(L) Mushishi

[Manifold]

Only one more episode 'til this series finishes.. T'will be sad to see it end, but it has been good.

Still downloading.

[Lost]

Since all the thoughts about episode 25 are jumbled in my head right now, if I wanted to say anything by myself it would most probably come out as a generic 'Mushishi ROXS and Kicks Ass;' so I'm gonna use quotes to focus.

Originally Posted by Muir Woods

Episode 25 - Fortune Eye and Misfortune Eye.

Spoiler for Hiding it in spoilers just to be safe:

An intriguing mushi with daunting powers that Amane was forced to wield. Its effects a double-edged sword, captured by the title. From a blind girl to a seer. One could say great power comes with great responsibility and cost, or sometimes you get more than you bargained for. Whatever the message may be, I really liked her story.

I very much like the way the topic of losing her sight once more was discussed.

First Ginko brought up his experience about finally seeing the sunlight, which made him cherish being able to see; represented by 'light.' (Btw, this is one of the few times we get real insight into some of what motivates Ginko and why he feels what he feels.) Then Amane counters; a world in which there is only light is terrifying. Now, she could see all; transcending physical barriers, distance, even transcending time, and that terrified her, more than losing her sight again.

I suppose it wasnt as much seeing everything, as the fact that she could not change a single thing she saw. It was a heavy burden for her to carry, so much so that darkness became a relief, a freedom.

I dont know, but somehow the above just sounds like it can be paralleled in real life, as you said, Muir, with power comes responsibility. In her case that responsibility was crazy because she couldnt lift a finger to change it (unlike spiderman ).

And, my second favourite quote of Mushishi!: "I don't think it would be bad to live in the darkness remembering the light."

ROXS!! Kicks Ass!!

Originally Posted by Muir Woods

Saw episode 25.

Spoiler for Comments on episode 25:

I love this episode's tale. It was a bittersweet story that carried easily apparent messages, and garnered my sympathy for Amane (again, forgive me if my romanization is wrong). Hmm, there was a brief glimpse of Ginko's past, his earliest memories at about 10 years old. I wonder what that hint carries. There was one scene that I really liked in the episode: it was near the beginning, where Amane was singing on the streets about the story of the mushi in episode 6. The bystanders laughed at the end, thinking it was a ridiculous anecdote, save Ginko, who was the only one who understood the tale. Something about that scene struck me. Perhaps it highlighted an overarching theme of the series: the people's misunderstanding/lack of understanding of mushis, that is often the fundamental reason of their troubles with them. Or maybe I just liked the music .

One episode left. I hope it ends as a pinnacle.

I liked that part too. Yes, the music and not only that, her voice and the lilting way she sung it was really beautiful. But I quoted the above, because I really agree with what you said in bold. That struck me too.

Originally Posted by wao

One scene that was very effective, though, was Ginko's earliest memories.

Spoiler for Really not much a spoiler:

For some reason, the bit where he was groping his way through the darkness and came to a place where the moon just continuously set and rose was extremely creepy and memorable to me. In fact I think it's because for some reason I have this enigmatic residue of a memory - I don't know where it's from, but I've had it since I was young - of going to a balcony, and looking above over the tops of trees, and seeing about 3 or 4 moons in the sky; in various stages (crescent, half crescent, 3/4 crescent, almost a full moon)...
It's a memory that keeps coming back at weird times and I find it delightfully surreal. I know it doesn't have much connection but that feeling came right back when they showed that bit. Those times when it seems like the night goes on forever... that's what it might be like for Amane from now on.

But the difference is that she's got a memory of light. She knows what light is; or rather, she knows what "not dark" is. It's much better than the despair and hopelessness felt if all you know is darkness and nothing that is not darkness.

And thats why I liked that quote from the series, having known what is 'not dark,' she could remember it and at least get some comfort (Altho it might cause her pain at times, missing what she had lost).

