Mushishi Zoku Shou – 05
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Water clone jutsu!
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Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest one of all? …Well, it’s not Masumi, seeing as her ass gets dumped two times in the episode and it’s implied that rejection is pretty much her trademark. Ginko on the other hand appears to be quite the catch! He’s always been the most handsome dude on the show, and now finally he’s being praised for it. Good for you, Ginko. You’ve got it goin’ on. |
Let’s get the usual out of the way: this episode is beautiful. A lot of the scenes take place in a vibrant forest, with the showstopper view being the mirror-like lake amongst the trees. Yes, even with creepy water doppelgangers springing out of it, the lake remains beautiful. I’m also really enjoying how this show uses colour to set the tone and make the locations vary. Episode 4 was also in a forest, but the trees looked anemic (if trees could be anemic) and the landscape was tinged with sickly greens and dark shadows. This forest is completely different, as it’s bathed in a cool, watery colours. In each case, the colour choices suit the story perfectly.
![[HorribleSubs] Mushishi S2 - 05 [1080p].mkv_snapshot_02.04_[2014.05.02_21.46.45]](https://i2.wp.com/metanorn.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/HorribleSubs-Mushishi-S2-05-1080p.mkv_snapshot_02.04_2014.05.02_21.46.45.jpg?resize=650%2C365)
While the animation itself isn’t exactly top notch (sometimes characters don’t have eyes or even mouths), it’s still a very pretty show to look at. Artland makes the most of everything. I wish I knew more about cinematography as well, because I bet I’d catch a lot more. For example, I noticed that they use a lot of shots with the subject in 1/3 of space. I know that’s supposed to be visually pleasing, but that’s about all I can say about that. I’m almost sure they’re using a lot more tricks and I’m just completely missing them.
As for the content of the episode itself, it felt a little less original and interesting. So let’s get some more of “the usual stuff” out of the way now that I’m done gushing over the scenery porn again. The romance was pretty typical, with a girl meeting a boy in the forest and then getting separated. At first you feel bad, but then you realize she’s had tons of break-ups before and that she’s basically jumping into relationships all the time. She’s young and fickle. That’s why she immediately becomes infatuated with Ginko. I’m sure she really did love her mirror-scrubbing ex, but passion can wax and wane very suddenly. In the grand scheme of things, it was but a fleeting romance that Masumi will forget about completely.
Moving along, there’s the whole mirror thing, which sounds cool…but ultimately plays out so typically that it could have been a Goosebumps book. “Your reflection is going to switch places with you! Spooky!” Even worse, I thought Masumi would reflect the mushi in a more metaphorical way once her mirror was gone. Maybe she’d pull some Persona nonsense and accept her “shadow” as herself or accept her flaws. But nope, the thing just reflects in her eyes and then buggers off. Great.
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Maybe all she wanted was a high five?
There’s a lot of cliches here, which are boring to talk about at length. So let’s forget the lovers meeting in the woods, the bitter heartbreak and switching places with a mirror-self. Let’s look at one line where the parents just so happen to say that their daughter is suffering psychologically, and not from a mushi.
The actual mirror/acceptance of the self meaning that the mushi is probably supposed to represent is neat and all, but I feel like I’ve talked about this a lot already while blogging Persona with Karakuri. I think it’s a lot cooler – although a bit more of a stretch – to think of this mushi as a representation of depression. Depression remains to be a bit of an elusive condition. We don’t know exactly what causes it, how to properly treat it, or why some of our treatments actually work. Seeing as how mushi are often used to explain mysterious phenomenon (rainbows, deafness, becoming mute etc.), it would be really suitable and intriguing to have a mushi that is the cause of depression. It’s probably not the intended message, but it’s one of many possible interpretations of the Mizukagami mushi. These creatures can cause just about anything, so why not a mental illness? It’s a bit selfish, but I’m going to kind of ignore the main message here and talk about it from an angle I find to be personally interesting.
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Alternative story: the wet-the-bed explanation mushi
Masumi has been through many break-ups, but this one is the worst for her. She’s been incredibly depressed, to the point where she doesn’t even have the motivation to leave her room. She is also physically weakened, another often forgotten symptom of depression. All of these are caused by the Mizukagami. At one point she even thinks about just letting herself switch places with the Mizukagami because she doesn’t care about living anymore. This mushi has weakened her physically and mentally to inflict depression until she becomes so morose that she doesn’t care if the mushi takes her place. It’s an ideal strategy for a parasitic creature like this.
What makes this even cooler is that you can then take this a step further to imagine mushi representing all kinds of mental illnesses. Maybe people didn’t understand what anxiety was back then, so they tried to explain it by saying they were possessed by a mushi. The mushi are used like folk tales – giving magical explanations for phenomenon we don’t yet understand. It’s a really cool interpretation of views from another time on mental illnesses. Trust me, we sure as heck had a lot of strange notions on what mental illnesses really were in the past. Replace mushi possession with demon possession and you have a pretty good idea of what some people thought mental illnesses were.
