granville30 - 2015-08-12 18:54:16

Perceived as strange and alien... Inferior and grotesque... These are beings who appear entirely unlike flora and fauna familiar to us. Since time immemorial, man has feared the misshapen ones. Over time, they came to be known as mushi.

First, a little about the Mushishi franchise. Mushishi does not follow any one story throughout the series, it is episodic meaning that each episode contains it's own story. Each and every one of Mushishi's short stories is fascinating and beautiful in it's own right. Every episode follows the protagonist Ginko, a Mushi-shi who travels across the land attempting to find and help those suffering due to the effects of the Mushi. Dispite each episode being an entirely different story with new characters. Every character is explored leading to a short but engaging story.

Now on to this movie.

The story in this movie is beautiful and serene as well as tragic. Mushishi in itself is a fairly unique concept, so it goes without saying that the story here is no exception. This movie explores the concept of a human being chosen as a lord. In Mushishi, a lord is a being that is chosen by the land to oversee it and maintain the ecological balance of a mountain. I will not say any more out of fear of spoiling it. However in just over 40 minutes this movie is filled with joy, despair and excitement, making for a absolutely masterful tale.

The art and animation is truly something to behold, while the characters are fairly simple in design, the contrast with the vibrant and beautiful backgrounds makes for some stunning scenes.

Due to the fact that Mushishi has a very supernatural setting and the focus is often on nature, the simple character designs and stunning backgrounds fit it magnificently. There isn't much more to say about the art other than to yet again emphasize how stunning and fitting it is for this movie.

I honestly think that both this movie and Mushishi as a whole has one of the best soundtracks out of any anime I have watched. Every track is peaceful and fitting, The music never overpowers any scenes in this movie and adds to the ever present relaxed ambiance. The opening also fits extraordinarily and does well to introduce the serene atmosphere that is so apparent throughout the movie, i'm glad that they kept the same opening from the previous seasons of Mushishi Zoku Shou.

Most of the characters in the movie seem like your normal every day people. With the exception of Ginko. As a character he isn't the most exciting, but that's not what Mushishi is about, he is calm and collected and rarely does he allow himself to lose his cool, but if the situation calls for it, he can and will react accordingly. This movie does brilliantly to show off Ginko's personality and beliefs, and that is exactly what you want in a movie like this. Even as Ginko stands out from the other characters, his personality doesn't allow him to overshadow them, all of the characters feel important in their respective stories and the characters in this movie are no exception.

Overall, this movie takes all of the wonderful factors that made previous series in the Mushishi franchise amazing and combines them with a unique and interesting story. There is no real depth to the story that you have to think hard about, but that just helps maintain the calm mood that the movie creates, everything is explained in detail and this movie is soothing portal into the world of anime. This movie achieves exactly what it set out to do, if you want a slower paced movie with an engaging story that manages to evoke a relaxing mood, then this is definitely for you.

If you enjoyed this movie or Mushishi as whole then I would recommend Kino's Journey.