Mushishi Complex Box Set in Blu-ray Format

Mushishi's Blu-Ray Disc BOX will be released on 27 March 09 at the price of 34,650 yen. All 26 episodes of the anime will be included in this release. In addition, the sound aspect will be presented in Dolby-True HD 5.1ch.

Specifications:
1) Specially-made collection box
2) 32-page colour booklet containing premiums like character design illustrations and a description of each episode's story
3) All episodes presented in Dolby-True HD 5.1ch
4) 5 discs

Contents:
Disc 1: Episodes 1 to 7 / Premium: Non-credits OP
Disc 2: Episodes 8 to 13 / Premium: Non-credits OP
Disc 3: Episodes 14 to 20 / Premium: Non-credits OP
Disc 4: Episodes 21 to 26 / Premium: Non-credits OP
Special Disc: 8 interviews between the producer, voice actors and production crew & behind-the-scenes footage shot by the producer

Mushishi Ep 04: Makura Koji (The pillow path)

Ginko pays a visit to a man's house after hearing rumours of the latter having prophetic dreams which coincide with happenings in the future. Instead of being impressed by the man's ability, Ginko expresses his concern at this phenomenon. When the man is bewildered by Ginko's words, he explains that the reason why the man keeps having these dreams could be due to the Mushis living in his dreams. As such, to prevent them from breeding further, Ginko gives a pack of medicine to the man for consumption. However, the man should only start taking them when the frequency of such prophetic dreams increases to about 50% and any overdosage will be hazardous to his health. On the other hand, if he allows the situation to go out of control, there may come a day when he will never wake up from his dream. With this advice, Ginko embarks on his journey and states that he will return when the medicine is about to run out.

You mustn't talk to someone while he is sleeping because the words you hear will be from the underworld...

True to his word, Ginko returns to the village but is surprised to see it in a state of despair even though it's been less than one year since he last came. When he arrives at the man's house, he finds the latter waiting for him as if knowing that Ginko will turn up some day. Ginko asks about what had happened to the village and the man relates the events which took place after Ginko's departure...

The man whose name is Jin, had a dream of an underground water source in the forest and got his fellow villagers to dig for it. They were elated to find that the dream turned out to be true and showered Jin's family with lots of gifts. However, Jin's wife, Kinu was concerned about the increasing frequency of these dreams and reminded her husband to heed the advice of Ginko. Jin was sceptical about the authenticity of Ginko's theory but assured Kinu that he will drink the medicine so as to keep her at ease.

Subsequently, Jin's dream helped him warn a family in advance to escape before a landslide buried their house. As such, this made Jin feel scared about those dreams because everything came true as if Jin had wanted them to. Kinu remarked that the dreams were probably given to Jin so as to help the villagers so he should not feel guilty over it. Although Jin tried to show Kinu that he had gotten over this matter, the truth was that his fear overcame his judgement and he started to consume the medicine so as to suppress the dreams.

One day, a tsunami struck the village and resulted in the deaths of many including Jin's daughter Mayu who was at the beach. Due to the fact that Jin failed to see this disaster coming, the villagers were rather unhappy over this. Jin also blamed himself for indirectly causing the death of Mayu and decided to stop taking Ginko's medicine. This caused the frequency of his dreams to increase and life slowly got back to normal as per before the tsunami.

Unexpectedly, this marked the beginning of a nightmare for Jin too. He dreamt of a strange illness hitting the village and tried to brush it off as it seemed so vivid. The next day, Jin saw Kinu being struck by the same illness where a green mold would spread from the fingers to the rest of the body before disintegrating the person into pieces. In no time, Jin became the sole survivor in the village.

When Jin finishes his story, he accuses Ginko of lying to him when they first met. Jin only realised this when the plague struck the village because the people closest to him were hit with the illness first. That's when he found out that the Mushis residing in his dreams are not those who forecast future happenings but rather those which re-create whatever he has dreamed of, into reality.

Jin demands Ginko to explain why he had lied and is shocked to find out that the reason was due to the inability to get rid of such Mushis from one's dreams. As such, the only way is to control the Mushis. However, once the host knows the root of the problem, it will be hard for the person to bear with the consequences just as in Jin's case. Jin is agitated to hear this and screams that he should have died to prevent the disasters which happened. Ginko apologises for lying and promises to help Jin overcome the problem as long as the latter continues to live.

