MUSHISHI

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA DramaMushishi
SPECIAL AdventureMushishi: Hihamukage

REVIEWS

• 

  linajthol

  65/100
  Mushi-shi - Genius or Dull?

  Mushi-shi is a conceptually fantastic and elegant story that challenges traditional tropes and patterns while still using a common medium that anyone could understand. While fighting the paradigm can be an open door to critical acclaim and widespread popularity, the actual enjoyability of the show can suffer for it.

  The beginning starts out very strong, with the main character Ginko traveling around this strange medieval-technology land littered with the natural, meddling spirits called Mushi, that very few people can see and even fewer still can deal with. Concepts are creative, execution is relaxing but occasionally unsettling, visuals are, at times, alien and heavy-handed, but they still combine to form a strange, beautiful work that blends in with the natural scenes. It’s easy to be wrapped up in Ginko’s world, because it’s believable and wonderful, like a painting of a forest.

  However, when the illusion of realism leaves your dulled eyes and you come out of your Mush-shi induced coma, you may start to realize that despite the show’s ability to steal your time away from you, half of the show is boring drivel that you fail to notice due to distractions.

  Flashbacks for context begin to take up a third, or an entire half of certain episodes. Ginko, the titular Mushi-shi, loses relevance and becomes his own deus ex machina. Mushi problems boil down to a set of specific commands that always happen. Here is a formula if you ever want to watch it and see:

  1. A problem is introduced. (Disease, loss of a sense, deformed birth, annoyance, natural disaster, food issue, memory)
  2. Ginko determines that the cause is a Mushi that practically only he can see.
  3. The problem is either solved by Ginko, resolves itself, does not need resolving, or cannot be resolved. Credits roll.

  That’s the entire show. That’s it. Throw in perhaps 3 flashback episodes of Ginko as a child, and there you have all 49 episodes of Mushi-shi. There is no recurring plot. Every episode is an episodic vignette into some villager or tradesman or Ginko’s life. Even Ginko does not always appear, and often he is not even the solution to the problem.

  This brings my main point: Mushi-shi’s focus was, after watching all of it, never on Ginko, never on just humans. It was all about nature, the entire time. Every episode is a metaphor for living with nature, appreciating nature, fearing it, respecting it, maintaining relationships with it. This is not a bad thing, by any means! This is a beautiful point to focus on, and one that needs more attention. It is not sensationalist nor pretentious. It is thoughtful and considerate, kind and profound. But as a relatively long-form show, counting to 46 episodes and 3 special, longer episodes? It becomes very dull at times, and loses some merit as a show. As a novel or comic, it’s understandable that one reading such a contemplative series would want to take his time and seriously consider concepts such as respect of nature. As a show, as something enjoyable, Mushi-shi fails.

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• 

  aikaflip

  100/100
  A meditation on nature and life. And how Mushishi became my favorite anime.

  When I started watching anime again in 2014 after a long hiatus, I saw fans of a series called Mushishi praising how it was “beautiful” and a “masterpiece.” In these same discussion threads, there were also critics arguing that Mushishi was actually “pretentious” and “boring.” Seeing such strong opposing opinions, I opted to see for myself how good—or bad—Mushishi truly was.

  

  About a quarter way through the first episode, I was already siding with the critics. The central character, Ginko, who appeared to be a kind of paranormal investigator, is seen traveling deep into an unusually vibrant forest. He’s headed to the home of a child living there to investigate a strange ability he’s said to have. When they meet, perplexing conversations ensue, which, at the time, I found difficult to follow, and not particularly interesting.

  The second episode frustrated me even more. For most of the first half, I grudgingly stared at these two kids sitting in a dark room discussing something pertaining to eyelids (keeping my own eyelids open was a struggle). Before I could get to the second half, I stopped the episode, and concluded that this series just wasn't for me.

  As I befriended more people in the anime community, I noticed that many of those who shared my interests also thought highly of Mushishi. I wondered, “Why do these people with such excellent taste (lol) love such a dull series? Maybe I missed something?” I attempted to give the second episode another try, this time approaching it as I would a meditation (or a tedious assignment). I turned down the lights, cleared my mind, relaxed my face and shoulders, took a deep breath, and gave it my undivided attention.

  In such a relaxed state, I usually feel a peaceful indifference. Watching the second episode again, I wasn't as impatient during the first half, but I wasn't quite enjoying it either. However, I was more receptive. I initially took notice of how ubiquitous the environment was. A scene would often open with or cut to an intricately detailed—and admittedly beautiful—slice of nature. It was around this time that it dawned on me that nature itself is a character in this story. There’s Ginko, the various people he meets, and nature. Nature is sometimes the protagonist, other times it’s the antagonist, but it’s not an entity that acts with bias. Nature, and the "Mushi", which are a supranormal extension of nature, just are. In this context, everything started to make more sense.

  

  When I finally saw the unexpectedly creepy second half of the second episode, my attention was firmly hooked. As I progressed to the next episodes, another thing that became apparent was how the problems and concerns of the characters mirrored our own, providing openings for us as the audience to relate and emotionally connect. Each story guides us through the mental, physical, or sometimes moral process of trying to solve a particular issue. However, people’s plights aren't sensationalized. Mushishi doesn't seek to make you feel angry or depressed. While there are moments that could make you feel that way, it doesn't indulge in negativity or drama.

