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May 9, 2014 2:05 PM
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Overkilled Red

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Aug 2013
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Mushi Trivia


Liked how Ginko caught the doctor red-handed.
Quite a fascinating story of Saho and the Cherry Blossom tree.

Damn, what an insane bloodline; sacrificing lives for 300 years to keep one woman alive!
Ginko's quick-thinking of burning down the house was awesome.

The flare sparks coming in contact with the tree and becoming cherry blossoms before burning away was nice!
Too bad, Saho disintegrates into cherry blossoms..

Nice episode!

May 9, 2014 2:24 PM

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Aug 2013
350
Wait a minute, since Saho was alive for over 3 centuries but aged really slowly and needed a new body every now and then. That means when she needed a new body as a little girl they decapitated other young girls. Dang, a bit too dark for mushishi.
May 9, 2014 3:01 PM

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Dec 2013
81
that episode was awesome. i wonder how the first person figured out that they had to graft saho's head onto another body tho...creepy.
May 9, 2014 3:06 PM

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May 2012
7909
Dark and tragic. This is why I love this fucking show. And the art is truly breathtaking. Like when the cherry was set on fire, I was literally in awe.
May 9, 2014 3:56 PM

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Apr 2012
970
AwesomeDudex3 said:
Prochy said:
I love this series, but hate the voice actors, dub was much better.

I loved the dub of the first season also. Although, both seasons have pretty forgettable side characters, dub or sub. By the end, you dont remember the characters, you remember what they did and the story


Dubs are evil I say... EVIL!!!..."Cough" Sorry I mean I prefer subs any day.

Anyhoo a great episode.
May 9, 2014 3:58 PM

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Dec 2012
1096
Well, that was one of the freakiest thing I've seen on Mushishi.
emeraldrosary said:
And as always the art of this anime is just out of this world. I'd say more, but Ginko took the words right out of my mouth
It's not often Ginko expresses such wonder at the world's beauty, it was nice.

The next episode title sounds most intriguing!
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✨☆✨

May 9, 2014 4:20 PM

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I found it odd that this guy decided to chop some girl up while Ginko was in his book closet. I know he couldn't wait, but still.
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May 9, 2014 5:51 PM

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Jul 2010
2403
I wonder how Manaku found out that head chopping would work for Saho...
Using Kodama to make medicine.
Good episode, a different air how it was more darker and a sadder ending.
May 9, 2014 5:55 PM

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Jan 2008
1586
Some quick thinking from Ginko. But damn, did it ever get dark. I'm glad it didn't end in another tragedy.

emeraldrosary said:

After thinking about this episode for a while I got a question. You know what I want to know? What kinds of people were sacrificed? Since Saho is a girl does that mean they required female sacrifices? What freaks me out even more is that the generations of gardeners might have actually sacrificed their own mothers/wives to prolong Saho's life. A terrifying thought.

Holy shit, that just put a gruesome image in my head. Sisters, and daughters too I bet. That must be why it was always just the men who were obsessed with her, yet after the first couple of generations, no other women in their family were mentioned, so that makes me think it was actually plausible.
Estoy_GordoMay 9, 2014 6:04 PM
May 9, 2014 6:39 PM

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Dec 2007
79
Wow! The first real example from this season of the level of quality that the franchise is capable of. For the most part, Mushishi is a pretty decent show. However, every now and then, it is capable of such incredible high quality that it defies my ability to intellectually evaluate it. This is one of those episodes.
May 9, 2014 7:19 PM

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Apr 2008
430
I'm guessing that the next episode will be dedicated to the Mushi and won't have Ginko in it.
May 9, 2014 7:22 PM

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Jul 2013
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I loved how beautiful the flowers were in this episode. Not that it's surprising since Mushishi is known for beautiful breathtaking sceneries.

Also, I was suspicious of that gardener from the start, everything he says gives a really unsettling and untrustworthy feel. And then when it was revealed he and his entire family for 300 years were some psycho head chopping killers, yeah.......... All I could think about was how crazy growing up in that family must have been...
May 9, 2014 8:24 PM

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Oct 2013
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WOOOOOW Just Wow
Don't tell me that Sakura tree is a zombie!!!! it's back!!!!
May 9, 2014 8:40 PM

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Feb 2012
2189
Saho = ZOMBIE!!! that scene with the old withered tree coming alive and the burning was beautiful!
May 9, 2014 9:08 PM

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Aug 2008
4594
Brilliant episode,my only complain(which is my own fault) is that I already read this manga chapter so I probably don't enjoy it fully.
But it's important to remember that a movie review is subjective;it only gives you one person's opinion.

http://www.classzone.com/books/lnetwork_gr08/page_build.cfm?content=analyz_media&ch=30

It doesn't matter if you like LoGH,Monster etc.If you are a jobless or college/school dropout living in your mom basement, you are still an unintelligent loser. Taste in anime does not make you a better person.If elitist don't exist, casual pleb and shit taste also don't exist.
May 9, 2014 9:56 PM

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Nov 2011
4921
That was a really strong episode. I knew at one point we'd have somewhat of a dark episode, but jeez... The family has been sedating girls and chopping off their heads for bodies for 300 years... That's just insane.