Ginko explains that the Mushis residing in Jin's dreams are called Imeno no Awai which live inside and outside the dreams. Due to the movement, that's when they make the dreams come true. However, this doesn't happen all the time so there are a limited number of dreams which are realized in reality. As the number of the Mushis increase, the frequency of dreams coming true would increase correspondingly. The only way to control the Mushis would be to find the medium which is used to enter Jin's dreams from their own world.

As Ginko tries to find a solution to the problem, he is aghast to find Jin consuming all the medicine in a bid to commit suicide because he's too devastated to keep on living. Ginko manages to save Jin and finds that he has started dreaming based on the movements of his eyeballs. When Jin mumbles an apology in his sleep, Ginko replies that neither him nor the Mushis are at fault. However, Jin starts to talk about seeing geese and even replies to a question which makes Ginko realise that this is not sleep talk after all. Suddenly, the screen behind Jin's mattress brightens up and Ginko sees a picture of black objects in the sky where he concludes that these are flocks of Imeno no Awai.

Meanwhile, Jin sees Kinu and Mayu alive as if nothing has happened and sobs uncontrollably while apologising to them. Kinu reassures Jin that he has done nothing wrong at all. Suddenly, the surroundings change again and Jin finds himself lying on the mattress. When a fire in the screen spreads to his pillow, Ginko carries Jin outside the house and rushes to find water to extinguish the fire. Jin realises where the problem lies and grabs a sword to slash the pillow before Ginko can stop him. Little does he know that he's still in the midst of his dream and this action causes him to suffer from the effects of this action. As Jin collapses, the house is swallowed in flames.

Ginko brings Jin to another village where the latter receives treatment for his wounds. When Jin comes to, he asks Ginko if he had expected this to happen after he slashed the pillow. Ginko explains that the origin of the word, pillow means room for the soul as human beings spend a third of their lives resting on it. As such, that's also considered the place when the soul would rest. By slashing the pillow, Ginko had guessed that something would happen to Jin.

After Jin recovered, he became a sword smith again and was sought-after for his skills. However, he slowly changed and even lost his senses before stabbing himself in public. The reason behind this was said to be his fear for sleeping and the soul wandering off. As such, he never had a dream again after slashing his pillow...

I must really commend the author of this manga for her ability to observe daily things which we have taken for granted and using these to spin these tales filled with mystique. This time round, the topic is on sleeping or rather, dreaming which everyone does on a daily basis. As such, it will be easy to identify with whatever is being discussed here as compared to using abstract concepts to illustrate the theme.

Actually, with regards to sleeping, there are many myths surrounding this issue. Besides the point of not talking to someone while you are sleeping, there are also taboos like not placing a mirror opposite your bed because your soul goes wandering during sleep and if the soul sees a reflection in the mirror, it may mean that the soul can get confused and the person never wakes up as a result.

It gets a little creepy to see this episode because I do dream of things now and something identical may happen a few years down the road. As such, I've always believed that dreams do reflect reality but the issue for me is when the event takes place. Of course, I'm not prophetic nor possess such forecasting powers but I'm sure there will be times when something happens and you get the feeling of deja vu as if you have seen this before.

This episode is rather sad because we see a man being plagued by his ability to see events in his dreams which causes his misfortune in the end. I can't help but sympathise with him and the last statement of him never having a dream after cutting the pillow just seemed so ironic. If he had not cut the pillow, he would still be in anguish over the Mushis translating dreams to reality. On the other hand, cutting the pillow meant that he had severed his ties with dreamland and the revelation of the pillow being the medium to there caused him to be fearful of sleeping. Given that his soul and body didn't get to rest, it's no wonder that he finally lost his life. On hindsight, it is easy to come to conclusions but even if Jin had known what would come, would he still continue to dream and forsake the perks which come with it or choose to remain oblivious to what may come and leave everything to fate? That's really something worth pondering over.

