Cover art for one of the volumes
Episodes: 26
Rated TV-14
STORY
(ANN summary) They are neither plants nor animals. They differ from other forms of life such as the micro-organisms and the fungi. Instead they resemble the primeval body of life and are generally known as "Mushi". Their existence and appearance are unknown to many and only a limited number of humans are aware of them. Ginko is a "Mushi-shi" who travels around to investigate and find out more about the "Mushi". In the process, he also lends a helping hand to people who face problems with supernatural occurances which may be related to the "Mushi".
Mushi-shi is an episodic anime with no overarching storyline, so don't look for one. You follow the life of Ginko, a "mushi master" who travels from village to village investigating any problems that they have involving mushi. He figures out what's causing the problem and how to fix it, and by the end hopefully does and goes on his way to the next village. While the series is predictable in this sense, the stories in each episode are still able to be heartwarming, heartbreaking, or even scary in their short 23 minute spans. Many episodes will not end happily, and some do, so this series is able to tug at your heart in many different ways. The episodes are deep enough to be thought provoking but are still able to be enjoyed by anyone who just doesn't want to think too much. This isn't a fast-paced series by any means. It's quiet, mellow, and pretty slow, relying on atmosphere and story to develop the series rather than fanservice and action. Unfortunately, most will probably find this series boring for that reason, but anyone with patience and appreciation for this type of storytelling will probably love it. Being episodic, the only constant character in this show is Ginko. Fortunately he's a pretty interesting character to follow. He's incredibly laid back and handles tense situations calmly. He's intelligent and able to think on his feet. Not much development happens with him, but a couple of episodes flash back to his childhood so we learn how he gets that white hair and green eye. Other characters in this series are usually only limited to one episode, but some do make at least a couple of returns. The content of this series isn't too bad. Some mild language here and there. People die quite often in this series.... Usually of some kind of illness, though one or two people get pretty bloody. Kids wouldn't be interested in this series because of it's slowness, but that's ok because it wasn't made for them.
Rated TV-14
STORY
(ANN summary) They are neither plants nor animals. They differ from other forms of life such as the micro-organisms and the fungi. Instead they resemble the primeval body of life and are generally known as "Mushi". Their existence and appearance are unknown to many and only a limited number of humans are aware of them. Ginko is a "Mushi-shi" who travels around to investigate and find out more about the "Mushi". In the process, he also lends a helping hand to people who face problems with supernatural occurances which may be related to the "Mushi".
Mushi-shi is an episodic anime with no overarching storyline, so don't look for one. You follow the life of Ginko, a "mushi master" who travels from village to village investigating any problems that they have involving mushi. He figures out what's causing the problem and how to fix it, and by the end hopefully does and goes on his way to the next village. While the series is predictable in this sense, the stories in each episode are still able to be heartwarming, heartbreaking, or even scary in their short 23 minute spans. Many episodes will not end happily, and some do, so this series is able to tug at your heart in many different ways. The episodes are deep enough to be thought provoking but are still able to be enjoyed by anyone who just doesn't want to think too much. This isn't a fast-paced series by any means. It's quiet, mellow, and pretty slow, relying on atmosphere and story to develop the series rather than fanservice and action. Unfortunately, most will probably find this series boring for that reason, but anyone with patience and appreciation for this type of storytelling will probably love it. Being episodic, the only constant character in this show is Ginko. Fortunately he's a pretty interesting character to follow. He's incredibly laid back and handles tense situations calmly. He's intelligent and able to think on his feet. Not much development happens with him, but a couple of episodes flash back to his childhood so we learn how he gets that white hair and green eye. Other characters in this series are usually only limited to one episode, but some do make at least a couple of returns. The content of this series isn't too bad. Some mild language here and there. People die quite often in this series.... Usually of some kind of illness, though one or two people get pretty bloody. Kids wouldn't be interested in this series because of it's slowness, but that's ok because it wasn't made for them.
Ginko knows what he's doing! Also notice the background art!
ANIMATION/SOUND
This series is a visual treat! The background art is incredible. I can't imagine how many hours the painters had to put into the environments. All the detail and the incredible lighting can almost make you feel like you're there. Being such a slow series with little action, one might expect the animation to be quite dull too, but fortunately this series has great animation. It can tend to cut corners by screen paning through environments or with characters occasionally being still, but character movement is incredibly smooth and no amout of detail is lost during their movement. Lighting is also used beautifully whether it's lighting from the sun and stars or lighting from certain mushi. The music in this series also brings out more of the beauty. It's not the kind of music that works well on it's own, but they really enhance the mood of each scene. The opening theme is probably the only exception. It sounds like a love song, but I don't understand why they're using a love song for this series. It deals with all types of emotions, even love, but it's not a romance. Oh well, it's a decent opening. The ending theme carries over from the last scene into the credits and often times changes for each episode. I've only heard the voice acting in English, but I like what I heard. Travis did a good job at Ginko, keeping him sounding mellow but able to convey all types of emotion when necessary, and all the other actors played their roles convincingly for being only one-episode characters.
OVERALL
This is a beautiful series to behold and a jewel among anime. Anyone looking for a slower paced series that doesn't need to be watched religiously in order to be enjoyed should definitely try this show out.
PROS
-Beautiful animation, art, and music
-Well written storylines
CONS
-Slow pace may put some to sleep
This series is a visual treat! The background art is incredible. I can't imagine how many hours the painters had to put into the environments. All the detail and the incredible lighting can almost make you feel like you're there. Being such a slow series with little action, one might expect the animation to be quite dull too, but fortunately this series has great animation. It can tend to cut corners by screen paning through environments or with characters occasionally being still, but character movement is incredibly smooth and no amout of detail is lost during their movement. Lighting is also used beautifully whether it's lighting from the sun and stars or lighting from certain mushi. The music in this series also brings out more of the beauty. It's not the kind of music that works well on it's own, but they really enhance the mood of each scene. The opening theme is probably the only exception. It sounds like a love song, but I don't understand why they're using a love song for this series. It deals with all types of emotions, even love, but it's not a romance. Oh well, it's a decent opening. The ending theme carries over from the last scene into the credits and often times changes for each episode. I've only heard the voice acting in English, but I like what I heard. Travis did a good job at Ginko, keeping him sounding mellow but able to convey all types of emotion when necessary, and all the other actors played their roles convincingly for being only one-episode characters.
OVERALL
This is a beautiful series to behold and a jewel among anime. Anyone looking for a slower paced series that doesn't need to be watched religiously in order to be enjoyed should definitely try this show out.
PROS
-Beautiful animation, art, and music
-Well written storylines
CONS
-Slow pace may put some to sleep
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