Miru Tights

Miru Tights

Miru Tights anime series cover art
Miru Tights

Overview

While I want to say that Miru Tights (みるタイツ) saved the medium of anime, unfortunately, it didn’t. But by no means would I call this a bad anime. It was actually quite good, which may come as a surprise if you know anything about it.

For those who aren’t aware, Miru Tights is actually a short-form anime with episodes lasting 4 minutes. It’s also an ONA (Original Net Animation) which means it originally aired online — in this case, I believe on YouTube.

And if that wasn’t enough to make you think this probably wouldn’t be a very good anime, it’s also about just one thing: girls in tights. There’s no plot, just our three main girls, and sometimes other characters, doing everyday things while wearing tights.

Homi Moegi's wet tights from the anime series Miru Tights
Homi Moegi’s wet tights

Obviously, this anime has a particular target audience, people with a tights fetish. However, that doesn’t need to be what you’re into in order to enjoy this series as an ecchi. Yes, it’s an ecchi focused on tights, but at the end of the day does the specific focus of an ecchi really matter?

Now, one thing I’ve heard from Miru Tights’ detractors is that it’s simply ecchi trash and that there’s nothing more to the series. This is false. While it’s true that there isn’t much substance to this series at first glance, it’s actually more than meets the eye.

For instance, there are three, real Twitter accounts for the main girls in the series. When they tweet things in the anime, you can see them over on Twitter. This may seem superficial, but because they’re sharing things like pictures, you actually see different shots of scenes from the anime.

Characters

There are three main characters and one side character that matters. Interestingly, on MyAnimeList the only character who actually has a bio is the side character. However, I don’t really see that as an issue considering she’s definitely the best character in the series.

But let’s start with the main characters.

First up we have Ren Aikawa. Ren is probably the most serious of the three. She works a part-time job at a cafe and intends to save up her money for the future. Beyond that, she doesn’t really have any unique traits. She’s just your average high school-aged girl.

Next up we have Ren’s opposite, Homi Moegi. Homi is the rich girl who doesn’t seem to have a care in the world. This is immediately clear from the beginning of the first episode when she jumps out of the car which dropped her off at school directly into a puddle.

Yua Nakabeni putting on her tights from the anime series Miru Tights
Yua Nakabeni putting on her tights

The third and final main girl is Yua Nakabeni. She’s the middle ground between Homi and Ren. What sets her apart though is her hobby, cosplaying. Her cosplays can be found on her Twitter account, and at one point she even ran a poll to determine which cosplay would be in an upcoming episode.

Lastly, we have the side character, Yuiko Okuzumi, a 27-year-old homeroom teacher at the school the girls attend. Yuiko is popular among the male students of the school, for obvious reasons, but the main three girls generally view her negatively because she gives them a hard time.

While Yuiko makes an appearance in a couple of episodes, she’s actually the main character of one episode in particular. It’s this episode that makes her the best character in the series, but I won’t spoil what happens in it here.

References

One of the things I liked most about Miru Tights was that despite being a short series, it actually includes references to other anime. Now, I only caught one reference, but I’m sure there were others included throughout the 12 episodes.

The reference I caught, which many others did as well, was to Saekano episode 6. Specifically the scene of Utaha Kasumigaoka putting on her tights in slow motion. If you’ve seen Saekano — which I highly recommend — then you probably know the scene I’m talking about.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a video comparison of the original scene and the reference to it in Miru Tights. In fact, I couldn’t even find a video of the original scene that wasn’t part of some compilation, or a video of the reference to it that wasn’t heavily edited.

I think this also may have been the first time I’ve ever seen an anime reference Saekano. Sure, that one scene is probably the most iconic from the series and it involves tights so, of course, an anime like Miru Tights would have to reference it. But I’m still surprised I haven’t seen anything else reference it first.

Did you catch any other references within Miru Tights? If so, let me know in the comments so I can check them out. I’m always interested in more anime that include girls wearing tights.

Conclusion

I do want to mention that there’s also a special episode of Miru Tights which has to do with cosplay if the title is anything to go by. However, I haven’t actually been able to find this episode yet despite the fact that it supposedly came out on August 23rd.

But even without having seen the special, Miru Tights is a pretty solid 7/10, which might actually make it the highest-rated anime short I’ve reviewed. Honestly, though, was an anime all about girls in tights actually going to be bad? Of course not.

If you enjoyed this review, be sure to click the like button ❤ down below and follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama even though I’m not a cute anime girl like those found in Miru Tights. You can also join my Discord server where we discuss anime and have weekly group episode watches.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog and the benefits you’ll receive for doing so, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

Leave a Comment