Mushishi Ep 03: Yawarakai Tsuno (The soft horn)

In the bitter cold of winter, Ginko walks gingerly across the snow-covered ground in the forest and finally sees his destination i.e. a village surrounded by the mountains and forest.

Upon reaching the place, Ginko is treated to some hot tea by Shirasawa, the representative of the village who asked for his assistance. Being located at the base of the mountains, the village represents tranquility at its extreme where there aren't even any sounds of blowing wind. The whole village is plunged into total silence especially on snowy nights like what they are experiencing now. Due to this phenomenon, the villagers started to go deaf in at least one ear. As the doctors could not find a cause to the problem, Shirasawa thought that supernatural forces may be at work thus the need to enlist Ginko's help.

Ginko examines a patient's ear and finds it filled with a green and slimy mucus. He declares this to be the work of mushi by the name of Un which eats away sound. Un lives in the forest but due to the snow blanketing the sound within their habitat, they came to the village to seek sound.

He goes in search of the Un and finds them in huge numbers on the ceiling of the attic. Ginko explains that when Un eats up the sound, they will then attach themselves to mammals. The patient remarks that Un looks like a snail whereby Ginko states that there is a similarly-shaped structure within the ear. The Un would enter this structure to reside as a parasite and eat up the sounds which enter the ear. However, it would not destroy the ear over time. Having said that, Ginko pours warm salt water into the patient's ear which causes the Un to emerge from within and disintegrate immediately. He reminds the patient to spray the salt water on his roof to prevent the Un from gathering there again.

After treating the affected villagers, Shirasawa brings Ginko back to her place. On the way, she reveals that her grandson is the only patient left but his condition is rather different from the villagers. Shirasawa asks Ginko not to tell the villagers about his illness which makes the latter baffled.

Meanwhile, Maho, the grandson of Shirasawa is muttering to himself and telling something to shut up as he hears lots of noises around him. Just then, Shirasawa enters the room and explains to Ginko that Maho's condition started last winter where horns started growing on his forehead. In addition, he lost the ability to hear as before but could hear lots of strange sounds he had never known of. No matter what they tried to do, Maho would complain of these sounds which got on his nerves.

Ginko deduces that this could be the work of another type of mushi by the name of Ah which works in tandem with Un by eating the silence which the latter leaves behind. As such, it is no wonder that Maho cannot hear the sounds around him. However, the strange thing is that Ah exist in smaller numbers as compared to Un and there isn't an effective treatment method. As such, the patient would usually die by the next winter since he/she will be tortured mentally by the incessant noises as a result of this condition. Shirasawa gets frightened after hearing this since Maho contracted the illness exactly one year ago and he might die if he's not treated soon.

Ginko then takes out a green sheet from his luggage and sets up a tent while lighting some incense within. The space within the tent is filled with the incense's fumes thus making it possible for Ginko to have a chat with Maho. The boy reveals that the mushi got noisier when Ginko arrived which leads the latter to joke that this must be due to him being a natural attraction for mushi but he can drive them away temporarily with the smoke. Ginko explains that humans have a lower hearing ability as compared to other animals so there are lots of sounds which they cannot pick up. In this case, the loud sounds which Maho is hearing are the mushi's voices when they gather in large numbers and these cannot be heard even by animals which have the ability to hear a wide spectrum of sounds. As such, the Ah in Maho's ears are eating away the silence and filling it with its sounds thus causing him so much misery.

When Maho is asked about the growth of the horns on his forehead, he reveals that he has been covering his ears frequently ever since his mother died last winter thus resulting in the horns' appearance. Maho was trying to copy his mother's actions since she did that all the time. Ginko is curious as to why Maho's mother was doing that but Maho doesn't know the reason. He also relates the fact that she had the same condition as him and she said something on her deathbed while covering Maho's ears. Whenever Maho tries to recall her words, loud sounds would flood his ears thus making it impossible for him to start thinking. Ginko feels that it is a stroke of bad luck for Maho to suffer in the same way as his mother but there should be a way to resolve the problem.

Ginko asks Shirasawa about her daughter Matsuno so as to find a clue to curing Maho. Matsuno was under so much pressure due to the illness and longed for a place without sound to live in. However, just before she passed away, Matsuno revealed to Shirasawa that the sounds disappeared and she was actually missing them at that juncture.

