Mushishi: The Next Chapter

Episode 19

Mushi-Shi season 2's 19th episode, "Mud Grass," finds the show in very familiar territory. It's not necessarily familiar to this series specifically, although it is a cautionary tale with a Very Grim Ending, but more familiar to anime on the whole, and even allegorical fantasy at large. The story and its imagery this week are, well, old as mud. "Vengeance and hatred, no matter how righteous, are poisons that bind the heart, killing first the soul and then the body, poetic-justice style." Mushi-Shi's take on this classic idea owes a lot to Princess Mononoke and a heap of well-known Japanese ghost stories. There's still a distinct mushi flavor here, but it's as close to cliche, borrowed imagery as I believe the series has ever gotten. I guess that's bound to happen as the Mushi-Shi world fast approaches a whopping 50 different tales.

For this reason, I'm not going to bother describing the events of the episode as much as I usually do. Even divulging them in part would basically spell out all the twists to any fable-savvy reader, and anyone who's already seen the episode doesn't need to read it being recapped anyway. The vague version is that a reed-like corpse-munching mushi starts causing trouble for a village when it gets under the skin of the living denizens, which it shouldn't be able to do. Ginko stops by to investigate, and one man's reed-mushi condition stands out, completely unlike all the others around him. What could be the cause? Perhaps it's a disgusting case of karma...

This turns out to be a really excellent, downright heart-stopping episode even when you know what's coming every step of the way. There's something to be said for superb execution, and the perfect pacing and tone of this vignette definitely sent chills down my spine, predictable plot aside. The greatest thing "Mud Grass" adds to its basic roots is the inclusion of an alternate perspective; the story is as much about the main victim's nephew as it is about the suffering uncle. The younger boy's take on the whole situation both makes the thematic point of the episode stronger and adds greater tension to the build-up. Even if we know the story's main victim is doomed and why, the boy's fate is more unsure, and the way their two points-of-view collide in the climax is pretty scary!

The musical score for this episode is extremely on-point, combining with the ominous camera angles, jarring editing choices, and series of cruel twists to sculpt a horrific atmosphere of hatred and paranoia consuming a human soul alive, as the reeds continue to grow up through his skin no matter how hard he tries to pluck them off. In fact, this episode is so well-executed that its only real flaw apart from the well-worn basic plot is a weirdly abrupt ending. "Mud Grass" makes all the points it wants to make as clearly as it possibly can and then jumps right into the credits in a way uncharacteristic of this denouement-heavy "healing anime." It's a sharp, simple, clean week for Mushi-Shi, excellent as a potential first episode for new viewers, but maybe a little too clear-cut and on-the-nose for Mushi-Shi veterans. I was so locked into the frightening atmosphere start to finish that I was happy to dismiss the story's derivative nature, but fan mileage may vary. This one's style ten thousand times over substance.

Rating: A-

Mushishi: The Next Chapter is currently streaming Crunchyroll.

Hope has been an anime fan since childhood, and likes to chat about cartoons, pop culture, and visual novel dev on Twitter.