I’ve been slack on writing about Mushi-Shi and highlighting the stories I thought played with human concepts in interesting ways. Maybe if I get the motivation to write an end of series post for it I will, but most people don’t come here for the text, so there’s less motivation there. Anyway, I think the episodes in volume 5 has the strongest collection of stories from the series so far.

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The episode that stuck with me the most on Mushi-Shi volume 3 is episode 14, Inside the Cage. While traveling through a bamboo forest, Ginko meets a man who can’t seem to leave the forest no matter how far he walks and what direction he goes. The man longs to return to his village after being gone for several years. He has such fond memories of the place and wishes to return with his family, even though the villagers who could travel to his home where he lives with his wife and child no longer visit. Even the man’s sister does not come and it’s all because his wife and child are different. What happens when the thing you have been longing for doesn’t want you?

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I wandered into a random screening room sometime around ten at night, mostly just looking for a place to sit down and rest. It almost didn’t matter what anime was showing; a seat and a break from the convention was the goal. As soon as I sat down, the opening for the next episode began. Some seconds pass. Hazy forest images and the first phrase of an acoustic guitar walking beside a gentle voice singing — I knew Mushi-Shi was something else. The opening imagery and music were so atypical of anime that I found myself relieved of any cynicism I might have carried into the viewing experience. Almost a purification. It’s kind of funny that the opening song is The Sore Feet Song considering the only reason I was in that chair at that particular time was because my feet hurt.

Wallpaper from Desk Top Anime

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