It’s always nice when the sleeper picks come through for you, and this season we’ve gone two for two with Koi wa Ameagari no You ni and now Miira no Kaikata.  Of course you don’t want to get cocky, and one or both of those shows could jump the shark (with Koi wa Ameagari seeming to be a particular risk for that).  I don’t think that’s too likely with Miira no Kaikata though, because with this one it seems like what we saw is what we’re going to get, only more – and what we saw was pretty much what I was hoping to see when I named it a sleeper in the first place.

My vibe from the previews and such for this series was sweet, quirky and gently comedic – which is, by the way, a combo any anime season needs to really feel complete.  Well, Miira no Kaikata is certainly all those things and more.  If there’s any risk with this show it’s that its unrelenting positivity could end up becoming repetitive – but there’s a bit of an edge here too, I think.  Without the “quirky” the other two can be a bit one-note, but based on the premise this series has plenty of quirks to go around.

Without much preamble, we launch right into the story of Kashiwagi Sora (Tamura Mutsumi), a lad of about 15-16 living on his own apart from who I assume is his older sister.  Because she’s a writer or mangaka of some sort she’s useless around the house, so Sora is responsible for every aspect of managing it (the theme of boys this age being slaves to housework is an ongoing obsession in anime and manga for some reason).   He seems resigned to it, but his life isn’t made any easier by his adventurer father (Matsuyama Takashi) sending back weird shit (and often dangerous, too) from his world travels.

Dad’s latest “care package” (I love that it was delivered by “Nadeshiko Express”) is gargantuan, and when Sora-kun opens it he finds a coffin and a voluminous (though mostly pointless) note from his father.  Apparently this coffin contains a mummy – but not the sort of mummy Sora imagines.  Otou-san describes it as “totally cute” and for once, the unreliable bastard isn’t lying to his son – when the tiny mummy emerges, it is indeed adorable.  Though I certainly don’t blame Sora for not taking that at face value…

And basically, the rest of the episode is the mummy – who Sora eventually dubs Mii-kun – interacting adorably with Sora.  Some of this (like when it starts barking like the dog, Pochi, in a bid to win Sora’s affection) is really great stuff, and the little sound effects and screen effects do wonders to elevate the simple material.  Sure, we meet Sora’s best friend Tazuki (Koumoto Keisuke) – he might be the source of some of that “edge” – and there are hints of more quirky humans and creatures to follow.  But really, I kind of sense that the viewer will either find the second half of this episode charming or they won’t, and that will decide whether Miira no Kaikata is for them.  So far it’s definitely for me – I found it charming out the ying-yang.