List Item: Read half of the 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die
Progress: 40/501
Title: Mushishi
Creator: Yuki Urushibara
Years: 1999-2008
Country: Japan
Well, this may be one of the most magical/mysterious manga that I have ever read. It’s described on Wikipedia as being a supernatural detective story which, whilst true, doesn’t really get to the heart of it.
Mushishi is set a few centuries ago in rural Japan where otherwordly creatures, known as ‘mushi’, exist. The series described mushi as being life in it’s purest form, so pure that few people can actually see them and the mushi themselves take on magical properties. The titular character (a mushishi named Ginko) is a specialist in mushi that travels around solving mushi-related problems.
The whole manga plays like a supernatural procedural with Ginko coming into a village and solving their mushi related problems. This can encompass everything from helping with joint pain to helping people deal with the psychological consequences of their loved one being resurrected.
Whilst there are common themes of light/dark, nature and blindness throughout the 10 volumes, it doesn’t feel that there was any real repetition in the cases found in Mushishi. Whilst it’s not true that every case is unique, there is enough in the variation, development and outcomes to keep it feeling fresh. It also helps that every story has a different type of mushi at the centre.
8 years ago I asked some friends at university about anime that I just had to see. Thanks to this I fell in love with Genshiken and started watching films by Satoshi Kon. Mushishi is the final recommendation from this list I have yet to see and now, since I have read the manga, I will be able to cross this off. Soon. I know I just finished reading this, but I have to see how they dramatised these stories.
Before I Kick 