The next day, Ginko is pondering over the reason for Matsuno's behaviour of covering her ears even when the Ah should have left her body due to her impending death. Just then, Maho sneaks out of the house to go for a walk and asks Ginko to keep it a secret since he will go crazy if he stays indoors all the time.

As it starts to snow, Ginko regrets letting Maho go out and decides to look for him. As he trudges through the forest, Ginko comes to the conclusion that the ear can only pick out some sounds at one go and if that type of sound is turned up to the maximum, that may mean that the ear cannot hear it anymore. Thus, he realises that this might be the reason why Matsuno said that she could not hear anything even if the Ah might still be inside her ears.

Ginko spots a light coming out from a cave and finds Maho waiting inside for the snow to stop. However, he cannot hear Maho's voice after a while and finds the ceiling of the cave filled with mushi. Ginko finds the Ah among the Un which enters his ears swiftly but he doesn't seem to be bothered by it while Maho is terrified by this. Ginko tells Maho to cover his ears like what Matsuno did to him which leads to the Ah melting and flowing onto Maho's hands.

Ginko explains that Matsuno wasn't trying to cover her ears from the noise on her deathbed. When people use their hands to cover their ears, the surrounding doesn't become entirely silent thus Matsuno was trying to hear the sounds as a result of this action. Shirasawa remarks that the sound is somewhat like an earthquake whereby Ginko states that this is the sound of the hand muscles. Since the weakness of Ah is the sound of other living things, it would try to eliminate such sounds within its host body. In the end, either the Ah would melt away or the host would die after a period of one year. With regards to Matsuno's case, she discovered the solution too late and could not do anything to battle against the Ah. Maho then covers his ears and the Ah flows out from within thus leading the horns to fall off from his forehead.

Ginko prepares to leave the village with Maho's horns as payment for his services and he gives the smaller ones to Maho as a keepsake. He advises Maho to get used to the quiet world around him until spring arrives since he might find it hard to adapt from his noisy world in the past year. However, Maho is happy that he was able to listen to the same sounds as his mother since they sound beautiful to him on hindsight...

First of all, the winter scenery was breathtaking and felt very realistic. It was the first time that I've seen such a high quality winter scenery visual from an anime and the falling snow didn't seem too artificial to me. I'm impressed with the level of effort put into this production and hope that more of such masterpieces can be found in the later episodes.

With regards to the concept of Ah and Un, it's quite easy to relate to just as in the case of opposites attract. Since Un eats up the sounds, Ah could then eat the silence left behind thus illustrating the dependency relationship they have on each other. I have to admit that I couldn't grasp the concept fully when I watched this episode for the first time but when I wrote this review, my doubts about the concept were gone after this second viewing.

Last but not least, I thought that the info about covering up your ears and hearing some sounds like an earthquake or lava flowing from a volcano was very interesting. I mean, this action must have been done by everyone at one time or another but now that someone has brought it up in this manner, it suggests that the author was very observant to use daily activites for explaining her theories about mushi. I feel as if I'm learning something new every time I'm watching this anime. This is really one of the better productions these days with a strong story, nice visuals and charming lead character who seems like a mystery personified but something should be done about the theme song which isn't particularly impressive especially after hearing it for a couple of times.

Mushishi Ep 02: Mabuta no Hikari (The light of the eyelids)

A little boy, Biki enters a warehouse which has two doors. He has come to see Sui, a little girl who is sitting alone in the darkness while being blindfolded. Biki changes the bandage on Sui's eyes and asks about her condition. Sui suddenly talks about knowing the cause of her illness and reveals that Mushis have been living in her eyes for a long time...

Sui is actually the youngest daughter of the village chief's family who contracted this strange disease 6 months ago. Her eyes would hurt whenever they were in contact with light. Despite seeing many optometrists, none could cure her of this illness. As such, she was sent to live in the warehouse of Biki's family since it could block light from entering the interior with its two doors. This gesture might have been for Sui's interests but to Biki, he felt that it felt like she was abandoned by her family.

