Mushishi Zoku Shou – 02
She should have watched season 1 to know that anything seashell-shaped is dangerous.
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It’s probably no surprise that after gushing over Mushishi so much that I put this as my number one pick to blog. It’s not only an incredible show, but the very nature of it just begs to be blogged about. Ginko is always going to new places, encountering new mushi and interacting with new people. There’s no filler. It may seem like an odd mix to be blogging this alongside No Game, No Life but eh, variety is the spice of life! Or some other saying that I can toss out to dodge properly answering anything! |
I was reminded of the episode in season 1 where a snowy village gets plagued with seashell-shaped mushi that devour sound – causing one of the characters to become temporarily deaf. Except here, the seashell causes Mina to become mute instead of deaf. You really have to watch out for anything resembling a seashell in this show because it’s either a mushi or it’s hiding a mushi inside of it. However, the rather cute mushi hidden within the seashells are not the cause of the main problem this week. It’s a reminder that although mushi are responsible for harming humans a lot of the time, sometimes they aren’t the ones to blame.
:>
The usual process of the show would entail Mina becoming mute and Ginko finding a way to fix her. That’s just the way it typically goes, since the story focuses on mushi. But this ailment doesn’t seem to worry him very much in comparison to the ill omen in the ocean that these bird-like mushi are telegraphing. In fact, they’re actually doing the villagers a favour by alerting them to an upcoming tragedy. These mushi are comparatively very benign and even adorable. The way they wriggle their butts to retreat into their shells kills me every time! Despite the fact that this episode has a sweet, kind of helpful mushi as the “mushi of the week”, it’s actually one of the most brutal.
Ultimately, the village is helpless against a devastating red tide that kills off their entire fish farm and pollutes the waters. Most anime try and tell you that “it can’t be helped” is a bad excuse and that if you try your best you can change anything. Not Mushishi. Some things you just can’t fight against. You cannot control the ocean. You cannot control if a freak accident happens and your wife dies. You cannot protect your child from the outside world sometimes, no matter how hard you try and keep them sheltered. It’s bitter medicine to stomache, but it’s true.
Ginko is a traveling mushishi who saves the lives of villagers from strange diseases caused by mushi and all other manner of strange happenings. But even he cannot stop these sorts of tragedies. No one can stop nature. All the villagers could do was sit and watch as the water turned red.
…or maybe their next shipment of cherry Kool-aid just capsized
However, not everything is as grim as you’d expect. The ending is actually quite positive, as Mina and Sakichi return to the village. The village elder allows everyone to dive again and Mina is able to leave the confines of her cliffside home and make friends. The grey, overcast beach once again becomes sunny and we’re treated to another visually pleasing ending of bird-like mushi taking flight together. Although the inevitable may happen – hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning, and tsunamis – you can’t let that stop you from living. Yeah, a shark might try and bite your leg off when you’re diving for fish…but will you really let that stop you from getting food for your village?
I guess a more relevant example (unless you live in a fishing village, dear reader) would be never going outside because you think you’re going to get stabbed on the street. It’s a possibility, but you can’t let it stop you from going out. Then again, being attacked when you go outside might be a real concern if you’re the main character in Mekakucity Actors. But nevermind that! The main point is that although life is full of terrible, deadly things that you can’t even fight back against, you still have to get out there and live.
All in all, this was another great episode. I loved waiting with the villagers to see what on earth the ill omen would be. I was expecting a tsunami or another crazy mushi, so the red tide was completely unexpected. On a side note, I had no idea that a red tide was red because of the colour of over-prosperous algae and not the blood of dead fish. Science!
The main focus was really the ill omen and not what the mushi did to Mina. I like how Mushishi effortlessly balances human affairs, nature and mushi depending of what story they’re trying to tell. It’s a very flexible set-up. In addition, Ginko isn’t always the star player. Sometimes he fades into the background and other times it’s all about his mission to find a solution for a mushi-related issue. Nonetheless, his constancy in the show is reassuring, especially since we travel to vastly different villages from week to week. For example, next week is (supposedly) a snowy village. Unless the snow is actually some weird mushi thing that just looks like snow. It’s hard to tell, sometimes.
Don’t get pooped on!
About Overcooled
A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Overall, Artland has found a terrific device in the mushi. But spreading them out across all human experiences, they can take the storytelling just about anywhere.
I appreciate, in this episode, how the mushishi become a little less supernatural; a great deal is explained about them, while making the red tide seem so much more mysterious. One does not exist in our world (but never say never), the other very much does.
It’s like any fool can operate a motor vehicle, but fewer can tell you why it works.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Oh, definitely. Mushi have such niche abilities like drinking sake or copying rainbows that they can be used to explain just about anything. And they could have easily made a mushi the cause of the mass-death of all the fish, but they decided to go the more natural route instead. It still works, too.
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 20 comments
This was one of the more upbeat episodes I’ve seen despite the tragic stuff happening in the flashbacks, so it’s pleasant way to wind down or cheer yourself up after a bad day. I’ve started to notice the ‘formula’ to the structure of each story arc, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t effective.
I’m just glad it’s back and I’m glad people are blogging about it. The first season is special to me because that’s what got me into blogging in the first place! I picked up the DVDs afterwards and I treasure them to this day – the character of Ginko is one of the defining images that I’ll always remember. Moments like that closing scene in your last screencap remind me why I’m still a fan. As they say these days: “THE FEELS!”
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Mushishi always makes me feel good afterwards, even if it has brutal moments. It’s just so relaxing! The pleasant endings really give you a lingering contentedness as well. Glad this story ended happily ever after.
Oh wow, that’s cool Mushishi got you into blogging! It’s definitely an anime that brings THE FEELS on real strong. The perfect anime to inspire blogging. Although sometimes I’m left speechless…
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 60 comments
All this tell me is two things
1. Mushishi is off to a great start
and
2. I want another season of Mononoke with the Medicine Seller
If Mushishi lives, so should Mononoke
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
That’s all you need to know! Mushishi = good. and Mononoke = good. Gosh, Mononoke was good. Kenji Nakamura needs to stop with this Gatchaman stuff and go back to Mononoke…or something similar.
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 60 comments
And another season of Ghost Hound cause I think they were inspired by Mushishi to be honest. And Ghost Hound was nice and trippy sometimes.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Quietly adding this to my list of anime to check out.
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 60 comments
Wow, I am surprised. You of all people I would have assumed, had already seen Ghost Hound. *feels all warm and fuzzy inside*
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Yeah, you gushed all over the First Impression that it was saturated and there was an inquiry on whether or not there would be anything left. 😉 But unlike last season, this is only one cour. You should be used to odd mixes after blogging the likes of Gatchaman Crowds, Phi Brain, Shiki and Psycho-Pass.
There must be countless kinds of Mushi. Seeing a bird-like creature in a shell is weird.
Another quiet but interesting and well done episode. The drama in the village, in my opinion, was understandable on both sides because it was an unseen and tragic occurrence, so it’s easy to be sympathetic to the village leader and the man who lost his wife. And thanks to Ginko, the suffering the most by isolation, the man’s daughter, is free to see her friends whenever she wants.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I’m really sad this is only 1 cour T_T But I’ll take what I can get. And that’s true, I usually end up blogging a weird mix of 2 shows given my tastes. I feel like I blogged Phi Brain and Psycho-Pass together at one point…
Yeah, both sides can be sympathized with. They were all suffering from either the loss of their wife or guilt. It was all an accident, so all was forgiven in the end.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’m seeinthe the Mushi as like the TARDIS. It can go so many places in human experience.