is a Japanese
manga
are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
series written and illustrated by
Yuki Urushibara. It was serialized in
Kodansha
is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...
's
manga magazine ' from 1999 to 2002, and in ''
Monthly Afternoon
is a Japanese monthly manga anthology published by Kodansha under the ''Afternoon'' line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of January 25, 1986. ''Afternoon'' has spawned many successful manga series such as '' Oh My G ...
'' from December 2002 to August 2008. The individual chapters were collected and released into ten volumes by Kodansha. Those volumes were localized to North America by
Del Rey between January 2007 and August 2010. The series follows Ginko, a man who dedicates himself to solving problems caused by supernatural creatures called Mushi.
''Mushishi'' has been adapted into an
anime
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
television series by
Artland which aired in
Fuji Television
JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...
and BS Fuji between October 2005 and June 2006. It has been licensed by
Funimation
Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...
to its release in North America, while
Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, stylized as MADMAN, is an Australian film and television production, distribution, entertainment, and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising ...
and
Revelation Films licensed it for Australia and the United Kingdom respectively. A second anime series aired between April and December 2014, which has been licensed in North America by
Aniplex of America
Aniplex of America, or Aniplex USA, is an anime distributor based in Santa Monica, California that serves as the American distribution enterprise of Aniplex, an entertainment company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, where its goal is to ...
, with two television specials airing in 2014 and an anime film released in 2015. A live-action film, directed by
Katsuhiro Otomo
is a Japanese Mangaka, manga artist, screenwriter, animator, and film director. He first rose to prominence as a pioneer founder of the New Wave (manga), New Wave in the 1970s. He is best known as the creator of ''Akira (franchise), Akira'', bo ...
, was released in late 2006. It has also spawned a video game and many types of ''Mushishi''-related merchandise.
The ''Mushishi'' manga has been well received both by the public and critics. In Japan, it has frequently ranked in the weekly top ten list of best-selling manga, and the entire series has sold over 3.8 million copies. Both the manga and the anime have received several awards such as the
Kodansha Manga Award
is one of Japan's major manga awards. The event is sponsored by publisher Kodansha. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga in its third iteration since 1977.
Categories
The award was originally called the until 1968. In 1970, it was ...
and the
Tokyo Anime Award
The Tokyo Anime Awards started in 2002, but was named in 2005. The first, second and third award ceremonies were simply named 'Competition'. The award ceremonies were held at the Tokyo International Anime Fair (TAF) until 2013. In 2014, after the ...
, and numerous publications have praised them.
Plot
''Mushishi'' is set in an imaginary time between the
Edo
Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.
Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...
and
Meiji period
The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...
s, featuring some 19th-century technology but with Japan still as a
"closed country". The story features ubiquitous creatures called that often display what appear as
supernatural
Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...
powers. It is implied that there are many more primitive lifeforms than "normal" living things such as animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria, and Mushi is the most primitive of all. Due to their ethereal nature, most humans are incapable of perceiving Mushi and are oblivious to their existence, but there are a few who possess the ability to see and interact with Mushi. One such person is , the main character of the series voiced by
Yuto Nakano in the original version and by
Travis Willingham
Travis Willingham is an American voice actor known for his character portrayals in video games and English anime Dubbing, dubs. His notable roles include Roy Mustang in the ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' franchise, Cleo in ''Glass Fleet'', Ginko in ''L ...
in the English dub.
[ He employs himself as a , traveling from place to place to research Mushi and aid people suffering from problems caused by them.
The series is an episodic anthology with no overarching plotline in which the only common elements are Ginko and the Mushi. Ginko is a man with one green eye, who not only can see various types of mushi but also attracts them. Because of this ability, he is constantly wandering and smokes cigarettes made from a special Mushi Tobacco (Mushi Soot Grass) in order to keep the mushi away. He appears to have a generally laid back personality, however, he can be very serious and focused on his work when it comes to protecting people from mushi. He stresses that the mushi are not evil, but merely trying to survive like everyone else. A majority of the stories do not focus on Ginko but rely on him as a catalyst to move the story forward by diagnosing or curing mushi-related illnesses and phenomena.
]
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Yuki Urushibara, ''Mushishi'' was first published as a one-shot in Kodansha
is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...
