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Mieruko-chan Episode 4 Review – Best In Show

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Mieruko-chan Episode 4 Review – Quick Summary

In Mieruko-chan Episode 4, “Yep, She Sees Them,” Miko Yotsuya simply cannot get away from the increasingly terrifying ghosts. Not at the convenience store. Not under the vending machine. And certainly not in the dark alleys! It got so bad at one point she cried with gratitude when a crow swooped in and stole a coin she had dropped — and that a ghost hovered over. But there had been once place where Miko had been relatively free. And now the ghosts were intruding there, too! Is there anything the poor woman can do to free herself of these apparitions?

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.

Favorite Quote from Mieruko-chan Episode 4

Mieruko-chan Episode 4: Miko has to resort to math to distract herself from a ghost clerk

Miko used math against the ghost. It was super effective — in keeping herself distracted! Capture from the Funimation stream.

Miko seemed under increasing stress in this episode. A lot of that feeling comes from the writing. Even more comes from Miko’s voice actor, Sora Amamiya, who turned in a subtle and very effective performance! 

My favorite quote in this episode shows the lengths to which Miko has to push herself to keep from reacting to the ghosts. In this case, she just wanted to buy some pudding. That’s all. Just a quick trip to the convenience store to buy a tasty treat. Something completely normal; nothing out of the ordinary. 

She found the pudding she wanted and took it to the counter. Suddenly, standing behind and way, way above the clerk, Miko saw one of the long-necked varieties of supernatural creatures. This one had apparently been a clerk, too, because it recited the prices along with the living clerk. 

Miko couldn’t help herself. She had to look up. Fortunately, there was a sign about fish cakes on sale, so she used that as an excuse. But the apparition kept reciting prices. When the clerk gave her the total, so did the ghost. And to keep herself from reacting, Miko resorted to math.

“It added three percent tax,” she noticed (04:16). 

The things this poor woman has to do to keep herself from reacting…

Best in Show Moment for Mieruko-chan Episode 4

Mieruko-chan Episode 4: Miko has had to deal with a lot

I’m not sure how much Miko can take. But this gesture at least let her take the initiative, even if for a little while. Capture from the Funimation stream.

Setup: It Was Right in Front of Me!

Before I get into my favorite moment, I want to recognize how effectively this episode portrayed Miko on the edge of collapse. She almost broke before the Crow stole her 500 yen coin (which is about $4.41 US dollars, as of this writing). That’s just another example of the good work we Crows do! But what really, really got to her was the ghost in the bath. That had been one of the few places she had been safe. Now she had to deal with apparitions even there, when she was naked and completely vulnerable. 

I’m feeling more and more sympathy for Miko! And more admiration for her, too, as she keeps her wits about her under increasingly difficult circumstances.

But as to my favorite moment, if you haven’t seen the episode, please do consider not reading the rest of this review until you have. I’m about to talk about a twist that I found emotionally and dramatically powerful, all the more so for how the show presented it. I’d like you to have that experience, too. 

Mieruko-chan Episode 4: Miko can't even take a bath to get away from the ghosts

She can’t even take a bath. How much would that suck? I mean, seriously! Capture from the Funimation stream.

Here comes the spoiler!

I’m going to write a random sentence here so that my next sentence doesn’t accidentally hint at the plot point if you don’t want it spoiled. I hope this was random enough!

Did you see the Sixth Sense? Part way in, as my wife and I watched it, my wife gasped. I didn’t know why. Bruce Willis’ character had just asked his wife about something, and she ignored him as usual. I asked what was up, and she shook her head and nodded that I should keep watching. In that instant, she had figured out the big plot twist. 

I think Mieruko-chan just one-upped The Sixth Sense. And it did it in plain sight, with a completely reasonable alternate explanation.

Delivery: The More You Thought About It…

Do you remember my review of the first episode, when, in the Quick Summary, I mentioned how Miko had just ignored her dad? I thought it was because that’s what teen-aged girls did. They ignore their dads. It’s like the most obvious thing in the world. 

In this episode, when Miko came downstairs to breakfast to find an enormous supernatural creature intertwined with her family, she fought hard to ignore it. Her brother Kyousuke Yotsuya asked if the pudding in the refrigerator was hers. She said it was, so he said she’d better put her name on it — because he remembered how their dad had eaten her pudding last year. Mom picked up on it and joked, too, while dad grew flustered and asked that they drop it. He was still embarrassed about it! But they ignored him.

Just more family banter, I thought. 

Miko couldn’t take the ghost anymore, so she got up to leave for school. Just before she walked out, though, she paused. She turned, went to the refrigerator, and grabbed the pudding. Then she walked into the living room. She put the pudding on the altar to her father. 

The altar to her dead father

Mieruko-chan Episode 4: Her dad has been dead all this time...

It took me a good three seconds to understand what I was seeing here. Capture from the Funimation stream.

Kyousuke had not ignored his dad. Touko Yotsuya, Miko’s mother, had not ignored her husband. They couldn’t see him. That’s because he was a ghost. He’d been there all along, unable to leave his living family. Miko could see him. But she couldn’t let him know. Because then the other ghosts would know she could see them, and they’d attack.

He thanked her for the gift. He walked up behind her to regard her and the altar. “You’re giving it to me, Miko?” he asked, surprised and pleased (20:03). “I’m sorry for eating it last year. I really wanted to apologize to you, but I never got the chance.”

The twist had been right there, in plain sight, since the first moments of episode 1, and I didn’t catch it. I would have been happy with a somewhat scary and mildly sexy show. But hitting these emotional and dramatic notes? I guess I like it even more because it’s so unexpected!

What did you think of Miko’s encounter at the vending machine? What were your favorite moments in this episode? Feel free to let me know in the comments!

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