Mushishi

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Yuki Urushibara, you beautiful person! This has to be the most serene, calm and beautiful work in all of manga I have read till now. I honestly put the author in the same category as someone would put Kentarou or Isayama.

Mushishi revolves around our main guy Ginkgo who happens to be a stoic backpacker and a doctor of paranormal beings. On his journey he meets people infected by these beings while being possessed by symptoms that might include something as simple as a disability to straight up ghosts, alternate dimensions, clones, time travel and what not.

The charm of Mushishi is that there are ... no villains; instead, the threats that drive the plot are feelings of guilt, despair, longing, and regrets. The episodic chapters include new characters every time and their own feelings intertwined with Mushi make such compelling storylines that always captivate the reader. These side characters are normal people, and their feelings and actions come off so naturally that you feel you’re watching a documentary rather than a cinematic film. There were so many stories portrayed that somehow, I could relate my feelings to. Ginkgo might be an expert, but things don’t always go his way, I like that he doesn't always save and sometimes characters just live with the consequences.

The artwork is pretty fantastic as well, especially at the start of each chapter where everything is soft without any crosshatching or sharp lines. The scenery is really well done. The starting few chapters were a bit shaky and the side characters might look very similar to each other but other than that everything was great.

Overall, this was a great experience. The calmness of the manga was beautiful and inspirational.

Story: N/A
This is purely anthological with no overarching plot. I can't give an overall rating really because the anthology covers psychological horror, pure fantasy, fairy-tale like chapters and others that vary in how compelling they are. However, I think that it's generally high quality. My only complaint in the story department is the repetitiveness of it. It generally follows that trend of: Ginko arrives at village, someone has issue, Ginko solves it then he leaves for the next village. Some buck this trend but it's prominent chapter structure. In addition, some chapters cover the same general idea however there usually is enough to differentiate to ... prevent it becoming boring.

Art: 8/10
All but one part of this manga is 10/10, beautiful landscapes, weird and wonderful mushi like nothing I've ever seen, disturbing body horror (though nothing too horrifying). Unfortunately the artist has awful character design. If you've ever read my other reviews, I always mention if a manga has distinct character designs and this is why.

Characters: 3/10
There are no real characters here. I cannot recall one distinct personality from this manga. Ginko is basically always calm and deadpan and knows everything. There really isn't much in the way of character growth. Generally anyone who isn’t Ginko is the same person.

Overall: 7/10
I have some complaints about "Mushishi" as a manga, but honestly think of this as a work of art and it isn’t so bad. Would recommend just for the creative scenarios and the wonderful art.

Good
• Extremely creative stories

Bad
• The artist can only draw one face. Literally, everyone has the exact same face. The only way to tell people apart is their clothes and hair, except almost everyone has one style of clothing and men and women have one haircut each. Aside from the main character (who has white hair), It's impossible to tell people apart which is a big issue in chapters with more than a few characters. It also robs the impact from some stories when people look exactly like the same character from the other chapters. It's actively detrimental to the tone the chapters are trying to set.
• Essentially no reoccurring characters, which make the world feel like it's sole purpose is the show of the "mushi"

Mushishi is a historical manga, and I believe it fulfilled every requirement the genre demands. It conceived the idea of Mushi, a living form that was very close to what was the essence of life. They were hardly perceptible, yet it didn't mean they weren’t around. Following their traces was a man expertising in those species, a Mushishi. He collected the remainings of a world that would soon be forgotten, while occasionally encountered the incidents between human and those unbeknownst kinds. He would stop by, talk, lend a helping hand and once again set off, and those actions were rinsed and repeated over the course ... of the journey.

From normal point of view, isn’t that unexciting and unremarkable? I agree. The characters seemed lacking of outstanding traits, the incidents hardly attracted attentions and there were even fewer emotional explosions. The supernatural occurrences happened and were resolved, just to be left within the memories of those involved until the end of their time. However, it feels alright, as it is history, anyway. There is no reason to be bothered with them, unless you are interested, and it speaks the very truth of historical spirit. On the other hand, I think the way the series lacking of arc, over-arc and the character’s inner development did live up with the objective point of view of history. Every incident was a fresh experience, and all necessity were to observe and record.

Then comes the end. Having encountered an incident involved with Mushi, the protagonist once again continued his journey, leaving no trace in the vast and pristine scenery of nature. The manga just ended there, without any final ceremony. Nevertheless, it did make a conclusion for the work the author had created. Mushi was a resemblance of what was called the foundation of life, and those being able to see them were also the rare witnesses of that world. With the storyteller blending into the surrounding, that world would certainly continue to exist, but without one being aware of it, it would then fall into oblivion, covered with dust due to the flow of time, but surely stay there, waiting until one day, someone with the ability comes to uncover it. That is the charm of history, and Mushishi gave me the urge to set off alone, seeking for the world Ginko left behind. Behold, there would be a sequel in the near future, but like you’ve already noticed, it is definitely a joke.

About the incidents, there were something interesting, some tragic, some sorrowful, as the types of Mushi were either harmful, or able to make one’s life colourful. Nothing was absolute, and at the turning point between coexisting and discarding them, people made decisions accordingly to their own will, just like how one would study and valuate the meaning of a historical event. In the rare occasion talking about it, in your face Attack on Titans. This is what I call peak fiction. You guys could just go back crying for your ‘124 chapters of peak fiction and inspiration…’ Hoohoohoo, heeheehee, haahaahaa.

The art is perfect. I firmly believe the ink colour brought more than any other could, as well as the design of characters didn’t leave anything too attractive. All those elements constructed a mysterious fictional world, yet it was so close with how people had actually lived and died. At this point, even though the adaptations managed to do spectacular things, I guess sticking with the manga is still better.

In conclusion, Mushishi is not only a manga, it is also a historical report of how people had lived with Mushi. In the spirit of Slice of Life, the series would quickly excite or lull one, but anyway you would have experience, even though it could be unenjoyable.