2014, 12 episodes plus a special:
AniDB;
sequel to
Mushishi
(2005-2006).
Mushi are supernatural creatures which are invisible to most people,
but which have an effect in the mundane world. Ginko, a mushi-shi, is
someone who can see them, and who solves problems for people who are
affected by them.
This gets into the 2014 summer season only because the final
double episode was kept back.
The art definitely tries to recall classical Japanese paintings:
there's lots of mist on multiple layers of mountains, that sort of
thing. All the episodes are separate stories; the only consistent
character is Ginko, who's often more of a facilitator than a hero. We
don't generally even see particular types of mushi getting repeated,
but this still feels like a coherent mythology; indeed, it seems like
just the sort of mythology that might come from a rural people, trying
to explain howling winds, rainstorms, and the varying quality of soil.
The series is very relaxed, definitely recommended if you don't mind a
slow and often bucolic pace. The stories tend to be fairly simple
moral tales: most mushi-shi have no particular ambitions other than
survival, but when humans interact with them there are both good and
bad effects.
More episodes, "the latter half of the second season", are coming soon.
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