Mushishi ep.13

February 28, 2006 | 9 Comments

At this point in time, it doesn't look like I can play catch up with Mushishi since I'm way behind the latest episode. I will, however, continue to cover the series at a slower pace. Anyway, this episode, despite its slightly worse animation quality, still manages to tell an interesting storyline. I am particularly interested with the way Ginko manages to dispell a myth or legend from a particular village using his knowledge as Mushishi. I supposed in a way Ginko is similar to early researchers and scientists. For example, people used to believe that people whose skin starts to bleed after entering an Egyptian tomb have been cursed by the Mummy. Nowadays, however, that 'curse' turns out to be nothing more than a virus that has been carried over by the mosquitos inside the tomb. I actually was quite disappointed when I found about it as a kid. It pretty much ruined my childhood imagination, which I thought was far more exciting than the reality.

The episode opens with a shot of a boy and a girl walking through a dark forest in the middle of the night. When the two attempt to cross a bridge, however, one of the planks gives out, taking the girl into the dark abyss below. Fast forward to a few years later, Ginko is seen trying to cross the same bridge during a daytime. In the middle of his journey, however, he realises that the bridge is going to break down soon. Ginko eventually manages to cross the bridge somehow but now he's facing a problem whereby he can't return to the other side. While lamenting his recent misfortune, Ginko sees a local guy passing by the area. He decides to inform the guy that that bridge is about to break down and as a result, he can't go back to the other side. The guy promises to fix the bridge but he needs to know when Ginko will return. Ginko thinks that's relative and shows the guy a letter, asking him if he knows who had written that letter to Ginko.

The guy looks surprised upon reading the letter and proceeds to take Ginko to a house. Apparently the letter was written by the mother of the girl who fell from the bridge 3 years ago. The girl, whose name is Hana, somehow manages to stay alive despite the fall. Ever since then, however, she simply sits around near the sunlight whilst looking spaced-out. Ginko decides to take a look at the girl and notices that a part of her hair seems to form a strange braid that moves on its own when Ginko tries to touch it. Ginko later on learns from Zen, the guy that he met after the bridge collapsed, that the incident happened when Zen and Hana attempted to run away from the village. Hana was unhappy because her parent was going to marry her off to someone that she doesn't love. Because of this, Zen suggested that the two run away and live elsewhere. However, when the two were about to cross the bridge, Hana felt guilty for doing it and decided to back out.

Unfortunately, Hana step on a loose plank and fell down. The villagers eventually find her wandering around the forest looking dazed. They became sad because they believe that Hana has turned into a Tani Modori. Apparently there is a legend that when a person falls into the valley but manages to stay alive, it means his/her soul has been eaten. The villagers believe that this person will eventually die on the night when Hitoyobashi, a one night bridge, appears. Upon hearing the word, Ginko looks as if he knows what he is dealing with. He proceeds to climb a tree and tells Zen that a rope-like Mushi known as Nisekazura has taken over Hana's body. According to Ginko, a normal Nisekazura is usually strong to the point that it's impossible for one to pull it apart. He also tells Zen that he believes that Tani Modori and Hitoyabashi are not legends but can be explained by Nisekazura.

Nisekazura normally live in the treetop but the ones in this valley take over other creatures' body in order to leave the area. This Mushi apparently craves sunlight but since they don't have the ability to climb out of the valley, they reside in other creatures' body to soak up the sun and store some energy. After their number grows, the Nisekazura will leave the body of its host, join each other, and migrate to a place that is more suitable for them. Ginko believes this phenomenon is probably the very description of Hitoyobashi. He's also heard that there is a valley where a group of Mushi cross over every 20 years. Zen is confused to hear this and wonders why Tani Modori dies after the Mushi leaves its host instead of turning normal again. Ginko theorises that this is because Nisekazura also takes over corpses. So when they leave the host, the body simply returns to being a corpse.

Zen eventually realises that sooner or later, Hana will return to being a corpse. To make things worse, he suspect that this will end up being sooner rather than later because the last time someone saw this bridge was when his grandpa was born. This year, Zen's grandpa is about to have his 60th birthday. Because of this Zen asks Ginko if he knows a why to postpone the Mushi from leaving Hana's body. Later on, Ginko informs Hana's mother that it is better if they leave the Mushi inside her daughter's body. Hana's mother, however, insists that Ginko removes the Mushi even if it means that her daughter will die. She thinks it's not good to leave Hana in this condition. Ginko argues that if Hana actually survived the fall 3 years ago, she could be fine when the Mushi leaves her body naturally. As it turns out, however, Hana's mother doesn't really care for her daughter. She simply wants to remove the Mushi so that Hana can be a bride again.

