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蟲師 / Mushishi #2
蟲師 2 [Mushishi 2]
DARK MOUNTAIN
Mushi, a terrifying primitive life-form, take countless shapes–most of them deadly to the human race. Enter Ginko, a mushi expert, known as a mushishi. Though his laconic smile and soft-spoken manner don’t seem imposing, he represents the human world’s greatest defense. When a fellow mushishi disappears, Ginko must search for him on a mushi-infested mountain, putting his own life on the line!
Mushi, a terrifying primitive life-form, take countless shapes–most of them deadly to the human race. Enter Ginko, a mushi expert, known as a mushishi. Though his laconic smile and soft-spoken manner don’t seem imposing, he represents the human world’s greatest defense. When a fellow mushishi disappears, Ginko must search for him on a mushi-infested mountain, putting his own life on the line!
Paperback
First published February 20, 2002
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485 people want to read
About the author
Yuki Urushibara
34 books212 followersYuki Urushibara (漆原友紀) is a Japanese manga artist from Yamaguchi Prefecture.
She is best known for the series Mushishi, for which she received an Excellence Prize for manga at the 2003 Japan Media Arts Festival and the 2006 Kodansha Manga Award for general manga.
She is also known by the pen name Soyogo Shima (志摩 冬青 Shima Soyogo).
She is best known for the series Mushishi, for which she received an Excellence Prize for manga at the 2003 Japan Media Arts Festival and the 2006 Kodansha Manga Award for general manga.
She is also known by the pen name Soyogo Shima (志摩 冬青 Shima Soyogo).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 99 reviews
December 26, 2024
➺
4/5 🌟
"When you're just 'living to live', there's no chance for a break. Taking a break is just as urgent a need in life as anything else"
This volume has more mushi stories that pulled my heartstrings. I loved the chapter with Tanyu and her ability to seal the forbidden mushi, the mushi being used as the ink to write all the mushi hunting adventures to the scrolls then sealed away. All the texts escaping from the scroll was picked up with a chopstick, line by line, and transferred back to new scrolls. The way she did that was so cool and I remember the anime made that part so visually pleasing.
"When you're just 'living to live', there's no chance for a break. Taking a break is just as urgent a need in life as anything else"
This volume has more mushi stories that pulled my heartstrings. I loved the chapter with Tanyu and her ability to seal the forbidden mushi, the mushi being used as the ink to write all the mushi hunting adventures to the scrolls then sealed away. All the texts escaping from the scroll was picked up with a chopstick, line by line, and transferred back to new scrolls. The way she did that was so cool and I remember the anime made that part so visually pleasing.
May 31, 2011
This is a beautifully drawn series of vignettes about Mushi, a primitive life-form that is much closer to the line between plant and animal than other forms of life. Not everyone can see mushi, but anyone can accidentally intersect with them – usually with problematic results. Our guide on this journey is Ginko, a Mushi-shi or Mushi-Master. Ginko moves through a world tinged with mushi – he smokes constantly, because without the smoke, mushi would swarm around him, making life for other humans miserable or even dangerous.
These stories were inspired by old superstitions and legends of Japan. There are mushi that cluster like rainbows, promising rain but forever enchanting the unwary. There exist mushi that are changlings, killing children and taking their place. My favorite in this volume, “The Sea of Brushstrokes,” tells the tale of a young woman who lives daily with a family curse of a unique mushi, who is restricted by her curse, and yet she is a lover of mushi. It’s a wonderful story.
We see all of the mushi as Ginko makes his way through a world tinted by the presence of The Other. Ginko is a rare mushi master, convinced that it is not always necessary to kill mushi. His goal is to help humans live with mushi – and avoid the most dangerous of their breed.
This is sort of like someone writing out the riddles in Patricia McKillip’s The Riddlemaster of Hed. If you enjoy the manga, you should rent some of the anime – they did a beautiful, award-winning interpretation of the original work. Remember that manga are black & white illustrated digest-sized Japanese comic books, so you’ll be admiring line work, not colorization.
These stories were inspired by old superstitions and legends of Japan. There are mushi that cluster like rainbows, promising rain but forever enchanting the unwary. There exist mushi that are changlings, killing children and taking their place. My favorite in this volume, “The Sea of Brushstrokes,” tells the tale of a young woman who lives daily with a family curse of a unique mushi, who is restricted by her curse, and yet she is a lover of mushi. It’s a wonderful story.