Comparing Ginko's experience to what Amane was going thru at that time; it actually parallels. Like you said, Amane was in darkness for the earlier part of her life; how like for Ginko, the moon kept on rising and setting, rising and setting, a seemingly neverending darkness. Then with the Ganpuku and her learning what the 'not dark' was, it was like Ginko finally seeing the sun rise. Here is where the parallel stops, and Amane's experience goes on alone. Where for Ginko, the light stopped and sight remained as it was, for Amane the light got stronger and harsher, her sight revealed more and more to her.

Originally Posted by wao

....and I swear, I couldn't believe it when I saw Amane was played by Maaya Sakamoto. Makes sense given the singing but... I couldn't recognize it!!! Perhaps it's because the character she's playing here is quite different from her usual ones in general. She sounds so serious and less sweet, and you can feel a bit of the melancholy coming through. I suppose this is closer to what her real voice is like.

Now that I heard it for myself, .

Originally Posted by Cal-reflector

Plus, episode 25 introduces who might be the second most intriuging character of Mushishi after Tanyuu from the much-loved episode 20.

Without spoiling anything for those who are waiting diligently... let me just say that in terms of wanderlust and sojourning, I'm adding this episode 25 character (her name is Amane) to the post-Mushishi Ginko-Tanyuu traveling party. What an awesome trio these three would make:

Ginko: The witty, laid back MacGuyver character. Everyone's hero.
Tanyuu: The cool (as in, awesome) gal who makes up for her immobility with a professionalism and wit that can match Ginko's.
Amane: Source of income and entertainment for the party; competition for Ginko?

All three have had their lives deeply affected by Mushi, and carry some disability caused by their encounter with mushi. All three are wanderers (or wish to be). The possiblities are endless...

LOL. Was I the only one who thought that the way Amane took Ginko by the arm was slightly promiscuous?


Do something or I'm gonna get laid!

I fully agree that Amane has a wanderlust, but I don't think she would fit in his party. Maybe because Amane, of the three, appears to me to be the most fitting as a lonesome character, (i.e. I want to see a blind bard wandering the main highway alone with her lute - the epitome of loneliness!) and it just wouldnt feel right for Amane to join them as a trio. Besides, Amane could never be competition to Tanyuu for Ginko. Both of them didnt have the spark that Ginko and Tanyuu had. And they were sleeping in the same room too!!

[chriscosz]

Just to echo what everyone has already said, Fortune Eye and Misfortune Eye has become one of my favorite Mushishi episodes. I had been waiting for it to be subbed for a long time, and am really pleased at the job C1 did with it.

I thought that this was one of the best supernatural stories in Mushishi, and it highlights everything that makes the series great. We have a mushish who tried to use a mushi to his own ends, and despite how noble the ends were the outcome wasn't at all what they had expected. Amane's transition from a happy child who had been given sight, to a burdened teenager who was given the burden of being a seer to a resigned and almost omnipotent adult was excellent. Ginko's devotion to helping others and his willingness to talk about his own past was great to see, and his refusal to just accept fate made me like his character all the more.

Art and music-wise, this episode also demonstrated why I love this series. The backgrounds were very lush, and I can't stop picturing the scene with Amane looking out over the mountains for her father. I really loved how the animators depicted the unnatural reflection off Amane's eyes immediatly after the mushi had entered them. This episode had some of the best music in Mushishi, and I really loved how they incorporated Amane's biwa into it.

Only one episode left. Let's hope C1 gets it out soon.

[Cal-Reflector]

Originally Posted by Lost

Do something or I'm gonna get laid!

I fully agree that Amane has a wanderlust, but I don't think she would fit in his party. Maybe because Amane, of the three, appears to me to be the most fitting as a lonesome character, (i.e. I want to see a blind bard wandering the main highway alone with her lute - the epitome of loneliness!) and it just wouldnt feel right for Amane to join them as a trio. Besides, Amane could never be competition to Tanyuu for Ginko. Both of them didnt have the spark that Ginko and Tanyuu had. And they were sleeping in the same room too!!

Whoah, that's how the translation (accurate, actually) came out huh, very suggestive indeed. While I am a sucker for romance, it was Amane's Uber intruiging powers that hooked me onto this episode.