Ginko becomes angry upon hearing this and refuses her request flat out. He tells the mother that he refuses to treat Hana like an object. On his way from Hana's house, Ginko meets with Zen again and asks him if the bridge has been fixed. Zen informs him that he'll do this tomorrow so in the meantime, he invites Ginko to stay with him. During his stay in Zen's house, Ginko finds out that Zen has been ostracised by the village. Ginko thinks that Zen should just leave the village but Zen is hesitant to do this and tells Ginko that he'll leave once Hana passes away. Later on that night, a figure is seem approching the bridge with an axe and proceeds to cut the rope. Ginko who hears the noise decides to come to the bridge but he's too late. The next morning, Ginko finds out that it'll take a while for everyone to fix the bridge because they're doing it in between their job. He also suspects that Hana's mother was the one who cut the rope.

True enough, later on Hana's mother is seen looking for Ginko. Ginko who's angry at her selfishness decides to evade the woman. On his way, however, he stumbles on a Nisekazura that invades the body of a seemingly dead reindeer. Upon entering the animal's body, the reindeer suddenly becomes animated again and run away from Ginko. This makes Ginko wonders if there are Nisekazura around the village as well. At the same time, Hana's body begins to move on its own and heads towards the forest. Zen, who happens to be in the forest is happy to see her and upon hugging her warm body, believes that Hana is still alive. However, the two are then spotted by Hana's mother. Whilst trying to pry Hana away from Zen, the Nisekazura leaves Hana's body, returning her to be the corpse she used to be. Zen is shocked to see this but manages to describe what he saw to Ginko. Upon hearing this Ginko smiles and asks Zen if he wants to leave the village.

He thinks that the Hitoyobashi will appear tonight and moreover, the fact that Zen can see Nisekazura leaving Hana's body suggests that the Mushi have stored enough energy to the point someone like Zen can see them. True enough, that night the Nisekazura appear and form a spider-web like bridge. Ginko, however, warns Zen that he can't have regrets because if goes back from the bridge, he'll fall. Zen seems to believe this, however, when the two then begin to cross the valley using the Hitoyobashi, Zen is suddenly reminded of Hana and refuses to take another step forward. In his hesitation, Zen ends up taking a step back and instantly fall into the dark abyss below. The next morning, the Hitoyabashi disappears completely. Ginko says that he never know what happened to Zen after that but it'll be another 20 years before another Hitoyobashi appears. The episode ends with a shot of Zen coming out of the forest with his eyes looking lifeless.

Impression:

It was nice to see Ginko and his silly expressions again. I actually laughed out loud when he looked pissed off after a villager told him that the bridge probably collapse because he used it. Unfortunately that was the only comedic moment in this completely depressing episode. To begin with, there seems to be a parallel between Hana's life prior to her fall and after the fall. In both cases, she had no control over it. It was her mother who controlled her life before she fell into the valley and it was the Mushi who controlled her body afterwards. What is sad is the fact that in both cases, both controllers simply try to preserve their way of life. But in both cases, both controllers manage to hurt others along the way. Hana's mother wanted to ensure that village gets fund from rich family and in doing so, she does not hesitate to treat her daughter as some kind of object to trade. Similarly, the Nisekazura used Hana as a tool to get the sunlight that it needs to live on.

In the end, Hana never had any control over her life and the person who really loves her, which is Zen, also suffered the consequences. Hana would not have run away with Zen had she was not forced into an arranged married. It means she would not have fell into the valley. However, when her corpse was re-animated by the Mushi, Zen ended up suffering even more than he already had after Hana's fall from the bridge. Ever since then, he lived on with a false hope that Hana will get better one day. When Hana returned to become a corpse that night, it's obvious that Zen's will to live was taken away as well. The most depressing part, however, is the knowledge that Zen's body will be re-animated by Nisekazura for the next 20 years until he's no longer of use to the Mushi. It's hard to blame the organism though, considering the fact that in a way, it gave Zen a little happiness during those 3 years. And if it was not for them, Ginko would not have been able to escape from the village.

© memento 2003