All I can tell you is to expect a slow, potent burn for every episode. As an anthology series, you can sincerely pick out any single episode and be fine. It's recommended to watch the first episode first just for some explanation on one of the common terms in the series, but even that is not necessary at all. This goes for the second season, too. This does NOT help what I was talking about earlier... it's likely that you either won't have the patience to sit through the molasses pace of each story, won't like the loose and formless nature of the entire series, or won't have the base personality type to care for the time period and ideas of the stories in the first place.
If, and only if, you think you're a patient person that wants to experience a slow but soulful collection of supernatural light horror/drama/psychological stories, then check Mushishi out. I feel lucky to be able to enjoy Mushishi, but I cannot recommend it to many of my friends for good reasons. You have to have a strong will and specific aptitude to really like it.
All that being said, as a personal score I give it an easy 10. If you're the kind of person that Mushishi is trying to reach out to, it's hard for it to *not* be a 9 or 10. Just please do not go into this expecting something that's meant to appeal to everybody, like Monster or Cowboy Bebop.
