How tempting it is to tell people to skip my review of Mushi-shi Vol. 4 and just urge them to go buy it. If you want to see the most thoughtful and beautiful anime out on the market right now, this is it. You won’t see things crashing into each other or a hero wielding a weapon of incredible strength, because that’s not what this series is about. You will, however, see more real wonder and mystery than you’ll find in any ten other shows.

I mentioned that in Volume 3 we saw a number of things that clued us in a little more as to the nature of Ginko’s own history, and how he came to be a mushi-master. Volume 4 expands the scope of the story, too, but in a slightly different direction: instead of seeing the mushi as a problem to be solved, there’s more of a sense that sometimes there is no “solution.” Sometimes the problem is one of human expectations and need; sometimes the mushi are just catalysts for calamities that cannot be undone but simply have to be accepted as they are. In fact, the only really “conventional” episode for this volume is the first one, where a girl worries about the possible consequences when her brother manifests the ability to see mushi — mushi that can disrupt the very flow of the seasons.