#mieruko zen

[jadeazora]

I've been binge-watching Mieruko-chan today, and I really like the subversion with Zen. He's shown to have a really unsettling demeanor, and Miko is TERRIFIED of him due to that and the cat ghosts surrounding him + the aggressive ghost of his mother, except she turns out to be pretty off-base.

He only has the cat ghosts around him because he's been trying to catch a cat killer, and they feel bad for him since he always shows up when its too late to save them, and he feels guilty for it. He also has absolutely zero context for any of her behavior, so he's probably been wondering why she's been acting totally scared shitless towards him.

But then it turns out he likely ended up killing the actual (human) culprit instead, since he's been reported missing. (I mean, nothing of value was lost, since he was an animal abuser, but Zen did think Miko could have been the culprit because of how weird she acts around him, so that raises some questions considering the implied murder.)

[niintendoqs]

I realized I have a specific type of character that I'm really into. Pinkish reddish haired boys are my weakness

[ayzscream]

[ignitedarcadia]

[are-you-ready-for-randomness]

It has been so long since I posted here, so why not post this one here. I did this art to post into the AO3 story I wrote in may, about Zen Toono somehow noticing that Miko sees ghosts and comforting her about it.

You might be asking why am I posting it on the secondary blog I have... It is beause I did not even have time to draw normally and I couldn't think about anything worth sharing on this blog, then it hit me that I can share a few pencil drawings here and it is a bonus that if I post it here, I can place it into the fanfic in a way that the picture shows up too. So I'm kinda hitting two birds with one stone with this idea, but I'm up for it.

You can find the AO3 Fic here

[popcorn-an-artist]

I tried to draw as many manga/ anime crushes I have on one page as I could. Now I'm seeing a pattern and I might have a weird taste.

[fandomscomefandomsgo]

Okay, so the latest chapter of Mieruko-Chan (Chapter 56) has set up three (3) things. There are spoilers in here, but this chapter was less big plot and more build up for characters and later plot.

1. Michiru and the Caterpillar Forest Spirit are still integrating

Michiru is still very Michiru, but the tentacles are goofy now. Probably because she doesn't feel like she has to be defensive or aggressive in having a friend, so the caterpillar forest spirit seems to have relaxed some. Why it's being so goofy is not yet seen but I'm not complaining. It looks like Michiru is still insecure of her place as Hana and Miko's friend (could be the cause for the goofy. She's trying to "unwind with friends"), and she's still adamant on Miko particular, but she's also interacting with Hana and is less forceful when Miko turns her down. Miko is also far less worried about the spirit (now that she knows what it is and Michiru's situation), and even considers the spirit a logical option for dangerous spirits, but isn't keen to bother Michiru with these situations. It's a process, Michiru with the group, and a good one to be seeing.

I also liked Zen-sensei's smile while seeing them goofing around. He definitely became a teacher with the mind to take notice of students in similar situations to him and act where and when he could, as we saw with Michiru's. Even if her situation was very different his "interference" was still needed. Michiru and You couldn't stay in a bubble forever.

2. The shadow

This was one of those suited shadows from the end of ch. 55. We aren't sure if these are spirits or something completely different.

These are clearly being built into an arc, but what they are for we don't yet know. These dudes and the main guy who seems very aware of Romm (and may be the Seto who Romm was going to contact but I've experienced a moment like this where characters you thought were built to be the same person turned out to be completely seperate). I'm wondering if these guys are attached to the caterpillar spirit story, cause it almost seemed like they were visiting the Caterpillar spirit's shrine which they found broken. However, I could be wrong and this is a completely different shrine. Maybe it could be linked towards Romm's near death experience we saw, or the as yet unresolved "WHAT THE HELL CAME OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN" from the end of the mountain shrine story, or something else entirely.

Altogether, they're around, they're probably going to be part of something important, and one is tailing Miko. Question is: Is it because she interacts with Michiru and the Caterpillar Spirit, or because she interacts with Romm? (And are they aware that she can see? That's a good question too, but I'm leaning towards "no and they'll just be mildly surprised she can".)

Initially when I saw the one tailing Miko, I thought it was another shape for the "photo guy" and have sense slapped my forehead realizing it wasn't. But I wonder if they might be something to get involved with the photo guy situation (I'm feeling very "each photo it appears in it grows closer" lurking death type). It did almost kill Romm after all and he's contemplating help from someone, but again I'm 50/50 on if it's actually the same person we saw in the manga.