I started making the depression connection even more when Ginko was giving Masumi a stern but very encouraging talk in the forest. He praises Masumi for something very odd: for existing. You don’t often hear a compliment like that. If someone says “wow, it’s impressive that you have a corporeal form and maintain a pulse” you would be likely to interpret it as a sarcastic quip. But Ginko sincerely means it. He’s telling Masumi that when you have depression, just getting through the day is a feat. Just existing with your physical body and not killing yourself is an achievement you should be proud of. It’s such a weird thing to notice, but having a human body is what saves her from the Mizukagami trying to steal her body. Not physical prowess, intellect, or making some huge realization…but just having two eyes and a face.
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Mushishi truly makes you appreciate things you never thought you would. Nature, for one thing. The company of other human beings is also a huge focus of the show. Masumi just wants to be loved and to have someone to love as well. I thought it was another nice message of Ginko to make us thankful for something we aren’t usually thankful for – our bodies. As amazing as mushi are, they remain as little more than soulless concepts. As powerful and dangerous as we’ve witnessed them to be, they still long to possess something we have that they do not. But are we better than them? No. But we can try to co-exist with them in the best way we can.
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
Wow. This hits close to home. I get depression. I don’t suffer from it; I’m bad company…I make it suffer me!
This is a good lens to see the episode through, as it provides a broader dimension. Maybe she’ll catch a break sooner rather than later. Nothing like having a water moster almost take over your life, to make you look at that life.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Depression is always a tough issue to talk about, but an important one. You can’t deny that it’s there and it happens in varying degrees to all of us.
Masumi will be just fine. She’ll find a guy who isn’t so shallow as to turn her away for being a tomboy. His loss!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’ve discovered that I am alot more in control than I would first think. It takes the right mindset. It’s a combination of distracting yourself, not dwelling on “OMG I’M SO SAAAAAAD”, and maybe a little bit of congratulating yourself.
About the only thing I cannot easily beat is the lethargy that sometimes sets in. When it hits me that way, I just cover myself with a blanket and go all blah. I’m lucky it only happens a few times a year.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The nerve of that guy. Odds are he won’t find a girl as sweet as her again so it totally is his loss. And, hey, even tomboys can be attractive. Take Love Lab’s Riko Kurahashi for example.
POWUH: 400-499 with 445 comments
The show uses a lot of wide angle shots to convey depth and space; i feel that contributes to the overall punch of the cinemetography in Mushishi
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
That too. They really let you take in all of the scenery instead of the usual focus of the “camera” in anime: close-ups of faces and eyes.
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 60 comments
You know Mushishi had a second season. I want Yami Shibai to have a second season too.
Anyway, I really liked this episode too. And saw the depression connection. The only thing unappealing about this episode was it was about depression again. Because I took depression and grief already from the snow episode.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Depression and isolation has been a running theme, but at least in the end they always manage to recover from it.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I’m no authority on the subject but in my opinion depression begins when the individual is in a state of despair. Much like Masumi was after being dumped not once but twice, and at a young age, no less where people are most impressionable. I imagine after a traumatizing occurrence as that, the person will start questioning their worth because the rejection is numerous and the depression intensifies. That’s my theory of it.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 131 comments
I second that
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Last episode was exhibiting a human believing he could rise above his natural abilities, this one about a heartbroken lonely girl. The latter gave so many feels. That aside, if possible, I’d give this series an award for excellent scenery porn. The lake is like one giant mirror. Maybe if a person jumped in, they find themselves in another world.
Wow, I really felt bad for Masumi. Her being simple young girl in desire of some companionship makes it all the more depressing. Though I hope she gains some self confidence that will help her pull through and after how brazen and insensitive that last guy’s responses were, it was clear a relationship wasn’t going to work out. She can do better.
Using the eyes as a means of reflection to repel the Mushi is a clever idea. When speaking with other people, if you look them in the eye, you will see yourself.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
The scenery porn is sooo good. It’s not even like they have a huge budget (from what I can tell), they just know how to make it pretty and put in effort where it counts.
Masumi’s a little boy-crazy, but I still think the way she was abruptly dumped was pretty rude. Poor thing. I think she could totally do better too.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
If the budget is small, they’re certainly making good use of it. The animation used to create such nice scenery here can definitely compete with P.A Works on equal grounds.
Well, it comes with the territory of being a teenager. Nothing else on the mind but wanting to get together with the opposite sex, especially with limited options to do anything else occupying in those times, it seems. Masumi was a good girl and didn’t deserve that kind of treatment. At least tell her it can’t work in a nicer manner.