By Erika Suarez
Mummies are officially cute after watching How to Keep a Mummy. The title of the show throws you off guard and your presented with an overload of cuteness for an undead creature. This television anime adaption follows a high schooler Sora Kashiwagi that practically lives on his own and takes on the household duties because his adventurous father is out traveling the world. Sora gets an unusual gift from his father’s adventures, and it's different from the rest of his frightening presents that he’s sent in the past. The enormous package turns out to be a mummy’s tomb. Inside, a creature is revealed, and it's a puny and helpless mummy that makes you want to cradle it in your arms.
The episode is straightforward and comically endearing. Kawaii lovers can appreciate the amount of heartwarming charms that it delivers. This so-called mummy is the complete opposite of what it's supposed to be. It cries, enjoys baths, and eats shirataki noodles. After these discoveries, Sora decides to keep the mummy and name it Mii-kun. The linen wrapped creature leans more into a family pet considering that it eats dog food and mimics dog barks. We could see its growth throughout this season and learn more about it of course because the title is called How to Keep a Mummy. For now, Mii-kun Is just an emotionally sensitive and pudgy mummy that doesn’t talk.
I'm glad that they don’t throw you with overwhelming cuteness that makes you uncomfortable in the end. It's not forced and they certainly did a good job of avoiding that. The gentle humor is delightful and for some people, you’ll be smiling throughout the entire episode. A certain part I enjoyed was Mii-Kun trying to prove he can do the house chores so he can stay and live with Sora. These tasks end up being difficult for the little guy when he tries to pick up a carrot and it ends up falling on him. I’d like to see how they can maintain from overdoing the cutesy stuff for future episodes.
A few characters are introduced in this episode and the show simply lays out the characteristics for them. We learn that Kaede is Sora’s relative. She’s displayed as an extreme workaholic since we see a glimpse of her intensely typing away on her computer because of a serious deadline. As for Sora’s high school friend Tazuki. He may be a conflict in the show because of his intentions of experimenting with Mii-kun and they hint on making him look wicked behind his cheerfulness but this doesn’t make the show intense one bit and instead makes it humorous.
If this mummy that’s just a bundle of cuteness not make your heart melt then this show might not be up your alley. The show delivers us with subtle and sweet comedy with easy going characters. Everything you see from the show is what you get and its enjoyable for any age. 20 minutes of endearing joy is something that everyone needs out of their week.
Score: 3/5
How To Keep A Mummy E.01 - “White, Round, Tiny, Wimpy, and Ready”
Writer: Deko Akao
Director: Kaori
Studio: 8-bit