Mushishi

While I absolutely loved this movie, I feel I'm highly biased. The anime and manga were some of the best I've ever seen as a long-experienced anime/manga fan. I'm more than impressed that something from a manga series could be turned into such a beautiful masterpiece. But it's not for those expecting something lighthearted or fun. It's a very deep, very spiritual, and somewhat slow movie. It helps to have seen other classic Japanese film first. It helps to know something of their culture. Otherwise, I can understand why the film could be confusing to most. Realize that the plot of this film was lifted from various episodes of the anime and merged together in a way they were not originally written, which might account for it being confusing at times. But since I knew the stories already, I had no trouble seeing the genius it took to write it as it was. So this film is simply not for everyone. Yet, for what it's attempting, it hits the mark perfectly. I dare say it even improved upon the source. I was blown away. I imagine that even if I couldn't follow the complex spiritual story I still would have at least appreciated it for it's sheer beauty and originality. Realize also that purpose of the movie isn't about any particular message. It's merely a spiritual journey that is beautiful and unpredictable. The message is dark, but the anime wasn't always like that. I would still recommend the anime first, then watching this movie. It helps a lot. In comparison to the anime it's much darker, much less spiritually moving, and a lot harder to understand. But they really aren't worth comparing since they are done in such extremely different styles of storytelling and medium. Yet, if you enjoyed this movie you will definitely enjoy the anime. Please watch it, it's available on DVD in both excellent subtitles and excellent dubbing (I'd recommend the dub.) And specifically, this movies plot corresponds to episodes 3,7,12, and 20, although I would also recommend episode 1 as an introduction to the series.

I have noticed that the positive comments so far have mostly said 1. "I'm a big fan of the original manga" and 2. "It was beautifully shot". Together, these phrases sum up exactly what's wrong with Mushishi. It is a high production value film that is content to appeal solely to a relatively small subset of its potential audience.

I was terribly disappointed by this film. It's not that it was simply slow, leaden, plodding, etc. I can fully enjoy a film that does all those things if there's a payoff, if it ultimately makes sense and gives you a sense of there being a complete wholeness to the underlying concepts.

This did not happen.

Clearly I don't live up to point #1 - I am not a manga fan.

OK, so let me say something positive - point #2 is true. It was beautifully shot and the production values are excellent. A very nice film to look at.

My ultimate impression - if you are not already a fan of the manga, avoid, avoid, avoid.

I was expecting Mushishi to be a wild fantastical ride full of snazzy special effects and martial arts. I was sorely disappointed with the latter, and more so when the movie had decided to jump right into the plot of things, with little explanation of what's going on.

Based on the Japanese manga written by Yuki Urushibara, Mushishi, or The "Bugmaster" follows the trials and tribulations of a young mystical shaman Ginko, who travels from location to location, healing people who are infected by the "mushi" creatures, spreading like the plague. However, the filmmakers decided to have made this for fan boys, and doesn't dwell too long with the backstories or relationship details between characters.

Started off quite impressively with a special effects shot of a huge landslide, the movie thereafter degenerated into a series of incomprehensible events that signals that the movie isn't really for non-fans. I was confused by the lack of explanation, either through dialogue or visuals, of what's happening. Imagine watching Star Wars with little or no explanation of "The Force" - things just happen, and you move on.

Come to think of it, it must resembles Star Wars in many ways. You have a manipulator of mystical energy, and have various practitioners belonging to various factions, and you have lineage issues with the lead. You even have a character with horns on the face, like Darth Maul.

For its length, I was hoping for something more epic., with the potential of being a classic. But sadly that was not to be.

This film manages to capture or evoke roughly the same kind of gentle and mysterious feel about nature and Mushi when I was watching the anime.

Is it absolutely necessary for one to have watched the anime or read the manga? After reading the comments here and also reflecting upon my own feelings, I guess the best answer I can come up with is: give this movie a try if you are someone who likes to be closer to nature and life itself.

Despite the slow pace of the movie, you will not be totally disappointed if you are hoping for at least a slightly more engaging story plot to emerge somewhere. You see, after about an hour or more into show, you will find yourself worrying for the protagonist and waiting to find out if he will find his way out of his predicament.

Honestly, I wish to give this movie a higher rating. However, for the benefit of the those who haven't watched the anime or read the manga, I hope 7 will be a fair point of reference for them.

The movie 'Mushishi' requires a certain amount of patience to watch, if you're expecting fighting and major heart-racing theme then this is not the movie for you. Mushishi is a beautiful movie, got me to tears. Simply the movie is slow-paced but has a lot of positive points like the animation being used and color textures and mostly being pointed out by viewers are the scenery. At first the movie gets a bit boring but it does get interesting later, it took me while to figure out the scenes with the woman and the little boy was flash-backs of Ginko's past, and the flash-back did play a powerful role in the story of the movie.

If you're a patient type of person with a broader understanding and tolerance for films, Mushishi would be a film for audiences like so, but if you're searching for fighting scenes or something that makes your heart race from Mushishi then make a pass on this film.

Another thing is that please do not even comment on films just because you simply hated it or it did not have what you wanted because it's pretty useless to comment on something that doesn't hold your interest, instead simple make a pass and forget about the movie, it'll help calm your unsatisfied heart.