8.224 minSeason 2 • Episode 20
LatestA restless man, Kanta, on his way home to his wife and young daughter (Futaba), sits down to rest in a forest. He is tired and thirsty so he eats a red fruit that was lying on the ground near him, and gives thanks to the plum. Some time after this, he starts having vivid memories both in his dreams and while awake of times going back before his birth. He goes looking for a huge tree but finding it does not make him happy.
Ginko, a Mushi master, travels from place to place researching the Mushi and helping people who are suffering because of it.
Score
Toshio Masuda's sparse guitar — silence never sounded this loud.
Cinematography
Every frame could hang in a gallery. Studio Artland went OFF.
Writing
Yuki Urushibara's manga adapted with religious devotion.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Mushi draw heavily from Shinto's concept of kami — spirits inhabiting all natural phenomena, not just the pretty ones. Urushibara essentially built a whole cosmology from 'what if pollution was alive and lonely?'
The anime deliberately breaks chronological order from the manga, creating Ginko's journey as a loop — you'll notice he never ages, never arrives, never leaves for good. The structure IS the theme.
JP
