Mushishi 8/9/10 [Paperback]

Yuki Urushibara (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 27, 2010 | Series: Mushishi (Book 8)

Ginko is a master of the ephemeral life form known as Mushi. Their influence can be as visible as a mountain never giving up its winter to allow for spring, or as subtle as a prank played in a child's game. To some they are a curse; to others they offer unimagined possibility. Read the final three volumes of Ginko's journeys in this one remarkable edition!

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 16 and up
  
• Paperback: 720 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (July 27, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345505603
• ISBN-13: 978-0345505606
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 1.9 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #170,221 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mushi Shi: The Japanese Manga For Intelligent People, July 31, 2010

By 

Jill "Jill, OldTime Film Fan" (USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Mushishi 8/9/10 (Paperback)

Mushi Shi volumes 8, 9, 10 are apparently the last manga volumes written by Yuki Urushibara, a brilliant female manga writer / illustrator who created one of the most wonderful manga characters of all time, Ginko the Mushi Master. Mushi means "bug" but Mushi are different lifeforces in the universe, they are not specifically insects or animals or spirit beings. They can be innocuous or have a more deadly purpose. Ginko roams Japan over 100 years ago helping people who are influenced by the mushi. Each story has new characters, with only a few exceptions. Each story has an underlying moral aspect to it as well, such as humans learning lessons of trust, love, forgiveness, sacrifice, and acceptance.

I pre-ordered the last volumes because I already devoured the first seven volumes which I purchased awhile ago. Yuki scores again with interesting stories taken from her unique perspective and imagination. I read them all in 24 hours, they were that addictive. I think my favorite was Mid Channel, where two young women communicate via their minds though they live far away. The influence of the mushi allowed them to communicate, even though one of the girl's fathers is against the friendship because he feels the girl is too isolated from society and dependent on her friend of the mind. Ginko gives them medicine so they can live more normal lives and have a friendship that is not so intense. In turn this convinces the father that his daughter does not need to completely alienate herself from her friend but can visit occasionally in a more normal fashion. Stories like these have heart and soul and are quite touching. Also in these last volumes are two more stories told in flashback that reveal new details about Ginko's childhood, a story about a double murder in a family and how it affects future generations, plus a story about Deja Vu that had me laughing out loud while reading.

If you are new to Mushi Shi, please start with volume 1 and go through volume 10. Watch the anime on DVD, created by Artland in Japan. I hope they make additional episodes of Mushi Shi for these new stories. They are just as appealing as the first stories in volumes 1 though 7.

I shall miss Ginko a lot! I just about cried when at the end of the book Yuki wrote, "And now we close the curtain on Mushi Shi and we hope Ginko enjoys his future journeys." Long Live Mushi Shi and Ginko!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very different kind of manga, July 28, 2010

By 

oion (United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Mushishi 8/9/10 (Paperback)

This is the final translated book comprising three total volumes of Mushishi. It's pretty huge. Mushishi is an episodic, "period" manga full of wisps of Japanese folklore, traditional culture/setting, the supernatural, and a strong inclination towards natural spirituality. Each chapter has a thoughtful, slice-of-life pace and ethereal feel. Sometimes it's dark; other times, bittersweet, and yet other times, there are happy endings.

Many of the chapters deal with difficult moral issues that arise when humanity interacts with these spirit-life-forms called "mushi," which can get incredibly abstract (e.g. a mushi that eats "sound"). How is life measured and valued? Is one life more valued than another? How does an individual fit into the greater scheme of things? What happens when the right to life of one living thing requires the parasitic death of another? Many questions and there aren't always answers. That's not to say it's always about "humans vs. nature," though. Many moral questions arise from humans being their own desperate selves--behaving in such ways only after mushi trigger something indirectly, or after exploiting mushi for their own survival.

I kind of feel the chapter "The Bed of Grass" should be read last for a better closure, but that's me.

Now, Del Rey's (Flanagan's) translation is top notch not in the sense of pure accuracy (because I can't read Japanese, so I can't compare translation) but in respect. You can definitely tell by the use of transliterated Japanese terms, honorifics, and copious volume notes detailing cultural/linguistic items that Mushishi was treated with care, and this means a lot to me. And probably to the mangaka (manga author) too.

This is definitely a manga best appreciated by more literary adults.

The Mushishi anime is very much worth checking into because it's an extremely rare example of an animated adaptation that is identical to the original manga. (Though in that sense, some people may be inclined to buy the anime boxset and buy the manga volumes that came afterward.)