Mieruko-chan - Ch. 69

[Astra_Starwalker]

Did you forget how it likely almost killed Miko? it made it look like Hana was outside and when Miko went towards what she thought was Hana its when she was saved by Michiru and Pii when she would have been hit by a falling flower pot.

So it likely is a death god that causes death via accidents as it was nearby when Miko almost got hit by the truck as well.

You know, you might be right.
I went back and skimmed chapters, the first time he appears is here:
https://mangadex.org/chapter/d8eaf195-52e7-4a16-8b7a-01d853893fb1/1
Miko runs out into the road to escape Pii-chan's tentacles, where Truck-Kun is attempting to isekai Miko, but Michiru thwarts Truck-Kun's efforts by pulling Miko back onto the sidewalk just in time.
Across the road we see the Middle-Aged Man as Truck-Kun is about to hit Miko, then disappears from sight after a car interrupts it and Miko's staring contest.

And then here, in a family photo at a Graduation Ceremony:
https://mangadex.org/chapter/b41cd59f-bb0d-4efc-b424-489782b2e2ac/6
Though he was likely still following her dad at this point, or was it her mom? I forget who it was previously attached to. I guess it was her mom first, then she got protection from her dad, so it switched to her dad?

Now in a photo Miko took of Michiru and sent to Romm:
https://mangadex.org/chapter/ffa1613e-e4a9-4e24-b4f9-9fcb457a9b94/32
This is where I seem to have remembered vaguely that seeing the image of that ghost twice would kill them, but I think I may have gotten the particulars a little wrong.

I don't think the ghost will kill someone for seeing its image twice, but it will probably instead kill someone it views as a threat, but does require its target to be looking at it to kill them.
https://mangadex.org/chapter/e07706de-7195-4da3-a1eb-8fb9add6239f/2
Here Romm is investigating the images Miko took of Michiru and sent him, I believe it is the image in the envelope that triggered the ghost summoning to happen, where the end result was all of Romm's many defensive protectionary measures amounted to being worth nothing against this particular ghost, as the stones were even ground into fine powdery dust, and his arm gets severely wounded, and so does his right side, and him even saying he almost died as he watches the carnage the ghost left in the room all around him.

And then, of course, the one we are talking about, at the school with the flower vase:
https://mangadex.org/chapter/343f9ebc-a5df-4f34-8a02-9ac80422bd8d/26

As another tidbit, I stumbled upon this part, where Romm explains the difference in perception much better:
https://mangadex.org/chapter/55d196c0-2310-4eec-9765-0eb40b0fd541/5

Hmm, Seto was monitoring Miko before he even met her:
https://mangadex.org/chapter/e75631d6-7cb6-4c02-9952-c68e77b0916c/10
https://mangadex.org/chapter/e75631d6-7cb6-4c02-9952-c68e77b0916c/31

 

[pip25]

Hmm, Seto was monitoring Miko before he even met her:
https://mangadex.org/chapter/e75631d6-7cb6-4c02-9952-c68e77b0916c/10
https://mangadex.org/chapter/e75631d6-7cb6-4c02-9952-c68e77b0916c/31

Nice catch, didn't notice that before.

 

[whatever_man]

Thank you for the good translation!

 

[yuzukiiFL]

Literally the first thing came to my head when I saw page 27

 

[ocvampirecreeg]

Literally the first thing came to my head when I saw page 27

Faker-kun!

 

[Xystus]

Starring: Creeg
Co-starring: Creeg
Screenplay: Creeg
Music: Creeg
Director: Creeg
Producer: Creeg
Publisher: Creeg

Absolute cinema

 

[ichypa]

The grandma being the same entity as the old guy actually sent a chill down my spine, not going to lie

 

[looc64]

Mamoru has the "best", clearest vision, since his view of Francois is true to life (since Francois is a protector), and his view of grandma is a monstrous presence (since it's harmful). Miko sees everything as monstrous since she sees through the lens of not being able to differentiate between the protectors and the harmful ones and can't see past the disguises of the real bad ones (ie - kid with balloon and old man groundskeeper).

See I had a different read on that. To break page 43 and 44 down:

Picture of Miko's dad and mom at a cafe with Francois' face in the corner (had to be taken after Francois' death, so a) he's a ghost in that picture and b) only Miko and dad knows he's in the picture)

Dad: Look Francois that's you

Francois: DOG

Miko: Huh Dad called it Francois so I figured that was it's name... So it really is a dog.

My read is that she thought that because Francois looks way more like a dog to her in that photo. She'd probably be way more if all she had to go on was Francois saying DOG.