After changing the bandage, Sui explains to Biki that behind the eyelids are another set of eyelids. Beyond the second pair of eyelids, that is somewhere light from the outside will not reach and the Mushis are living there. Sui offers to teach Biki how to close the second pair of eyelids and tells him to close his eyes. Despite doing so, Biki can see strands of moving light which leads Sui to comment that he is still looking at his eyelids thus he cannot feel total darkness. Biki is unable to follow Sui's instructions and feels that she is talking about an impossible thing.

Biki then accompanies Sui to play some games within the darkness where he comments that although he cannot see anything immediately after entering the warehouse, his eyes would get used to the darkness where he can subsequently make out faint outlines of objects. Sui states that this is possible because there is a river of light underground and this can only be seen if you can close your second eyelids. The river is actually made up of small Mushis which can be seen at close range. However, when Sui wants to take a closer look, she sees a man i.e. Ginko warning her to stay away from the river. Although she has never seen Ginko before, he would always appear on the other side of the river and tell her the same thing repeatedly. That is why she looks at the river from a distance. As Biki leaves the warehouse, he starts to get worried about Sui since he does not believe what she has said.

When Biki reaches home, his mother reminds him not to spend too much time with Sui as her disease might be contagious. However, Biki does not think much of this since he had burnt the old bandages and disinfected the dishes properly. He realises that Sui's family dumped her into their care due to this reason and they have no choice but to take up the responsibility of caring for Sui. Biki's mother knows that he just wants to keep Sui company but she's still fearful about anything happening to her son.

One night, Biki is reading when he suddenly experiences a sharp pain in his eyes and blows out the oil lamp hurriedly. This scares Biki as he senses something wrong with himself. The next day, Biki's mother finds him sprawled on the floor while shielding his eyes from the sunlight...

Biki's mother takes up the task of delivering meals to Sui and reveals that Biki has been infected with the illness too. This stuns Sui as Biki's mother chides herself for sympathising with Sui which has in turn caused the current state of affairs.

Biki's mother returns home and finds Ginko sitting beside Biki. Ginko introduces himself as an expert in this area and explains that he had given some medicine to Biki. He should recover soon since his illness is in the early stage and keeping him in the darkness will cause the condition to worsen. In addition, he explains that this is something which the Mushishis can cure instead of the optometrists.

Biki wakes up from a nightmare of Sui crying while apologising for infecting him and sees Ginko by his side. Ginko sees that Biki has recovered and explains that Sui is suffering from this illness as Manako no Yami Mushi (Darkness of the eyes Mushi) have infested her eyes. As this illness spreads in the darkness and Biki spent too much time with Sui, that was why he was infected. Biki wonders why Ginko knows about Sui where the latter explains that he would always see her when he closes his second eyelid. However, Sui mentioned before that the man she saw at the river of light has one eye, Biki thinks that Ginko is not the person whom Sui is referring to. Ginko says that he will begin Sui's treatment when the sun sets.

At night, Ginko finds that Sui's eye sockets are hollow and realises that she has entered the river of light. Thus, he brings Sui outdoors so that he can do something about her dead eyes since she has closed her second eyelids for too long. Ginko instructs Sui to open her eyes slowly with her second eyelids closed so that the Mushis can be scared out by the moonlight. Biki is horrified to see Sui's hollow eye sockets and the next minute, slimy Mushis are flowing out from there. As the volume of the Mushis increase tremendously, Ginko sees a purple slimy snake-like Mushi and grabs hold of it while telling Sui to close her eyes. This leads the Mushi to rush back into Sui's eye sockets. Ginko kills the purple Mushi and proceeds to treat Sui's eyes.

As Sui's eyes have been eaten away, Ginko digs into his left eye for the artificial eyeball which scares Biki. Ginko tells Biki not to be overly alarmed and proceeds to inject a greenish liquid made up from the purple Mushi into the eyeball. He then puts it into Sui's eye socket which should help her to see again. Biki asks Ginko about the river of light they were seeing but the latter does not elaborate further.

It's said that people forgot how to close their second eyelids after they gained light. However, that would have been better for them since many humans lost their eyes after closing their second eyelids for too long. Thousands of lives that flow beneath our feet, the source of life...

