Spotlight Manga: Mushishi MAL Manga Information Page: Mushishi MAL Score - 8.73 (by 2142 users) Ranked - #22 Popularity - #189 For the next week I would like to have a discussion about the manga that focuses on the key elements that we here on MAL use to critically rate a manga: Art, Characters, Story, and Enjoyment. I would like everyone to approach this thread as if you were going to write a review and structure your initial post like this: Art - insert rating Characters - insert rating Story - insert rating Enjoyment - insert rating Art - discuss any pros and cons of the art styling used in the series, try to include some specifics. Character - describe any of the things you liked or didn't care for in regards to specific characters in the series etc... If you are having trouble writing up a review or coming up with specific pros and cons, please don't worry. Just do the best you can with it and if you can only write two or three sentences about any of the 4 elements then that's OK. Not everyone here is currently at a level which will allow them to articulate their thoughts and opinions. After your initial post is made you can feel free to civilly discuss issues of contention. I am sure there will be many opinions expressed here that some of us will disagree upon and criticise and it is for that reason that this entire club exists. So I hope everyone has fun and I am really looking forward to seeing how this discussion will develop. RESULTS OF THE YOU RE-VOTE POLL Mushishi was PERMANENTLY inducted intp the club Manga list: 21 Yes - 91.3% 2 No - 8.6% 41 Don't know this manga - 64.0% of the total number polled 0 Abstained - 0.0% of the total number polled --------------------------------------------------------------------------- RESULTS OF THE YOU RE-VOTE POLL Mushishi REMAINS in the club Manga list: 16 Yes - 88.8% 2 No - 11.1% 40 Don't know this manga - 71.4% of the total number polled 0 Abstained - 0.0% of the total number polled On 20 April 2011, this Manga will receive a re-vote -------------------------------------------------------------------------- RESULTS OF THE YOU DECIDE POLL Mushishi was inducted into the club Manga list: 16 Yes - 94.1% 1 No - 5.8% 43 Don't know this manga - 71.6% of the total number polled 0 Abstained - 0.0% of the total number polled On 14 October 2011, this Manga will receive a re-vote |
santetjanApr 26, 2012 5:31 PM
| You do not beg the sun for mercy. |
| I know this has been asked a billion times but is there any scanlation groups that finished Mushishi project? According to Baka-Updates, J.A.C. Group had it up to chapter 35 only atm. Alternatively, I can read chinese scans ( 48/50 chapters ) but I don't trust their quality. And I really want to read this. |
| First: no, there are no proper scans floating around on the Internet. The only sure way to get a good English translation for the last three volumes is to get the physical book (singular, as, for some reason, the last three were only published in an omnibus). Second: I would love to hear from someone if it would matter, as far as being able to decide on one's opinion of the whole, to have read the final volumes, seeing as how Mushishi thus far has been wholly episodic. My first thought after reading the 7 volumes out there was a simple 'the anime did it better'. Which ideally accounts for absolutely nothing when considering whether to induct the manga. Unfortunately, here I feel it does. The art is technically solid, of a very consistent quality and a natural accompaniment to the stories, switching from the sharp to the hazy, from the crisp to the shaded whenever needed. The backgrounds are at times irksome by being wholly absent or a tad lifeless, while the characters are sometimes a bit too bereft of detail, but these are minor irritants. The stories should be intimately familiar to anyone who has watched the anime and pretty much follow the same pattern (yes, I should say that the anime copies the manga well), with main character Ginko stumbling upon a (usually problematic) situation caused by the mushi and often not so much resolving it as pointing out how to either live with the mushi or to be able to avoid them. Most stories are of a simple nature and effective because of it: it's the simplicity of folk stories and of the ability to get to the centre of things. As a result, most if not all single stories can be satisfyingly explained and wrapped up within a rather limited number of pages, employing only a few characters and locations, and doing away with superfluous additions. And yet, there is something missing. By being devoid of colour, deprived of movement and unable to produce sound, the mushi simply do not feel as alive as they do in the anime. By being and remaining still, they do not induce anticipation. In short, they do not instill awe. The bridge to the moon, the living swamp: in the anime these were big, impressive, unknowably protean, primaeval. In the manga, they almost become objects. To me, this meant that what I could consider to be the essence of the entire series suddenly came up somewhat lacking and I find I have difficulty finding some other reason to really support the manga. Perhaps I'm unfair in placing so much importance on this one matter, but it does mean that, currently, I'm on the fence. |
| You do not beg the sun for mercy. |
