STORY:
This is not as easy to review an episodic show since there is not really much of a story. It's basically about a man name Ginko who goes around and helps people with strange beings known as Mushi.
What are Mushi? Well, allow me to tell you. Mushi are the most basic forms of life in the world. They exist without any goals or any purposes aside from just simply "being". They are beyond shackles of the "goods" and "evil". Mushi can exist in countless forms and are capable of mimicking things from the natural world such as plants, diseases, and even phenomena like rainbows, for example.
Despite its episodic nature, I feel like it works well with it. The stories are well different and show us what has happened to the people who are contacted to the Mushi.
Though my only problem with the episodic nature is that sometimes the stories feel a little rushed. I have nothing wrong with any of the endings of the episodes since they do seem fit well with the situation with that certain episode.
The story gets a 9/10
Art:
The art in this is one of the best points in the show. The atmosphere is breathtaking and did get you invested into its world. The character designs never bothered me to be honest. It takes awhile for you to get adjusted to them.
The art gets a 9/10.
Sound:
I was not sure what to think of the sound at first but it is not that bad if you think about it. It might just be me but the opening reminds me of this song called "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers (maybe because of the beat or that they are both catchy).
The ending themes are all instrumental and really nice to listen to.
The soundtrack is really outstanding and I liked all the pieces of music in the show and didn't hate a single one.
The dub is really good. The voices seem to fit well with the characters and yeah they use the same actors sometimes, but there's nothing wrong with that. The most outstanding one is Ginko, played by Travis Willingham. I have nothing wrong the japanese version at all, it's just that I like the dub (though who knows when Aniplex will dub Mushishi Zoku Shou).
The sound gets 10/10.
Characters:
Well to make it easier on myself, I will talk about Ginko, the Mushi Master. Come to think of it, the Mushi Master reminds me of Ghostbusters for some reason.
In my opinion, he is one of the best characters I have seen in an anime. He has a certain charm to him. Since I watched this dubbed, I really liked his dub voice. I don't mind the japanese voice for him but I am just used to Travis Willingham as Ginko (though that would take a while for me if I wish to start Mushishi Zoku Shou since who knows when Aniplex will dub that).
Ginko is an interesting character. He seems to know more about the Mushi than we do and sometimes he might not be who we expect him to be.
The side characters had a purpose to be there and seem to be a purpose to be there. There are recurring characters but I shall not spoil them for you.
The characters gets a 7/10.
Enjoyment:
I really enjoyed this show. Not at one point did I feel like I was bored. The stories kept me interested.
There's not much I can say on my enjoyment. It gets an 8/10.
Overall:
This is one of the best anime I have ever seen. The atmosphere, Ginko, the soundtrack and the episodic nature is really good. Though I can understand if you don't like episodic-type shows.
Overall, I give this show a 9/10.
I recommend this to anyone who enjoys episodic-type shows.
