Mushishi: The Next Chapter

Episode 20

There's a movie coming to theaters in Japan next summer, but until then, it's time to say goodbye to Mushi-Shi once again, as The Next Chapter concludes with the bold and beautiful "Tree of Eternity." This was definitely the best vignette to send viewers off, brimming with gorgeous imagery and a story that spans generations within a small but not insignificant village.

The central character in "Tree of Eternity" is not a hapless human, but the titular tree itself. The only problem is that this tree happens to be dead now, so it must tell its story through one of those hapless humans instead. The symbiotic relationship between tree and man, created through a chance encounter and one little mushi, turns out to be both curse and blessing, eternally folded into one another, and inseparable in their own unique and bittersweet way. It's a welcome reminder that mushi aren't only significant in the way they interact with humans, but with nature on the whole, and how their very existence is a strong reminder of the unbreakable bond mankind shares with the natural world, for better and worse. In fact, that's the theme of the entire episode: a sweeping circle-of-life statement pulled off flawlessly despite the tidy running time.

This story succeeds wildly thanks to the wise decision to make the man the tree chooses full of personality and life himself. Due to its nature as an iyashikei anime, most of Mushi-Shi's characters are low-key, whispering, thoughtful folks. This second season has been stronger partly for its increase in more spirited episodic characters, such as the leads in "Thread of Light" and "Mirror Lake." The central dude in "Tree of Eternity" is an upbeat, hardworking family man who loves to hike in the mountains, tell his daughter stories, and learn about the outside world from friendly strangers (like Ginko!) When he ends up fated to carry on the "legacy" of the dead tree due to what seems like pure coincidence, he tries to persevere and hope for a cure to his fate of being "rooted" to his village and no longer able to care for himself. When it becomes clearer and clearer that there isn't a cure, his gradual wilting is palpable, and we realize that he's expressing himself in a way that the dead tree never could, even though they endured the same struggle, years apart. "The tree wasn't cursing him," Ginko assures the man's mother, "It cannot feel anger or a grudge." Eerily enough, the man isn't angry either, only sad and slowly losing hope. Subconsciously we begin to associate the helplessness of both man and tree with one another, through their relationship with the mushi, and the rock-solid editing and timing of each beat in the journey makes for a magnificent result.

Thankfully, there's a happy ending in store for the man, the tree, and the village, not to mention a huge host of beautiful images in the lead-up, incorporating classic mushi imagery like the River of Light and primordial organisms with the life of the tree throughout history, and the entire lives of the villagers beneath its branches, (including some little baby Ginko!) It's a terrific note for the series to go out on, perfectly paced, directed, executed, and overflowing with that "passive forgiveness" and "hope within an arbitrary world" that keeps Ginko going as a mushi master. It's been interesting to write about this show week to week, because even though most episodes are rich enough to fill a meaty review, to some extent I just want to write "This is really good, go watch it!" and leave it at that. This show is one of the all-time greatest animated anthology series, and I can't wait to see what's in store for Mushi-Shi fans when the new movie comes out next year.

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.