We see all of the mushi as Ginko makes his way through a world tinted by the presence of The Other. Ginko is a rare mushi master, convinced that it is not always necessary to kill mushi. His goal is to help humans live with mushi – and avoid the most dangerous of their breed.
This is sort of like someone writing out the riddles in Patricia McKillip’s The Riddlemaster of Hed. If you enjoy the manga, you should rent some of the anime – they did a beautiful, award-winning interpretation of the original work. Remember that manga are black & white illustrated digest-sized Japanese comic books, so you’ll be admiring line work, not colorization.
June 8, 2021
Good art, good voice. Semi-creepy stories, very human despite the fact that they're all centered on the intersection of the human and the preternatural.
April 27, 2020
The second volume in this gorgeous series and I am delighted I can re-read it all. In this one Ginko travels far and wide again, meets new people, tries to help and save people, and we learn some more about him which I already knew of course but I still think it is interesting that he cannot stay anywhere for long before the mushi overrun everything as they want to be with Ginko.
In this one we head to the mountains and meet a master, we see a girl with a birthmark (mushi) who needs to write, we go to an island with strange things happening, we follow a rainbow (I loved this one so much), and then Ginko helps out a family (which was just creepy).
All in all, a great volume and I loved every story in it. The art was amazing, I especially love the backgrounds.
In this one we head to the mountains and meet a master, we see a girl with a birthmark (mushi) who needs to write, we go to an island with strange things happening, we follow a rainbow (I loved this one so much), and then Ginko helps out a family (which was just creepy).
All in all, a great volume and I loved every story in it. The art was amazing, I especially love the backgrounds.
December 18, 2024
this series is soo hauntingly calm and beautiful 🤍 mushishi is such a moood🤍starting season2 today and its my rest day, perfect pair😌 i love it, Mushishi forever and ever…
May 27, 2023
Hermoso !
June 3, 2024
Mas historias del mushishi
Me gusto mucho el de la muchacha que escribe historias
Y que miedo el de los antropomorfos
Y que coraje el de la diosa viviente
4.7 stars
Me gusto mucho el de la muchacha que escribe historias
Y que miedo el de los antropomorfos
Y que coraje el de la diosa viviente
4.7 stars
June 11, 2024
4/5
Oh to be a Mushishi and wander the country meeting people (noooo don't get reinfected by that parasite you're so sexy haha)
Oh to be a Mushishi and wander the country meeting people (noooo don't get reinfected by that parasite you're so sexy haha)
September 16, 2022
I read this years ago, so when my library got the series digitally, I thought I would revisit it. I think I'm just not in the mood to read something episodic like this. I did enjoy this volume especially the story about the rainbow man, which was so sad. I might come back to this series later, or watch the anime.
March 22, 2021
W tym tomie na przestrzeni 10 stron Ginko został dźgnięty nożem, podpalony żywcem i zdołał zwędzić dziwne, płynne zielone dziecko.
Ikona.
Ikona.
August 27, 2012
Extrañamente, me sigue resultando un muy buen manga pero sigo prefiriendo la versión en anime. Y eso que acá está una de las historias que originalmente me enganchó con el anime y es prácticamente igual. El problema es que esta versión me resulta bastante pesada y lenta, así que estoy barajando ir directo al último tomo y de ahí juzgar si vale la pena leerme los otros siete tomos ordenadamente. Cuando lo decida seguro vuelva a la serie, habrá que ver a dónde y por cuánto.
February 8, 2019
Mushi-shi is my favourite manga and anime of all time. It's so calm and wholesome.
While I barely read manga's, this one was so magical and I read all of the installments in one go. So beautifully drawn and atmospherically written. My inner-biologist-self loves the mushi, even though they're fictional they are based on bacteria. It's a little slow paced so beware if you're bored quickly. :p
While I barely read manga's, this one was so magical and I read all of the installments in one go. So beautifully drawn and atmospherically written. My inner-biologist-self loves the mushi, even though they're fictional they are based on bacteria. It's a little slow paced so beware if you're bored quickly. :p
September 16, 2014
More good stories from Urushibara. Artwork has improved a bit from vol. 1
June 7, 2024
It's a little spooky.
