Anime/Mushishi 2nd Season

Well, I do admit it's strange making a thread for a series whose manga ended YEARS ago, but what the hey, it's Mushishi, right?

Aside from the incredibly mellow opening, pretty much the same Mushishi we've gotten used to really. Ginko isn't really the focus of this episode however, and he plays more of a supporting role, being a source of exposition to our wayward viewpoint character (a non-Mushishi).

Oh, and it's the appearance once more of the Light Vein. Wonder if it'll play more than episodic part in the season this time.

I've heard good things about this anime. Since it is a 2nd season, do I have to watch the first season beforehand?

No... The stories remain disconnected in the second half

For once, the answer is no. You totally should, though

So it's adaptations of the end of the manga this time?

Those warbling shell birds were cuuute!

We got a really happy end this time.

Relatively. The girl still lost her voice after all, but as Ginko says, this one is temporary, and the more she interacts with people the quicker her voice comes back.

I was sure she actually got it back at the end.

I did wander why Ginko didn't make that part of his warning to the village though.

I feel like episode 5 was much more like a folk tale. I know all the mushi feel like they have their roots in folktale (or like they are supposed to be the fear that inspired the folk tales, but mechanically this one seemed more like a spirit,I guess in part because this is the closest we've come to having a human-shaped mushi.

Welp, I'm running through the first season of Mushishi after having stumbled across news of the second a couple days ago... just by chance. :> It's surprisingly good! And actually pretty well known, although conversely I'd swear no one ever talks about it.

Hope this is a multipurpose thread.

The thing about Mushishi is that it's often too good, that there's very little to talk about.

I do kind of agree about the feel of this particular episode though — somewhat between a cautionary tale and a horror story, really.

Eh, "The Pillow Pathway," the one with the bamboo people, the second episode of the first season, and "Cotton Changeling" and many, many more could be described as more folk tale-ish. 'Tis not a realistic series.

Is this episode related in any way to "The Traveling Swamp?"

My point was that they were all folkloreish but the mushi itself felt more like a traditional force of folklore, rather than a living organism. The solution was closer to a how you would deal with a ghost rather than a medical/convalescent treatment (and we have had lots of those).

I certainly wasn't trying to argue for realism, but I did forget the bamboo shoot episode though.

The mirror thing is pretty folk-lore like, yeah, but the fact that eyes also work is less so.

And there's nothing particularly folklore-ish about the heartbreak/suicide subtext.

Nor the changeable heart of the maiden either.

Yeah I fell for it.

Mmm. That and the fact that there's no overarching plot and very few reoccurring characters... not too much open to debate.

Up to Episode 10, now, and Mushishi reminds me so much of our Romanticism module.

edited 6th May '14 4:02:07 AM by bookwormtiff

Episode 7, I'm glad Mushishi did Happy Rain. Or happy and sad rain at the same time. Well it's was more complex than just rain=sad empathic weather anyway. A relatively happy ending a all things considered too.

Technically. As Ginko says, it seems that the Amefurashi have a limited lifespan anyway. All she needs to do is wait it out, but who knows how long before that happens?

At least we didn't have to deal with an axe murderer this time around. ;)

Even if it doesn't happen in her lifetime it wouldn't be that sad. She did find a way to live with it.

Perhaps I don't see not being able to settle down as that huge a deal. It's not even that she can't settle down, she just has to find somewhere where people wouldn't mind the rain.

It's not a matter of not minding the rain. It's a matter of not minding the disease outbreaks and flooding caused by nonstop rainfall.

But- the things are apparently weakening, so they'll probably die before too long.

But that was only part of my point. We could argue all day about whether it's possible to avoid most of those problems (but we'd have to know the exact specs of the mushi, their range, his exactly they changed the weather etc). The episode itself doesn't seem terribly interested in countering the mushi though them having some weakness or exploitable behaviour (not to mention interactions with other mushi) seems likely.

But perhaps because she felt so bad she never even tried to fully use the mushi. For example marketing strategy. Market the rain mushi while she has the chance properly. There are numerous things she hasn't even tried.

Should she just deal with it because it's not comparatively bad?

Last two episodes of this Mushishi cour have been delayed to DVD/BD, which I think means they'll come out after the second half of this season.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-06-14/last-episode-of-mushishi-the-next-chapter-1st-half-airs-on-june-20/.75583

edited 20th Jun '14 7:35:04 PM by UltimatelySubjective

Well I just saw episode 11-12.

The one thing I don't understand is the flashback when the mushi attacked. Where was Ginko, what was it supposed to mean?

Heh, kind of interesting how we almost went shounen battle for a second there, and the Path of Thorns is suitably surreal, very Wonderland-esque.

I feel like some interesting ideas were raised about the nature of the spark of life. What would a "souless" person look like? Metaphorically, spiritually, fictionally. Certainly there's numerous ways to look at it.

All in all, I think it made a pretty excellent cap to the season. Climactic, introduced new things, maintained the mood. Kept us wishing for more...

edited 31st Aug '14 4:42:25 AM by UltimatelySubjective

Well. The latest episode with the looping tunnel mushi goes somewhere I never expected Mushishi to go.

And I liked the ending. It's fitting even if it doesn't necessarily appear conclusive.

I'm an optimist though so I think they'll loop until they both avoid the tunnel.

And I'm a sadist so I'll say they're trapped there for the rest of their neverending lives!

I think Mushishi is the best anime series ever. Good to know the second and third seasons are as good as the first.