Mushishi: Hihamukage

angelsreviews Sep 19, 2014

10

Let me first remind you what I thought of the TV series. I adored it. The subtle storyline, the calming feeling, the idea of small creatures that are mostly misunderstood taking roles in peoples lives. I love everything about it. It doesn’t go as surprising then that I really love this special then, right? It just felt like a long episode from the TV series. The storyline and soft music was a perfect match to it. The story followed what happened when an eclipse happened in this strange world of Mushi. Of course the Mushi are misunderstood so when one ends up cutting off the sun for three or four days, it makes life hell for everyone in the town that can’t get crops to grow. Well, I could say everyone but there was one person that was happy just to go outside finally. She had a condition similar to what is called Solar Urticaria, being allergic to the sun. It’s a very rare condition that actually does exsit but in this case, she can’t because of a Mushi. I know right, shocking that it’s because of a mushi in a show all about mushi. Ok I’m kidding but the story of her does become a rather good life lesson about taking things for granted. And I think that’s what I love about this show. It’s about little life lessons that we wouldn’t learn about until someone shows us. In this case, a fictional setting with real life troubles. Whether you want to blame mushi, god, or even your pet, the main question is how do you deal with it? Since you can’t do anything about god or mushi, are you just going to sit and whine about it? If you blame your pet, what has the animal done to deserve the blame? And what will you do about it? These things are stuff I notice while watching such a thoughtful anime like this. The art style was beautiful, the same as the original. It was a bit different to normal anime out there with their large eyes and comical bright colors. They went more for soft colors. The only thing vibrant was the lush colors of the forest, the soft glows of some almost magical plants and of course the Mushi. Now this wasn’t dubbed so I had to go for subtitles but I didn’t really care. The way they spoke reminded me much of the Dub. It was soft voices and I was so engrossed in the story that it didn’t bother me non that it was a different language then my own. In fact, I didn’t really have to stop the show to read the subtitles because I could get the basic just of what they were saying. Not saying I didn’t read them but when they went to fast for me, I could get the basics.

leftovercandy Jun 15, 2017

9

(Note: I've only watched the first episode of the anime series "Mushishi" so this is a review without prior influence of the anime series) The story is direct and subtle. The first fifteen or so minutes I was confused and a bit bored. But once the young twin girls were brought into the story, the whole storyline went from a 3 or 4 to an 8. It's original enough to be mesmerized, but simple enough to not get confused and spend hours thinking about how everything fits together.  My absolute favorite thing about this anime special was the animation. It fit the simplicity of the story but was still soooo beautiful. It was perfect to say the least. The sound was beautiful as goes for the music and sound effects. It definitely didn't take anything away from the story. Finally, the characters were great. They showed many levels of emotions, but there wasn't anything that stood out about them. Nothing that made them stand out among the thousands of other characters I've watched.  Overall, it was a great watch. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a peaceful special to watch.

YuiYui Jun 19, 2017

8

Warning this Review May Contain Spoilers- Oh, Mushishi, one of the anime that stand above the rest in the slow and steady category. This special was no different, taking what we love from the series and putting it into the form of an anime, this allows people who haven't seen the original anime to experience the feeling you get from the Mushishi anime.  STORY The story of the special was extremely detailed and focused a lot of human relationships and the emotional value between each. It helps us understand the pain of being kept indoors and the struggle to get through everyday life, this special included some of these low-key moral messages. It also uses an interesting way to present these emotions through Mushi and how that brings more people together, therefore making the special more fulfilling.  ANIMATION Animation for this series is beautiful, it definitely lives up to the standard that the original TV series presented to us. The detail in the character designs despite it originally appearing as quite simple, is impressive and was beautiful to watch. If you have seen the main TV series (or any of the sequels) then here is another amazingly stunning addition to the franchise. SOUND The OST for this franchise, in general, is amazing, along with this special this standard isn't lowered. The emotional soundtrack adds to the story and the animation, it just makes the whole thing amazing. In terms of voice-actors, nothing to complain about - just they represent the characters and everything. CHARACTERS This franchise has allowed for a range of characters, these just add to the list with the main few characters for the special and then Ginko doing what Ginko does best. The range of characters in this special in particular was well diverse and helped with the explanation on why certain events happened. In conclusion, even if you haven't seen the main series just check this special out, due to the episodic nature of the main series as well this just fits in perfectly. -AngelBeatsYui- PS: This is a review for DAMC June/July