As for the idea about the wandering party of three... I just take a great amount of pleasure imagining what sort of conversation would result when you put Amane and Tanyuu, two very talented young women with remarkable powers that they spend their lives learning to cope with. Of course, with Ginko in between, the fun triples, even a symposium on mushi between the three experts would be interesting to listen to.

[Lost]

You have a point, add to that the Mushishi sensei Yahagi from episode 24; (and one of my personal favourites after Tanyuu) Shige, the girl with rust in her voice, from episode 23; Mio, the girl who gave birth to her mother in episode 22; Aya, and Ito, the sisters who worked with Tamamayu and Uro-sans (Mushishi's email) in episode 17; plus last but definitely not least imo, Fuki, the girl that almost lost her humanity and became invisible in epsiode 19. All are beautiful girls that have to live with their Mushi. Hows that for a symposium? Actually sounds more like a Harem

Sigh just recounting all this makes me think that Mushishi is easily among the best series I've watched this year; and may even surpass planetes. Actually it should.

Anyhow Cal, why don't you write a fanfic on what a convo among the three of them would be like.

[wao]

Heh, looking at that screenshot, it does sound suggestive! Heheh....

And Lost, I must kill you now for even bringing up the image of a harem of Mushishi girls with Ginko as the lead. OMG! (Gasps and dies. The blasphemy.)

Also I think chriscosz nailed it when he talked about the transition Amane made through time with the eye. I like it very much when we see characters grow up and their view of the world changes. (I don't mean it literally here)


The title itself and the whole episode makes one think about the whole idea of balance and how something that seems so amazing and unordinarily good (vision into the future, x-ray sight) always comes with side-effects that weigh it down. Too much light is the same as too much darkness - ultimately you won't see anything at all. But for poor Amane, since she couldn't take the middle path of a balance of both (since the eye doesn't afford that choice), she had had enough of one extreme, and decided to return to the other one...

[Cal-Reflector]

Originally Posted by Lost

You have a point, add to that the Mushishi sensei Yahagi from episode 24; (and one of my personal favourites after Tanyuu) Shige, the girl with rust in her voice, from episode 23; Mio, the girl who gave birth to her mother in episode 22; Aya, and Ito, the sisters who worked with Tamamayu and Uro-sans (Mushishi's email) in episode 17; plus last but definitely not least imo, Fuki, the girl that almost lost her humanity and became invisible in epsiode 19. All are beautiful girls that have to live with their Mushi. Hows that for a symposium? Actually sounds more like a Harem

Sigh just recounting all this makes me think that Mushishi is easily among the best series I've watched this year; and may even surpass planetes. Actually it should.

Anyhow Cal, why don't you write a fanfic on what a convo among the three of them would be like.

*Imagines a Mushishi harem series/ova, ala second season of Full Metal Panic*

Ginko is the tour guide specializing in... Mushi tours and in this group is all the people mentioned above plus Yuki (the elder sister in the... Springtime in Winter episode who was the only character to become obviously smitten by Ginko in the series) and Nui, Ginko's mentor who appears in amorphous spiritual form from time to time. There will be *oh Lord what am I saying* beach episodes, hot spring episodes, confessions and jealousy and rivalry and awkward moments and...

Okay, too early in the morning, if ever, for this nonsense. *Headwalls*

I'll write that fic someday, soon hopefully.

Originally Posted by lost

I fully agree that Amane has a wanderlust, but I don't think she would fit in his party. Maybe because Amane, of the three, appears to me to be the most fitting as a lonesome character, (i.e. I want to see a blind bard wandering the main highway alone with her lute - the epitome of loneliness!) and it just wouldnt feel right for Amane to join them as a trio. Besides, Amane could never be competition to Tanyuu for Ginko. Both of them didnt have the spark that Ginko and Tanyuu had. And they were sleeping in the same room too!!

Well, she did suggest suggestively to Ginko that they should meet up again in the future, whilst strongly implying that she would like to meet him again. I know Amane wouldn't win over Tanyuu, if it came to that (I for one support Ginko-Tanyuu), but competition she could be: The entire wandering musician deal is tremendously enchanting.

