Customer Reviews

Mushi-Shi, Vol. 1

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've seen the entire series and I have to say this is one of the most beautifully written and soulful series out there (anime or non). Please note, this is NOT an action-packed anime although there is action from time-to-time. This isn't particularly a tear-jerker either, but there are stories of profound sadness. What it is, is a drama that lets itself take itself to develop the story.

The plot over the series is that Ginko - a Mushi-Shi (kinda' like a shaman or doctor specializing in supernatural ailments) travels Japan to investigate and solve people's problems. Each episode is an independent (but loosely continuous and connected) short story. Endings are often surprising and thoughtful.

Volume 1 covers the first 5 episodes.
EPISODE 1 - About an isolated boy whose writings and pictures come to life, but is haunted by a quiet ghost.

EPISODE 2 - About a girl with mushi-infected eyes locked away in total darkness and her cousin who comes to visit and play with her.

EPISODE 3 - An isolated snowfallen village is infected by mushi which eats up all noise. One child is infected so badly, he mysteriously grows horns like his mother.

EPISODE 4 - A man's dreams are infected by Mushi which gives him dreams of disasters to come (and avoid), but the dreams aren't the prophecies he thinks they are.

EPISODE 5 - Ginko finds a travelling swamp which disappears and reappears and a special woman looking to belong who becomes the swamp's companion.

Beautiful and engaging, this series follows a man whose work is to help people affected by "mushi" - creatures partly alive and partly inanimate - and generally inhabiting a world just beyond our reach... except when that world touches ours.

The world is painted in brilliant, living colour, populated with deep and varied characters and a fascinating mythology full of strange creatures - all backed by a haunting and magical score.

Exceptional watching!

Mushi are the oldest lifeforms in existence, even below microorganisms and fungi. They evolved so long ago that most humans cannot even see them in their true form. Most of the time they appear as floating, almost plankton-like organisms drifting through the air and effortlessly passing through anything material in their way. Some can even take human form. Mushi are neither good nor evil. They simply are. But on occasion the very presence of mushi can lead to problems for humans. For example in one of these episodes, a girl becomes extremely sensitive to sunlight and has to stay in the dark all the time with a cloth over her eyes because mushi have taken up residence there. When mushi are involved, using the standard problem solving procedures such as doctors and such meets with very little success. No, someone with special abilities has to be called in. Enter the unassuming and serenely calm Ginko, a travelling Mushishi who tries to end any negative consequences caused by the interaction between humans and mushi. A lot of the victims of the mushi tend to be young such as a girl following a moving swamp which is actually a collective mushi. Or a boy whose drawings come to life and another who has grown extremely sensitive to noise and has grown horns!

The problem that keeps Mushishi from being a great show is its single-minded devotion to the mushi. Because of its monster of the....I mean mushi of the week, the show can get a bit repetitive. Kinda like Inuyasha's over reliance on Naraku as the main antagonist which can suck the life out of original ideas. I mean the writers had to somehow turn every episode of Mushishi into a hunt for mushi. I will admit that the writers did a good job making us sympathize with all of the supporting characters. If you don't care for the people Ginko is helping out, you must be really emotionally remote. I haven't read the manga but the director of the anime, Hiroshi Nagahama took very careful steps to keep the anime version as close to the manga as possible and was a big fan of the series before he got involved with the anime version. Really, the show reminded me a bit of Sergio Leone westerns in which a lone gunfighter comes to town and straightens out the world temporarily. I look forward to finding out more about this mushishi in the next couple of volumes.

i can't add whats already been said other than this is alot like watching a miazaki film in its pace and depth. buy the first volume, and you'll be buying the rest, i guarantee.

I've been dying to get some good anime for a while now and this really hit the spot. It's so beautiful and almost hippy-esque. I love it!

this is one of my favourite, if not my very favourite, anime of all time. it's really beautifully done, in concept, animation, and individual stories. i like also that one can watch the series in any order, and still not be lost. it's worth watching again and again.

I just recently saw this anime. It is very different from anything else I've seen. The art is amazing. The landscapes are mostly wild with only an occasional human presence. Each story works as a little jewel all on its own with only the character Ginko tying them together. As a mushi master he has answers for people with unique problems. In spite of that he often runs across things that surprise and confound him. He's still learning, although, from episode 2, it is clear that he has paid a price for his knowledge. It doesn't hurt that the English dub for the character is done by Travis Willingham one of my favorite anime voices. Buy it, borrow it, but do watch it. You won't look at the natural world the same way. And when the sky darkens and the snow falls thickly, and sound begins to fade away - you will wonder what might have made a home in your attic.

Mushi-shi is not your action-type anime; no giant robots or sword-wielding ninja or vampires. But I find myself returning to Mushi-shi more than I do the other anime series I own. So many series get placed on the shelf and not visited again except for one or two key episodes once I've watched it through to the end and know how everything turns out. But I return to each episode of Mushi-shi again and again, and find something new to appreciate in it each time. I'm not waiting anxiously for the next volume so I find out who lives/dies or how my favorite character fares: I'm anxiously waiting because this is a series that I enjoy every moment of every episode and enjoy it just as much the fifth time I view it as the first.