November 30, 2023
Mais vraiment pourquoi n’ai-je pas accroché plus que ça à l’époque, je me demande, car vraiment je me régale désormais de chaque nouvelle aventure de notre chasseur de mushi. C’est si poétique !
Je regrette presque de ne pas avoir découvert la série plus tôt pour la soutenir à sa sortie et encourager les éditeurs sur cette voie car je me régale ! Mais comme le sous-entendent ces derniers mots, je suis aussi ravie du plaisir que je prends à la découvrir maintenant avec peut-être une sensibilité plus grande de ma part à tout ce qui touche l’ésotérisme, le passé du Japon, son folklore et sa nature.
Mushishi est en effet une très belle incursion dans cette campagne japonaise d’autrefois où les liens avec la nature sont très forts. C’est plein d’émotion et de poésie, avec des missions à chaque fois terribles confiées à notre héros qui se déplace de village en village et lieu-dit en lieu-dit, auprès de gens que les esprits mettent en difficulté et que notre Ginko va aider.
Cette plongée dans le folklore japonais est des plus touchants et immersifs. Chaque histoire a beau être différente, il y a le même ton, la même ambiance, la même poésie. C’est doux-amer et bienveillant à la fin, douloureux mais nécessaire. J’ai aimé chacune des nouvelles histoires composant ce tome, que ce soit celle de ce Mushi gardien de montagne qui souhaite prendre sa retraite sans obliger personne à prendre le relais ; ou celle de la gardien des écrits des Mushi qui est d’une grâce folle quand elle la met en scène en pleine action en train d’écrire ; sans oublier la douce fresque de cette fausse divinité empoisonnée par son père mais qui n’arrive pas à lui en vouloir ; ou même celle de ce fils prodigue cherchant un arc-en-ciel pour son père pour se racheter ; ou pour finir celle de cette famille qui a perdu un enfant et qui se fait empoisonner la vie par un champignon prenant son apparence en multiples exemplaires…
Souvent les histoires sont poignantes ou glacent un peu le sang. Elles en disent long également sur les rapports humains des protagonistes, sur le rapport à l’ermite, à la femme qui a perdu son enfant, ou encore à la figure du père. Elles bouleversent aussi quand on voit le sacrifice de plusieurs d’entre eux, leur amour de leur prochain ou de la fonction qu’on leur a attribué. C’est assez triste mais c’est justement ce qui nous touche.
J’ai donc à nouveau été emportée par ces petites histoires qui ne paient pas de mine et qui peignent le portrait d’un ancien Japon très porté sur les esprits et la façon dont ils perturbaient leur quotidien. Amoureux d’ésotérisme, de folklore et de Miyazaki, ce titre est fait pour vous ! Sans oublier les planches enchanteresses de Urushibara pour dépeindre cette campagne. ❤
Avis complet : https://lesblablasdetachan.wordpress....
Je regrette presque de ne pas avoir découvert la série plus tôt pour la soutenir à sa sortie et encourager les éditeurs sur cette voie car je me régale ! Mais comme le sous-entendent ces derniers mots, je suis aussi ravie du plaisir que je prends à la découvrir maintenant avec peut-être une sensibilité plus grande de ma part à tout ce qui touche l’ésotérisme, le passé du Japon, son folklore et sa nature.
Mushishi est en effet une très belle incursion dans cette campagne japonaise d’autrefois où les liens avec la nature sont très forts. C’est plein d’émotion et de poésie, avec des missions à chaque fois terribles confiées à notre héros qui se déplace de village en village et lieu-dit en lieu-dit, auprès de gens que les esprits mettent en difficulté et que notre Ginko va aider.
