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Urushibara Yuki - Mushishi, vol. 06-07 (Eng. trans.)
Thu, May. 28th, 2009 05:50 pmIt's always so difficult to blog about this series, since the volumes almost always consist of disconnected one-shots. Some of them connect back to what we know of the mushi and the mushishi, but many of them are simple stand-alone case studies of different mushi. I say simple, but almost all of them are haunting and lovely and ephemeral.
My favorites in these two volumes are, of course, the one with the sakura of DOOM, the one about heaven's thread and a missing bride, and the one about the family retainers. I am particularly amused to find that Urushibara seems just as obsessed with sakura of DOOM as me, since the story in volume 7 is the second sakura of DOOM story so far in the series. And she has little notes on sakura in volume 7 as well.
Speaking of which, I cannot remember well enough if the author notes are a newer thing in the series or not, but I appreciate them a great deal and enjoy them a lot.
The story about heaven's thread has particularly grown on me because of its sweetness; although many stories in the series can end well, most of them tend to be haunting and slightly discomforting, or they leave me with the feeling that people have narrowly avoided catastrophe. I also have the feeling that although most stories are about mushi, what they illustrate are very human foibles. As such, I'm glad this story had a happy ending, and I particularly love the image of someone tied down to earth very tenuously through human bonds. Although the narrative itself is somewhat similar to those of animal brides (fox wives, selkies, etc.), I like the way the story does away with the coercion and focuses on the woman not as a magical, mythical being, but rather as a slightly strange but completely human woman.
Again, my memory of previous volumes sucks because a) the volumes are released so rarely and b) my memory sucks in general, but I feel as though Urushibara is adding more to what we know of the mushishi and Ginko, albeit in tiny drips throughout. The soul-eating mushi in volume 7 connects back with Ginko's earliest memories, and I love that we see Tanyu once again.
Does anyone know if the anime covers everything in the manga or not? I've seen up through episode 20, and it's been nice reading parts of the manga that I haven't seen animated yet.
My favorites in these two volumes are, of course, the one with the sakura of DOOM, the one about heaven's thread and a missing bride, and the one about the family retainers. I am particularly amused to find that Urushibara seems just as obsessed with sakura of DOOM as me, since the story in volume 7 is the second sakura of DOOM story so far in the series. And she has little notes on sakura in volume 7 as well.
Speaking of which, I cannot remember well enough if the author notes are a newer thing in the series or not, but I appreciate them a great deal and enjoy them a lot.
The story about heaven's thread has particularly grown on me because of its sweetness; although many stories in the series can end well, most of them tend to be haunting and slightly discomforting, or they leave me with the feeling that people have narrowly avoided catastrophe. I also have the feeling that although most stories are about mushi, what they illustrate are very human foibles. As such, I'm glad this story had a happy ending, and I particularly love the image of someone tied down to earth very tenuously through human bonds. Although the narrative itself is somewhat similar to those of animal brides (fox wives, selkies, etc.), I like the way the story does away with the coercion and focuses on the woman not as a magical, mythical being, but rather as a slightly strange but completely human woman.
Again, my memory of previous volumes sucks because a) the volumes are released so rarely and b) my memory sucks in general, but I feel as though Urushibara is adding more to what we know of the mushishi and Ginko, albeit in tiny drips throughout. The soul-eating mushi in volume 7 connects back with Ginko's earliest memories, and I love that we see Tanyu once again.
Does anyone know if the anime covers everything in the manga or not? I've seen up through episode 20, and it's been nice reading parts of the manga that I haven't seen animated yet.