ミイラの飼い方

MIIRA NO KAIKATA

ANIME

STATUS
COMPLETE
EPISODES
12
RELEASE
March 30, 2018
LENGTH
24 min

DESCRIPTION

When high school student Sora Kashiwagi finds himself staring down a mysterious oversized package sent to him by his self-proclaimed "adventurer" father, the last thing he expects is for it to be opened from the inside... by a little mummy so small it can fit in the palm of his hand!

(Source: Crunchyroll)

CAST

Mii-kun
Ai Kayano
Sora Kashiwagi
Minami Tsuda
Tazuki Kamiya
Keisuke Koumoto
Isao
Conny
Ai Kayano
Mukumuku
Seiichirou Yamashita
Kaede Kashiwagi
Ai Kayano
Pochi
Asa Motegi
Himika Akaneya
Daichi Tachiaki
Seiichirou Yamashita

EPISODES

Dubbed

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RELATED TO MIIRA NO KAIKATA

MANGA ComedyMiira no Kaikata

REVIEWS

70ny
90/100
This anime will cure your depression.
When one thinks of mummies, they likely imagine something scary/creepy and in the context of fiction, dangerous and bad. For me, the first thing that comes to mind is what you'd see in something like The Mummy. This anime brings to light something that I doubt anyone has ever even considered: keeping a mummy as a pet. Or better yet, a mummy being adorable (overwhelmingly so).

While I don't hate or dislike SoL anime, they aren't usually at the top of my list when it comes to what I prioritize watching. As someone with ADHD, slower more relaxed shows tend to be a challenge to keep me engaged. But this one had my attention from start to finish. It didn't have much of a story or interesting characters. But none of that mattered. This is the type of show you watch to heal your soul and unwind. And it did just that for me.

Story/World-Building

As I mentioned before, there isn't much of a story. The mummy, Mii-kun, gets introduced within the first few minutes. Then it's basically just SoL centered around him and Sora (and the rest of the cast as they get introduced across the anime). Okay, there's a bit more to it than that.

One big theme throughout this show is how each of the characters have some sort of personal/internal problem. And for whatever reason, they cross paths with a specific youkai (or in Sora's case, a mummy) that by sheer coincidence so happen to be the catalyst for the solution. I will admit, on paper and thinking back on it, this sounds pretty cheesy/cheap. Maybe it is. But the way it was executed was just perfect, at least for me. There was a good flow and pacing to all this and it also didn't eat up the entire 12 episodes (about half or so).

The show does quickly explain how supernatural beings exist all over the world and how Sora is somehow able to see them. And how his father (who I guess is an adventurer/explorer of some sort) often sends him gifts that turn out to be supernatural in one way or another. But nothing else really gets explained/explored beyond that. This didn't bother me too much, but if you're one that needs to have a detailed explanation for everything, that never happens.

Characters

While I didn't find the characters all that interesting, they were still fine. A majority of the development went to Sora and his friend Tazuki. I liked their relationship and how it grew throughout the season. It's worth mentioning that there is absolutely no romance (or even fan-service) in this. So if you're one who wants any of that stuff then you'll be disappointed.

Don't let this scene fool you, Sora later says he wants her to be his sister.

The rest of the cast was alright, but just didn't receive close to as much attention. Regardless, I liked everyone. Especially Kaede. Apparently, she's actually Sora's aunt and not his sister. That blew my mind once I realized that.

Kaede choosing to sleep in the coffin Mii-kun came in gets me every time.

Art/Animation

I thought the art looked pretty good. Everyone had a distinct design and I just liked all the colors used. The art style felt strangely familiar to something else I've seen before, but I couldn't put my finger on what exactly. If someone knows of something similar, please let me know. But yeah, I didn't find any issues with how anything looked. I think my opinion would be the same with the animation. Everything looked good to me. 8-bit gets a thumbs up from me.

In this anime, there are a lot of interactions and scenes involving the various youkai (and mummy). They don't actually ever talk, but despite this, they are able to perfectly encapsulate emotion through the use of various animations (a common one being flower-like shapes that spin around their heads). I think that this in tandem with the sound used for their voices was just excellent. I also don't think I've ever seen this done before in an anime either, so it was interesting to see.

Audio/OST

I loved the OP and ED for this. Most of the time, I wouldn't skip either. Aside from just being good songs, I just think that they fit the vibe of the show really well. Additionally, the OST was also perfect. I was surprised to see that Kenichirou Suehiro (I loved his work in Re:Zero and Goblin Slayer) was the man behind all the wonderful music. No complaints here. The rest of the audio was splendid too. There are a few scenes with rain and the ambience from that was just perfect. So this all gets full marks from me.

As I mentioned earlier, the animation did a great job at conveying emotion. But it couldn't have been complete without the superb sound effects and talent of the VA who voiced the different creatures. Ai Kayano apparently voiced Mii-kun, Conny and Kaede and she was amazing for all of them. Not surprised, given how talented she is. All the other VA were great as well.

Conclusion

I think it's pretty clear what my thoughts on this show are. Just go check it out. It's nice and comfy. While it is a shame that it never got a second season, it does end at a good place. And the manga is apparently still ongoing and I'm sure by now it's well beyond what got adapted here. So if you liked this, I'd check that out too. I haven't yet, but I probably will at some point.

I came really close to giving this a 10/10. However, I try to reserve a perfect score for my absolute favorites. While this anime did check a lot of the right boxes for me, I just don't see it making that list. That being said, it's near perfect (in my opinion).

I give How to Keep a Mummy a 9/10.
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