Time for me to write about
Mushi-Shi. I watched it in my usual manner of taking a couple of episodes, or several, at a time, as it fitted into life (and long-haul flights). And well - yes, I enjoyed it a lot.
I love the look of it - the pastel colours, the backgrounds, the designs, are all pretty perfect. I could criticise the slightly stylised face proportions (most obvious on Ginko himself), and the way that facial details disappear at less distance than might be expected, but I found neither of these things troublesome. Even the slight tendency to same-face for the young boys especially is no problem when they are so appealing in any case - why change a winning formula?
I love the music,
except for the OP. The different closing theme and instrumentation for every episode builds up to a marvellous compendium of music - I seriously need to get whatever soundtrack albums are available. But that OP - please! - it grated on me every time I heard it.
The pacing is very gentle, possibly soporific at times (but that might be partly a result of the circumstances under which I watched some parts. But equally, it is really nice to watch something relaxed, avoiding the need to be frenetic to attract attention.
And what of the substance? Well, I should say that my mind simply does not do the kind of analysis that the article linked by robersora presents - partly a degree of laziness, and partly simply not having a philosophical bent of mind. The stories are fanciful, of course, and so can be seen as myths. Such stories are best value when there are real-world lessons to be learnt from them - and the article points at some which I hadn't perceived without help. I don't know to what extent the stories tie into existing Japanese folk-lore, but I had the feeling while watching that my lack of a Japanese cultural background might be causing me to miss some aspects of what was going on. (This might also tie in with Xard's advice to watch them over a period.) None the less, the stories are enjoyable in themselves, and they were sufficiently distinct that I didn't get bored by keeping going.
The lesson that seemed to come round most often, in different forms, was of the virtue of acceptance. Take the hand that fate has dealt you, and roll with it, or learn from it, or make the best use of it, or rejoice in it, or whatever. I suspect this is culturally more suitable to the Japanese viewpoint than to some Western viewpoints which might suggest that it is up to you to change your world as you see fit.
As for a second series, I wonder if it was necessary. I'm sure it will be as good as the first, but I wonder if there might be a danger of running out of ideas that fit within the framework. However, I'm sufficiently intrigued that I'll probably give it a go in due course.
The comparison that comes up is
Kino's Journey. There are indeed many similarities. Kino is an observer of societies, usually trying to stand aside from them, but sometimes getting caught up in their activities. I get the feeling that the characteristics of the various societies depicted cover a wider range than the behaviour of the mushi, though the smaller number of episodes helps with that.
Kino's OP is as good as
Mushi-Shi's is bad, in my mind. The pastel colours in
Kino are duller, more brown in particular. But on the whole I would expect the same people to enjoy both series. If I was forced to choose between them - the
desert-island anime, so to speak - then I would take
Kino; but I would understand someone who disagreed.