Cette plongée dans le folklore japonais est des plus touchants et immersifs. Chaque histoire a beau être différente, il y a le même ton, la même ambiance, la même poésie. C’est doux-amer et bienveillant à la fin, douloureux mais nécessaire. J’ai aimé chacune des nouvelles histoires composant ce tome, que ce soit celle de ce Mushi gardien de montagne qui souhaite prendre sa retraite sans obliger personne à prendre le relais ; ou celle de la gardien des écrits des Mushi qui est d’une grâce folle quand elle la met en scène en pleine action en train d’écrire ; sans oublier la douce fresque de cette fausse divinité empoisonnée par son père mais qui n’arrive pas à lui en vouloir ; ou même celle de ce fils prodigue cherchant un arc-en-ciel pour son père pour se racheter ; ou pour finir celle de cette famille qui a perdu un enfant et qui se fait empoisonner la vie par un champignon prenant son apparence en multiples exemplaires…
Souvent les histoires sont poignantes ou glacent un peu le sang. Elles en disent long également sur les rapports humains des protagonistes, sur le rapport à l’ermite, à la femme qui a perdu son enfant, ou encore à la figure du père. Elles bouleversent aussi quand on voit le sacrifice de plusieurs d’entre eux, leur amour de leur prochain ou de la fonction qu’on leur a attribué. C’est assez triste mais c’est justement ce qui nous touche.
J’ai donc à nouveau été emportée par ces petites histoires qui ne paient pas de mine et qui peignent le portrait d’un ancien Japon très porté sur les esprits et la façon dont ils perturbaient leur quotidien. Amoureux d’ésotérisme, de folklore et de Miyazaki, ce titre est fait pour vous ! Sans oublier les planches enchanteresses de Urushibara pour dépeindre cette campagne. ❤
Avis complet : https://lesblablasdetachan.wordpress....
September 23, 2017
Looking back at this volume from the vantage point of just having just completed the fourth, I will put it out there that it does zoom into something more resembling a character arc. Relatively anyway, and certainly still very slow, fractured and completely still Mushishi, but you do eventually learn a bit more about Ginko's own story. At this point in volume two however, we are still diving into what exactly the Mushi can do.
Urushibara continues to really impress me with her ability to create so many stories that are so incredibly similar but also distinctly different. Nothing is repeated. And while I didn't initially think of it myself, but as some other reviewers point out, each story is a testament to the importance of life and finding coexistence between humans and nature. Likely another reason I feel so incredibly drawn to this series. That, and as someone else pointed out, Ginko is a bit of a dead ringer for Hellblazer.
There are certainly more than one damsels in distress, but it certainly was not chapter after chapter after chapter of victimized women like in corpse delivery service. It helps that the series isn't highly sexualized. None of the characters are super masculine or super feminine, because no one in these books are super anything, but that probably helps smooth over what is often problematic. And of course, there are a few young boys and even grown men (at times) who fall victim to Mushi.
The art and layout continue to be pretty whimsical. Not super detailed, ornamental or trippy, just quietly dreamy. So not super easy to read for beginners, but not super out there.
Urushibara continues to really impress me with her ability to create so many stories that are so incredibly similar but also distinctly different. Nothing is repeated. And while I didn't initially think of it myself, but as some other reviewers point out, each story is a testament to the importance of life and finding coexistence between humans and nature. Likely another reason I feel so incredibly drawn to this series. That, and as someone else pointed out, Ginko is a bit of a dead ringer for Hellblazer.
There are certainly more than one damsels in distress, but it certainly was not chapter after chapter after chapter of victimized women like in corpse delivery service. It helps that the series isn't highly sexualized. None of the characters are super masculine or super feminine, because no one in these books are super anything, but that probably helps smooth over what is often problematic. And of course, there are a few young boys and even grown men (at times) who fall victim to Mushi.
The art and layout continue to be pretty whimsical. Not super detailed, ornamental or trippy, just quietly dreamy. So not super easy to read for beginners, but not super out there.
July 11, 2025
Ginko and his journeys...
The second volume is just as beautiful, humane, and at times scary as the first. We follow Ginko and his encounters with the supernatural mushi.
The Mountain Sleeps
A sacred mountain… a village… something mysterious is going on… The mountain is acting strangely and the villagers ask Ginko to find their mushishi who is somewhere in that mountain. A splendid and sad story!
The Sea of Brushstrokes
There is a secret library and a family of mushishi with special powers. Ginko comes to visit sometimes. Beautifully poignant!
They That Breathe Ephemeral Life
Ginko comes to an isolated island where people worship the God of Life. Oh, this one was tragic. So many moral issues in so few pages. It made me angry!
