Hi! I noticed you recommended Natsume Yuujinchou in your rec list. Have you heard of the series Mushishi or Kino's journey? I've heard they are similar in style.
Hi! omg I’m sorry, I didn’t see this earlier! If you messaged this a while ago I apologize :(
I LOVE Natsume Yuujinchou, yeah! <3 And I’ve read/watched Mushishi too! I haven’t seen/read Kino’s Journey, though, so I’ll def have to check that you, thank you! :) Good series to mention!
Mushishi does have some aspects of similarity so I can see why people would connect them--I did too, when I first started watching/reading both. In both cases, the anime is very pretty, also both of them deal with the ayakashi-type realm of... what would that be? Not really supernatural, but a layering of a spiritual/mythical/mystical... like a combination of gods and legends and more. Also similarly, both stories are a bit episodic, with a main character lead who can see into this other world. They also both end up occupying a lot of the grey space between that world and the human world, because of their ability to interact with (and, to an extent, empathize with) both.
I feel like that’s where the similarities between Mushishi and Natsume Yuujinchou end, though, for what it’s worth in case you (or anyone else) ever decide to check it out. For me, at least, Natsume is very beautiful; it’s bittersweet, heartbreaking, heartwarming-- I can relax or be very deeply touched by the individual stories in it, and what’s interesting especially for Natsume is the manga vs anime have a bit of a different feel, in a way. Or rather, I forget how standoffish Natsume was in the beginning of the manga until I go back and reread it, because he builds into such a gentle and sort of sad but also beautiful story. In my mind, Natsume Yuujinchou feels like a story about stories; a story about human emotions, about empathy, about the ability to bridge gaps and the way feelings can transcend boundaries.
In Natsume, I feel like that other realm represents a reflection of humanity. Whereas Mushishi feels, to me, more like a story about nature.
Mushishi feels more focused on the Otherness of the other realm. When Ginko interacts with the Mushi, it’s oftentimes in a function like a traveling medicine man or detective. It’s less modern of a story than Natsume (which makes sense since Mushishi is set between the Edo and Meiji periods) so it has a bit of a wilder feel about it. While a lot of Natsume’s story is set in cities and the surrounding woods, almost the entirety of Mushishi is in the mountains and forests from what I recall. The Mushi have an almost uncanny feel to them--sometimes almost creepy, sometimes sweet and endearing; like a force of nature, the way snow can be soft and gentle or a terrifying blizzard. There is very little “human” in the Mushi in general, and the stories feel much more episodic in Mushishi than Natsume Yuujinchou because there’s a bit less of an overall character arc in the MC itself. Ginko kind of just remains Ginko the whole time iirc, whereas Natsume is growing as a person over the story -- but that makes a lot of sense based on the way the stories are told, and their different ages, and their different time periods.
Overall, I really like both series. For me, I like Natsume more than Mushishi but that’s because I really like the humanity of it, the human stories. BUT I love Mushishi too -- it has a very interesting atmosphere that hovers very well in the range between sweet and creepy in a lot of its stories.
Mind you, it’s been years since I read/watched Mushishi so maybe I’m remembering incorrectly. But yeah I like Ginko a lot, as well as Natsume. Both series are really good--I think everyone should read/watch both! I hope Kino’s Journey is as interesting as both of those--I’ll definitely love it if so :D I think for all of these it just comes down to preference of the type of story a person gravitates toward the most.
Thank you again! <3 Sorry for the rambles.
