Nakadashi Kibou

Wallpaper By Candy-chan, It Isnt Mine In Any Way... Sadly

Ah, disconnected again. My dad threatened to disconnect me unless I found a job in the week, except I forgot he said that and tonight will have been the 3rd night I’ve spent not staying up late playing TF2 with Miku. Well, the silver lining in all of this is that I’ve had ample time to catch up on anime and finish up Mushishi and work my way into Darker Than Black. I suppose every bad thing has a good point if you look close enough. Tonight will be spent writing this review, watching more anime, playing some Guitar Hero 3 and then reluctantly crawling into bed at around 1:00 AM. I guess I’ll have to find work soon if I plan on playing any more games online, thought I do have a brief window where I can reconnect myself and check the forums, download some more episodes and post any reviews I’ve done the night prior. Well, I’ve been looking forward to starting this review ever since I finished the final episode (long before that actually), so I might as well jump right into it.

Animation is Love

Mushishi is the story of a man named Ginko, whose past is as much a mystery as the cause of his white hair and one bright green eye, though he’s only in his thirties (probably). Ginko makes a living by wandering from village to village, helping others with their problems but unlike a doctor or a psychiatrist, Ginko helps those who are having trouble with Mushi. You see, Mushi are a species of life unlike anything imaginable, some people can see them but majority of people can’t. Mushi silently live amongst humans, silently causing miracles and disasters, most people don’t even know or realize their existence. Yet when something paranormal happens that can’t be understood by doctors or comprehended by the village elder, a Mushishi is called in to help. Ginko is one such Mushishi, constantly moving from one place to another, helping those in need, never stopping for too long for Mushi are attracted to him for some reason and having too much Mushi in one area is dangerous. So he always finishes his job and leaves, performing miracles and explaining things that we never thought possible, but for a Mushishi, that’s just part of the job.

Those Arent Birds, Theyre Mushishi That Infect Your Dreams and Make Them Real

Perfect. The one and only word that comes to mind when someone mentions Mushishi, it literally is one of; if not the best, anime I’ve ever seen in my entire life. The story is amazingly original; each and every Mushi is different. Different looks, different sounds, different powers and different effects on people, such a level of originality I’ve never seen before in an anime, having watched so many “recycled’ genres like harems and mechas where one can almost guess what each characters going to say next before they say it, an anime like this where the plot is subtle but thick, where the characters are only there for one episode but you feel like they left an impression on the entire anime, where you sit in suspense wondering what kind of Mushishi did this to this innocent person and if it’s possible to be cured, its unlike anything I’ve seen before. As Ginko walks into the town, you’re not only introduced to the Mushi and the problem, you’re introduced to the main characters of that episode, each person has a story and a reason as to why they’re there, a reason as to why they’ve been infected with the Mushi and a reason why they want to live. You find out these things along with Ginko and you find out about the Mushi along with the patient. From growing horns and being deaf to being pulled off the ground by an invisible string, each episode is completely different then the last one yet keeps you just as interested then the last, if not more. With 26 episodes and a new Mushi in every one, it’s almost impossible not to find a story that you love. On top of all that Ginko is probably the perfect type of character to take on the lead role in this kind of anime; silent, yet caring, devoted, yet clear minded. He can sit back with a cool head no matter the situation and think things out clearly. Lovable characters, an original plot with twists every episode and I’m not even done yet.

Guardian Of The Mountain

Let’s move on to the section I usually don’t put much effort into, animation and sound/music. I’ll start off by saying that Mushishi has amazing animation, both character and background animation is literally flawless. The characters have a very original style to the way they’re drawn, leaving the people looking softer and have a completely different feel about them then other animes and also matching the background animation perfectly. As for the background and scenery, it’s pretty amazingly well done, from the inside of worn down shacks to the sprawling mountains, the detail is there in every scene pulling everything together quite nicely. Also the Mushi animation is very well done; every Mushi looks recognizably different, with different traits and such. Some of the effects used for the Mushi and Mushi-related powers are literally breathtaking, for example episode 20, my personal favorite story, when there’s text scrambling on the walls, overlapping each other and trying to find a way out, it was just really, really well done. The music fits well to the time in which Mushishi takes place, a kind of feudal Japan, so slow playing samisens and bells and such fit not only the time but the feel of the anime. While we’re on about music, Ill mentions the sound as well. It’s not often I notice when the sounds are well done, with the exception of Kyoto animes, but Mushishi’s level of realism when it came to sounds was quite impressive. Hearing the cicadas and crickets at night to the frogs near the swamp and the grass as a gentle breeze blew through the fields, for some reason it all stood out a lot. Each sound was duly noted and put me more and more into the atmosphere that only Mushishi could create.

Sound Eating Mushishi

Finishing it up, I have nothing bad to say about Mushishi, other than the fact that I was deeply sad when it came to an end. To me this anime is perfect, the level of detail of every aspect demands respect as it does admiration. What started as a simple contest for Yuki Urushibara turned into an amazing series for both manga and anime, how a story like this was created by someone for a CONTEST, one that she thought she wouldn’t win, is completely beyond my comprehension. I’ve seen the anime and I will continue to buy all the volumes of this manga, if not just as a tribute to Yuki and to how much I admire her for creating such an amazing story. 10/10 for now and forever. I do hope those of you who haven’t seen or read this at least try it, read a chapter online or watch an episode on Veoh, I promise you won’t be disappointed. Forgive me, as this wasn’t a review as much as it was a rant on how much I simply adore this series.

River Of Pre-Born Mushishi That Exists Under Us

Next anime on the list is up in the air, it’ll most likely be an anime still airing rather than Darker Than Black as I’m only on episode 6 of that. Perhaps Shigofumi, Persona or True Tear? We’ll see which one I feel like dong tomorrow… Or maybe I’ll do something a little more different than usual and put on a game review, I could do the horribly done Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened, or perhaps finish the Orange Box review, since Miku still hasn’t done his review on Half Life 2 Episode 2… I’m not sure right now. Until then, this has been a fun way to pass what could have been a very boring evening, look forward to my next review.