  

  I was later impressed by how much ground Mushishi could cover in just 23-minute episodic intervals. The directors, under Hiroshi Nagahama’s supervision, did well in balancing the elements of Yuki Urushibara’s award-winning manga. The studio, Artland, didn't cut corners on the production either. The art and animation quality exceeded that of a typical television series, sometimes reaching the levels you’d expect from a feature film. These visuals were underpinned by a traditional and occasionally haunting soundtrack.

  Mushishi is infused with subtle, and easily overlooked, commentary on the ways in which we’re connected with each other and the world around us. Thinking back, it’s amazing the difference eased expectations and a little patience can make. With that said, such an approach can’t guarantee that you’ll be able to like anything. Sometimes you’re just not compatible with something, and that’s perfectly fine, too. In my personal case, I was more compatible with Mushishi than I’d thought as it has since become my favorite anime.

  
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• 

  Protogeist

  80/100
  A review of Mushi-shi and an analysis of the ghost like creatures in the show

  Spoiler alert!

  If you have read my previous reviews, you know that I had some problems with how loud anime usually are. How so many characters feel the need to scream all the time, for the music to switch around, for everything to be so up-in-your-face. Even the calm shows, the serious ones, would just annoy me all the time cause everyone kept acting like fucking buffoon. And like I said in my Neon Genesis Evangelion review, I wanted to change that. I wanted to watch more shows that I actually enjoyed and not ones that I had to tell myself that I did. So after Eva, I had a few shows that I wanted to watch. Welcome to the NHK, Ergo Proxy, FLCL, Xavier Renegade Angel (not an anime, but I don’t just watch anime you weebs), but there was one that I had been on my watchlist for a long ass time. One that I kept pushing up, one that I decided to not push up anymore. That being Mushi-shi, one of the most relaxing shows of all time.

  Mushi-shi is set in a japan infested with spirit-like beings called mushi. Some can see them, some can’t, and one of the people that can is called Ginko who lives off helping people who are having problems with these mushi. Whether it is hive-minded babies or wandering swamps, he can help. Or hopefully at least…

  But because Ginko tends to attract mushi, he is forced to wander around Japan, exploring this new wonderful world. And that’s what makes the show great in my opinion. The show follows an episodic structure, meaning that every episode has a story separate to the other, only sharing the mushi and Ginko himself. This means that we never really get to know any characters except for Ginko. I have heard that people found this to be bothersome, which I think is a fair point. But on the other point, I think this is what makes Ginko such a sympathetic character.

  Ginko is a very laid-back character, with a character design fitting that perfectly, but there’s also something so sad about him. Having to move around all the time makes it hard to make connections to people. He has a disconnection to the real world, so he has to look to the other-dimensional to find the familiarity that everyone needs. And I think making you sympathize with a character through writing is a good thing but making it so the basic structure of a show makes you do so is something really impressive. So while I may agree that I felt a disconnect to the world since I never really felt anything for any other character than Ginko, I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. And that’s the reason why I think the episodic structure works so well. Having an overarching story with big themes and deep character developments is good and all but I have always found it interesting when a show doesn’t need that to make something great. To show someone the daily life of a person with no real order and to give that person so much character for it.

  There are other reasons why I think the structure works well. The way that every episode ends so undramatically and how they end so mysteriously which makes you think of your own continuation. But it’s the way that it makes you sympathize with Ginko that makes it so special. Cause I wouldn’t really say that any of the individual stories are all that great. While they have some interesting ideas and visuals, I never found them very thought-provoking or memorable. And that’s a theme with this show. While one episode might not be fantastic, in the context of the whole show it becomes great. An example of this is the mushi themselves. Aside from Ginko, the mushi are the only things that glue the show together. And while I don’t think any of the individual mushi shown in the series are that interesting, the way that the whole mushi concept works I find so much more than that. And what makes them that is their description.

  The Mushi are described in a lot of different ways. Neither plant or animal, in between being dead and alive, in between Ying and Yang. So what does it mean to be between death and life? What does it mean to be between the Ying and Yang of life? What does it mean to be? And that’s what makes the show so thought-provoking in the end. It doesn’t really feel like they set out to make you question what it means to be alive, or what it means to be a plant. it doesn’t try to make you think about yourself but does so by making you think about something else. It’s reminiscent of how I believe a certain character (or characters) in Made in Abyss makes you think about what it means to be human while not really setting out to make you think about what it means to be human. I think that’s a really interesting way of conveying a theme, by making the fact that you are thinking about it convey that theme.

  Again, there are other reasons why I think the Mushi are so interesting, partly because they aren’t really written as a force of evil but just existing. But that’s what makes them so great. They convey something by not really conveying it.

  There are other factors as to why this show is so good of course, the music feels like a combination of BotW’s calm atmosphere and Hollow Knights feeling of exploration (Though, it isn’t as good as either of them), the dullness of life contrasting with the fantasticalness of the mushi being shown with colors. But in the end, it’s the episodic structure and the mushi themselves that makes the show what it is. It’s the simple becoming something great. It’s the emergence of life.

  In the end, Mushi-shi isn’t a show that I think I’ll think about every day like I do with movies like Your Name and The Social Network or tv-shows like Bojack Horseman. Even though I’ve argued why Mushi-shi’s forgettable stories are good, it may be the reason why I won’t think of it all the time like other anime. In a way it is pointless. It didn’t change me, and it didn’t change Ginko. But isn’t that the most human thing ever, the pointlessness of life?

  Weak 8/10

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