Rain Comes and a Rainbow is Born
Ginko meets a young man who is chasing rainbows. A contemplative tale. I loved all the rainy panels.
The Veil Spore
A little boy has a mysterious illness, and the family calls for Ginko. This was quite a horror story! Gaah. So creepy!
The second volume is just as beautiful, humane, and at times scary as the first. We follow Ginko and his encounters with the supernatural mushi.
The Mountain Sleeps
A sacred mountain… a village… something mysterious is going on… The mountain is acting strangely and the villagers ask Ginko to find their mushishi who is somewhere in that mountain. A splendid and sad story!
The Sea of Brushstrokes
There is a secret library and a family of mushishi with special powers. Ginko comes to visit sometimes. Beautifully poignant!
They That Breathe Ephemeral Life
Ginko comes to an isolated island where people worship the God of Life. Oh, this one was tragic. So many moral issues in so few pages. It made me angry!
Rain Comes and a Rainbow is Born
Ginko meets a young man who is chasing rainbows. A contemplative tale. I loved all the rainy panels.
The Veil Spore
A little boy has a mysterious illness, and the family calls for Ginko. This was quite a horror story! Gaah. So creepy!
June 4, 2023
More of the same. Each chapter is a new location, a new client, a new mushi. The clients often have emotional problems that run parallel with their mushi problems.
The author does a good job of keeping things fresh, with rainbow mushi, calligraphic mushi, demon baby mushi, false god mushi, etc. Its pretty creative.
There is little action, little intensity; events unfold quietly. Often, Ginko eschews direct intervention. The stories don’t have happy endings, but bittersweet or melancholy ones. Giving Mushishi a meditative, wistful air.
We still know little about ginko. He is reserved and calm, honest and compassionate, knowledgeable, a little world weary. A character asks at one point why he wanders, whether he has a goal or purpose, but he doesn’t answer.
For now, the story is sustained by the novelty of its unique mushi, and by its unusual structure and tone.
The author does a good job of keeping things fresh, with rainbow mushi, calligraphic mushi, demon baby mushi, false god mushi, etc. Its pretty creative.
There is little action, little intensity; events unfold quietly. Often, Ginko eschews direct intervention. The stories don’t have happy endings, but bittersweet or melancholy ones. Giving Mushishi a meditative, wistful air.
We still know little about ginko. He is reserved and calm, honest and compassionate, knowledgeable, a little world weary. A character asks at one point why he wanders, whether he has a goal or purpose, but he doesn’t answer.
For now, the story is sustained by the novelty of its unique mushi, and by its unusual structure and tone.
July 30, 2024
Na drugim tomie zakończę moją przygodę z "Mushishi". Najbardziej zarezonowała ze mną i pewnie najdłużej zostanie historia ostatnia, o dzieciach-grzybach. Głównie dlatego, że to jedna z niewielu, w której pojawiły się jakieś moralne rozterki.
Nie mam pretensji do serii za to, że nie jest niczym więcej niż jest, wiem, że są tacy, dla których to wystarczające. Dla mnie za bardzo kojarzyło się to z formułą "villain of the week" i "Z Archiwum X", a koncepty nie wchodziły pod powierzchnię (i tu dzieci-grzyby są chlubnym wyjątkiem), a ja nie szukam raczej "contentowej lektury".
Formuła jest zgrabna, nie dziwię się, że udało się z tego wykrzesać 10 tomów. Po pierwszym byłem optymistycznie zainteresowany, po drugim moja ciekawość została zaspokojona.
Nie mam pretensji do serii za to, że nie jest niczym więcej niż jest, wiem, że są tacy, dla których to wystarczające. Dla mnie za bardzo kojarzyło się to z formułą "villain of the week" i "Z Archiwum X", a koncepty nie wchodziły pod powierzchnię (i tu dzieci-grzyby są chlubnym wyjątkiem), a ja nie szukam raczej "contentowej lektury".
Formuła jest zgrabna, nie dziwię się, że udało się z tego wykrzesać 10 tomów. Po pierwszym byłem optymistycznie zainteresowany, po drugim moja ciekawość została zaspokojona.
September 23, 2025
(THIS REVIEW IS ORIGINALLY FROM STORYGRAPH, FROM 24TH JULY 2025.)
