[Cal-Reflector]

Originally Posted by Timon

I definitely think part of him wants to, maybe not become a guardian, but definitely settle down and have a place to call home. It's only natural really. Also makes me think the opening song might relate to Ginko in that he does have a love interest (or will eventually, I dunno if the manga hints at anything in that direction) and so has a personal interest in figuring out how to stay in one place without attracting mushi.
Of course, now ep 12 illustrates another potential fate of Ginko.

He's done a good job of helping others, but can he save himself?

Spoiler for On Ginko and Possible Love Interest in Manga:

First of all, the anime does not follow the manga in chronological order. Then again, the sequence of events matters little to a plot is episodic by nature. The story in episode 11 is the sixth chapter in the manga (first of volume 2) and the story from a while ago about the aging girl on the isolated island is chapter 8.

In chapter 7 of the manga, Ginko comes to an estate where he is a frequent visitor where a young lady (roughly his age?) resides who is an old acquaintance of Ginko's; my impression was that there was a hint of possible romance for these two in the future.

Unfortunately, this chapter has not made its way into the anime as far as episode 16. The young lady (whose name I cannot translate) comes from a family of scribes who record invaluable information on dealing with Mushis in general, specifically extermination, excorcisement, etc, and in the process of writing and recording the stories of mushis onto paper she slowly drives out a particularly virulent mushi which resides in her legs and has been passed down through the family as a curse from long ago.

My impression that of all the characters Ginko has come across, this lady is as close to a kindred soul as he knows (and repeatedly visits amidst his wanderings); he remarks about her thus, "Enduring the infestation of the mushi, spending all her days with only mushi as companions, repeating day after day the duties of sealing away mushi... all of this laid on the shoulders of a young woman, alone, by herself..."

Towards the end of the chapter, she asks Ginko to go for a walk with her (carrying her on his back, since she cannot walk). Ginko asks her what she'll do once she's cured of the mushi's curse and regains the use of her legs. She replies first that because the process is so slow, she may well die before she's cured, in which case the curse would be passed on to her offspring. But if she were freed from the curse, she would like to travel with Ginko and see the stories he told her about the world for herself. She remarks sadly/half-seriously that by that time however she'd probably be old, wrinkled and unattractive.

Ginko promises her however, and asks her to live well until that goal is achieved, remarking that he won't mind how she'll look by then.