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Last edited by Harleyquin on Mon Oct 18, 2021 12:15 am; edited 1 time in total

#3

This episode dials up the horror a lot more than the last two. If anything, the impact of the monsters is so strong one struggles to count up the number of camera shots focusing on Miko and Hana.

Miko's ability to hold her charade is getting further tested with each episode. The bus entity knew she could see, but Miko's trick turned the tables. The second encounter was completely avoidable, but Miko got out of jail again using innovative on-the-spot thinking. There's even some comedy in the second encounter, since the male has almost certainly met his match with the prospective date.

The animators actually gave an answer regarding Hana. Apparently, being well-endowed and permanently optimistic is a side effect from having strong vitality. So strong that hauntings won't ever affect her even though she's also a magnet for the supernatural. It's strange that Miko is only starting to see what shouldn't be seen now despite being with Hana for much longer, so something must have been the trigger for her sight. Not sure if that answer will be given before the end of this series though.

So the "Godmother" was originally a proper mystic, but decided to rely on petty scams to make ends meet instead of using her powers for real. She's the first person in this series who has seen through Miko's charade, which is good news for the latter assuming she's willing to open up when Hana is not around. The Godmother's sight is not as strong as Miko's, not sure if I should attribute that to old age, waning powers or a combination of both. With the closure of her "shop", I'm guessing this is the trigger for the transfer student to approach Miko and Hana as she'll blame them for being responsible.

One takeaway about the prayer beads: minor entities don't like them and will keep their distance. However, wraiths possessed of extremely strong negative emotions will easily bypass the beads' defences. The hanged wraith is a typical example: most likely a 地縛霊 haunting the site of its suicide and can only move within a certain radius from its "home". I feel sorry for Miko since sticking with Hana means she has to brave whatever horrors Hana inadvertently crosses without the benefit of the latter's protection.

3:

Uh huh. In other words, a walking plot device.

I'd imagine by now that it's a lot more annoying than scary when you see not just ghosts, but ghosts that always try to get into your face. Literally. Like haters trying to get under your skin. Maybe scary for Miko at least, but annoying for us.

I feel like I'm watching Nagatoro-san where the mechanics of the comedy is always the same, with a small twist for every episode. This kind of thing gets old really quick. At least the second half of the episode is a tad more interesting than the first, but at this rate I'm not expecting anytime riveting. I can finally confirm what kind of show this is.

Butt buns sound awesome, though.

Episode 02: She Totally Sees Them

Summary: After realizing she can see ghosts and spirits, Miko continues to try and ignore them as best as she can, but they continue to appear more frequently. She sees a severed head at the top of Hana's locker. Another one with multiple arms pops out of Hana's desk, and when Miko comes up with an excuse to take her to the nurse's office, it completely backfires. Later, she goes with Hana to the donut shop, but gets in the wrong line and avoids being devoured by a ghost-eater. On the way home, they find a kitten being given away and try to find it a new home, in which Miko anoints a gruff looking, but gentle gangster to be its new owner.
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Comments: As I suspected after the first episode, it doesn't look like there'll be much of a story. The show is clearly gonna' rely on its horror atmospherics, fanservice, and spurts of situational humor and irony.

Yeah: irony. I think that's the whole point. It's too silly and fanservice-y to be scary, but then scary enough that it's not complete fluff, either. It's a weird feeling of balance that's a little frustrating, yet still oddly entertaining. I tend to find fanservice in almost any other title distracting, but not here. And the horror elements seem to have more effort put into them than most others.

I thought the kitten bit was neat. The irony being that you "can't judge a book by it's cover." The sort of handsome up-standing guy has bad cat spirits around him because he probably treated them like shit (maybe even killed them? he gave off that kind of vibe, but who knows), and then the rough looking yakuza dude had good cat spirits around him because they loved him.

Screencaps from here on out will be mainly focused on the ghosts / spirit encounters and the fanservice (but only the high quality shots), since that's the show's gimmick and there isn't much else to really comment on.
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Caps:

Episode 03: She Still Sees Them

Summary: Miko is planning to meet up with Hana and do some weekend shopping. On the bus ride over to "Steabucks," she encounters a ghost with multiple heads. When she gets to Steabucks, she continues to wait for Hana, but then sees a cute boy being hawked by a jealous and clingy female ghost who thinks Miko is trying to steal from her. After purchasing some prayer beads, Miko gives a pair to Hana to help ward off the ghosts and spirits. And upon encountering a powerful ghost in an alley, they, then, meet a fortune teller called the Godmother.
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Comments: Godmother is an interesting kind of wild card, since it's the first acknowledgement of someone else being spiritually aware. If she can't see the ghosts, but can, at least, sense them and also see auras, then surely there are others that can do the same. I'm a little disappointed in the absence of fanservice for this one. Although, the actual "story mechanic" appears to be the tradeoff. It makes things potentially more interesting. I'm wondering if there will be any kind of actual ground rules for the world, now.
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Caps:

The weird thing about the big guy was reminding me of some enemy from a game, which I think was the Thug from Dead Island, or the Goon from Dying Light. An undead like being that is big and intimidating.