Actually, Biki did see the river of light for a brief moment when Ginko put the eyeball into Sui's eye socket. And that led to her recovery which means that she doesn't have to stay in the warehouse anymore. Meanwhile, Ginko continues to embark on his journey with a new eyeball in his left eye socket...

The main difference between this episode and the first episode's Mushis is the purpose of their existence. In the debut episode, Renzu was a half-baked Mushi who didn't set out to be a Mushi in the first place and she meant absolutely no harm to her grandson. However, the Mushis in this episode were not the kind sort as they gobbled up people's eyes. That goes to show that even in the Mushi world, there is a segregation of good vs evil just like what is applicable to humans. And if there are the evil types, I doubt humans and Mushis can co-exist peacefully.

An alarming revelation was that Ginko's left eye is an artificial eyeball. I hope the series will explore the reason behind this and why he goes around on finding people who are related to Mushis in one way or another. What exactly is he trying to achieve? At first, I was bewildered why he had to cover one of his eyes with his fringe. Now, I think it might have been due to the artificial eye so he is hiding it on purpose. Ginko is such a mysterious character that I think an in-depth feature into his background will be very interesting.

About the concept of the second eyelids, I found it very intriguing and the fact that it uses a real life example to increase the impact will make it more memorable to the viewer. Just like what is mentioned, even if you close your eyelids, there is actually nothing to block your eyes from staring at the closed eyelids thus the flickers and movements of light can be observed. No doubt this might have been a purely biological concept, using it here gives this simple theory an added mystique touch.

I can't explain this but whenever I watch Mushishi, it gives me a strong sense of peacefulness. Maybe it's the scenery and pace of the anime plus the mysteries unfolded in each episode so far. Or it could have been due to the music used. Somehow, I just feel relaxed while watching this. Some series hold your attention so closely that your emotions go with how the characters are feeling, some make you laugh like mad, some make you feel sad etc. In Mushishi's case, it may feel bland during the viewing but on afterthought when I think of the episode, it provides much room for thought and has a lingering sense of tranquility. However, the same cannot be said when I saw those Mushis emerging from the eye sockets. That was gross and it didn't go down well with me.

Mushishi Ep 01: Midori no Za (The Green Seat)

What's considered to be beyond our world are creatures that are completely different from the lowly and grotesque ones we're used to seeing. As time passed, people put their fear and respect into these creatures and began calling them "mushi".

A man with a cigarette and a backpack walks a dense forest and senses that someone or something is watching his movements. However, he cannot see anyone around and turns his attention to the unusually vivid colour of the greenery around him as compared to most forests.

In nature, greenery and water are what bring forth life. Humans who have that power rarely exist.

A little boy is writing a letter with his left hand as his right hand is injured. In actual fact, he is a lefty so he has no problems doing this. Suddenly, the words on his letter come alive where a bird derived from ink flies around the house before the boy can catch it. The man is standing outside and grabs hold of the bird but is surprised to see ink left on his hand.

When the boy finally comes out with a net to catch the bird, he sees the man who said that he saw the bird. He then asks the boy if he is Ioroi Shinra and mentions that he had sent a letter to him previously. Shinra realises that the man is Ginko, a Mushishi who wanted to learn more about his ability to make words and pictures take on a form of life.

Shinra had rejected all requests of such nature because his grandmother had specifically told him not to use or let anyone know about his power. That is why he was writing a refusal letter to Ginko before the latter came to see him. Since Shinra was a child, whenever he drew, the pictures would gain life even though they may be just doodles of things which do not exist in reality. As giving life to creatures is not what a human should do, Shinra's grandmother stopped him from drawing with his left hand for fear of incurring the wrath of the gods. Nothing would happen if he draws with his right hand.

Although Shinra refuses to accede to Ginko's request, he still offers to let the latter stay for the night. Besides, it's been some time since he has met anyone so Shinra offers the fruit wine he made to Ginko while they chat. Shinra has been living alone in this secluded place since 4 years ago when his grandmother passed away. Ginko feels that this is a wise move since Shinra will not be able to live peacefully if anyone finds out about his power.

