I know what you're all thinking. "Oh boy, he leaves the club hanging for two months, and now he's here to preach to us about anime." Sure, you are not wrong, per say, but nevertheless, I plead for you to hear me out. For today, I shall be introducing you to the beautiful show called Mushishi.

Mushishi is an episodic Seinen anime that follows a travelling sort of supernatural doctor, known as a Mushishi, named Ginko. A Mushishi is someone who is an expert on the beings known as Mushi, and is well versed in "handling" them. Mushi, on the other hand, are a sort of other-dimensional creatures who live mostly on a different plane of existence than humans. They don't follow our laws of physics, and are neither truly dead or alive, really. They're sort of like animals, with dangerous or awe inspiring abilities. When they come into contact with humans in this seemingly feudal Japanese type era, the results often lead to what people believe to be supernatural, or sometimes divine, events. There are countless species of Mushi, and each one can cause different effects when encountering humans.

Ginko has spent presumably most of his life as a Mushishi. He's an expert on identifying and naming the different kinds of Mushi, as well as "curing" humans who are "infected" with them. As far as mysterious main characters go, he's one of the best. He's capable of deep emotion, humor, and is capable and confident with his abilities. He's not cold and calculating towards people, nor is he perfect and flawless with his solutions. He's human through and through, and doesn't fall victim to any Gary Sue issues many main characters do in episodic shows where they are the only real main character.

In terms of depth, Mushishi has it aplenty. Not just as an anime, but as a work of fiction, Mushishi has very few rivals in the episodic sort of genre. It's on par with all time greats like The Twilight Zone, in my honest opinion. Although solemn and, more often than not, sad, it never goes so far as to feel as if it revels in it's bleakness. It's not edgy or dark for the sake of being dark, and it tackles it's subject matter in an extremely mature and thought provoking way. The different kinds of Mushi that Ginko encounters are creative and lean into the themes of the episode at hand, and the subjects Mushishi tackles pull no punches or shy away from possibly taking the "controversial" route. Death is not to be feared, and is truly seen as a part of life, in a way no other anime has ever achieved. Mushishi tackles moral themes in a truly mature and balanced way, that truly put it a step above the rest in content.

The character development is another tremendous aspect. Although you may not always find yourself crying, Mushishi finds a way to make you emotionally attached to characters you'll only know for 24 minutes in ways you would never anticipate. Every character feels human and acts as such, with unique motivations and circumstances, and the Mushi they encounter range from nuisances, to deathbringers, to even useful and co-habitable. Ginko himself never feels out of place or like a tension cutter, and only serves to add to these episodic characters arcs and development. He's a truly fantastic foil who manages to have depth and an interesting story of his own.

The OST and Opening are irreplaceable. You will never find yourself skipping the opening or ending, although for different reasons. The opening is a truly fantastic, albeit haunting, song, with catchy lyrics and a perfect tune to get you in the mood for the show. The ending is hollow and quiet, giving you a perfect backdrop to digest what you just saw, without rushing you to the next episode or detracting from the emotional journey you just took. The tracks throughout the episodes fit perfectly, and serve to add to the mood of each individual story. They don't overpower the dialogue or visuals, but support them perfectly.

Honestly, I could go on. I haven't touched on the art style, tremendous voice acting and direction, or fantastic pacing that add even more to this fantastic anime. However, I don't want to go on and on any more than I already have, and thus, I leave you with this. If you have a bad impression of anime and want to watch one show that can completely flip your views on it, I urge you to give Mushishi a chance. Thank you all, and good night.