Does anyone else think the vertical slit mouths were designed specifically to resemble vaginas on purpose or by accident? They're tapered so it's intentional but, what do I mean here...

Is their symbolic use intentional or not? Mostly I'm asking because of the use and placement of teeth. Also, the tongue coming out of it looks less like, um, and more like, um.

I looked at the manga up to this episode (it's only through 6 chapters, at this point), and the ghost designs in the anime are pretty much the same (albeit, way more detailed). With as many ghosts as the mangaka has to draw, maybe he was just trying look at any and every thing to give the designs more variation.

It's funny you mention jealous clingy cafe lady's mouth looking like a vagina with teeth. Because there's a comedy horror film called Teeth (2007) about a girl whose vagina actually has teeth (in reference to the old folktale of vagina dentata). Maybe it's coincidence, or maybe the mangaka saw that movie!

And yes, I can confirm the fanservice of the anime is inherent in the manga. Oddly enough, it's more prevalent on Miko (her pajamas are way more transparent) than Hana (her boobs are actually smaller). Chalk it up to the director for trying to give anime Hana more attention.

#4

The episode has regressed a bit to #1 and #2 since the animators don't miss an opportunity to leer at Miko and Hana when the situation allows. The dissonance with the horror elements is stark though, since Miko's Sight improves with each day and the psychological toll from keeping a poker face to a multitude of spectral horrors is starting to show.

The younger brother is a siscon, pure and simple. He's no help to her since he can't see and he rather enjoys watching that horror show, so he wouldn't believe Miko even if she plucked up the courage to fess up. As for that bookstore, what kind of outfit keeps love and occult horror on the same bookshelf separated by the alphabet?!

The big sucker punch is at the end of this episode. I wonder how many people not familiar with that source material would have seen this coming. The only clue we've had to date was the conversations between the family members (they only ever mention the mother is late coming back from work, also the note when Miko is back home alone), it's not enough to infer that Miko's father is actually a spirit. If he did die with regrets over an argument over last year's pudding, it's strange that Miko's Sight only manifested a year after his passing instead of before. I thought his death would be the trigger, but it apparently isn't. Also, it's not clear if Miko can see her father as a spirit together with the other spectral entities since she's intent on keeping a poker face throughout.

The last part when they showed the TV segment through Miko's point of view is a good one. Although viewers can guess Miko has seen something the brother can't which terrified her enough to go outside, it's not until we see the same scene from her point of view that we realise how much it takes for her to maintain her composure. Her morning routine where she looks out of the window has changed as well; first episode it's clear she couldn't see what the dog saw at the refuse area. Now she uses it as a gauge to see if her daily prayer is answered.

It's clear that Miko's poker face act isn't cutting it with some entities now. So far she's relied on luck and/or external intervention allowing her to do something else and keep her thoughts away from the increasingly malevolent entities itching to get her to scream. The only person who can help her is the Godmother, but she's closed up shop and the beads stopgap is a no-go. Without help, it's only a matter of time before Miko loses her sanity which would end this series on a sour note. Is there anything coming up which can be of help to her?

Episode 4
I should have that one coming; Right after I mention mouths that look like vaginas, there's this giant ghost with a second head between his legs. So no doubt about it, it's sexual contextualization. But there's at least three possibilities of where and how it's being used.

If it's in story, ghost are doing it to their own forms.

If it's not in story but the artist is knowingly doing it I'd wager it's a counterpoint to the fan service. Perhaps even a revolt against editorial mandated fan service.

If it's not in story and the artist is doing it unconsciously... Well.

And on a completely related not: Miko, put on a freaking towel already, it's getting weird. No, it started weird, it's getting weirder.

4:

This one hits different. A little.

For the last two episodes, the show is following this format whereby the first half is the normal kind of "Adventures of Miko" gag where Miko tries to gets over some ghost she has encountered. The second half however, has been more about the effects of Miko's ghost sighting on the people around her e.g. the old lady previously, now her brother.

Granted, the second half type of narrative is more interesting than the first. Not sure if the first half gag is just to prime you for the "main" one, but at least this is the one that draws me a bit more in the show.

Still, this show could use less fanservice and contrived ways to get Miko to face ghosts. Doesn't add anything to the show.

Last edited by Harleyquin on Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:26 am; edited 1 time in total

#5

I like this episode. First part formally introduces Yuria Niguredou and her shared ability with Miko. It also illustrates the value of proper and effective communication, because failure to properly convey one's intentions leads to misunderstanding and wrong conclusions, which is unfortunately a massive problem for Yuria with her propensity to take things the wrong way.

