The third volume of Mushi-Shi is just as strong as the earlier installments.  Though there are only four episodes this time around, the shows are very good, delving into Ginko's past and fleshing out the enigmatic traveler's past.  In these tales he encounters more unique and wondrous Mushi and tries to help the people he meets, though things don't always turn out as well as he hopes.

Series background:

Mushi are the most pure creatures that exist.  Not base and vulgar like humans or animals, Mushi are beings that are in touch with the essence of life.  Invisible to normal people, these creatures are all around us, though humans rarely interact with them.  One person who is able to see these creatures is Ginko, a Mushi-Shi or Mushi Master.  He travels the countryside carrying only a mysterious wooden box on his back and collects Mushi artifacts (items that are created in our world through interactions with Mushi) and helps people who have been infected with malicious or unwanted Mushi.  Though his travels he encounters many odd and bizarre situations things that only a Mushi-Shi would be able to understand.

This volume:

The first episode on this disc reveals an interesting fact about Ginko; why he is constantly traveling.  It turns out that there's a reason, and a good one for his continued wanderings.  He discusses his situation with another Mushi Master that he meets, one who lives in a village and protects it.  This particular Master is old and knowledgeable, but he has a secret that is coming back to haunt him.

Next is the story of a boy who is caught in a mudslide.  The tragedy kills his mother and badly wounds his leg.  A kind woman with stark white hair and only one eye finds him passed out on a mountain path and nurses the child back to health.  When he's able to get around a bit, the lad finds a nearby pond where all the fish are white and have only one eye, just like the lady who saved him.  It turns out that a Mushi lives in the pond and the creature takes an eye from every fish.  Living in such proximity has caused the same thing to happen to the woman.  At least that the story she tells the child, but being pretty smart he soon figures out that she's hiding something.

Ginko travels to a remote village after receiving a letter from a woman who needs his help.  It turns out that her daughter fell off an old rickety bridge that crosses a deep chasm.   Miraculously, she wasn't killed and her boyfriend found her wandering around in the valley below.  She hasn't been the same since the fall though. She doesn't talk, and isn't interested in doing anything but sitting in the sun.  All of the doctors have said that there's no sign of brain damage, could a Mushi be doing this to the attractive young lady?

The disc wraps up with a mysterious tale.  While wandering through a bamboo forest, Ginko encounters a man who's lost and can't find his way out.  This isn't your ordinary traveler who has gotten turned around; he's been stranded in the forest for over ten years.  He, along with his wife and child, can't seem to leave the area.  Ginko, having a compass, is sure that he can lead the man to the nearby village, but he can't.  The pair walk in a straight line but seem to end up back at the same spot.  When Ginko tries by himself however, he has no trouble leaving.  What could be trapping this man and his family, and is there any way to free him?

As I mentioned in my reviews of the earlier volumes, this show is very different from most of the anime out there.  If I had to pick one word to describe it, that word would be serene.  It is a quite and gentle show.  It's like a walk in the forest on a cool day; enjoyable, refreshing, and oddly tranquil.  That's not to say that there's no action or that the series plods along, because that's not the case.  Every episode has a mystery that Ginko has to unravel, but the mysteries themselves are often just as fascinating as the solutions.

One of the aspects that make this show such a breath of fresh air is that it isn't about Ginko hunting Mushi.  He doesn't try to kill or destroy the Mushi since, even when they are hurting a person or village, they aren't malicious.  The Mushi are just following their nature, like a cat that chases a mouse.  Ginko is just trying to arrange things so that two sets of beings (Mushi and Humans) can live together in a non-confrontational or hurtful manner.  This is quiet different from most anime where non-human entities are routinely killed on sight.

This disc comes in a clear keepcase with a reversible cover and a nicely illustrated slip cover.

Audio:

Viewers have the choice of watching the show with either the original Japanese soundtrack or an English dub, both in stereo.  As I often do, I alternated tracks and found them both to be very satisfactory.  Neither track shows any trace of distortion or background noise.  The English actors do a very good job of matching both the lip movements and the feeling of the scenes in the dub track too.  A nice sounding set of episodes.

Video:

The 1.78:1 anamorphically enhanced video looks pretty good with only minor problems.  The show takes place mainly outdoors and there are a lot of greens and blues in the color palate that they use.  These colors are reproduced wonderfully.  They are vibrant and strong and really make the show a joy to watch.  The blacks are solid and the lines are tight.  On the digital side there is a touch of aliasing here and there, but it is a small amount especially when compared to most anime.  There are a couple of scenes where banding is a slight problem, but again this isn't major.  The only other defect that's worth noting is some mosquito noise in a few of the dark scenes.  Overall this disc looks really nice.

Extras:

Like the first volume, this disc has some solid bonus items.  The highlights are two more interviews with the director Hiroshi Nagahama, in one he's joined by the sound director Kazuya Tanaka and in the other he talks with the filming director, the assistant filming director, and the technical advisor.  These run 20-25 minutes each and have a lot of interesting behind the scenes information.  There's also a clean opening and closing animation, and a series of trailers.

Included with the disc itself are two beautifully illustrated postcards and a nice 6page booklet that has character sketches as well as quotes from the people in the show.  It's a very nice booklet and I'm glad they included it.

Final Thoughts:

This show, while being low keyed and sedate, is actually one of the more interesting shows to be released of late.  It paints an interesting world that is very much like ours, but with an added sense of mystery and wonder.  It's a story driven show, but the tight story telling and unique plots make it a joy to watch.  Highly Recommended.