 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | FUNIMATION ENTERTAINMENT | | | ▪ | ASPECT RATIO: | | 16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN | | | ▪ | AUDIO: | | ENGLISH AND JAPANESE DD 2.0 | | | ▪ | RUNNING TIME: | | 100 MIN | | | ▪ | RATING: | | TV 14 | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 10/23/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 12/16/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | SCOTT CAMPBELL |
“Neither good nor evil. They are the purest form. Vulgar and strange. They have inspired fear in humans since the dawn of time and have, over the ages, come to be known as “Mushi.”
Mushi-shi continues to be a really meaningful and artful representation of the spirituality contained in nature and the living world that surrounds us. It’s almost impossible to actually explain plot and happenings within this series without doing so in a very open ended way. The disc opens with a traveler caught in the mountain’s shadow and a divine beast killed by one for the sake of another. As a human assumes the role of a god, sacrifice is balanced by salvation, and honorable death is invited in the night. Next we hear the story of a woman who has become old before her time, quite literally, and a boy abandoned to his fate. The bond between the two is unseen at first, but naïve desire to salvage lost hope will instead ensure a curse’s survival – the first step upon a long and lonely path. The third story is one of not wanting to give into what life supposedly already has planned for us. A young girl fleeing the future will find her means of escape: A body embraced, the sun’s warmth becomes false hope that life persists within. A bridge providing passage in one direction of travel only will seem like a saving grace, but may actually be more of a curse than not taking it at all. And lastly for volume three, we witness the story of a special child – the progeny of a bamboo thicket, the bane of a neighboring village. The boy, who is without a doubt forever cursed, repays childhood friendship blinded by fear. Love first selfish without intent begets an end far from desired. As usual, all of the stories, and all of the different situations are so well thought out and put together – it makes for a wholly relaxing and involving watch. The animation is still top-notch – still wonderful. It has this amazing way of breathing full and vibrant life into everything it wants us to believe is actually alive and growing. The vegetation and setting in each episode is as much a character as the human characters themselves. The trees and the grass and everything representing nature in Mushi-Shi has had the greatest care put into it. Sun shining through the canopy of a forest is almost more amazing in this animation than it could ever be in real life. This anime is really one with life and nature – David Suzuki would probably even give it two thumbs up! Again, we’re treated to a nice booklet with a lot of art and information made available within it. This particular book focuses mostly on character design artwork, all of which is really good, showing different angles and expressions. As well as that, it also has character information for each of the main players in each of the episodes on this disc. It’s nice to be able to watch the show and than get a bit of further insight from the booklet afterwards. It also makes these DVDs more like collector’s items, rather than just like any other DVD without such attractive extras. It should be noted that all the paper and all the card used in the manufacture of this product is beautiful. It looks like each book and DVD slipcover was made by hand or something – it’s always so obvious that the people responsible for making Mushi-Shi what it is here in North America really care about how this product is represented. It’s a real treat for fans and collectors. EXTRAS:
The disc extras include Director Interview #4 (Sound Direction), Director Interview #5 (Shooting Direction), Textless Songs, Trailers, 8 pg Insert Booklet, and Mushi-Shi Art Card. IN SUMMARY:
Mushi-Shi is art in motion. It’s so rare that such an artful piece of animation comes along that can make so little noise, and yet mean so much. Very highly recommended to a mature and intelligent audience looking for something to speak to them.
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