The Mushi: Eye-Dark

This is the Mushi which devours the sight of those who have spent too long gazing at Luminosity; it has blinded a little girl named Sui. Ginko lures it out of Sui by exposing it to moonlight (it's the purple one you see him holding), and then restores her sight by giving her his own artificial eye, showing that he, too, has sacrificed part of his vision.

Episode 3: "Tender Horns" The Mushi: Un and Ah



Episode 4: "Pillow Lane" The Mushi: Fleeting Dream



Episode 5: "The Traveling Swamp" The Mushi: Water Worm



This episode introduces the series' only other recurring character, Adashino-sensei: village doctor, friend to Ginko, insatiable collector of books and oddities, and passionate Mushi buff. This eccentric scholar's fascination with the Mushi will lead him into some unwise purchases and earn him some stern words from Ginko; however, Ginko does offer him souvenirs of his Mushi cases, and they consult with each other as colleagues on more than one occasion.

Episode 6: "The Flock that Inhales Dew" The Mushi: no name given



Episode 7: "The Rain Comes, The Rainbow Comes" The Mushi: Rainbow Snake



Episode 8: "From the Coast" The Mushi: Umisen Yamasen ("Thousand Sea, Thousand Mountain")



Episode 9: "Heavy Fruit" The Mushi: Wilting Fruit



Episode 10: "The White That Lives in the Inkstone" The Mushi: Cloud-Eater



[The deadly inkstone, until reactivated by curious children, had been in the collection of Ginko's Mushi-buff friend Adashino, who is chided sternly by Ginko for seeking to own a supernatural being. Adashino admits his guilt but is still most sulkily unhappy at being forced to give up his treasure.]

Episode 11: "Mountain Sleeping" The Mushi: Bedstraw



Episode 12: "One-Eyed Fish" The Mushi: Eternal Darkness and Ginko



[Note: though we originally thought that Ginko had lost his eye by looking too long at the Luminosity, we now learn that he gave it up--along with his memories-- to escape the Darkness and the creature whose name he took when he'd lost his own. Since the Luminosity is a river of pure life-energy while the Ginko's light is one of death, they may not have the same effect, but it is notable that in episode one we saw him sitting by the river of Luminosity--with his back to it.]

Episode 13: "The One Night Bridge" The Mushi: False Hair



Episode 14: "Inside the Cage" The Mushi: Lodger Bamboo



Episode 15: "The False Spring" The Mushi: False Breath



Episode 16: "The Daybreak Snake" The Mushi: Kagedama



Episode 17: "The Empty Cocoon Collector" The Mushi: Uro-san



However, as a Uro ages its accuracy fades, and it may deliver damaged mail, or detour into some other closed space. This is the only time they pose a threat to humans: anyone who is in the closed space with the Uro will, the moment it's released, be pulled into the same subspace they travel in--and unlike Uro-san, humans can't get back out. They wander through the endless caverns until they lose all memory.

Episode 18: "The Robe that Embraces a Mountain" The Mushi: Ubusuna



Episode 19: "String from the Heavens" The Mushi: Tenpengusa (or Wandering Star); also, Kouki



(We also see a Mushi manifestation in this episode called Kouki, which Ginko describes as "when things that have yet to be born as Mushi form a herd and swim together". As he also advises a woman not to look at it for long, saying "that light is poison to the eyes", it's presumably a form of Luminosity.)

Episode 20: "A Sea of Brushes" The Mushi: Shimi; also the Forbidden Mushi



This episode also contains the story of an entity called only "a forbidden Mushi", which appeared at a time of terrible drought generations ago "attempting to erase all life". A Mushishi sealed it into the body of a pregnant woman of the Karibusa family, whose skin turned charcoal black as a result. Since then several Karibusa women have been born with the gift of Recording--and one useless, charcoal-black leg; the proof that the nameless Mushi has been passed on and is sealed inside them. Despite this Mushi's apparently inimical nature, hosting it inside the body does not seem to affect the host's personality, though the leg is gripped by pain whenever the Recorder hears stories of Mushishis' victories over Mushi. Indeed, Tanyu, the current Recorder (the family's fourth) bears her resident no ill-will and hopes for a time of "humans, animals, and Mushi all living together".



(The other gift of a Recorder is the ability to generate text for the stories she hears, literally pouring the words onto paper from her skin. It's not explicitly stated, but it seems likely that this too is a result of her physical link with the Mushi.)

Episode 21: "The Cotton Spore" The Mushi: Watahaki



Episode 22: "The Offshore Shrine" The Mushi: no name given



Episode 23: "The Voice of Rust" The Mushi: Yasabi



Episode 24: "Bound for Bonfire Field"

The Mushi: Hidane/Kagebi





