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Mushi-Shi Vol. 2 episodes 6-10
01/03/2008 . Source: Phil Jones 
Region2 DVD: pub: Revelation Films. FUN72902. 1 DVD 150 minutes 5 episodes plus extras. Price: £15.99 (UK). Buy Mushi-Shi in the USA - or Buy Mushi-Shi in the UK  check out website: www.revfilms.com and www.funimation.com/mushishi
This series was originally released in Japan in 2005 and based quite strongly on the manga series. I have to say it one of the most captivating, beautiful human studies I've seen. It follows Ginko as he travels around mainly rural Japan. He is a Mushi-Shi or Mushi master. Mushi are not animal or plant, fungi or viral, they are between life and death. A sort of ancient primitive life-force that people can interact with. Only a few see them or they don't realise what they are. This can have both positive and negative effects. Some Mushi, if people encounter or are exposed to them are, from initial appearance parasitical. Some have a positive effect or are just beautiful to observe. While others use them to their own ends. The thing is, though, it's not as simple as that, often the interaction has both positive and negative outcomes for both people and Mushi. Sometimes it's just a case of people or Mushi being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
The Mushi-Shi Ginko is a sort of doctor, shaman, healer and observer. He generally tries to help people but he himself has much to learn about Mushi with some he's only read or heard about. Sometimes he has no solution but has to find his own way. Each of the five episodes provides us with a different story about Mushi and Ginko and the local people he encounters. None of the episodes really stands out in its own right, but I think that's because they all have their own strengths and differing interpretation of human life and existence. One tale has Ginko arriving on an isolated island that is only accessible one day of the month because of the tides. The young man brings him to help a young girl who is being worshipped as a living God. Each day she grows older and the following day she is restored back to normal. Ginko realised that it is Mushi who are causing this to happen and its not just the girl who is affected but many of the islanders. He finds the source and manages to cure the girl and the islanders. The interesting thing is some choose to go back to that way of life. This highlights what I like about this series. It's not just good fighting bad or that there is a simple solution or cure-all. There are hidden depths and interactions. Ginko is not all-knowing. In fact, often he is just learning about life himself and is fascinated by it, not just the Mushi.
In another episode, Ginko comes across a man who is seeking to find the end of the rainbow. His father touched what he though was a rainbow just before the man was born. The father's life was changed. Every time it rained, he went out seeking a rainbow, obsessed he couldn't let it go and would often either turn up days later or have to be fetched home. The boy now a man seeks to resolve the whole situation and show his father wasn't mad by trying to find the end of a rainbow himself. Ginko decides to join him for several months as he is interested to seek this particular rainbow which he suspects is Mushi in origin. The two travel together and Ginko learns more about the man's past.
One episode follows a small village that seems to be able to grow a bountiful harvest even after a disaster that would normally produce a bad harvest. Ginko is led to the village priest and whom he suspects there is a specially kind of Mushi involved. The village gets the harvest but at a cost. The other episode follows a group of kids that break into Ginko's friend's store. His friend is a collector of unusual objects often linked to Mushi. Unfortunately, the kids find an inkstone and use it. They all start to become very cold and their body temperatures drop. Ginko's friend calls on his services to help the children and also find out more about the inkstone and who made it.
All the tales could be said to have parallels in the real world. The fantasy element of this series works in a totally believable manor. You are just drawn into each story often ladened with emotional content. I really love this series as it challenges you but keeps your interest throughout. Ginko himself is an interesting character, very calm and laid back but also with hidden depth. It is the Mushi who are the real stars of this series though. It's not fast paced, action-ladened but just perfectly balanced. A truly impressive series that I think even non-anime fans should watch as I think it has wider appeal.
Phil Jones
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