Mushishi (蟲師?) animated by Artland and directed by Hiroshi Nagahama, spanned a total of 26 episodes. The first 20 episodes of the series first aired between October 2005 and March 2006 on Fuji TV and its affiliated broadcast networks, including Kansai TV, Tōkai TV, Hokkaidō Bunka Hoso, TV Shinhiroshima, TV Nishinippon. Episodes 21 through 26 aired on BS Fuji every Sunday from May 14, 2006 to June 18 of the same year.
(Source - Wiki)




Plot Summary: They are neither plants nor animals. They differ from other forms of life such as the micro-organisms and the fungi. Instead they resemble the primeval body of life and are generally known as "Mushi". Their existence and appearance are unknown to many and only a limited number of humans are aware of them. Ginko is a "Mushi-shi" who travels around to investigate and find out more about the "Mushi". In the process, he also lends a helping hand to people who face problems with supernatural occurances which may be related to the "Mushi".

Genres: adventure, drama, mystery, psychological, supernatural
Themes: folklore, mythology
Episodes: 26
Age Rating: Teen
(Source - ANN)

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I cannot imagine I am the first to have mentioned this anime here before but I can at least open a topic about this anime as I believe it deserves some recognition.

For those who don't know, Mushi are creatures that are neither plant nor animal. They are spirits that haunt our everyday lives and sometimes cause us problems. This is where the Mushi-shi steps in, here known by the name of Ginko. It is his job to track down these troublesome Mushi and rid the victims of them.

This is one of the most beautifully animated anime I have seen in a long while. The forest scenes are such a deeply rich green and the Mushi themselves are very ghostly without being overly spooky (think Princess Mononoke). Although this series is about supernatural events it isn't terrifying in terms of monsters leaping out at you but rather in this way these gentle seeming spirits can affect so many lives in so many different ways.

I wouldn't say I am hooked, I have the whole series and so far I have only watched the first few episodes. It's not like I have to watch several episodes at once, as it is such a slow paced anime. However its a fantastic way to pass the time, and like the X-Files, it should be able to claim some cult status among some of the more mainstream anime. I should also add I have only seen the originals so am unaware what the translated voices sound like.

The older mushishi thread got deleted >___>

But yeah, Mushishi remains to be in the top ten of my anime list.

I wholeheartedly recommend it to any anime watcher :x

The live action version was horrible but i'm looking forward to the animated movie version :X (hope the rumors are true!)

I like this anime. It has a very distinct style, and I think it's beautifully drawn and the stories are intelligently told.
I recommend this one as well.

As Chiyo has aptly mentioned, if you like X-files (raising my hand XD), you would probably LOVE this anime (raising my hand again. XDD)

I saw two episodes.

I want to see more soooooooooo bad. Definitely a beautiful, even in the first two episodes you could plainly see that.


It was the dub I saw btw. I have to say, it didn't sound too bad. Roy's english VA plays Ginko. I can't compare it to the Japanese version tho as I have yet to see it.

*must buy DVDs*

Ginko is a man god and a pimp. Very great series and a rare case of the anime being better than the manga in my less than humble opinion.

Glad asu mentioned the live-action version too as I was going to try and get hold of that when it came out. Although in saying that I knew I could expect the same visuals in a live-action version.

Glad to hear everyone's such a fan of this series, never would have known about it if my sister hadn't got herself (via me I add) Jigoku Shoujo (I believe there was a Mushishi pop-up on the same page she found Hell Girl).

the first year i was on these boards, I was massively promoting Mushishi :x

You can find the second episode (dubbed) on funimation's streaming video site :
http://www.funimation.com/f_index.cfm?page=videos

If you're interested in the OSTs or what the subbed version is like, send me a PM.
I can post some clips of the live-action version if anyone wants.

I was just reading about this series on Wikipedia.

Have to say, it sounds interesting. I'll have to look for the manga at Borders tomorrow, then look for episodes of it on youtube. Heh.

Mushishi is a very atmospheric anime. With that said, I think you'd lose a lot of what make Mushishi so enjoyable if you watch it on youtube where visual quality sucks, to say the least.

Youtube is good for sampling (if you take into account their limitations), but I wouldn't recommend watching the whole Mushishi series via any internet stream. It's too good for that!

Extremely well animated. A nice break from all the flashy stuff which other animes tend overdo, I really enjoyed the minimalistic approach on it! Now I must go and finish watching it. =D

Did you guys know that the same guy that voices Roy in the english dub of FMA does the voice of Ginko too? I thought that was interesting. The anime definitely has a tangible feeling to it, but it's a little slow-paced for me, I couldn't really get into it...

So, I finally started reading the manga (looking for vol. 4 at the moment) and bought DVD vol. 1 & 2.

So far...

...I love it. Quite a reprieve from the action anime that I've been watching (D.Gray-Man, Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist, etc...) and the animation, I find, is superb!
But, the music...perhaps the best music I've heard in an anime so far.
My favorite episode so far is ep. 7 Raindrops and Rainbows. Quite a nice story, I find.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-...action-mushishi

for those of you lucky uk'ers, 2 eps of mushishi and the live-action movie will be aired!

For U.S. and Canadian fans:

Hulu has Mushishi episodes for free viewing on your computer.
The episodes are English dubbed, and you have to watch commercials, similar to when watching on TV, but they are free. ^^

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ETA: May 7, 2009

(Also for U.S. and Canadian fans)

Now we can also watch the complete series of English dubbed episodes of Mushishi legally on-line on AnimeNews Network.

I also found FUNI's YouTube channel has the entire dubbed series (and in high quality >w>)

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=A87D467327376886

Woah *bump*