I would say that the quality of the first volume definitely continued onto the second, despite the year gap between the volumes. With anthology type books of any kind there's always a factor of one story standing out as particularly great or negative but I can't say that in this case. Each one delivered a well-told and interesting story, which I think is the crucial element for each story so far; they each have their own appeal. The mangaka adopted a type of fairy tale style but with maturity, which certainly aids in their stand alone nature.
My favourite story from this collection is either the Sea Of Brushstrokes, or the Veil Spore.
I would say that the quality of the first volume definitely continued onto the second, despite the year gap between the volumes. With anthology type books of any kind there's always a factor of one story standing out as particularly great or negative but I can't say that in this case. Each one delivered a well-told and interesting story, which I think is the crucial element for each story so far; they each have their own appeal. The mangaka adopted a type of fairy tale style but with maturity, which certainly aids in their stand alone nature.
My favourite story from this collection is either the Sea Of Brushstrokes, or the Veil Spore.
January 3, 2021
This book of weird tales tickles my need for supernatural eeriness with a heavy dose of melancholy and thoughtfulness. This volume includes things like a living mountain, a wandering bog and a woman attracted by the same, and a woman having false babies that are really the supernatural creatures of the title. These stories often have characters who are really striving for something, characters who suffer meaningful loss, and they have to try to deal with that loss, and the various ways that they try. It's a difficult manga, and sometimes the poetic way its written or the weird progression of the story makes things confusing, but overall I like it... just maybe not quite love it.
October 31, 2021
Great volume! It's interesting to see how some of the translations differ just slightly from the anime, and the notes on translation in the back were especially interesting once again. The stories in this volume are still very close to the anime, and even in manga form, I still find it to be a somewhat soothing, atmospheric read--maybe because of the familiarity I have with these stories and my love for the series. The tone, atmosphere, and art are still fantastic and beautiful, even in black and white manga format, and the art retains its almost watercolor-like properties. Reading this really makes me want to rewatch the anime yet again.
August 15, 2021
Overall, I prefer the translation in the anime. This one seems a bit more literal and not as poetic/understandable in English. I do love that the translator explains the kanji that make yo the various mushi words/people names, though. This one had some of my fave stories, though I prefer the anime. The one exception was the rainbow one, though it could be bc I don’t remember that one as well, but I don’t remember the scene in the cave (or at least not the length it went on in the manga), and I liked that insight into Ginko’s character.
May 19, 2023
This manga is so weird. Another reviewer notes that this is based around Japanese folk lore, which could be why the stories seem so strange and unfamiliar to me. But, still compelling.
An old man gives his life to a magical mountain. A young girl spends her life trapping mushi in writing. A child with a parasite is revered as a god. A man spends his life chasing rainbows. A couple's children are really sentient fungus.
An old man gives his life to a magical mountain. A young girl spends her life trapping mushi in writing. A child with a parasite is revered as a god. A man spends his life chasing rainbows. A couple's children are really sentient fungus.
September 3, 2018
Loved this manga, the main reason I'm only giving it 4 stars is because there seemed to be a few translation errors in several parts, along with some really confusing passages (which were probably due to the translation). I enjoyed the anime better as well, since it was really interesting seeing the mushi come to life (their colors, animation, special effects, etc).
August 25, 2019
Mushishi #2
Another delightful collection of mystical stories of the Yokai-like beings that possess life but not consciousness. The stories are creepy delicious in a very Japanese way! Mushi are often troublesome for humans.
Another delightful collection of mystical stories of the Yokai-like beings that possess life but not consciousness. The stories are creepy delicious in a very Japanese way! Mushi are often troublesome for humans.
August 4, 2020
There is less sketchy quality to it, much more polished drawings, which is... okay. I liked them imperfect, but what can you do, authors usually get better in time.
The stories also are much more bittersweet, have more of an impact.
The stories also are much more bittersweet, have more of an impact.
June 8, 2021
Watched the anime first, then picked this up. It's definitely different from what I'm used to and is one really unique manga/anime. Closest thing I could think of is Shaman King, but with a grittier darker element to it. Took a while to get into, but once I did I found it rather fascinating.
May 13, 2017
Estuvo muy bien, sobre todo el último relato; fue súper interesante, y un poquito tétrico.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 99 reviews