I feel like poor Saho has just been suffering this whole time. When she reached for the sky and said, "Don't" I really felt sad for the poor girl and the gardener's mind was just so twisted he couldn't see how she really felt.

Good thing Ginko came to save the day. That end scene was really touching though, you think, "not that long ago this whole terrible ordeal took place here..", but travelers only see the beauty of the cherry blossoms. Also, was that supposed to show that the tree in a sense was 'reborn'? With Saho's passing this time, instead of the tree blossoming with Mushi it actually appeared to be gorgeous flowers.
Touch me, you filthy casual~
May 9, 2014 10:21 PM

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May 2011
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Ragix said:
I feel like poor Saho has just been suffering this whole time. When she reached for the sky and said, "Don't" I really felt sad for the poor girl and the gardener's mind was just so twisted he couldn't see how she really felt.

Yeah, that part made me think something of the same as well. Aside from her inability to connect to the rest of the world she gets to feel this guilt? Especially when the name she called was Mansaku, the very first man who found her.
May 9, 2014 11:19 PM

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Jul 2013
2329
Saho getting older fast reminds me of Mother Gothel. Damn though those gardeners, they're just exploiting Saho.

For all the disturbing thoughts that crossed my mind, the one that bothered me the most is whether the generations of gardeners were having sex with Saho regularly. That's probably why they're so obsessed.
May 10, 2014 12:07 AM

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Feb 2012
1041
Insane gardener! Glad Ginko made it in time to save the other girl (sacrifice). My question is, why was the cherry blossom tree blooming though Saho is dead?
You can just be yourself. Do things your own way, one step at a time. You'll get there. Just be yourself, you'll be fine."
~Fruit Basket
May 10, 2014 12:12 AM
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Jul 2018
564612
Pretty good episode and definitely darker than the most of Mushishi episodes.
It showed nicely,how terrifying can humans be....and to be honest,I did not really expect cutting of heads and swapping them.
May 10, 2014 1:02 AM

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Aug 2012
3305
It's been awhile since I saw Cotton Changeling but I don't really have any qualms about saying this was probably the most disturbing/creepy episode of Mushishi for me. I mean, just . . . wow. And yet, it was still unmistakably beautiful.

Next week's episode interests me. I don't know whether to be anxious or ecstatic since I don't know whether or not this was something included in the manga.
May 10, 2014 1:12 AM

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Feb 2012
854
This episode was pretty fucked up. He's got to be tired of this shit, all he wanted was to see the tree in bloom.
May 10, 2014 2:01 AM

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Jul 2009
184
So is there episode next week? Because it was written in the preview "Mushishi Special" not the next episode name.
May 10, 2014 2:31 AM

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May 2011
369
Never expected Ginko to deal with an ax murderer.
May 10, 2014 5:10 AM

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Jul 2012
2247
Well this episode had a surprising twist to it.

Great episode!!!
May 10, 2014 5:43 AM

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Feb 2014
126
Ginko, Mushishi and Arsonist...
I walk a lonely road because everyone else fell off
May 10, 2014 5:44 AM

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Apr 2009
5713
Yeah, never trust the gardener.
I almost started thinking that Mushishi was getting a bit lighthearted this season, glad to be proved wrong with this episode.
Steel Ball Run anime when?
May 10, 2014 5:56 AM

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Dec 2011
935
Well this was one disturbing and creepy episode to watch.

I feel sorry about Saho withering away and that guy really didn't have all of his marbles.

Good thing Ginko managed to save that poor girl before she became Saho's new pot to be put in.
"Let justice be done, though the heavens fall."
May 10, 2014 9:48 AM

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Oct 2012
223
It's really amazing how Mushishi tends to change the pace from each episode, dark episodes to happy endings. And there's always a moral to each episode.
May 10, 2014 10:20 AM
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Apr 2014
71
Holy shit. What an episode.
Although Saho loved Mansuku for taking care of her...the way the entire family did things was...well you know...it's pretty simple to say it, yet complicated. Perfect title. Saho must have felt sad the entire time.
RuinsInTheWindMay 10, 2014 10:37 AM
May 10, 2014 10:30 AM

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Prochy said:
I love this series, but hate the voice actors, dub was much better.

no.
Dub = fake crap. Always.
May 10, 2014 12:03 PM

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Oct 2013
1753
Is it me or the animation quality in this episode was top notch? Probably because of the scenery in this episode, it was beautiful.