I still feel sorry for Miko. Not only is she unable to unburden herself, she's going to be hounded by a self-important spiritualist stalker out for purported revenge. The difference in sight is stark; even half-choked Yuria could barely make out what was forcing Miko into attempted murder. The one thing Yuria has is experience in dealing with the spectral entities; she knows most of them are harmless and leave her alone whereas Miko is generally terrified of just about all of them and has to keep up her poker face routine all the time.

The second part is a homage to the Sixth Sense. Yuria was talking about how she's born with her ability and how she intends to use it; Miko on the other hand wants nothing more than to lose her Sight and go back to being like Hana. The entities have other ideas though, this is the first instance where it's made explicitly clear some of them know Miko can see and hear them. Had she not intervened, the old lady would have been senile until her death. Like the lost cat arc, stories like this are a big draw for this series to keep its viewers.

All of the above, and very little fanservice this week. The animators tone it down depending on the arc it seems.

5:

It's clear that the show has its routine "Miko's Sticky Situation of the Week", but I like how the second part deals with dementia. My grandmother suffers from it, but in a way it's not as bad as not remembering her own family. But she keeps forgetting that I'm an adult, and from time to time still think I'm still in school.

Dementia affects elderly people differently, and it's difficult to know what can trigger their memory return. Usually we think it's personal belongings or anything that the person holds dear, but even that is sometimes murky and inconclusive. Even the term "forgetfulness" doesn't bode well with me because it connotes habit when it's not (for most parts).

Episode 5

There is getting something of of how things work here; Guy couldn't stop haunting his former wife because he had an essential piece of information... complaint: I knew it was a combination but I thought it'd be a digital safe; 3-4-6-1 without the required left-right turns is just goobleygook... Miko then sees the guy waiting in the "Time to get eaten" line. Is there a Handbook for the Recently Deceased or do they figure this stuff as they go along?

Also there's something about dementia but that could have been anything.

Yulia finally connects to the main plot which is apparently half Sixth Sense, half Birdbox. However, there has to be an experience that Miko had for her to fear the ones Yulia can't see. It also doesn't excuse the point where Miko could have come clean to Yulia rather than just inadvertently threaten her life.

There are enough individual pieces to get an idea of a plot or at the very least, what's going on. The dead trying to get the attention of the living; Some for the purposes to "move on", some for reasons to be determined. Spiritualists in this highly spirit conscious world either aid the process or scam people.

But something is missing and relates to the prayer beads bursting: Physical activity. Normal people can't see the ghosts but they can see what they do... now I'm getting flashbacks to The Flower We Lost That Day; Do Japanese people in general not see how they're connected? "You say it's a ghost and we see things moving but it could just be psychic powers" sort of thing?

Last edited by Harleyquin on Sun Nov 21, 2021 1:26 am; edited 3 times in total

#6

Just when one thinks the series is reverting to type with its attention to the female form, it does its usual turn towards grotesque horror and escalates it. This episode is really scary, but we do learn a bit about Hana's vitality and her seemingly boundless appetite.

For once, the spotlight is on Hana. She's an optimistic and carefree airhead, but she has a sense of decency and is willing to brave her own horrors to help others without asking for compensation in return. Unfortunately it gives Miko no end of headaches having to clean up after the mess she brings backs with her from her excursion.

The Godmother was partially right in her assessment of Hana: her vitality does indeed repel spectral entities since physical contact with her roasts them to a crisp at the expense of making her hungry. If she unwittingly exorcises too many spirits in one go, her vitality drops making her an easy target for crafty predators. If Miko was next to Hana when this week's wraith starting using Hana as a portable grill, it's hard to believe she would keep up her poker face without acting unnatural.

The second part of the episode is easily the most frightening to date. Turns out there are forces out there that are happy to deal with unwanted spectral squatters, but for a price. This is far above the level of mere prayer beads; even the largest and most vile spectres can be consumed. What price Miko has to pay (since she did wish for them to go away and would DO ANYTHING to make it happen) is not explicitly stated, since neither her nor the audience could make out what the terms of the bargain were. She has three wards though, so she has to be careful when she decides to use them.

Hana for her part is oblivious to the imminent terror Miko faces throughout this arc and is happy and unwittingly taking a photo with a powerful spirit in the background. Miko and others like the Grandmother clearly see the results though, even if Hana doesn't.

This week did the same trick as two episodes ago where an earlier scene is redone using Miko's point of view. It's more obvious this time round that she sees something in the shop, but one still feels sorry for her after seeing what she has to put up with keeping her usual poker face on.

Edit: I didn't watch closely first time, but the shrine the pair went to has a name. 三x谷神社 is a very non-standard name for a shrine, so much so there's no definitive way to pronounce the first three characters regardless of what the subtitle personnel came up with. Without knowledge of the source material, pronunciation would be impossible anyway as the second key Kanji is very faded and doesn't resemble anything standard for the left radical. The character for three is there though, which is probably why Miko was given three wards.

Am rather curious of what the 'gods' said, and what "three times" meant. The episode was feeling closer to something like a creepy pasta.

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Mieruko-chan (TV).