Mushishi ep.14

March 5, 2006 | 10 Comments

This episode is a good example as to why this show is a stand above the rest. The combination of creepy folklore and tragic drama in this story somehow manages to create a simple yet effective analogy about the fear of the unknown. A lot of praise must also go to the animation and background design which look stunning as usual. The light green palette of the bamboo forest looks striking and gives the episode the feel of isolation that the characters experienced while inside the forest. Characterisation-wise, it's nice to see Ginko showing a lot of emotion here from looking sarcastic to calm and thoughtful. Another side to Ginko's personality is also revealed here when he shows a slight impatience for the idle gossip of two old women. I think this side of his personality matches well with his profession, which more often than not, requires him to gravitate towards facts and knowledge instead of superstition created by the society around him.

In this episode, Ginko is approached by a man while resting inside a bamboo forest. When the man finds out that Ginko is a traveller, he wonders if he can tag along with Ginko. He claims that he hasn't been able to leave the mountain and hasn't seen anyone for 3 years. Ginko thinks that the guy's story sounds weird but after walking together with him trying to get out of the forest, Ginko realises that he too can't get out of the forest. Strangely his compass seems to be pointing at the right direction and yet he seems to be returning to the same area over and over again. The guy, whose name is Kisuke, asks Ginko if he'd like to stay with them, suggesting that he is not the only one in the forest. He explains that there used to be a family living here but now the only one that's left is the daughter, who now becomes his wife. As Kisuke tells his story, his wife, Setsu, and daughter come out of the forest to pick him up so he decides to return home.

Ginko politely rejects the offer to stay with the family and instead attempt to find a way out again. This time around, he manages to get out of the forest and reaches the village that Kisuke was talking about. While sitting and grumbling about his previous experience, Ginko overhears two old women whispering so he decides to ask them if there is something they want. The women ask Ginko if he happened to meet a man while inside the forest. It seems these two believe that the man has been possessed by a monster and think that Ginko is lucky to be able to escape. The monster in question seems to be a white bamboo tree inside the forest so Ginko decides to return to the forest to find out more about it. When he meets Kisuke again, Ginko decides to ask him if he knows anything about the white bamboo. Ginko tells the guy that this happens to be his area of expertise. Moreover, Ginko thinks he can help Kisuke and his wife get out of the forest.

Upon seeing the tree, Ginko realises that the bamboo tree is actually a Magaridake. Because of this, he asks Kisuke to give him some background information about the area. Kisuke tells Ginko that as a child, he once heard a story about a couple who lived in the bamboo forest. The couple have been trying for years to have children but the husband often leaves the house, while the wife seems to have a strange habit of talking to plants and wandering off to forest in the middle of the night. One day the husband found out that his wife is pregnant but during the night he saw her hugging a white bamboo tree in the middle of the forest. The husband became afraid and ran back to the village. After being scolded by the villagers, the husband decided to return to the house. But when he got there, he found his wife cradling a bamboo sprout as if it is her baby. The husband believed that his wife had given birth to a bamboo sprout.

Upon hearing the story, Ginko wonders if the whole thing wasn't just something that the wife did to scare her husband. Kisuke and the other villagers seem to think like this as well especially since the husband ran away from the village afterwards. Moreover, the so-called "bamboo child" looks just like any other girl. That girl is Setsu. After Setsu's mother passed away, Kisuke, his sister, and their friend used to come to the forest to accompany her. They did think that Setsu was a bit weird because she only drinks water and never leaves the forest. Despite this, they all like her. One day, however, they all got trapped in the forest and everyone managed to get out of the forest except for Kisuke. The next day the villagers managed to find him but they too couldn't leave the forest when they were with Kisuke. Upon hearing this story, Ginko realises that back then Kisuke knew that he wouldn't be able to get out as long as Kisuke was nearby.

Kisuke apologises but he just wanted to see if an outsider will get trapped in the forest as well. Kisuke then continues his story and tells Ginko that ever since the incident, he's been living in Setsu's house. Since Kisuke has no other relative apart from his sister, the villagers help him with foods. In fact, he felt as if he and Setsu were raised by the villagers. However, as time goes by, the number of villagers who come to visit decreased. Eventually Setsu becomes pregnant but when she finally gave birth, Kisuke and the midwife found out that Setsu has given birth to a bamboo sprout containing a baby. It was then that Kisuke realises that Setsu is different from other humans. The midwife ran back to the village and ever since then no one ever came to the forest. Upon hearing the story, Ginko decides to give Kisuke an explanation about the Magaridake. Contrary to its name, Magaridake is actually not a plant but a Mushi.