So..what was that mushi again? Kodama? I really wonder how Saho was born because of this mushi. But damn, losing one of the five senses. O_o

That gardener was a real sob. Yeah, completely going yandere mode and beheading his customers. Creepy.

Masaku and his generations are to blame too. They did all sorts of evil just to keep Saho alive. Completely Inane.

Ginko at work. Burning the house to stop that insane gardener/doc and saving the woman being killed. Nice job Ginko.

Liked the ending, first sad episode of Mushishi and liked it how Saho and gardener were not seen at all, I guess they are dead.

Can't wait for next episode now. ^^
May 10, 2014 12:48 PM

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2186
I love the darker episodes of Mushishi. It almost seems like this episode came straight out of a horror story. And wow, how great was the music?
May 10, 2014 2:50 PM

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Each episode has a different atmosphere and all of them are done masterfully. Ginko the pyromaniac was definitely the best part, especially because for a moment I thought that guy was gonna attack him.

Anyway, is the next episode gonna be double length?
5 main aspects I base my ratings on:
1. Did DramaEnthusiast make a thread about it?
2. Is it better than Breaking Bad?
3. Did MellowJello recommend the shit out of it?
4. Has it caused a (very entertaining) shitstorm on MAL?
5. Is it actually good?

Scratch the fifth point, it's not very relevant...
May 10, 2014 8:27 PM

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2641
lucky him, he gets saho at her prime.
May 10, 2014 10:57 PM

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Such a great episode; the best of the season so far! I hope the darker themes will continue on for the rest of the season!
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May 11, 2014 3:21 AM

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Oct 2013
791
I didnt expect the head grafting at the end...
May 11, 2014 10:16 AM

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693
Just wow. That’s messed up. Beauty is poisonous… Poor Saho ;_;

When the cherry blossom tree bloomed and withered with the fire, I think it was the mushi living in it the one that wilted—Saho’s vitality, imbued by the Kodama, flourished and faded along with it.

And yet the tree came back from the ashes.
Perhaps it never needed sacrifices to begin with. Nature has its own balance—whether humans intercede or not, it would’ve overcome its death one way or another.
Or maybe he did sacrifice himself to keep it alive. He had no place to be without Saho, after all.

Oh, the mystery that is life.
I think, then procrastinate.
Therefore, I am.
May 11, 2014 10:34 AM

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Could the special next week be a 40-minute long The Ragged Road episode? Otherwise, I've got no clue.
May 11, 2014 11:50 AM

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emeraldrosary said:
tingy said:
emeraldrosary said:

Speaking of Saho, that gardener was nuts. He cut peoples head's off? That is like one of the most gruesome things I've seen yet in Mushishi.

And surprise surprise it's actually a human that's the major problem in this episode rather than a mushi. This is why some people say humans can be more terrifying then the worst monster. Not that mushi's are monsters, but you get what I mean.

Yes! Holy crap his family had been cutting people's heads off for generations! So messed up. But I guess the mushi was great at entrancing people. I was suspicious right when he asked if the girl was healthy...Anyways, I liked what you said about how the problem here in this episode was mainly the humans (although of course, influenced by a mushi). Sometimes when humans get incredibly attached to something, they may lose all reason.
This episode shows us what can happen when a human let's themselves get taken over by their emotions and obsessions. The mushishi that was keeping Saho alive managed to live over several centuries. If Ginko hadn't shown up when he did, I bet the gardener's family would've continued this sick tradition.

After thinking about this episode for a while I got a question. You know what I want to know? What kinds of people were sacrificed? Since Saho is a girl does that mean they required female sacrifices? What freaks me out even more is that the generations of gardeners might have actually sacrificed their own mothers/wives to prolong Saho's life. A terrifying thought.


Fabulous points (all of them quoted), but I'd take it one step further on your point about the female relatives of the family in perhaps wondering if even more perverse shit might not of happened....if get what I'm saying. 0_o

I mean, think about....why is it always males of this family that seem to take on this familial obligation to 'care for' Saho?? Why would it have taken such an extreme turn? What I'm wondering is at what point did her body finally 'grow' into a visual adult-aged appearance? I mean, the that younger current gardener of that family was acting it seemed more than taking care of her out of family obligation--it would more so that, at least imho, seem like that of an obsessive lover sort of vibe. His last line definitely seemed disturbing of being 'insane' because of loving her so much and how this has seem to ended like that w/ several generations of males in his family.

