I am not a huge fan of Anime, most of it is ‘too out there’ but I have to share a recent discovery with you. I have discovered a series on Netflix streaming video – a current (2014) season of Anime shorts based on the Manga series ‘Mushi-shi’. I have a DVD of the original series that I bought because of this new season I discovered and I
love it too but the artwork in the newest series is simply exquisite, a term I would find it hard to apply to most Anime.
Each image is like a Japanese landscape print and the stories are not your average Anime action adventure. A ‘Mushi’ is a spirit, an ethereal creature that lives on the fringe of the natural world that can possess a person and disrupt their life in unusual ways. A ‘Mushi-shi’ is a sort of exorcist/healer who has the knowledge and skill to heal the afflicted person with medicines he carries with him on his travels. In some ways this series is reminiscent of the Zatoichi series about the blind masseur who is also an expert swordsman but where Zatoichi is a (rather violent) Samurai action series, Mushi-shi is serene and meditative in the presentation of the stories.
At some point, the DVD of this new season should become available (I hope) but in the meantime, those of you who have Netflix streaming might enjoy watching this most unusual offering in the Anime style.
You can read a review of this new series on IMDB; they give it an 8.8 (out of a possible 10) rating .