santetjan said: And yet, there is something missing. By being devoid of colour, deprived of movement and unable to produce sound, the mushi simply do not feel as alive as they do in the anime. By being and remaining still, they do not induce anticipation. In short, they do not instill awe. The bridge to the moon, the living swamp: in the anime these were big, impressive, unknowably protean, primaeval. In the manga, they almost become objects. To me, this meant that what I could consider to be the essence of the entire series suddenly came up somewhat lacking and I find I have difficulty finding some other reason to really support the manga. Perhaps I'm unfair in placing so much importance on this one matter, but it does mean that, currently, I'm on the fence. I've read the first volume and basically came to this same conclusion. It's not too often that a manga is completely upstaged by an Anime adaption, but in this case it seems to truly be the case. I wish I had read the manga before seeing the animated version because at this point I'm having difficultly continuing. I'm having a hard time allowing my imagination to deviate from what Hiroshi Nagahama brought to life with motion, color and sound. All of which were key elements in allowing me to enjoy the animated series. Without those elements, this manga now feels empty. Speaking to the art in the first vol.; I didn't find it consistent. Some drawings were full of imagination and the use of effective shadowing and detail, while most of the pages are as ,Santetjan already mentioned, devoid of background with minimal character definition. I'm swaying towards a no here, but feel it's unfair for doing so. Perhaps I'll stop reading and just vote I don't know because I feel like I've been tainted by the animated adaptation. |
Orion1Apr 13, 2011 10:21 PM
| I don't have much time so I'll keep it short here. First of all I think I need to address something as a general point of view of mine: A bad/good anime adaptation of a book or manga is never a reference for my judgment of the written material. These are two different medium and when I'm deciding whether a book is good or not I shall not compare it to anime but other manga/books. With this point of view I consider santetjan's and Orion1's judgments unfair as we are voting for a manga to be represented in the manga list as an exemplary manga (count the number of times I repeated the word "manga" and you might see my point better) among other titles in this medium. Now to the actual discussion of Mushishi: What I loved the most about this manga is how the art and theme of the story compliment each other. Mushi are primitive and simple beings and the simpler the mushi are the simpler the art gets. In cases that the mushi are more complicated or have more power, the art specially the contrasts get more complex as well. Another thing that caught my attention was the POV and position of each movement of the characters. They were interesting, fresh and well drawn in my opinion. Yet when one looks at the manga as a whole, the art has such a soothing effect in general. With slightly curved edges and watercolor effect of the shadows, Ginko's world seems unearthly and soft. The manga offers many stories and one of the highlights of each volume for me was reading the mangaka's afterwords. In most mangas I've read, afterwords are just pointless babbling but in this case Urushibara uses the afterwords to shortly point out the natural event that inspired each story. I loved reading how watching a snake hunt a mouse inspired one of the most interesting stories of volume 6 and etc. The characters in this manga are well written for the most. Considering the episodic nature of this manga, very few characters are involved in more than one story but even in the short span of each story the mangaka manages to offer enough information about the characters for them not to feel too flat or uninteresting. The main character, Ginko, shows a great deal of development specially in the last two volumes as he gets to deal with more problems regarding the involvement of human beings and the Kouki or the source of life. I was really eager to know how this manga ends. What would happen to Ginko and etc. And I think the manga wrapped things up very nicely. This manga had a nice flow to it and I was glad to find out that the manga keeps this flow even till the last few pages. All in all, this manga is one of the select few titles that I think I can recommend to almost anybody. A great read indeed. My vote is a BIG FAT YES. P.S: This manga has lots of shadows and highlights, I don't think reading the scanlations would be sufficient enough to judge the art but that's just my personal opinion. |
     |
| I'm curious Kokuro if you watched the animated version first or read the manga. But I have to concede that you are absolutely correct about my judgement being unfair. I altered the voting no part in my previous statement. I'm still going to either have to abstain or just stop reading because the animation ruined whatever chance the manga had at becoming exceptional in my case. I'll see how far I can get, but thus far I've just been bored mostly because I already know what's going to happen. Unless there are some major alternate developments in the Manga I don't see any reason for me to continue other than to look at the few very detailed pen and ink drawings. I'm also curious a little to know if some story arcs might be a little different than the adaptation. But to reiterate, it is completely unfair to judge the manga based on a different medium. In this case though it's hard not to. |
| @Orion1: The anime in this case only covers (not completely) stories up to the second chapter of Volume 6. So all the stories and events of Volumes 6-10 are completely new to whoever who's watched the anime before. I watched the anime long before I even gave reading the manga a thought. The anime is one of my most favorites and I've re-watched it so many times. But the manga, specially the volumes not covered by the anime, is really a great read in my opinion. I specifically was interested to know how the story ends. A factor that was missing from the anime. If it's too hard for you to read the chapters that were covered in the anime, I think you can simply skip to the stories that weren't covered. The episodic nature of the manga helps in this case. |
|
| I haven't seen the anime, but I don't feel like there's really anything missing. I quite like the minimalistic feel. Anyway, most of my thoughts are already covered here, and it's a pretty solid yes as far as I've read. But I'd also just like to bring up that this despite in constantly being compared to Kino's Journey, I'd say it's actually a lot more similar to Black Jack. The only major difference is the switch from medical aspects to supernatural ones. Mushishi's style and lack of misplaced slapstick puts it ahead of Black Jack, IMO, although at this point I'd say I prefer the good doctor himself to Ginko. |
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