I just finished watching the first episode of the newly airing anime series Kaya-chan wa Kowakunai (カヤちゃんはコワくない). It is an adaptation of a manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Yuri Tarou, which started in 2022 and is still ongoing with eight volumes released so far.

The story follows Satou Kaya, a small girl who often causes problems in her kindergarten. None of the teachers there understand that Kaya is actually trying to protect everyone from evil spirits and monsters that appear around the other kids using her powerful psychic abilities.

You don't want to see her angry so please oblige.

It was just the wind! Clearly just that!

The first episode establishes Kaya's reputation as a problem child before introducing Hasumi Chie, the first teacher to finally understand Kaya's situation after witnessing it firsthand for two times in a row. She is now the first ally Kaya has found, and their relationship is kind of hilarious.

We saw three different evil spirits appear in the first episode: the one at the swing pushing kids so they get hurt, the one within the children's books, and the last one in the bathroom blocking the door. These are pretty common urban legends that I think I have heard of in other series.

I am quite enjoying Kaya's facial expressions and reactions to the various threats against the other students, and I am genuinely curious to see her interact more with the other kids. Will she manage to make friends now that she has the backing of one of the teachers to smooth things out?

This series is reminiscent of a manga series I am still reading called Mieruko-chan (I may talk about it in the future) in terms of its horror style. The core appeal lies in the contrast between the normality of the world as seen by the other characters and how Kaya sees it filled with absurd monsters.

These stills are quite cute too, hopefully we get two new ones every week.

*pats Kaya-chan's head*

At the end of the episode, we also got a glimpse of what is likely to be a recurring theme in the series, and perhaps even the final story arc. It seems like her mother is possessed by something so powerful that even Kaya is unable to go to her room upstairs. However, exactly what it is remains a mystery for now.

I glanced at the character list and noticed there are quite a few adults in supporting roles. I am curious to see if the setting will move away from the kindergarten temporarily at some point, allowing Kaya to perform her "exorcisms" in other contexts as well.

Well, that's understandable. Move along girl!

The voice of reason! Chie is a great teacher.

I look forward to watching more of this next week, and I am honestly considering buying the manga once the anime series concludes.