Moreover, feel like we've seen a decent amount of stuff suggesting Miko's dad doesn't see Francois as a small dog now. He reacts to stuff Francois says ("PUDDING" "No that's not for you") and he looks straight at Francois rather than down at the floor where a little dog would be.

Basically my read is that Miko and her dad both see old Francois as a little dog and now Francois as a big doggish(?) monster thing.

Looking at other cases I figure ghosts of dead people/animals start out looking exactly like they did in real life but depending on factors like how long they stick around and whether they have a strong sense of purpose/sense of self their form and psyche might mutate or get corrupted.

In Francois' case he has a strong sense of purpose (protect his family) but he's been around for a while, his sense of self is probably weaker than a human beings, and he's probably eaten some weird stuff, so his form is weird.

Personally I really wish we could see what now Francois looks like from dad's perspective. I figure he either looks the same or he's the same general shape but the unnatural parts of him look different. Fascinating implications either way.

 

[TooOldForThis]

My read is that she thought that because Francois looks way more like a dog to her in that photo. She'd probably be way more if all she had to go on was Francois saying DOG.

She's making that connection because she just heard her mom tell the story of her past, including the name of the dog she used to have. When prior to this, Miko probably never heard her mom mention her childhood dog, and now Miko has the context of where the name "Francois" comes from. My interpretation is that Miko is still seeing the monster form of Francois in the photo (we're seeing that photo from dad's perspective).

Moreover, feel like we've seen a decent amount of stuff suggesting Miko's dad doesn't see Francois as a small dog now. He reacts to stuff Francois says ("PUDDING" "No that's not for you") and he looks straight at Francois rather than down at the floor where a littledog would be.

Keep in mind, we've been seeing both Francois and her dad via the filter of Miko's vision this entire time. (And also via the 4th wall, since we're able to see Francois and her dad meet with Seto and the gangster ghosts when Miko's not around and Seto can only hear and has no optical vision, as an example)

Looking at other cases I figure ghosts of dead people/animals start out looking exactly like they did in real life but depending on factors like how long they stick around and whether they have a strong sense of purpose/sense of self their form and psyche might mutate or get corrupted.

This is a common trope in a lot of ghost stories, but where in THIS story has it ever been hinted that ghosts mutate over time? I can't recall a single instance that this has been hinted, do you? However, there are plenty of times, and it is a huge main plot line at this point in the story, about differences in perception, strength of vision/sensing, and the malleable nature of what and how the entities project themselves onto the world to different people (via Seto/Romm's "direct" explanations at the cafe, and even a bunch of the the one-off side stories throughout)

Personally I really wish we could see what now Francois looks like from dad's perspective. I figure he either looks the same or he's the same general shape but the unnatural parts of him look different. Fascinating implications either way.

Yeah definitely looking forward to seeing more get revealed. My interpretation is that we just did get the dad's current perspective of Francois (the real-life looking dog in the photo being from dad's current perspective), before switching back to Miko's for the real world. The grandma in the photo was also dad and francois's perspective, before switching over to Miko's perspective of the photo for the final reveal.

I don't agree with your take, but it's not like I know/have the answer - I just think, for now, that my interpretation is better supported. Appreciate you and your thoughts.

 

[NotSomeone]

Please anyone smart enough to explain to stupid me why the father and daughter see the ghost differently??

The simple explanation: Ghosts don't have a defined shape so everyone sees them differently.

The long explanation:
Ghosts defy logic, they are anomalies alien to our nature.
Therefore when your brain sees a ghost, it interprets the Ghsot as best as it can (Seto calls it "perception forcing it into a mold or something along these lines).
One important thing to remember is that the ghost keeps it's "meaning" intact.
Lemme explain: I ask you to imagine an apple. If I were to ask 100 people to imagine apples, they all would imagine different apples: Some would have little worms, some would be green, others red, you get the idea.
But they all would be apples at the end of the day.
Now stretch that concept, because the input is not "an apple". The input is whatever stimuli your brain has when it sees a being that defies reality by existing, that's the reason each person's interpretation of them is so widly different, because the meaning of what they are is so abstract when compared to mundane stuff.

This also explains why some ghosts are seem as the same from different perspectives while others change so much from person-to-person, probably because the meaning is more abstract (or if we were to take Seto's wavelenght explanation to heart, the "ripple" is bigger)

I am not pulling this shit outta my ass too, Seto explains this in Chapter 66.

 

[looc64]

She's making that connection because she just heard her mom tell the story of her past, including the name of the dog she used to have. When prior to this, Miko probably never heard her mom mention her childhood dog, and now Miko has the context of where the name "Francois" comes from. My interpretation is that Miko is still seeing the monster form of Francois in the photo (we're seeing that photo from dad's perspective).

