Mushishi Zoku Shou: Odoro no Michi

Mysterious, unknowable creatures alien to the laws of nature—known only to some and feared by others—"Mushi" lie behind many of life's strange phenomena.

Long ago, a Mushi of terrifying power threatened to extinguish all life. The Minai clan of Mushishi were born from those who stopped this malevolent force, their bound by duty to serve as retainers to the Karibusa family, within whom the Mushi remains sealed. The Mushishi Ginko is given a job request from Tanyuu Karibusa: oversee the work of the head of the Minai clan, Kumado Minai, in investigating an abandoned village where dead wood and even houses spring back to life as flourishing plants.

Though the Minai clan are oddly ruthless among Mushishi, even more peculiar is their widespread dull character, with little appreciation for beauty or sentiment. Tanyuu believes there is more to this trend than meets the eye. Ginko aims to answer her curiosity as he follows Kumado into a "Path of Thorns," a place where Mushi flow from their own strange sources into the world of the living. Rare and deadly varieties of Mushi lurk in these depths, along with the secret nature of the Minai clan's resolve to their ancient task.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Ginko Main

Nakano, Yuto Japanese

Minai, Kumado Main

Mikami, Satoshi Japanese

Karibusa, Tanyuu ing

Kobayashi, Ai Japanese

Narrator ing

Doi, Mika Japanese

Tama ing

Kyouda, Hisako Japanese

Odagiri, Narumi Assistant Producer

Nagahama, Hiroshi Episode Director, Storyboard, Series Composition

Soutome, Kouichirou Episode Director

Rose, Lucy Theme Song Performance

Reviews

Feb 28, 2015

ZachM

Recommended

Not much needs to be said here. This is Mushishi. One of the most respected and revered anime to ever grace the medium. And like the rest of the series, this 47 minute special (episode 11/12 of Zoku Shou) is a treat to watch.

Story and Characters
As with the usual format, this story shows us another one of the Mushishi Ginko's encounters with Mushi, but this time, we find ourselves ANOTHER Mushishi, named Kumado. Kumado is from a clan of Mushishi who have been researching a way to deal with a certain "forbidden" Mushi. (For the sake of spoilers, I'll stop there) The story is great ... as always, and the characters get even more fleshed out then they normally would with the addition of 20 extra minutes.

Art/Animation and Sound
Mushishi is Studio Artland's crowning jewel from a production standpoint. It is incomparable to anything else they've ever worked on. And this special is no different. It looks downright fantastic. The designs of the characters, the designs of the Mushi, the look of the nature, the colors, everything looks beautiful. As for the sound, it's still incredible. The Mushishi soundtrack has always had a unique kind oh sound to it, and this special is no different. I'm also glad that they still kept the Opening theme of "Shiver" by Lucy Rose. It's a beautiful song, and one that I really loved listening to over the course of the Zoku Shou installment.

Final Thoughts
Mushishi will never cease to amaze me. It's an absolute treat of an anime that is the perfect kind of thing to watch whenever you just want to relax. You can watch it whenever you want, with its episodic nature, and it will always give you the same calming and soothing feel whenever you need it. It's not a show for everyone, but I definitely recommend it to everyone to try. This special gave me everything I could've wanted. And I am very glad I decided to get back to it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Nov 10, 2017

Joe_Med

Recommended

-Does he dislike me?
I have never seen his smile...
=He had a very strict upbringing..
his soul has become frozen..
However his soul should thaw...
please don't think badly of him.

Another marvelous special as we used to get from mushishi series, the series that I count watching an episode of it is like consuming one gem of a treasure full of a limited number of them , a sound track I listen to for about 4 hours straight and enjoying it every single time , stories told in wonderful atmosphere and full of wonderful quotes.

I have no more words to say as I write more I ... will spoil this wonderful special
I won't say any thing more than that the quote I wrote in the start..
touched me.
It seems like nothing special but I face many people every day and I do know the feeling the speaker is taking about..

Highly recommended for mushishi lovers.
And for those who haven't watched mushishi (1st season at least).. what are you waiting for :D ?

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Nov 2, 2021

Resting_Bonfire

Mixed Feelings

Mushishi
- Mushishi Path of Thorns

This is a special episode of Mushishi, bringing closer the story of the "Forbidden Mushi", which moved into the world many years before the beginning of the story.
- For me, this is the most interesting topic. I just want to know more about this Mushi and how it was born in the first place. Unfortunately, the episode raises a lot of tension but ends without new knowledge.

Unlike the normal episodes of Mushishi, this one is a double episode lasting over 40 minutes. Which again drags things out, but is also larger in content than a normal episode.

Among other ... things, this allowed for some tension to build up, so I can say that this was one of the more exciting episodes in the series. Regardless of whether it is relevant or not. Unfortunately, should you skip this episode, nothing is lost in the process.

Apart from the forbidden Mushi, Ginko was once again as charming as ever in this episode. You also saw more of his character traits in this episode.



Conclusion

There is nothing more to say about this. An above-average episode with mediocre content and a short normal background. As a fan of the Mushishi series, you should have seen this one.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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