Mushi-shi(anime)

[TSGames]

1st Epsidoe (http://www.anime-sub.com/2008/04/mushishi-episode-01.html)

Hadn't seen this one mentioned in the Playground, so I thought I would bring it up. I liked this anime. The strange part is: I don't know why.

This seemed(to me at least) to be an entirely different kind of anime. It wasn't the lack of lasers/giant robots/genji girls/sword-swinging-badasses/guns that made it seem so different(although it helped), neither was it the lack of dramatic fight scenes and action sequences(though that also helped). The lack of a dramatic world/nation threating plot and overarching storyline are what seemed to set it apart.

Normally, I wouldn't give such an anime the time of day(mostly due to the lack of action and overarching/dramatic plot lines), however, this one just seemed... peaceful. Maybe it was a welcome change of pace from most of the anime I've watched, maybe the artwork was good(I'm not sure about this one), but for a reason I can't quite put a finger on, I enjoyed this anime. I'm not saying it's the best thing ever, but I did enjoy it, and I encourage you to watch the first two episodes at least.

Have any other Playgrounders seen it? Any thoughts/opinions?

[EvilElitest]

its been recommended to me actually i've been wanting to check it out
from
EE

[black dragoon]

I've only seen the first DVD but I loved it. It was totally different from a lot of the recent stuff. It actually made me feel like these characters were actual people that cared about what happened to someone besides themselves.

[AKA_Bait]

I've bought the first DvD and seen a smattering of later episodes. I can honestly say that it is one of the best Anime series I've ever watched. I'm not a big anime fan and with a few exceptions (Cowboy-Bebop, Record of Lodoss War, etc.) I view most of the genre as mostly derivative drivel.

I think the reason that I like Mushi-shi is really fold. The characterization, essentially what Black Dragon said plus the fact that everyone's soloution to a problem is not threats and violence, and the pacing. Most anime pacing is pretty quick ime. It's rare that you actually get a sense of the scale of anything because the characters tend to just pop from one place to another to push the plot. In Mushi-shi you can actually feel the time passing in the world of the story. This helps both give you a sense of scale in the world and it gives time for the artists and director to show the viewer little things that Ginko notices giving it both scale and depth.

[black dragoon]

Yeah, it feels natural when compared to so much of what's out there. The style is also very clean. The art doesn't cram tons of detail in and seems more lifelike because of it.

[Fri]

For some reason, it remind me on one of my favourite anime series, that is Kino no Tabi (Kino's Journey)

The pacing and, non violence solution, and the clean style did that, not the plot or anything else. (the plot resemblance is just, main character travel all over the world and encountering things, just like many other anime/walking the earth tv series)

[bluish_wolf]

Mushishi was probably the best 2006 series.


I've bought the first DvD and seen a smattering of later episodes. I can honestly say that it is one of the best Anime series I've ever watched. I'm not a big anime fan and with a few exceptions (Cowboy-Bebop, Record of Lodoss War, etc.) I view most of the genre as mostly derivative drivel.



Animation is a medium, not a genre. For that matter, most live action is derivative drivel, as well, if not more so. Just look at Hollywood.