's ''Monthly Afternoon
is a Japanese monthly manga anthology published by Kodansha under the ''Afternoon'' line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of January 25, 1986. ''Afternoon'' has spawned many successful manga series such as '' Oh My G ...
'' on January 25, 1999. It later started its serialization in the first issue of Kodansha's ', released on October 10, 1999. The magazine ceased publication after 14 issues, and the series moved to ''Monthly Afternoon'' on December 25, 2002, and was serialized until August 25, 2008. Kodansha collected the chapters into ten volumes, published under the ''Afternoon KC'' line, from November 20, 2000, to November 21, 2008. On November 21, 2013, Kodansha started to re-release the series in an format in their ''KC Deluxe'' line, concluding with the tenth on July 23, 2014.
At the 2006 Comic-Con
A comic book convention or comic con is a fan convention emphasizing comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book Fan (person), fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events h ...
, Del Rey Manga
Del Rey Manga was the manga-publishing imprint (trade name), imprint of Del Rey Books, a branch of Ballantine Books, which in turn is part of Random House, the publishing division of Bertelsmann.
History
Del Rey Manga was formed as part of a cr ...
announced that it had licensed ''Mushishi'' for an English-language translation in North America. Del Rey published the first volume on January 30, 2007, and the last volume, a combined edition covering volumes 8 to 10, was released on July 27, 2010. Kodansha USA
Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC is a publishing company based in New York, US, and a subsidiary of Japan's largest publishing company Kodansha. Established in July 1st 2008, Kodansha USA publishes books relating to Japan, Japanese culture, and man ...
also released the manga in digital format between July 29 and August 12, 2014. In February 2025, Kodansha USA announced that it will publish the series in an omnibus collector's edition
The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition or expanded edition are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as b ...
starting in Q4 of the same year.
In addition, two additional chapters were published in the magazine on November 25 and December 25, 2013, respectively. They were encapsulated into a single titled and released on April 23, 2014. Another special short was published in ''Monthly Afternoon'' on March 25, 2021.
Volumes
Anime
The ''Mushishi'' anime adaptation was animated by Artland, directed by Hiroshi Nagahama
is a Japanese animator and director. He is best known for directing ''Mushishi''.
Career
Hiroshi Nagahama started his career at Madhouse (company), Madhouse Studio as a mechanical designer for ''The Cockpit (OVA), The Cockpit'', and was also ...
, and produced by a group called "''Mushishi'' Production Committee", which consists of Marvelous Entertainment
(MMV) was a multinational corporation that produced animation, music, video games and television series. MMV is known for its involvement in the Story of Seasons (series), ''Story of Seasons'' series. They merged with AQ Interactive in 2011 an ...
, Avex Entertainment
Avex Inc. ( kabushiki gaisha , commonly known as Avex and stylized as avex) is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi ...
and SKY Perfect Well Think
is a Japanese content production and development enterprise, owned by SKY Perfect Communications, established on July 29, 2004. It is involved in the production, development and distribution of several feature films, anime series, television prog ...
.[Credits from ] The first 20 episodes of the series originally aired between October 23, 2005, and March 12, 2006, on Fuji Television
JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...
. A digest was broadcast on May 7, 2006, by BS Fuji
is a Japanese satellite broadcasting television channel owned by , a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fuji Media Holdings. The LCN is "8" from Fuji Television's analog master station, channel 8, which is also the digital channel number used for most ...
, which aired the last six episodes from May 14 to June 18 of the same year.[ Note: Check "05/09/29" for the first airdate, and "06/03/12" for the digest information.] Marvelous Entertainment and Avex released the series from January 25 to September 27, 2006, in five DVDs for sale, and at the same time in nine DVDs for rental. On March 28, 2008, a DVD box set containing all episodes was released; it was followed by a Blu-ray
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
box set on March 27, 2009, and a Limited Edition Blu-ray box on December 20, 2013.
The anime series' licensing was announced by Funimation
Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...
to North American release in January 2007. To promote the series' release, it hosted Nagahama at the Anime Expo
Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first we ...
2007 between June 29 and July 2. In addition, Funimation exhibited the first four episodes in New York and Texas' locations such as ImaginAsian Theater, Studio Movie Grill, and Alamo Drafthouse
The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is an American cinema chain founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, which is famous for serving dinner and drinks during the film, as well as its strict policy of requiring its audiences to maintain proper cinema-going etiq ...
