Extraordinary manga     Jan 05, 2008     by iokomo

Well, I assume you heard about this manga and are wondering what it is about. First I'd like to say that this is not your typical manga where the plot is driven by your normal antagonist and protagonist. There is not really much about it in normal manga terms, BUT it is full of magic. I know this might sound funny, but Mushishi allows you to step in to a new world of Yuki Urushibara, who uses her creativity and dreams to produce these works of art and philosophy.

The stories in her work involve your everyday people who suffer from strange things, caused by the Mushi's (entities of life in its purest form) who simply strive to survive as much as we do. The Mushi-shi of the story, called Ginko, is a master of his Mushi arts (one of the very few) who can not only see Mushi at any given time (mushi's are mainly invisible to human eyes) but can even manipulate them so that he can cure the people who have fallen ill due to their doing. The stories involve little stories that tell about these tales of Ginko's work as the hero of the story because he frees people from the spiritual sufferings. The cure lies in its curse as part of the title gives you more of a hint I hope.

Even though this might sound a bit blunt to most the stories are deeply philosophical and will leave you with many thoughts after reading. I would love to go further in to detail but I am afraid to spoil the stories.

Overall, I highly recommend this manga for people who do not only seek entertainment of sorts, but who will also appreciate something that will stay with them for a while.

iokomo also recommended: Ghost in the Shell, Death Note, Elfen Lied, etc,
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