A bamboo tree usually shares the same root with other bamboo trees, making each tree a different member of the same family. Magaridake is basically a Mushi that infects a bamboo root and pretends to be one of the family. It consumes nutrients from the roots but also returns the chemical that causes bamboo to grow. Ginko believes that Setsu is a half Mushi half human creature Mushishi often called Oniko. Ginko wonders if hearing the story disturbs Kisuke a bit. Kisuke claims that he's not that surprised and besides, to him Setsu is just Setsu. He thinks the villagers will be able to understand Setsu as well if they just see her. This is why Kisuke wants to get out of the forest. Later on in his investigation, Ginko sees Setsu in the middle of drawing water out of the tree. Ginko decides to ask Setsu if he can get a little bit of the water but Setsu tells him that unfortunately her mother once told her not to share the water with others.

Setsu, however, shared a little bit of it with Kisuke back when he was a child. Upon hearing this, Ginko decides to secretly take a little bit of the water inside a container because he suspects that the water has been preventing Kisuke from leaving the forest. Ginko's theory is proven to be correct when he ends up walking in circles while carrying the container. Because of this, he informs Kisuke that the white bamboo tree carries its will using the water. Because of this, whoever drank that water and those near him will not be able to leave the forest. Since Ginko doesn't know how to get rid of the water out of Kisuke's body, he thinks there is only one other way to stop its influence. He, however, does not recommend this because he doesn't know the side effect. Unfortunately Ginko's words are overheard by Setsu, who feels guilty for accidentally giving the water to Kisuke. Because of this, she decides to cut down the white bamboo tree in the middle of the night.

After a few failed attempt, Setsu manages to completely cut the tree down. The tree then moves away like a snake to an undisclosed location. Meanwhile, Kisuke, who tries to find Setsu, ends up finding a way back to his village. Much to his disappointment, however, the villagers do not welcome him with open arms. His own sister even refuses him flat out. Because of this Kisuke returns to the forest and live happily together with his wife and daughter for a while. When Ginko returns 6 months later, however, he found that Setsu and her daughter have passed away because they couldn't get the nutrients from the water that the bamboo tree provided. Kisuke feels guilty about this because he indirectly caused Setsu to cut down the white bamboo tree. A few months later, Kisuke returns to the forest and is surprised when he sees a white bamboo in the forest again. In addition to this, he also hears babies' voices coming from the grave of his wife and daughter.

Impression:

This episode seems to be a thinly-veiled analogy for human's tendency to fear and demonise that which they do not understand. Admittedly, the idea of a woman giving birth to a bamboo sprout is quite out there even in this day and age, where humans have made a lot of discoveries about the world and its nature. Because of this, I can imagine how terrying it was for people who live within a time period where there were not many information about the things that they fear. However, if one thinks about it, the time period does not really matter in this story since it was never clearly stated if Ginko actually lives in the present or past timeframe. And the truth is, this in a way is a reflection of humanity regardless of the time period. The things that humans fear probably change as the species become more knowledgeable. However, the fear of the unknown will always be there be it in the form of new race, species, way of living, or belief.

Humans' natural reaction to the unknown is to fear and cast it away to ensure the species' own comfort zone. This is exactly what the villagers did to Setsu and Kisuke, even if Kisuke is one of their own and his happiness comes from being with Setsu. The tragedy with this is that Setsu starts to think that her husband will be happier living in the village. And in order to achieve this, she's willing to cut off ties with her origin, thinking that it will set her husband free. However, as it turned out, even after her sacrifice, she still could not change the way the villagers think. If anything, cutting off ties with her own origin only deprives her of her own livelihood. In the end, the action brought nothing but sadness for Kisuke. The story sounds familiar because it seems like an analogy to cross-cultural marriage. In such scenario, sometimes one half of the pair ends up severing ties with their belief/culture just to please the family members of their spouse.

There is, however, one plot point that bothers me: I still can't figure out when did the half Mushi/half human hybrid started. If Setsu was the first hybrid and her mother was a normal human, then how did Setsu's mother gave birth to her? Is this because she used to visit the white bamboo/Mushi in the middle of the night? But how did she got impregnated? If Setsu's mother was not a human, then how did she came into existence? Did she appear as a baby out of nowhere as implied in this episode's final scene? In that case, it's understandable why the villagers are afraid of Setsu and her kind. Maybe the ending scene was meant to signify some kind of hope for Kisuke but it ended up being creepy. It's also interesting to note that all of the Mushi's offsprings seem to be female, giving the villagers even more reason to believe that there are generations of female demons who have been seducing male to mate with them. This is the kind of stuff that folklores are made of.

© memento 2003