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Anime First Impressions

Mushishi – Anime First Impressions

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Mushishi begins with an explanation of what a “mushi” is. Apparently they’re not animal, vegetable or mineral, and we humans have reason to fear them.

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Mushishi begins with an explanation of what a “mushi” is. Apparently they’re not animal, vegetable or mineral, and we humans have reason to fear them.

Next, we see Ginko (the mushi-shi) trekking through the forest in search of some kid with the “left hand of god!” We see the kid writing a letter in kanji, and the kanji actually come to life! This is a really cool part of the episode for me, because I’ve been studying kanji in my Japanese class. The kanji for bird (tori) literally flys off the page. Later you see the kanji for tree (hon) and day (hi) change into the real thing too. Luckily, the sun doesn’t get hot enough to kill everyone.

The kid explains to Ginko that anything he draws with his left hand comes to life. I wonder if he’s ever drawn cute neko-mimi maids with his left hand… Anyway, he’s one of the few people who can see mushi. His grandma (well, half of his grandma… it’s a long story) never believed him. Anyway, the two have a few drinks (how old is this kid anyway?) and Ginko investigates the house…

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Y’know, rather than summarize the episode, I think I’ll just write about what I think about it. I don’t wanna spoil it for you. And if you’ve seen it, you probably just want to know my impressions on it.

I think this anime has a lot of potential. The art is just amazing, and the animation is fluid like an OVA. As far as the storyline goes, it seems like this anime is going to be episodic. It’ll probably just be Ginko the traveling mushishi helping people with their mushi problems, like in Quantum Leap! This anime feels more artistic than most. The mood is set really nicely, and artwork does a good job conveying feeling.

The character designs are fine. There aren’t any weird looking lips or chins, so that’s a plus. Ginko seems kind of simple looking, but maybe he’s just simple. The grandma in this episode is really cute too (oh god, that feels so wrong). The mushi kind of remind me of the pokute in Jungle wa Itsumo Hare Nochi Guu. They can be cute and kind of gross at the same time.

The OP is a strange choice. It’s “the sore feet song” by Ally Kerr, and it’s in English! Blasphemy, I say. I’m not too fond of it. The ED is a subdued piano piece. For a moody anime such as this, you probably don’t want some obnoxious J-pop ED anyway. It fits the series, so I approve.

Overall, this anime is looking good. Really good. I’m interested in figuring out exactly what the mushi are. Actually, I’m not too sure what a mushishi is either… This episode sort of explains it, but they’re still pretty mysterious. This anime is also just so pretty that I have to keep watching! For that, I give this anime the BasuGasuBakuhatsu seal of approval.

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4 replies on “Mushishi – Anime First Impressions”

well it woz a weird lookin series to begin with, and it still is, but i’d have to admit that i just cant stop watching it.

A very nice alternative anime , people that love titles like Haibane Renmei and Miyazaki’s films will like this one as well .I wish there would be more of the sort around.

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