[Categories: Anime Reviews]
Mushishi episode 11: Sleeping Forest
When Ginko visits a village with some strange phenomena surrounding the mountain nearby he decides to investigate; this leads to a search not for a mushi but for a fellow mushishi, a man named Mujika. It transpires that Mujika lives on the mountain outside the village but has not been seen for some time: this could be connected to the unusual occurences in the area. Sure enough, Ginko discovers that a river of life is flowing through the mountain, and that Mujika is the guardian who watches over it. Mujika however appears to have gone missing.
I must admit that even by its own (very high) standards Mushishi has excelled itself this time around. This episode, Sleeping Forest, is one of the most enjoyable so far: not only is the artwork among the best I’ve seen (just look at the screencap above) but the story is insightful and really quite bittersweet. It is interesting to see Ginko react to meeting and conversing with a fellow mushishi, partly because it involves conversation steering to how they found themselves in this strange profession. Mujika appears to have left his life of a travelling mushishi behind to use his skills as the village’s guardian; it is intriguing to find out why he did this, but what is just as telling is the new information about Ginko that comes out here. I won’t spoil it by elaborating but it’s certainly food for thought!
The story behind Mujika (above) is quite a saddening one but not as much so as that of his apprentice Kodama (below). The young lad is very enthusiastic about becoming a mushishi and he seems to have a talent for it too - needless to say it’s an observation that is not lost on Ginko. The events that transpire as a result of Mujika’s actions lead Ginko and Kodama into some pretty tricky situations that test our hero’s knowledge to the full: his behaviour is not out of character exactly, but more of his emotion and humanity comes through here. It could be because of meeting a man not unlike himself, or perhaps he saw a little of his younger self in Kodama; whatever the reason, it makes for an episode that is something of a departure from earlier ones.
The Sleeping Forest is a damn good episode, pure and simple. The supporting cast are fascinating, Ginko’s character receives a bit of extra attention, the story is thought-provoking and the visuals are stunning. Great news, then, that the first of the remaining six episodes of the Mushishi TV run was scheduled to air only three days ago. I for one cannot wait.
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