Plot: or a lack thereof.

I agree that this show is hard to watch because of the lack of any continuing narrative or character development. Every episode is a small story on the subject of Mushi and their effects on human lives, nothing more, nothing less. You either like that, or you don't.

I do think a ongoing plot would make it easier to follow the show. After 12 episodes I decided to take a break and watch something else, purely because it became boring to me. But I had to watch it further later on.

This is like a very good book: hard to find your way to the end, but worth the effort once finished. One must be willing to accept that it isn't ''cheap'' entertainment like a Naruto or a Bleach.

Definitely agree 100% with jess_davis

I think its because it was based on the manga and they basically took the "best" chapters of the mangas and made it into 26 stand alone episodes.

I believe the manga, overall, is very sparse about Ginko other than what was shown in the anime.

They say, on ANN, that there were 7 volumes released in japan and they're being translated and distributed in English by Del Rey:


http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=4779&page=28

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Yuki%20Urushibara



NOTE: The last japanese release was made after the anime series it seems (2006) so I guess there's a continuation to Ginko story after the anime. :)





"Why are you worrying about your beard... when you're about to lose your head?"

Not every anime has to be dragonall z or bleach or naruto with 5 million episodes and a completly ridiculous plot and story. Each episode is a story in itself and they are very good stories.

Whos to say the "plot" wasnt about Ginko and his travels?

The problem with a "plot" or standard, point A to point B style of thing is that a lot of animes/movies/etc go with it and forget to do anything else. Had this anime done what you are asking, it would have diminished the quality of inventiveness and originality it had.

You are indeed looking at it from too mainstream a point of view. Everyone is used to the standard story format, people forget stand alone stories exist. Sometimes the journey isn't where you are going, it's where you been and all....

That's why this anime was such a hit. There is such a huge universe in Mushishi. Have you had Ginko try to defeat one big evil Mushi the whole series, it would have had to focus less on all the stand alone stories. The Mushi and how he handles them and people, would have been overlooked and the series would have been at best better than average.

Stand By For Action!

It's written like a anthology show with only Ginko as the main character, it's not supposed to have a plot really.

I think if it had been written with an overarching plot centered on Ginko and some of his relationships, it may have diminished the primary role that the mushi and the subject of each episode play. I, too, would like to know what happens between the Ginko and the girl who is writing out her disease - does she get to go an adventure with Ginko?

There is no overarching plot, however I see a overall theme (ignoring the whole Mushi stuff).

Usually the character (other than Ginko) has undergone some sort of trauma (physical / mental) and towards the end of the episode, the character somehow overcomes that, at least partly.

I am currently going through a rough patch and could not help but notice how sad this series was. But then I am seeing the brighter side of these episodes which is kind of reassuring in a way.