#42 Mushishi

Title : Mushishi; Bug Specialist (kinda)

Creator : Urushibara Yuki

Last chapter update : v10 <complete>

Tags : fantasy, supernatural, seinen, slice of life, historical, drama, doctor

In a Nutshell

In this paradigm, there exists supernatural beings invisible to the naked eye of most called the ‘mushi’. There are similar to tiny, microscopic bugs but their existence could greatly affect human life in ways that are difficult to comprehend. That is where a ‘mushishi’, a bug expert, comes to the rescue with their vast knowledge and supply of medicines to cure human of ‘sickness’ they can’t understand or simply just to explain how some supernatural events are caused by mushi. One such traveling mushishi is a detached person named Ginko, whose otherworldly appearance of silver hair is a parallel to the ephemeral attributes of the mushi beings he attracts.

Review

Story : Mushishi is a wholesome fantasy drama, incorporating all kinds of emotions in the story; tragedy, comedy, horror, romance, familial love, heartfelt friendship, sadness, pain, loss, anger, frustrations, curiosity, gratitude. It’s kind of a hard manga to describe, but very easy to feel for. Basically, every chapter is a case-to-case story that works independently on its own (kind of like anthology) and are unrelated to each other, except the fact that 1) it involves mushi or rarely, other supernatural beings, and 2) Ginko is there to solve a problem or investigate the mushi involved, thus pushing the plot forward. There is no continuing plotline, but that’s okay because Ginko is meant to be as mysterious as the mushi.

Anyway, the story for each chapter is varied. For example, one chapter is about a lady who is being stalked by a mushi called ‘Mizukagami’ that wanted to impersonate and take her place. The lady who had recently been dumped had noticed a figure following her around from the lake she frequented. She was so depressed by the break up she couldn’t understand why this mushi chose to be her, but the mushi is simply a being that needs a healthy host in order to migrate to a better place. With enough encouragements by Ginko, the lady was able to stave the stalking mushi away.

Another story is about a forgetful lady who started losing her memories little by little, to the point where she doesn’t even remember what a sneeze is like and what the growling sound in her stomach means. Her son seeked Ginko’s help, who surmised that there is no cure for it as the mushi is deeply ingrained in her. The lady and her son finally decided to go find her estranged husband, who had gone traveling for work, before she finally loses her memory of him. They found him in the other town, but discovered that he had raised another family and is living happily. The lady, heartbroken, was depressed until one day her son saw a huge shadow (‘kage’) coming out from the lady, and when she woke up the next day, her sad memories of the husband had completely disappeared. The story ends a year later when Ginko visited them; even though she still loses her memories, the lady and her son are living happily together.

Man, that’s just in one chapter. Tugs your heart strings, man. Mushishi is a very underrated manga.

Art : The art is not the main selling point of Mushishi, and i dont think it should be either. There is not much action in Mushishi, but a lot of heart and emotions which is presented clearly with the simple art style. Also, there really is no need to have detailed drawings of the mushi as the beings are meant to be obscure and fantastical. Even though i’m an obvious fan of stylistic art in manga, i consider Mushishi’s style to my liking, as it sacrifices flamboyance and coolness for substance and clarity, making the story easier to digest. Kinda like when you’re reading George RR Martin and it’s too detailed that you feel overwhelmed by the heavy artwork AND heavy plot. In Mushishi, the plot is simple, but heavy in emotional depth and so the simple artwork complements it very well.

Setting : Fictional, fantastical era between Edo and Meiji, as the characters of farmers and fishers in the rural areas are still in their old-timey clothes and Ginko mostly walks around in an overcoat.

Character : Ginko is the only consistent character in every chapter of the manga; yet, he is the least developed. All i know is that Ginko has a close encounter with mushis when he was younger, causing him to have silver hair as well as the ability to attract a horde of mushis to him. Hence, he smokes a lot to spread out smoke that dispels mushi. His general attitude towards mushi is that of symbiosis, or coexisting between mushi and human; he neither hates nor favors them, they are simply a part of nature as much as humans are. Even when mushi causes harm to human, Ginko still believes that these beings are merely existing and trying to survive.

Apart from that, every chapter has a new character who is never mentioned after that. But these characters all have their own stories, motives, emotional paths etc.

Like the one with the guy who watched the girl he loved get whipped up into the air. Since she had come onto some of the mushi aura, she became invisible to the normal human eye until Ginko stumbled upon her and gave her some medicine. The guy was so happy he proposed to the girl; however opposition from his family caused friction in their relationship and soon she started unwillingly developing mushi-like behavior such as floating and near-invisibility, until one day she was gone. Ginko told the man that she is still around him, but as long as he is unwilling to commit to being with her, her conditions will deteriorate. So the guy did a wedding ceremony with only him and an invincible bride, lived in a house with a wife that wasn’t there and eventually was shunned by the villagers for being crazy. Until one day, the villagers saw that the girl was back by his side. AWWWWW, man AWWWWW.

Overall : One of my top favorite manga. I still come back and read Mushishi when i can, and every re-reading session is like the first time, filled with awe and feel-good satisfaction. As a testament, i was reading some chapters just so i can recollect my impressions of the manga and write this review… i ended up reading the whole 10 volumes again, dammit. Wish it’s longer than 10 volumes though. Splendid writing!