Shinra then shows Ginko some drawings and says that he saw these strange-looking things while he was alone. However, Shinra's grandmother felt that he was just dreaming and told him to forget these terrible dreams. This was the only thing which they couldn't agree on until she passed away.

Ginko explains to Shinra that the creatures he had seen were mushi which are closest to life itself and also known as midori mono. This results in them taking ambiguous forms and can only be seen by some people. Ginko advises Shinra to get over this since it's hard to convince those who have never been in contact with the world of the mushi and convey the feelings about seeing these extraordinary creatures.

In the middle of night, Ginko walks around the house to find the bathroom while Shinra is sound asleep. He sees something walking along the corridor and takes a pin out from his pocket. Suddenly, a young girl's voice appears from above and she mocks Ginko for being a disgusting guy who captures mushi using the mushi pin. Ginko is not bothered by her remarks and uses a smoke mushi to grab her from the ceiling. This results in a half sakazuki falling from her clothes which Ginko grabs it immediately. The mushi tells Ginko to scram from her house so he realises that she was originally a human who became a mushi. However, being imperfect, that was why Ginko could overcome her resistance easily without using the mushi pin.

From the broken sakazuki, Ginko deduces that the mushi is Renzu, the grandmother of Shinra. He offers to mend the sakazuki and asks Renzu if she's interested to hear about it.

The next morning, Shinra is surprised to hear that Renzu is still living in the house but she's somewhere between a human and a mushi. Ginko reveals that Renzu was invited to the Mushi Banquet where mushis take the form of humans. The guest would be given something to drink in the sakazuki where they would lose their human characteristics and become a mushi. However, in Renzu's case, the banquet was interrupted thus she left half of her body in the mushi world and returned home with the other half. When Renzu passed away, the half self in the mushi world stayed on to take care of Shinra who couldn't see her as she was incomplete.

In order to make Renzu a complete mushi, Shinra would have to use his power to recreate the sakazuki. Shinra makes Ginko promise not to peep while he draws but the latter goes back on his word without Shinra's knowledge. Although Shinra has never seen the sakazuki before, he is able to come up with the image since he and Renzu are related by blood. The sakazuki comes to life and breaks into two. Ginko then combines the half held by Renzu with the new sakazuki's half where a glowing liquid emerges from it. Renzu drinks the liquid which enables Shinra to see her. When Shinra drinks it too, he sees what happened to Renzu in the past.

Years ago, Renzu was led into the Mushi Banquet by a group of mushi draped in white cloth. She was then given a liquid made of the creature, Kouki which swims around in a large vein it makes in the deep darkness. The sakazuki was thus made for Renzu to tap into that vein. Actually, the mushi held this banquet for Renzu because her grandson i.e. Shinra to be born 31 years ago will have the power to change the structure of the world. That was why Renzu will be able to protect Shinra once she finished the drink. However, before she could do so, a crow bit into one of the mushi thus disrupting the banquet. Even though Renzu did go home after that, she left behind half of herself in the mushi world. Shinra starts to cry uncontrollably after seeing these as if he has gone through Renzu's experience personally.

The next morning, Ginko prepares to leave without a word when Renzu asks if he plans to give up the investigation on Shinra. Renzu suggests that Ginko can come to visit Shinra in future but he feels that there is no need to do so since she will accompany Shinra. When Shinra wakes up, he realises that Ginko has left and Renzu remarks that they do not have anything to offer to him as a reward. However, Shinra notices that Ginzo had taken the sakazuki away...

The first impression about this new series is that the whole atmosphere seems so serene. There is no sense of urgency and the nature shown enhances the peacefulness felt. Everything just feels like an artistic piece of work.

I was initially unsure of what mushi meant but after Ginko's explanation, everything became clear to me. Although I still have no idea where the story is heading towards, I think I should have the patience to stick around for more episodes before I judge whether this is my cup of tea. And I think I need more information on what exactly a Mushishi does.

As for the OP, it matches the theme of the series well but I guess it would better to let viewers hear more of the song. That little section is not enough for me to see whether I like the song.

With regards to the characters, it feels as if Ginko is the only regular character at the present stage where he will meet new people with each passing episode. Ginko seems like a mysterious person who should provide interesting revelations as the series progresses.