"They seem strange and alien. Primitive and peculiar. They are unlike any flora or fauna known to us. From time immemorial, men have feared these shapeless entities, which came to be known as Mushi."

So, I completed mushishi a few days ago after having it on hold for a long ass time, I remember watching it a few years ago but then I dropped it for whatever reason and now when I started it again id decided that I might as well rewatch the whole thing since I didn't remember much of anything.. and im glad I did a rewatch since this time I was really invested in this anime, it became my comfort anime to watch everyday after coming back home, while eating or chilling.

Mushishi is a manga series by yuki urushibara which ran from 1999-2008 and the anime adaptations cover all 50 chapters so nothing is missing or different from the manga which is a major plus for a series like this and it even has an anime original 45 minute episode (Mushishi Zoku Shou Tokubetsu-hen: Hi Hamu Kage).



its a very episodic anime, other than a few that are 2 eps long. and its set in the 19th century, between the edo and meiji period in Japan, in an alternate version of it where Japan remained as an isolated country and since the MC, Ginko only wanders around rural areas idrk if there are bigger cities present in the anime, as they don't feature it. the word Mushishi itself means insect master, but a mushi in the anime is different from a real life insect, ginko explains it saying if all 4 fingers were animal life and the thumb was plant life then humans would exist at the tip of the middle finger, which is the furthest away from the heart and as we go down from the middle finger to our wrists the arteries and veins start to connect (which is said to be micro organisms) and it would be when we eventually reach the heart that he would say that this is where mushi would be. they are life in its purest form, and as a mushi gets weaker it gives out more light, because when a mushi is weaker it is closer to the source of all life known as the koumyaku which translates to the river of light which contains kouki, the source of all mushi.



Id say that mushishi is a anime that you can watch with the intent to enjoy the series as the calm, soothing, slow burn it is and yet it still awakens your philosophical side. its humbling in a way because it shows you how humans are part of something bigger instead of being their own thing. though the anime may use mushi to show it, when i compared it to the micro organisms and bugs in real life i realised that they are not too different. we need them to live even if we don't see them (quite like how people coexist with mushi in the anime)

take the bacteria in our gut as an example, they help us digest food and make vitamins, and without them we wouldn't even have a proper immune system and since they are everywhere, everything (like plants and other animals) need those fungi and bacteria to exist. the entire food chain is built upon them even though we don't actively need to think about them.

and insects like bees who are responsible for pollinating crops that we eat, so if bees don't exist a lot of the fruits and veggies we eat vanish with them.

and another thing they share in common is because mushis aren't inherently harmful or malicious. a problem is usually caused when humans interfere with the balance of life by getting in the way, similar to bees. its basically how the entirety of nature works.

I used to hate seeing fungi grow on the plants, or the flowers which i had in my home suddenly getting weird spots on their leaves, but after watching mushishi my perspective on them has changed, and im surprised to see how life manages to prosper from seemingly nothing.

"The entire world as a whole..

Is your home.."

Ginko is a special character, building upon my point of humans being only a piece of the whole puzzle id say ginko fits into that as he is shown to be in the anime. though he wears foreign, modern day clothes (which i read was intentional), has pure white hair, he is but a traveller, not being able to make one place his home yet he is a calm, cool clever, and collected individual. he isnt over the top but isnt depressive as well, hes a very chill dude and he cares a lot of humans and mushi alike. SpoilerShow and I wish we could see more of ginkos backstory and afterstory as in what happens to him, but i feel like the series doesnt dive in too deep intentionally and instead focuses on the world around him that he travels in.

Would I recommend mushishi?

Yes, Id say it is a must watch anime for people who have already watched all the mainstream animes, and want to experience something new and different. even if you haven't watched all the popular animes you can still go for it. mushishi isn't the typa anime you sit and binge watch though you can do that too, and i didn't binge it but i couldn't help but want more after each episode, the episodic nature of it is satisfying in a way. its a slow burn and it can be very slow at times for some people but the slow burn is the point of it, so watch it when you feel like it if you cant binge it. you don't have to finish all 50ish episodes as quick as possible, it has great potential to be your next comfort anime even though it dives into uncomfortable themes sometimes. the openings (both of them, sore feet song and shiver) are unlike other anime openings so I would also advise you to listen to them each time you sit down to watch it.

"And I'll shiver like I used to And I'll leave him just for you And I'll shiver like I used to Just for you... Like I used to..."