No spark between them? Get Ginko drunk then.

[ginko51]

You anime junkies can't live without your love stories can you?

Another great episode.I loved the part where Ginko talks about his past...man ep12's music is really powerful.

Right now I'm more worried about not getting a second season than ep26...The powers that be have to be stupid not to continue the series...

[Lost]

^ At least the manga is being translated to English. And with a live action movie, a second season sounds possible.

Originally Posted by wao

And Lost, I must kill you now for even bringing up the image of a harem of Mushishi girls with Ginko as the lead. OMG! (Gasps and dies. The blasphemy.)

*points at Cal-Reflector* See, it was in Cal's head all this time!

Jk.

I like it very much when we see characters grow up and their view of the world changes. (I don't mean it literally here)

Lol I had to laugh abit, I know you dont mean it literally, but that was such a fitting description.

Too much light is the same as too much darkness - ultimately you won't see anything at all. But for poor Amane, since she couldn't take the middle path of a balance of both (since the eye doesn't afford that choice), she had had enough of one extreme, and decided to return to the other one...

That sums it up very well.

Originally Posted by Cal-Reflector

Ginko is the tour guide specializing in... Mushi tours and in this group is all the people mentioned above plus Yuki (the elder sister in the... Springtime in Winter episode who was the only character to become obviously smitten by Ginko in the series) and Nui, Ginko's mentor who appears in amorphous spiritual form from time to time. There will be *oh Lord what am I saying* beach episodes, hot spring episodes, confessions and jealousy and rivalry and awkward moments and...

[Xinil]

Not a lot of talk about Mushishi the Anime. Anyone still following this? I just recently watched ep 25 and really enjoyed it.

Overall this has been a pretty good show. There are a few things that I wish were different though. Like, perhaps have some character development here and there, hehe. Sure, we learn about Ginko's childhood, but that's about it. He never falls in love throughout the whole series (which baffles me because he's always around some cute women). I enjoyed the episodic nature of this series, but I think it could have had more flavor and attracted a bigger audience if it added those "almost necessary" plot flows.

[Veritas]

Ginko's already a pretty mature character. I don't see how he could develop more. He also lost his memory of his life before he became a mushishi, so he's not carrying around a lot of baggage. Why does he need to fall in love? He can't stay in one place for long, and I'm just sick of romance being added arbitrarily to stories.

I really don't think the episodic nature detracts from anything. Given Ginko's life as a wanderer, there's no point in having a multi-episode arc. So many anime out there are linear; can so many anime watchers be disinclined to pay attention to a show that breaks that mold?

[Cal-Reflector]

Originally Posted by Xinil

Not a lot of talk about Mushishi the Anime. Anyone still following this? I just recently watched ep 25 and really enjoyed it.

Overall this has been a pretty good show. There are a few things that I wish were different though. Like, perhaps have some character development here and there, hehe. Sure, we learn about Ginko's childhood, but that's about it. He never falls in love throughout the whole series (which baffles me because he's always around some cute women). I enjoyed the episodic nature of this series, but I think it could have had more flavor and attracted a bigger audience if it added those "almost necessary" plot flows.

I'm one of the few (many?) who believe Mushishi is just about as good as animes come, though I do share your sentiment about wishing to see more romance in the story; I ship Tanyuu and Ginko myself. It doesn't sound as if the movie will give more insight into the relationship those two enjoy either, pity.

[Lost]

Originally Posted by arias

I have spare tickets for Mushishi, Friday 02:45pm on Sept 15th. If any Torontonian wants them, please PM me.

Can we expect a review from you right here in this thread?

Originally Posted by Xinil

Not a lot of talk about Mushishi the Anime. Anyone still following this? I just recently watched ep 25 and really enjoyed it.

Overall this has been a pretty good show. There are a few things that I wish were different though. Like, perhaps have some character development here and there, hehe. Sure, we learn about Ginko's childhood, but that's about it. He never falls in love throughout the whole series (which baffles me because he's always around some cute women). I enjoyed the episodic nature of this series, but I think it could have had more flavor and attracted a bigger audience if it added those "almost necessary" plot flows.