I'd go so far as to put it out there that perhaps some of those generations of men may have even had sex feelings/relations w/ Saho (w/ Mansuke and I would assume maybe his son [that gardeners grandfather] probably being the only ones to possibly not have done such a thing). I mean, maybe I'm crazy for thinking it or reading into too hard, but that's the unsettling vibe I get. Awesomely dark episode though, I liked it!

EDIT:
jiraiya_sensei said:
Saho getting older fast reminds me of Mother Gothel. Damn though those gardeners, they're just exploiting Saho.

For all the disturbing thoughts that crossed my mind, the one that bothered me the most is whether the generations of gardeners were having sex with Saho regularly. That's probably why they're so obsessed.


LOL.....I see great minds think alike. Good to see I'm not the only one that caught that vibe, either. ;)
MsDivaMay 11, 2014 12:09 PM
May 11, 2014 2:37 PM

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Jan 2014
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It felt like the first few moments were leading to nothing interesting, but the conclusion of this episode made this episode so great. Also pumped for the next 'special' episode. I expect an episode maybe something like Ginko's past, but I would really enjoy another 40 minute episode aswell :P
May 11, 2014 2:47 PM
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MsDiva said:
I'd go so far as to put it out there that perhaps some of those generations of men may have even had sex feelings/relations w/ Saho (w/ Mansuke and I would assume maybe his son [that gardeners grandfather] probably being the only ones to possibly not have done such a thing). I mean, maybe I'm crazy for thinking it or reading into too hard, but that's the unsettling vibe I get. Awesomely dark episode though, I liked it!
A very good yet very unsettling observation. That would explain why we don't wee any female gardeners both in the current time period and in the flashback.

The only girl we do see in both time periods is Saho. A truly dark episode compared to the previous episodes. This might be my favorite episode yet, in terms of creepiness, Ginko's reaction to the gardener, and themes of human madness and obsession.
May 11, 2014 6:27 PM

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That's my type of girl.
lol
7/10 for this episode.
Isayama Hajime should be awarded The Manga with The Highest Inconsistencies of Characters' Appearances.
He keeps performing multiple plastic surgeries on those Shingeki No Kyojin characters in a SINGLE chapter.
Yes, I've read up to the latest chapter of Shingeki No Kyojin manga.
Forced myself to read through the kidsketching chapters after the anime's ended. At least from now on, I only have to go through the hell once a month.
Patiently awaiting SNK TV/movie/OVA anime-sequel.
The 2015 SNK live-action movie would probably suck.
May 11, 2014 7:02 PM

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TheSusurrous said:
Could the special next week be a 40-minute long The Ragged Road episode? Otherwise, I've got no clue.

I'm betting it's going to be some sort of live-action "making of" thing.
Somewhere, there is an unplugged toaster sitting on a Coleman stove.

Does it feel lonely?
May 11, 2014 8:46 PM

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Oh my goodness. The episode this time is the most twisted compared to the previous ones. Still pretty good though.
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May 12, 2014 5:02 AM

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2984
man that was kidna creepy in the end.

did they kinda hint that the tree would strike again? idk
"Urushibara Ruka. The mannerisms and voice of a woman... No... More feminine than any woman. But he's a guy. Taller than Mayuri, but so very thin... But he's a guy. Looks great in a miko outfit... But he's a guy. It's already twilight And yet, it's so hot. The cicadas are crying. But... He's a guy."
May 12, 2014 5:04 AM

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get firing up to waiting for the next 'special' episode ... :)
"The Slave is the have-not, the oppressed one with nothing to spare.
But because the Slave is in that despairing situation, having nothing, it can kill the Emperor !"
May 12, 2014 10:19 AM
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Did anyone notice similarities between this episode and episodes 5-6 of Aoi Bungaku? They both involved people going crazy when they saw a cherry blossom in bloom, and coincidentally both had the element of decapitating people as well. Do you think they were both based on Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita? (it is explicitly stated that episodes 5-6 of Aoi Bungaku were a loose adaptation of this novel).
May 12, 2014 10:56 AM

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jbeat said:
My question is, why was the cherry blossom tree blooming though Saho is dead?
Maybe when the body fully passed the "spirit" returned to the tree?

Quite a few dark episodes this season (3 in a row?), more so than I remember from the original. But then again, it's been a long time since I watched it. Gotta love the interesting twist the author adds to each story.
May 12, 2014 8:55 PM

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Jan 2011
318
perfect episode. just that
this anime is so wonderfull
Gintama: "The blade is not to cut down your enemies
Nor is it to cut away your own weakness
A sword isnt meant to protect your body
A sword is meant for protecting your soul"
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