The most serene, silent shore of the anime ocean. It is the product of an idea that pays tribute to nature and the living in the splendour of simplicity. Mushi-shi is a work of volunteerism, a devotion that is not hidden, but mysterious among the people, which carries in its heritage the preservation of an ancient wisdom for eternity and its use for the benefit of the living. However, the fact that life forms called "mushi" come out from under every stone is the excuse of the anime, the dough in need of flavouring. The main narrative elements that make this anime valuable are the human stories told through the medium of mushi, and the fantastic elements and fiction that caress the sensitive belly of inspiration and make you experience the pleasure of imaginative description and creation.

Ginko's wandering indifference, yet his inner control, which is understood in the respect for the living, his ability to continue farther and farther wherever he goes, and his unfamiliarity with the idea of the end of the journey embrace you with sincerity like a novel character. Like every voluntary loner, he has a past condemned to inviolability. His thesis, which takes its shape within the framework of his teaching, reminded me of Hermann Hesse's fictional traveller Knulp when I ignored his extreme isolation against the vivid and obsessive, and his purposefulness in line with Japanese culture.

A village traveller, a nature connoisseur, a piece of nature, sure of what is right, detached from the fixed, escaped from the sense of belonging, unafraid of his imperfection, sometimes selfish but open-hearted. At first, in the midst of stories that sprout aesthetic ideas in the mind with their beauty, his excessive dominance over the whole of the situations and his makeshift superiority over every problem disturbs the eye, but in time one gets used to it, and towards the end of the story, as Ginko's weaknesses and resignations find their lines, it takes the form that radiates serenity worthy of true peace.

I emphasise that it is one of the productions with calming, mystical and relaxing original music. All songs are instrumental except Ally Kerr's The Sore Feet Song, and these are the songs that give the soundtrack its unique power and fit the anime perfectly. These works, the product of Toshio Masuda's musical genius, can have a softening effect by soaking the tired mind in milky white waters...

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