Category Archives: mushishi

Mushishi Volumes 8, 9, & 10

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By Yuki Urushibara. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Afternoon. Released in North America by Del Rey.

And so one of Del Rey’s quirkier series comes to an end, as the final 3 volumes of Mushishi come out in one big ‘this doesn’t sell very well’ omnibus. But it is at least complete, and looks great, though I would prefer that Del Rey put all the endnotes at the end and number the pages all the way through – it’s harder to flip to the middle to look for a note.

Despite the fact that this is the series’ grand finale, the author deliberately avoids giving it a definite ending. The last story is a 2-parter, but other than that could just as easily slot in anywhere in the series. There wasn’t much of a backstory to Mushishi in any case – we get another flashback to Ginko’s childhood here, but it’s not revelatory – so there aren’t plot threads to be tied up or couples to marry off. It’s just life going on, and that life getting entangled with a lot of mushi.

These stories tend to, like a lot of folk tales, be divided into happy and sad endings. Though really, even the happy endings tend to be a sort of grey, melancholic sort of happiness. Seeing a happy couple at the end, or happy parents and their children, is a rarity here – which of course makes it all the sweeter when it does happen. Likewise, you feel horrible when things go wrong for the mushi-infected people – whether through stubbornness or lack of resolve. One chapter in particular, featuring a man reliving his life over and over again and having deja vu – is heartbreaking, but in a totally understandable, human way.

Despite all of the mushi, Mushishi is a story about humanity, in all its goodness and badness. Ginko wanders through offering sage wisdom, but as much as I like him his role could be filled by anyone and the story would still be the same. Mushishi ended up being an anthology series, a collection of short stories in 10 volumes with an interconnected theme. But they’re all well-told, with lovely watercolor art that highlights the naturalistic, quasi-historical feel of the series.

It’s not a series that got me all fired up, and wanting to write fanfics or hunt down art. But it’s peaceful, and calm, and something from Del Rey that’s a change from the things they’ve been licensing lately. Those who like stories, and don’t mind a few scares or tears, will love reading Mushishi.

Mushishi

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By Yuki Urushibara. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Afternoon. Released in North America by Del Rey.

I will admit, I always enjoy a volume of Mushishi when it comes out. Just like most folk stories, it has a certain relaxed, ambling pace that is suited to the scenic, watercolor art. Even in black and white, the art still looks like it’s being painted rather than drawn. Ginko is a good POV character (calling him the hero seems wrong for this series), and the whole thing is well-written.

And yet, after reading it, I rarely go back to reread. I feel no desire to watch Mushishi AMVs, or read Mushishi fanfics. In fact, I’m not sure there’s much of a Mushishi fandom at all. This is no Naruto, or even a Honey & Clover. It’s a work of art, but you feel like you’re seeing it in a museum. It never comes home and sits above your fireplace.

I had mentioned folktales, and really, that’s probably the best way to describe the plot of Mushishi. As Ginko wanders from village to village, he comes across a new vaguely supernatural phenomenon, all of which lead back to the Mushi that are part of the title. Sometimes Ginko is able to solve things and leave everyone happy, and other times the solution brings only sadness, or at least melancholia. And then he moves on. There’s no regular cast, which is probably just as well as the one-shot characters who are not Ginko tend to look very similar from volume to volume.

If there were any other genre I would ascribe to Mushishi, it would be horror. Not the gore-filled shock horror of many other manga titles, or even the corpse-laden sarcasm of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. This is the sort of horror you get after waking up from a long nap to discover that weight on your chest is the corpse of a little girl. Disquiet wrapped in a blanket. Several times in this series I’ve debated putting it down, as I don’t really like horror, but it never quite hits the level of doom and destruction that other series do.

The strength of the series, and possibly also its weakness, is its slice-of-life mentality. Here is humanity, laid out for you as Ginko goes around the country. There are cruel people, and loving people, but mostly we see a lot of people trying to get by and distrustful of anything that’s different. The Mushi may not be an evil thing when it comes down to it, but their effects – and what they do to the lives of the people that come on contact with them – are chaotic and frequently undeserved. But then, life goes on, and is rarely fair.

Mushishi takes place in all seasons, and some of the stories are in blazing heat, but for some reason I always think of it as being a winter manga. Cool, yet not frozen, Mushishi trudges along, looking gorgeous and inspiring much thought. But it’s also almost impossible to get close to. This is a series that you can write essays about, but will never hug to your chest and go “Squee!”.