Mushishi ep.17

March 27, 2006 | 8 Comments

It never ceases to amaze me as to how interesting and re-watchable every episode in this series has been so far. I think this is because the basic idea of the Mushi world is rich and can be explored in many different ways. This time around, the focus is not so much on delivering thinly veiled sociological message but more on showcasing the way Mushishi communicates with other people while they are on the road. This seemingly simple idea is then mixed with a paranormal storyline that resembles an X-Files episode. The result is a rather terrifying folklore that focuses on the concept of 'thread'. This concept ends up appearing in every single element within the episode from the thread that comes out of the cocoon to the invisible emotional bond that exists between two twin sisters.

An eerie narration from the unidentified old woman opens the episode accompanied by a shot of an empty cave. The woman mentions how this world contains some empty caves and that people who disappear into thin air are believed to be forever wandering inside these caves while losing their memory and soul. Cut to a shot of Ginko walking in a vast landscape when all of a sudden he hears a rattling noise coming from his humongous backpack. He thinks that it is the sound of mail so he opens the backpack, revealing that he's been carrying what looks like a miniature version of post office boxes. He opens one of the boxes that makes rattling sound and uncovers a cocoon-looking object from inside a tube. He then proceeds to open the object's cover and use a hook-shaped stick to fish a letter out of the cocoon-looking object. Ginko grumbles upon seeing the tattered state of the letter until he realises that the letter is not addressed towards him.

In a village, a girl is seen picking a similar-looking cocoon from a tree. Insider her house, many of these cocoons can be seen hanging from the ceiling. The girl is then seen writing a letter, revealing that she is the Tozawa Aya whose letter reached Ginko. After the letter is completed, she folds it neatly and pushes the letter into one of the cocoons that are hanging from the ceiling. The letter then disappears into the cocoon. Not long after this, a knocking sound comes from outside the house. As it turns out, Ginko has come to visit the girl so she uses the opportunity to tell the Mushishi that it's about time that they replace his 'Uro-san'. Ginko agrees with the idea especially since his letter got torn apart and he ended up receiving letter that doesn't belong to him. He then gives Aya the letter that she wrote herself and asks her if she is still doing this by using Mushishi like himself. Aya becomes petulant upon hearing this and argues that this is not a problem.

Ginko counters the argument by telling her that 'the old man' would not be happy if he knows that Aya is still looking for a lost one. She, however, insists that someone called Ito is still around despite Ginko's attempt to convince her otherwise. A flashback then reveals that Ito is actually Aya's twin sister. At one point, the two found a cocoon that doesn't contain a pupa inside of it. Their father told them that empty cocoon like that is dangerous because it contains something sinister. One day, however, the two got a visit from their family's grandfather who asked the two if they remember being taken to see an old man who lives near the mountain. Back when they were two, Aya and Ito were taken to the man so he could see if they can identify an 'Uro-san' inside a jar. It appeared that both of them could see it so one of them must now be sent to live with the old man to become a trainee Yamamori, a person who watches over the mountain/forest area.

When Ito offered herself to go to the old man's house, Aya insisted that she comes along with Ito. After some consideration, their parents agreed to let both girls go together so neither of them will be lonely. Once the two arrived at the house, the old man told the girls not to close the main door or any door inside the house. He claimed that if there is an 'Uro-san' inside, they'll be swallowed by it. Later on, the old man also taught both girls how to make a Tamamayu, a big cocoon made from 2 pupas. The Tamamayu they're about to make, however, will be made using 1 pupa-less cocoon. The old man showed both girls that they need to extract the pupa-less cocoon into two smaller cocoons. When they do this, 'Uro-san' will come out because the original cocoon will be filled with sunlight. True enough, Aya saw a little black creature swimming out of the original cocoon. The old man told Aya to capture the creature using fishnet and put it into a new cocoon.

Once they've done it, they'll seal both new cocoons so that 'Uro-san' will only be able to travel in between two nests. As soon as the old man finished saying this, a normal postal worker appeared in front of the house to deliver a letter from someone who needs the help of a Mushishi. The old man decided to pass on the request to a Mushishi by placing the letter inside one of the cocoons hanging from the ceiling. He then explained how the letter will eventually be taken by 'Uro-san' to the nest that a particular Mushishi carries. After a few years, however, they need to replace the 'Uro-san' because these creatures basically creates Uroana (cave) from their nest. Eventually the creature will be able to escape through Uroana or an empty room. When this happens, the letters won't be delivered properly. Upon hearing the old man's explanation, Aya and Ito became excited. The old man, however, warned them that 'Uro-san' should not be taken lightly.

