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Mushishi (TV) (w/ index).

The DVD case itself is a keep case, which also sports its own slipcover. The slipcover features the same cover art as the case, while displaying episode count and all of that other technical information on the back. The cover art for the DVD case is a dual-sided picture, with the front displaying a full version of the slipcase's art, and a reversible side that doesn't seem to have any real theme to it.

I am going to have to give a somewhat different opinion on this last comment here. For me this theme works out perfect. As you no doubt know by now, to get to the DVD, you must first peel away several layers of art. Which is why I switched over to the reversible side. See at every layer you get a different picture that way.

Also, I know more than just Tony and me got their pre-orders early, where you at?

I am hesitant to even write anything at this point as this is my first time watching the series and I don't know how much worth I will have compared to Tony, or some other people, so if I say something stupid that doesn't make sense down the road, please be gentle. Also, as opposed to a review I think I will focus more on asthetic descriptions and plot devices seeing as I have only seen what I have seen. Here's keeping my fingers crossed. I don't know how Tony wants me to treat spoilers, so let this be a warning, possible spoilers ahead! If you want me to add tags please copy and paste my post, and PM it to me so I can re-post it with tags, and you can delete my post.

And this is where I got kinda hung up on. Maybe someone can help me out. The grandma was asked by the mushi to look over her grandson, an absolutely gorgeous and heart-warming animated sequence(music fits too) explains this very well. What I don't understand is if she was asked at the grandmothers birth, and then separated, or at the grandmothers death and then separated, because there is clearly two? Either way it is like the one who was asked to watch over him is stuck, and that is the problem simplified.

But what ginko says at the end of this episode throws me through a loop as well. Something to the effect of "the rumors of the boy with the God-like left hand, were heard less and less. Untill finally, they simply faded away". Thing is the boy was always alone, at least to a normal persons eyes, and lived in the woods for the last 4 years. It really calls into question whether the boy was mushi as well, or does that simply mean he lost his powers, or does that mean he was transported away? Since really he was in seclusion anyway. It also calls into question the true intentions of Ginko himself, what was his goal? Maybe we arn't supposed to know yet, or I missed something really bad.

The reason there were two Renzus is because the ceremony was only half-completed. While she started to drink the rest of the Kouki, that crow showed up and interrupted the overall aura, thus breaking up the banquet.

In addition, when her trance was broken, Renzu's cup had also snapped in half. For me, the cup had symbolized as a sort of gateway to the mushi world, since she had to drink from it obviously. I'm not sure if the breaking of it was caused by the ruined trance or if she was just careless, but because she only drank about half of it anyway, then this explains why she was half-mushi.

If the ceremony had been completed, I think she still would've turn out to have both a human presence and a mushi presence at the same time. But this is all speculation, as the powers of mushi aren't really clear cut aside from what's explained by Ginko in each episode.

Also, I think the human part of Renzu that left her somehow lost some of the emotions and believability in mushi. Maybe prior to the ceremony, Renzu had some knowledge of what mushi might have been, and in drinking all of the Kouki she would've gained a part of their knowledge along with their powers. But because she didn't get to finish, the half of her that knew of mushi stayed behind, while her physical body had "forgotten" that and proceeded accordingly to the rest of her predicted lifespan.

Concerning Ginko, I'll say doesn't have any real goals. He's not a shady kind of guy and is pretty straight-forward throughout the entire series like this. He simply goes from place to place, helps people, and occasionally takes a souveneir. The series is more about the overall experience of the stories themselves, and Ginko is more so just a medium of converting them.

First impressions of the dub: A+ rating As mentioned in the former main Mushi-Shi thread, I had watched the trailer on FUNi's website and was quite impressed from just that clip alone. Needless to say, that clip didn't do it much justice, as the overall dub sounded excellent and just as good as the original Japanese.

Travis Willingham (best known for his dub role as Roy Mustang in Fullmetal Alchemist) plays the role of Ginko here. He does a great job of capturing the same inflection as Nakano, sounding like a real know-it-all, but at the same time very down-to-earth. If he continues this kind of performance for the rest of the series, given its content and the importance of his character's role, this will by far be his most memorable performance as English dub actor, as far as I'm concerned.

It's your choice whichever you prefer, and I'll say now that I'm willing to go on a guarantee that you can't go wrong either way.

But The big question I had still is unanswered(mostly due to my poor linguistic skills). When did the mushi ask her to look after him, when was the ceremony?? After a re-watch I think I have figured out what I missed. A bunch of evidence points to she was asked when the grandmother died. However, I believe it was when the grandmother was born, or at least very young , before the boy was even born. I point to time-frame 12:50 thru 13:30, and the ceremony itself.

This is an important point for me as it means that the mushi have the power of premonition. And it means that the two grandmothers lived at the same time, which is why they shared the same memories. It also makes me even more sad for the mushi-grandmother, because she obviously knew that the boy saw mushi, and that the real-grandmother could not, and neither could see her. I could go into extreme detail as why that is tragic, but if you think about it a bit, it would be easier than filling a page. Because real-grandmother appears to have no memory of, and shuns the very idea of mushi, I believe this ceremony took place at birth. Which to me makes this episode all the more profound.

And a hell of a way to start a show I might add.

That is some-what saddening. When I said goals I didn't mean that he is devious or anything, just that he has some underlying reason why he helps people, or something to that effect, it is to early to tell. Much in the way Cowboy Bebop did, where the story never really focusses on it, but you get more and more of a bigger picture as you move through the episodes. Oh well, the stories are interesting enough as is. But don't hate me if I hold out hope for explanations of the missing eye, or childhood experiences okay.

That's actually a really good question. But I would think Shinra himself was actually human. While he could see mushi himself, he was unable to see Renzu in the half-mushi form she was in at the time.

I'm not sure how to interpret the disappearance of the rumors about him, but the original role of his grandmother was just to watch over him, so maybe we can assume her powers included something like masking the estate from the public or whatever. Or maybe he did get spirited away. I mean, the series really leaves a lot to our own imagination, so anything is pretty much possible within "reason" of the series .