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Saturday, 03 March 2007 |
 | | ▪ | PUBLISHED BY: | | DEL REY | | | ▪ | ART/AUTHOR: | | YUKI URSHIBARA | | | | ▪ | FORMAT/COLOR: | | JAPANESE FORMAT/ BW | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 233 | | | ▪ | RATED: | | T | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 01/30/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 03/04/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | SCOTT CAMPBELL |
This first volume of Mu Shi Shi won the Kodansha manga of the year award and the reasons shine through from each page. It is unique in how the art and story are both beautiful, but on a higher artistic level than the majority of really well drawn books. It has a wispy painterly kind of feel and a few sections are even done in water color paints. It’s obvious from the start that this book possesses both a mature look and story, but is also wonderful because it could appeal to people young and old. Much like Miyazaki’s many works (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, etc.), the final product is whimsical enough to appeal to a younger audience, but also has so much to offer a more mature reader. A book that can entertain like this is often hard to come by, so it’s something worth mentioning.
Mu Shi Shi is about a “mushishi” named Ginko. Being a mushishi, Ginko has made it his life work to learn about and understand “mushi”, which cover a wide variety of small creatures and parasites that often appear as snails, worms, and amoebas in mass. Mushi seem to be both natural and spiritual, often taking on a consciousness and interacting with people based on human-like decision making. They seem to represent the spirit of nature and the earth. They are a force that can be both harmful and helpful and so need to be respected and understood. There’s an underlying message of “coexist with nature, respect it, understand it, and keep a balance.” With balance and understanding, both humans and their environment can coexist is a respectful relationship that can benefit both parties in the long run. It is an important message that cannot be made clear enough, especially in our day and age of escalating environmental difficulties. Ginko travels through a land that looks much like Japan, but set in a 1600’s type era. The story is split into chapters, each covering a conflict or situation that involves mushi and people. Some are happy, some are sad, and some seem to straddle the line between the two. Everything is very natural and calm for the most part, and peoples’ actions and motives are well thought out. The story is extremely well written and structured, leaving you with few questions that truly need answering. It tells a story in a fashion that seems to be going out of style – the “old” way of not being too flashy, but still having something special at its core. This book has no superficial gimmick – it is appealing based on true respectable value.
IN SUMMARY:
This manga has a lot to offer to a wide variety of audiences. It is calm and collected, and a quiet joy to read. You may find yourself wanting to go live in a log cabin in the woods, as this book makes living with nature seem like the answer to many of our day to day problems, despite the dangers that the “mushi” often present. |
