4 and start reading the series. There is humor and lightness, but Izumi’s ability to craft a terrifying atmosphere is unmatched. Throw in how charismatic Miko is as a protagonist, and it’s a winning formula for adorable but make it horror.

Mieruko-Chan Volume 4 is available wherever books are sold both digitally and physically.