, on July 23 and 24 of that year. The series was released in six DVDs between July 31, 2007, to February 26, 2008, by Funimation, which also streamed series on its own channel, Hulu
Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...
, Joost
Joost () was an Internet TV service, created by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis (founders of Skype and Kazaa). During 2007–2008 Joost used peer-to-peer TV ( P2PTV) technology to distribute content to their Mozilla-based desktop player; ...
, Anime News Network
Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...
, Crackle, as well as distributed it to Comcast
Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...
cable service. Funimation also released four box sets with all episodes: on December 16, 2008, on October 6, 2009, on July 6, 2010, and November 8, 2011. In United Kingdom, the series was released between October 22, 2007, and November 17, 2008, by Revelation Films in six DVD. Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, stylized as MADMAN, is an Australian film and television production, distribution, entertainment, and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising ...
acquired the series' distribution rights at AVCon in 2007, releasing it in a six-discs box set on January 14, 2009, in PAL region
Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a color encoding system for analog television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25& ...
.
Based on the 2013 two-chapter side story, a special titled ''Mushishi Tokubetsu-hen: Hihamukage'' ("The Shadow That Devours the Sun") was broadcast on Tokyo MX
JOMX-DTV (channel 9), branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent station, independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city and parts ...
, Tochigi TV, Gunma TV
, also known as GTV, is a television network headquartered in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. It is a member of the Japanese Association of Independent Television Stations (JAITS). The government of Gunma Prefecture is the biggest shareholder of GTV, an ...
, and BS11 on January 4, 2014, and streamed by Niconico
, known before 2012 as , is a Japanese video sharing service based in Tokyo, Japan. "Niconico" or "nikoniko" is the Japanese sound symbolism, Japanese ideophone for smiling. As of 2021, Niconico is the 34th most-visited website in Japan, accordi ...
.[ ]Aniplex
Aniplex, Inc. (株式会社アニプレックス, ''Kabushiki-gaisha Anipurekkusu'') is a Japanese entertainment company and a subsidiary of Sony, Sony Group Corporation, founded in September 1995 by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The company fo ...
released the special on DVD and Blu-ray on April 23, 2014. A second anime television season titled started airing on April 5, 2014, on Tokyo MX and other channels. As with the special,[ the second season featured the same director, the same studio and main cast from the first season.][ After the broadcast of the tenth episode on June 21, the "first half" was finished. Another special, , aired on August 20 on BS11. The latter half of the second season started to air on October 19, and ended on December 21, 2014.] ''Zoku-Shō'' first DVD compilation was released on July 23, 2014, in Japan, and the sixth—and last–was released on July 22, 2015. A sequel anime film titled , based on the manga's last arc, was announced in December 2014 and released on May 16, 2015, in Japan.[
''Hihamukage'' was streamed by ]Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...
for premium members on January 4, 2014, and made available for free user a week later. In March, the second season was licensed for streaming by Aniplex of America
Aniplex of America, or Aniplex USA, is an anime distributor based in Santa Monica, California that serves as the American distribution enterprise of Aniplex, an entertainment company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, where its goal is to ...
and Crunchyroll as ''Mushi-Shi -Next Passage-''. In November, Madman Entertainment acquired its home media release rights for Australia. Late in the same month, Madman also licensed the series for streaming and made it available on its site AnimeLab. Madman released a DVD box set containing all ''Next Passage'' episodes, ''Path of Thorns'' and ''Bell Droplets'' on December 7, 2016.
Other merchandise
Several books based on ''Mushishi'' have been released. A guidebook
A guide book or travel guide is "a book of information about a place designed for the use of visitors or tourists". It will usually include information about sights, accommodation, restaurants, transportation, and activities. Maps of varying det ...
titled ''Mushishi Official Book'' was released by Kodansha on January 23, 2006. On June 30, and July 20, 2007, were released an artbook, and a book with staff commentaries on the anime series production, respectively. Two books have been released on April 23, and May 14, 2014; a and a respectively. On June 19, 2015, a "large format" art book was released by Kodansha.