'Uro-san' is a dangerous creature and the area is a place that attracts them. As a result, if there is an empty room, the creatures will appear. This is the reason why he asked the two never to close the door completely. If one accidentally closed the door while there is an Uro-san inside of it, one must not open it again. Otherwise, 'Uro-san' will escape and take the person into Uroana. This is because 'Uro-san' can't live long outside an enclosed room. Aya and Ito looked a bit afraid after this but the old man assured them that as long as they follow his instruction, they should be okay. Unfortunately, one day an incident happened to one of the girls. While Ito was sleeping on the wooden floor, a bed linen that was being hang out in the sun fell on top of Ito and covered her body. When Ito opened her eyes, she realised that an 'Uro-san' has find its way into the enclosed space created by the bed linen. Ito tried to stop Aya from opening the linen but it was too late.

Aya ended up pulling the linen up but by then she can no longer find Ito underneath the linen. Aya felt guilty about this because she was the one who lifted the linen as well as the one who forgot to pin it down on to the hanging area. Even though the old man believed that there is no way they could retrieve Ito back, Aya made it her life mission to find Ito. 5 years have now passed between that incidents and yet Aya still can't forget about Ito. Because of this, Ginko decides to take Aya to see an Uroana inside a forest. He explained that when 'Uro-sans' grow on a lifeline, they end up forming a lump of Mushi as a resistance. Ginko then presses his hand into the fleshy-like Mushi and proceeds to enter the Uroana after telling Aya to hold onto the chain that links them to the outside world. The two then arrive on a large cave filled with holes. Ginko explains that a previous Mushishi laid down the chain so that the cave can be used as a shortcut.

However, because he's heard that people who stay in this cave can lose their memories, Ginko rarely use this cave. Aya eventually stops in front of a large hole because she seems to sense the presence of her twin. Ginko, however, doubts this because he was told that the only way out is the direction at the end of the chain they've been following. The rest of the holes are linked to some other closed rooms that can't be opened from the inside. Because of this, he asks Aya to end her desire to find Ito before she is completely consumed by it. Despite this, Aya can't help but feeling a twinge of sadness every now and then. A few years later, however, a miracle happened. Ito somehow manages to get out of the Uroana and materialises out of a group of cocoon that is being harvested by an old woman. Even though she can't speak and her body is still that of a 10-year-old girl, Ito is eventually returned to her home thanks to the letter that she had with her as a guide.

Impression:

The main focus of this episode appears to be the tight bond between the two sisters, Aya and Ito. The two clearly have a close relationship with one another to the point that Aya insisted on coming with Ito when Ito offered herself to be the old man's apprentice. There have been some research conducted on the tight bond between identical twins and these articles can be quite fascinating if you have interest in the topic at hand. I suspect that when Aya was standing in front of that hole, she kind of sensed the presence of her sister. In return, I think Ito managed to find her way out of the cave due to her sister's lingering presence inside the cave. I do wonder how life will go on from here on though, considering the fact that Aya has grown up while Ito still remains as little girl due to her time inside the Mushi's world. This was a nice little nod of consistency for long time viewers who know that the Mushi's world works differently time-wise to the human world.

I find it amusing that the old man and later on, Aya's job is to technically oversee Mushishi's 'main post office'. Their job requires them to pass letters from other people to Mushishi and vice versa, using the help of 'Uro-san'. I also find the idea of having one nest of 'Uro-san' in the post office and another taken by a travelling Mushishi to be ingenious. This reminds me of the way White/Black Mokona from Tsubasa Chronicle is used as a communication method between Shaoran group and the dimension witch Yuuko. Unlike Mokona on that show, however, 'Uro-san' in this series is a dangerous creature. In fact, I got the general impression that letters do not get delivered because 'Uro-san' wants to deliver them. The letters simply got carried to the other nest when the creature moves in between the two nests. But since most Mushishi are on the go, 'Uro-san' just happens to be the most effective communication method for them.

Having said that, the creature's tendency to escape into an empty room will probably give small children within the Mushishi's universe a phobia about going into an empty room on their own - for fear that they will be taken into an Uroana. In this particular story, it was unfortunate that the bed linen somehow ended up covering Ito's body while she was asleep. The thing is, how do you get out of such situation without getting taken into Uroana? Lifting the linen or opening a closed room already containing an Uro-san is obviously out of the question. Should the person trapped in such situation wait until Uro-san leaves the area? I think this is a part of the story that I'd like to know more. Having said that, the solution was probably left out in order to ramp up the terror that Ito and the viewers felt when they saw the little Uro-san creeping into the bed linen covering Ito's body. Despite its simplicity, this scene was surprisingly terrifying.

© memento 2003