I can't exactly follow it when its choked at episode 25. What do you mean by ' "almost necessary" plot flows?' Plot arcs spanning several episodes? I'd like to disagree with half that statement in bold but agree with the other half.

No, it would not add more flavour to the show, not at all. Its a great feat being able to contain within one episode enough material to make you think and feel much more then you would do in a three, four episode plot arc in another series, say Utawarerumono. This Anime has more flavour in 1 episode than what many other conventional series contain in a 3 or 4 episodes arc.

Stretching a plot over more than one episode would honestly spoil Mushishi for me, (maybe thats because I'm just so used to the episodic nature of Mushishi ) because that isn’t what Mushishi is about. Mushishi essentially chronicles a journey, Ginko's journey, and episodic is really the best way to show that Journey. The way it chronicles humans and their follies/tribulations/sacrifices and resolves everything (or not) and then moves on to the next story that has NO relation (in most cases) to previous stories or stories to come -- Now, thats a journey.

So think of Ginko's journey as the single Plot Arc spread over 26 episodes, hope that helps

Yes, sadly, such conventional plot flows would attract more people. Mushishi is rather low-keyed.

Originally Posted by Xinil

He never falls in love throughout the whole series (which baffles me because he's always around some cute women).

Accept the fact that he's Ginko, and no one else.

[Xinil]

I must agree with a lot everyone said. Especially Lost's sentence when they said "Its a great feat being able to contain within one episode enough material to make you think and feel much more then you would do in a three, four episode plot arc in another series". I completely agree with that. I often spent 5 to 10 minutes after each episode just thinking about how I would have reacted if I were in the same situation as Ginko (or the people having mushi problems).

I guess I really just wantet someone to make Ginko happy. I don't know, I sort of got the feeling he was lonely wandering around his whole life. I don't think it detracts from the show that it doesn't have romance, I just think it could have helped it if it was done right.

Vertias: Yes, Ginko is a very, very mature character. He's probably one of the most mature characters I've ever encountered in an Anime series.

[Lost]

Originally Posted by Xinil

I guess I really just wantet someone to make Ginko happy. I don't know, I sort of got the feeling he was lonely wandering around his whole life. I don't think it detracts from the show that it doesn't have romance, I just think it could have helped it if it was done right.

Oh, trust me, I've felt like that too.

[aliensporebomb]

I got the feeling he's had opportunities but has not elected to act on
them purely to protect those he might have otherwise had a relationship
with.

No doubt he does not wish to attract Mushi to those unable to protect
themselves from them.

He keeps moving because they would otherwise gather and potentially
cause harm to someone he loves.

[Cal-Reflector]

Originally Posted by aliensporebomb

I got the feeling he's had opportunities but has not elected to act on
them purely to protect those he might have otherwise had a relationship
with.

No doubt he does not wish to attract Mushi to those unable to protect
themselves from them.

He keeps moving because they would otherwise gather and potentially
cause harm to someone he loves.

Ahh... but what if it were somebody who was both capable of dealing with Mushi and expressed the desire to travel with him?

[Lost]

Cal makes a very convincing argument.

[Xinil]

Originally Posted by Cal-Reflector

Ahh... but what if it were somebody who was both capable of dealing with Mushi and expressed the desire to travel with him?

Exactly, exactly, exactly.

[Siye]

I'm actually curious...

A majority of the fans on this board into Mushishi seem to be female.. and as always... we won't complain about romance... (even myself... ^^

And yeah.. I've always thought of pairing Ginko up with someone and I want to see who the general consensus picks. I'm betting it's gonna be Tanyuu... but you never know?

I actually like the mushishi from ep 25 the most. Yahagi ya? I mean she seems pretty intelligent as a Mushishi and she has alot of similarities with ginko (personality wise both are pretty mature and quiet..)

So how about everyone else?


P.S. I know my review of the movie may sound negative... but honestly it wasn't THAT bad... it could have been worse... but it could have been better too. I think most fans will think it's okay as long as they don't mind any drastic changes.