The music for both ''Mushishi'' anime adaptation was composed by Toshio Masuda.[ Two soundtrack albums were released by Marvelous Entertainment and ]Geneon Entertainment
(abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise that is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, owned by American telecommunications/media company Comcast headquartered in Akasaka, Min ...
for the first anime adaptation; the first on March 24, 2006, and the second on July 23, 2006.[ On June 25, 2015, the soundtrack for ''Next Passage'' was released by Aniplex.
A live-action ''Mushishi'' feature film, released at the 2006 Venice International Film Festival, was directed by ]Katsuhiro Otomo
is a Japanese Mangaka, manga artist, screenwriter, animator, and film director. He first rose to prominence as a pioneer founder of the New Wave (manga), New Wave in the 1970s. He is best known as the creator of ''Akira (franchise), Akira'', bo ...
and starred Joe Odagiri
Jō Odagiri (; born 16 February 1976), better known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor. He is most famous for portraying Yusuke Godai, the titular hero of the 2000 tokusatsu series '' Kamen Rider Kuuga''.
Early life and education
Joe Odag ...
.[ Also known as ''Bugmaster'' and ''Mushi-Shi: The Movie'' in English,] it was released in Japanese theaters on March 24, 2007.
''Mushishi'' was also adapted into a video game; the Nintendo DS
The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...
game titled was developed by Tenky and published by Marvelous Entertainment in Japan on January 31, 2008.
From March 18 to 29, 2015, a "stage reading
A stage reading, also known as a staged reading, is a form of theatre without sets or full costumes.
The actors, who read from scripts, may be seated, stand in fixed positions, or incorporate minimal stage movement.
There is an overlap wit ...
" event, which adapted six chapters from the manga into six separate performances, was held in Tokyo. It was directed by ''Mushishi'' anime director Hiroshi Nagahama and its original script was written by Kazuaki Nakamura, while the anime voice actors acted as their respective characters.[ The production used ]augmented reality
Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...
on its visuals, which was designed to span a 270 degree field of view.[
]
Reception
Awards and public response
The series has won numerous awards: in 2003, the manga was awarded an Excellence Prize for manga at the 7th Japan Media Arts Festival
The Japan Media Arts Festival was an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition.
Based on judging by ...
, while in 2006, the series won the Kodansha Manga Award
is one of Japan's major manga awards. The event is sponsored by publisher Kodansha. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga in its third iteration since 1977.
Categories
The award was originally called the until 1968. In 1970, it was ...
for general manga. At the 10th Japan Media Arts Festival, both the anime and manga series were placed among the top 10 in their respective categories for best manga and anime. The anime series won grand prizes in the categories of television series and best art direction (for Takashi Waki) at the 5th Tokyo Anime Award
The Tokyo Anime Awards started in 2002, but was named in 2005. The first, second and third award ceremonies were simply named 'Competition'. The award ceremonies were held at the Tokyo International Anime Fair (TAF) until 2013. In 2014, after the ...
competition held at the Tokyo International Anime Fair
The Tokyo International Anime Fair also known as was one of the largest anime trade fairs in the world, held annually in Tokyo, Japan. The first event was held in 2002 as "Tokyo International Anime Fair 21". The event was held at Tokyo Big Sigh ...
in 2006, while Nagahama won the Animation Kobe
Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...
Individual Award for his directing. It also ranked 13th in a "Top 20" poll conducted by Japanese anime magazine ''Animage
is a Japanese anime and entertainment magazine published by Tokuma Shoten since July 1978. Notable works serialized in the magazine include Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli a ...
'' in 2006. In the following year, ''Mushishi'' was placed in 9th on Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs
The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture.
The agency's budget for FY 2018 rose to ¥107.7 billion.
Overview
The age ...
's list of best manga, as well as ranked in 6th place on its list of best anime. Young Adult Library Services Association
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. YALSA is a national association of librarians, library workers and advocates whose mission is to expand the capacity of l ...
also listed the manga among 33 titles with "good quality literature and appealing reading for teens" in 2008.
