Thoughts on Mushi-shi

[second_flight]

I finally watched most of the episodes in the anime series "Mushi-shi," and I have to say that it's fantastic. No wonder it's won lots of awards and is listed as one of the anime out there. I got it a few years ago but didn't watch it at the time, so it's been sitting in my hard drive forever.

The anime is episodic, so each episode has nothing to do with the other. They each contain their own little self-contained story. It's almost like a book of short-stories. The premise of the anime is focused on mushi, organisms that are almost supernatural. The mushi are neither good or evil, but their strange powers tend to cause problems to the humans living near them. The main character, Ginko, is a mushi-shi, a mushi expert who wanders around helping people who are afflicted by these problems. The problems range from everything, such as the mushi gradually eating away at a person's memories, or mushi that are able to help predict the future.

Although Ginko is knowledgeable, he's not always able to help the people around him. This makes the anime really effective at being heartbreaking, because you start to care about the people who are suffering, hoping they can be helped somehow. Each episode leaves off with a lingering sensation, whether hopeful or sad.. so the story stays with you even after the episode has finished. The artwork is filled with mellow, somber colors with shades of greys, greens, and browns. It helps support the atmosphere of the anime, which is fairly serious.. with its occasional funny moments.

Each episode tends to follow a formula, where they introduce a new character and how they're afflicted by the mushi. Ginko tries to figure out the solution to the problem, and then we see the results of his actions. I usually don't like formulaic, but each story is just really so unique that it works best in this way. The problem and solution are always different, so it doesn't get stale.

Mushi-shi is focused on storytelling rather than action or romance. This anime probably won't appeal to people who are looking for those genres. This is a series that's more mature, quiet, and thoughtful. I guess for that reason, this series can be easily dismissed.

I think this can easily be one of my favorite series now. I'm sad that I'm almost done watching it (I'm on episode 19 out of 26)! I really do hope a 2nd season will be produced, although it's already been several years now since the anime ended.

Unfortunately, nobody I know would want to watch this. x_x  My friends and cousins are mainly into shounen stuff, like One Piece, Bleach, Naruto... etc.  It's frustrating when I find something that I think is really cool, yet have no one I can really share it with.