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Every once in a while you’ll stumble upon an anime series completely by accident. Sometimes you won’t have much of a premise to go on other than some short clips from episodes you saw on your social media feed. It’s not often that I’ll choose to spend time watching an anime I know nothing about. But with a combination of select scenes being promoted on social media to having an overall weakness for anything cute and adorable, I spent one weekend afternoon watching How To Keep A Mummy and it’s the surprise gem of the year so far.

How To Keep A Mummy, based on the manga by Kakeru Utsugi, follows high school kid Sora Kashiwagi’s adventures in keeping a tiny mummy, who Sora affectionately names “Mii-kun,” after his father ships Mii-kun in a humongous coffin to their house for his son to look after. As cute as Mii-kun is Sora starts to realize that keeping and caring for a mummy is much more work than it looks.

With only 4-episodes currently available on Crunchyroll and still ongoing, it’s too early to tell if How To Keep A Mummy will have a significant plot beyond the sweetness and comedy Sora has with Mii-kun. If the extent of the show simply became a day in the life of a boy and his itty bitty mummy, I’d be okay with that. I’m always drawn to plots with deep and enriching stories with characters who are unforgettable. But there are those few exceptions where the entertainment you consume doesn’t always need to have such sweeping stories that have a point.

The heartwarming friendship between Sora and Mii-kun is really the reason to watch the show. The way Sora fusses over Mii-kun, making sure Mii-kun doesn’t dry out or figuring out what exactly mummies eat, is endearing and just laugh out loud funny. There are so many great moments between Sora and Mii-kun in the episodes I’ve watched so far that it’s hard to pick one. I will say that I became completely sold on continuing with the series when I saw the first episode entitled, White, Round, Tiny, Wimpy, and Ready.

Mii-kun certainly is an unusual mummy. Aside from being small and pudgy, Mii-kun is a bit of a crybaby, seems to love eating dog food with a side of sliced apples, and even barks like a dog to get some attention. How can you not find this little one too cute for words? Mii-kun has a way of wrapping himself around your heart and never letting go. It’s no wonder why a hesitant Sora finally relents at keeping the mummy in his house instead of shipping him back to Egypt where he came from.

Every episode shows Sora and Mii-kun’s friendship flourish, and it leaves you feeling warm and happy inside. Not to mention you kind of wish you could have a Mii-kun of your own. If you’re in need of a pick-me-up show, How To Keep A Mummy is the anime you’ll want to watch. Between Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card and How To Keep A Mummy, these are two new shows that are on the fast track of becoming my top anime series of 2018.

Have you seen How To Keep A Mummy? What do you think of the show so far?