3. Dad

On to our favorite household duo. Dad has shown he might not be around for an big reason, but he's definitely around to look after his family and that includes dangerous spirits that can latch onto and hurt the living. We have seen the first one actually capable of doing so, because it grabbed onto Kyoya with harmful intent.

A lot of people think that weird horse-dog looking ghost in the Yotsuya household may be another half of the dad, or it could be a guide for him in the way that creepy wheelchair dude that wheeled the recently deceased old man from the hospital away with his family. Either way, this entity has yet to be shown as dangerous (just unsettling for Miko) and the dad's ghost interacts with it casually. We also don't have a truely clear answer as to why dad or horse/dog spirit is still here.

However, in this chapter, we see dad is able to stand his ground against creepier entities, telling them clearly to leave, and the horse/dog acts as a sort of "guard dog" that will act if the problem doesn't back down.

Dad is sticking around to protect his family, and the other ghost is acting the same. We were lucky this spirit didn't seem to be

But, if I'm not mistaken, WE STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT ONE GHOST OUTSIDE THE DOOR THAT ONE NIGHT WAS. I thought it was going to be linked to Michiru and You, but, with retrospect, I'm wondering if it was only imitating You. Knock and say a thing to get someone to answer the door. This interaction was tense due to the situation with Michiru, but I think it was setting up that Dad can tell the good from wrong sort.

Which could have been an important moment considering the interaction between the caterpillar spirit, the horse-dog and Dad. Dad didn't seem to have much self(ghost self?) preservation with the caterpillar spirit, who was acting out of over protectiveness due to Michiru's mental state. And it was the horse-dog that de-esculated that situation, considering it had caused it. This could be due to the separation of ghosts from something like guides and the strength of forest spirits (assuming again that horse-dog is a guardian type). Maybe Dad didn't clock the danger because it's a spirit attached to a living girl. Maybe he follows the horse-dog's lead of danger vs okay. Maybe he just didn't see a threat because he could recognize it for what it was and it was the equivalent of trying to approach a chihuahua (they can lash out or become putty and its a coin toss sometimes). There's options, probably more than what I came up with.

[unfortunatesal]

Mieruko-chan is not about a girl with schizophrenia though... the ghosts are real and can literally affect things in the world? Zen's cats were literally dying because his mom's onryo kept sucking the life out of them. So it is very lesbian/queer, no one disputes that, but squizoqueer? Not really.

the things schizophrenic people experience are also real and affect things in the world too. hope this helps.

(also this is kinda annoying nitpicking, like, just because a work of fiction doesn't perfectly map onto reality doesn't make it any less of a potent representation of people's experiences.)

[thepokemanik]

Yooooo you are reading mieruko-chan? i love that manga so much!!!! do you have a favourite character? mine is the little fail exorcist girl

My favprite chapter of Mieruko is probably... Chapter 4, where we meet Gozuka and Zen sensei for the first time.

[icarus-t]

Mieruko-chan | Tohno Zen

=)

[mastomysowner]

- by 赤囮

[m4ids]

☆ 見える子ちゃん ☆

[take-a-dip-in-the-deadpool]

Love this breakdown of the character

[ayzscream]

[cringereincarnated]

Mieruko-Chan season one ending spoilers!!!

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No, but the way I was sooo against Zen even after hearing his tragic backstory. I was like idc how fucking terrible your childhood was! YOU CAN'T FUCKING HURT ANIMALS!!! 😡😡😡

Then it was revealed he wasn't the animal killer and I was like oop- 😳

And he became my fave 🥰🥰🥰

But then in the end it was revealed that he IS a serial killer, just that he kills bad people, I was like:

[gojoheart]

okay but can we talk about how zen deserved so much better as a child 😭 he's so loving and caring when it comes to cats, it's such a shame his mom haunted him for so long

also, anime-only watchers might not know but it wasn't neither him or satoru hurting those poor babies.. zen would *never* hurt a cat!!! i cry so much thinking about him it's not even a joke you guys

hopefully next week the anime will do justice to the end of zen's arc and we'll get to see those cute extras 🥺