If the opening of my last post was confusing, this one will make it make sense. I only wrote about this one second because Jyu-Oh-Sei was fresh in my mind.
I had stumbled across the name “Mushi-Shi” before when making a Naruto RPG character. The character had a beetle-looking set of puppet armor, if that makes sense, and I wanted to give it a name. Mushi-Shi basically means “bug master,” but the mushi in the series are very different from your ordinary bug.
So, I’m on Veoh, and they have these new little flip ads. Mushi-Shi popped up, and I recognized the name from the name grab from before. It seemed FUNimation had its own Veoh account, which as I said, seemed like a good thing to check out since my previous attempts at using their anime players was terrible. Seriously, I had to wait a half hour or more for the vid to load.
I was tired, and I don’t watch dubs very often, but due to my tiredness and FUNimation having a good record with dubs, I thought I’d give it a shot. I can tell you that I’m glad I did. Very glad.
However, a friendly note: Although FUNimation has fixed whatever was up with their videos on their own site before, the quality is lacking compared to what Veoh gives. So if Veoh has it, use them instead!
Now, on with the review!
What’s it about?
Mushi are a very complicated subject. They are ghost-like living creatures, said to be “life in its purest form.” With humans being the furthest from this, only very few can actually see them.
Ginko is a Mushi-Shi, or Mushi Master. He stands out from the rest of the crowd by wearing more modern clothes compared to the traditional Japanese of the other people in this tale. Not to mention he has snow white hair and bright green eyes. As a Mushi Master, Ginko travels the lands basically acting as a mushi exterminator/exorcist, since mushi tend to cause trouble when they get too close or interact with humans.
Spoilerless Review
You’re not going to get what mushi are until you actually get into this series, I can tell you that now. And even after you’ve seen a few, their powers and abilities vary greatly, so you won’t know what to expect.
Ginko is laid back, but can get pretty serious when it comes to being a Mushi Master and protecting people from the dangers mushi can cause. His dry humor is sure to give a chuckle though. He has a vast knowledge on mushi, which allows him to clearly explain what these crazy creatures are up to.
Although there is a certain order to the episodes, they don’t exactly align, and they are each their own piece. It’s episodic. You can just pop in any episode and be good. The connections between episodes, if any, are very tiny, with maybe three or four of the 26 episode series having Ginko pulling out an object or mentioning a story from a past episode.
The stories have that sort of fairytale/folklore style to them, so it feels pretty mythical and magical. And a good thing to know is that, no matter the issue, it’s going to be wrapped up by the end of the episode. It can be very sad at times, while there are a few endings that leave you smiling. And although they only last an episode, each story is well-paced and doesn’t rush to a finish. The only unsatisfaction you’ll feel at the end is that the next episode couldn’t be up on your screen fast enough to watch some more!
The animation is as stunning as it gets, with not one sense of choppiness. It’s obvious that the framerate is higher than your average anime. The environment is highly detailed and is an artistic masterpiece. There’s a scene where wind is blowing across a field and the grass/rice/can’t-remember had that ripple-like wave movement to it. And each mushi, no matter how weird or exotic, is done with care. This makes them all the more believable if the story didn’t somehow do it enough.
Background music fits perfectly in every use. Mostly, it’s just a calm tune that matches the mood, but that’s what makes it so great. The opening is very catchy, especially since they picked an English song. The soothing sound of it fits well with the series, so listening to it can give you an idea of what feel to expect.
At the end of an episode, you get this feeling that ties you in with the world, as Mushi-Shi is all about humans and their environment. It could bring out the inner hippie in anyone.
Not sure what else to say. Mushi-Shi gets 5 out of 5 shuriken from this shinobi. Anime News Network didn’t call it the top anime of 2007 for nothing. If you haven’t watched it yet, you’re missing out!
Tags: Anime, FUNimation, review