I don't think she did though. Hear her mom telling a story. The story we saw was entirely from her dad's perspective. Meanwhile the mom's dialogue comes off like she's just been showing them photos of her and their dad, not telling a story.

We saw zero indicators of anything that would prompt Miko's mom to mention Francois. Makes more sense to attribute Miko's realization to seeing Francois in the photo.

This is a common trope in a lot of ghost stories, but where in THIS story has it ever been hinted that ghosts mutate over time? I can't recall a single instance that this has been hinted, do you?

I can: the safe ghost. Miko observed a senile old woman and a ghost that, IIRC, looked pretty rough, mumbling the same numbers over and over. Miko repeated the numbers to the old lady, and she used them to open her husband's safe and get a keepsake from her husband.

Then later Miko saw the numbers ghost get eaten by one of those things that eats ghosts in alleys.

Struck me as an interesting middle ground between ghosts like Miko's dad that retain their form and psyche and sorta stick around a loved one and ghosts that are humanoid but clearly just doing whatever.

Also we've definitely seen ghosts mutate by eating other ghosts, which I feel like is relevant for a dog ghost. A dog ghost is almost certainly gonna eat something weird at some point.

 

[goodknife]

so papa see horse-chan as a normal dog..

 

[TooOldForThis]

I don't think she did though. Hear her mom telling a story. The story we saw was entirely from her dad's perspective. Meanwhile the mom's dialogue comes off like she's just been showing them photos of her and their dad, not telling a story.

We saw zero indicators of anything that would prompt Miko's mom to mention Francois. Makes more sense to attribute Miko's realization to seeing Francois in the photo.

Her brother was asking her mom who made the first move to ask the other out, after we saw an entire flashback of how they initially met... her mom was definitely telling the story about how she met their father while going through old photos, which is a common thing people do - use photos to regale with old memories... (where talking about her dead dog to the dad was the very first conversation that they had)...
I don't think the storytelling here requires the author to have a full exposition to spell it out. But it's fine if you don't agree.

I can: the safe ghost. Miko observed a senile old woman and a ghost that, IIRC, looked pretty rough, mumbling the same numbers over and over. Miko repeated the numbers to the old lady, and she used them to open her husband's safe and get a keepsake from her husband.

Then later Miko saw the numbers ghost get eaten by one of those things that eats ghosts in alleys.

Struck me as an interesting middle ground between ghosts like Miko's dad that retain their form and psyche and sorta stick around a loved one and ghosts that are humanoid but clearly just doing whatever.

Also we've definitely seen ghosts mutate by eating other ghosts, which I feel like is relevant for a dog ghost. A dog ghost is almost certainly gonna eat something weird at some point.

Looking at other cases I figure ghosts of dead people/animals start out looking exactly like they did in real life but depending on factors like how long they stick around and whether they have a strong sense of purpose/sense of self their form and psyche might mutate or get corrupted.

I went back to look for it, it's chapter 13 (so long ago!). There's nothing here to imply anything to do with ghosts mutating because of time, or that they change over time, or sense of self or psyche, or corruption or anything. At this point in time, we only know that Miko can sometimes see the difference between SOME benign/helpful/protector ghosts but not all (due to her inexperience - the safe benign ghost looking ghastly actually demonstrates that). She also sees some of them shapeshift randomly or after having eaten or after gaining power or getting damaged. The only in-story explanation or hint so far for that has been Seto's/Romm's explanations, and Mitsue's explanations (from way back).

Right now we just know that, to Miko, it all looks the same level of grotesque (killing/eating) to her whether it's wandering ghosts destroying each other for whatever selfish purpose, or whether it's the ferryman helping spirits cross the river styx, or a portal/gateway to heaven, or grimreapers exorcising ghosts, or protector spirits/shrine spirits destroying haunting ghosts.

It was entertaining skimming through some old chapters. Author was able to keep his vision and strategic ambiguity pretty consistent over all these years, it looks like.

 

[Friendly-Sentence710]

Nice.

I would appreciate feedback for this chapter.

EDIT: By "bridge that gap" do you mean going back and re-translating and re-typesetting chapters 60 to 68?

I thought your TL was very good. Thanks for picking this one up.

 

[Chikaon]

Thank you for the much better translation!

 

[KynarethNoBaka]

Yeah, that was a really nice touch. Maybe Miko could try squinting for a similar effect.

Or wear glasses that make normal things blurry.

 

[golestar]

This is some spooky insidious shit mane.
Also, chapter 69, nice