''Mushishi'' was also well received by Japanese-language readers. The ten volumes have sold over 3.8 million copies. Individual volumes frequently appeared on the weekly lists of best-selling manga there. Furthermore, the eighth volume was the 9th best-selling manga of Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...
in the first half of 2007. A similar feat was achieved by the last volume which was ranked 49th in the Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics
Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...
list of best-selling manga of the first half of 2009. In North America, ICv2 has listed the manga among the "Top 300 Graphic Novels" of the month twice. Readers of About.com
Dotdash Meredith (formerly The Mining Company, About.com and Dotdash) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, hom ...
voted it the best seinen
is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word means "youth", but the term " manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like '' Weekly Manga Times'' and '' Weekly Man ...
manga released in North America in 2007. The sixth volume of ''Mushishi'' was also among the best-selling manga in Malaysia in the week of March 1, 2009.
Critical reception
''Mushishi'' was chosen as the best manga of 2007 by Deb Aoki of About.com
Dotdash Meredith (formerly The Mining Company, About.com and Dotdash) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, hom ...
, elected the best anime series of 2007 by Anime News Network
Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...
's Carl Kimlinger, and was ranked seventh by Ramsey Isler in IGN
''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
's list of the Top Anime of 2007. Aoki called it "a rare breed of manga: a smartly-written, original story that's told with simple yet mesmerizing imagery."[ Similarly, Kimlinger declared that "Its hypnotic rhythm, humanism, and naturalist's eye for beauty give it a charm that far outstrips mere entertainment value."][ Reviewer Jason Thompson intoned that while it may be "too mellow" for certain readers, he found praiseworthy its "very original vision, with a sort of 'flowing life' of its own, a biologist's precision mixed with creepy fairytales and a surreal, dreamy feel." Its storytelling was highly praised; Isler deemed it as "near flawless",][ while Pop Culture Shock's Ken Haley labeled it "an enjoyable and intriguing read", and Shirl Sazynski of Sequential Tart lauded its "short, spooky and breathtaking stories." Manga Life's Joy Kim stated that its lack of a central story allows one to enter at any volume, and that "the quality of the storytelling" will make fans want to read it in entirety. The "quiet and subtle stories that evoke strong emotions with great story crafting and a fine tune to the essence of what moves people" is the main appeal of the series, according to Holly Ellingwood of Active Anime.] Both Ed Sizemore and Avi Weinryb, writing for Comics Worth Reading and Comic Book Bin respectively, said ''Mushishi'' has something to tell to readers, with the former commenting "If you want a manga to make you stop and think, this is the manga for you."
''Mushi-Shi -Next Passage-'' was also well received by fans; almost all of its DVD and Blu-ray volumes made the Top 20 list of the Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics
Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...
best-selling charts. Jacob Hope Chapman of Anime News Network praised the maintenance of the visual quality and the improvement upon the quality of the stories, declaring that "''Mushi-Shi'' is quickly evolving from an excellent series of fables about the natural world to a wholly unique masterpiece that a written review can't really do justice by." Chapman dubbed it "one of the all-time greatest animated anthology series." The Fandom Post's Kory Cerjak stated the series "is perhaps one of the most innovative shows out there in terms of storytelling." Ben Huber of Japanator
Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. is a Canadian digital media company specializing in video game journalism. Founded in 2014 by entrepreneur Menashe Kestenbaum, the company owned the websites ''Destructoid'' and The Escapist (magazine), ''Escapist ...
praised its "soothing music and beautiful art", noting that "most anime struggle to create relatable and compelling characters in 12 or 24 episodes. ''Mushishi'' does it every week in one goddamn episode... and it does it with grace." Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku
''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.
History ...
said while it is worth watching simply for the quality of its imagery, it "is a series that is equal parts beautiful and haunting — often bringing more emotion in a 22-minute episode than most series can bring in their entire runs."
See also
* Shadow biosphere
A shadow biosphere is the hypothesis of a hypothetical microbial biosphere of Earth that would use radically different biochemical and molecular processes from that of currently known life. Although life on Earth is relatively well studied, if a s ...
Notes
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Artland
2006 Japanese television series endings
Adventure anime and manga
Aniplex
Artland (company)
Del Rey Manga
Fuji Television original programming
Funimation
Iyashikei anime and manga
Kodansha manga
Manga adapted into films
Nintendo DS-only games
Nintendo DS games
Occult detective anime and manga
Seinen manga
Supernatural anime and manga
Tokyo MX original programming
Winner of Kodansha Manga Award (General)