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Mushishi is, as ever, a story that tells itself, yet leaves the interpretation to the viewer.
In many ways I think “Lingering Twilight” is very much a companion piece to last week’s “The Fragrant Darkness”. Both chapters concern themselves with the comfortable, familiar lifelong bonds that we form and which sustain us in old age. And both turn on a phenomenon associated with the coming of darkness, and the sacrifices we make for those we love. And in the end, both challenge us to decide for ourselves whether the ending is a tragic or a redemptive one (or perhaps a little of both).
Once again “Twilight” finds Ginko in a peripheral role, a bringer of knowledge but not a savior. Once again he does little more than allow the characters at the center of the drama to know the truth – how they choose to act on that truth he leaves up to them. This is in fact his role in most of the stories in Mushishi that don’t directly involve him as the protagonist, largely because they rarely involve matters where the issue of right and wrong is a simple one.
The characters in question are Youkichi (Nishimura Tomomichi) and Mikage (Suzuki Reiko) – though in fact there’s a third vital player here, and that’s a young girl named Akane. We first see her playing with her friends, who leave her to wait for her father as twilight falls. But Akane never makes it home that night – instead, a strange girl who has no memory of her past appears in the fields at the place where Akane was last seen by the young Youkichi. The villagers are naturally suspicious – in European folklore the belief would have been that Akane had been “spirited away” and replaced with a faerie child, and indeed the belief isn’t all that different here. But Mikage is by all appearances a normal child, and eventually she’s adopted by Akane’s father and (it’s hinted) more or less encouraged to “become” Akane for him.
The next time we see Mikage it’s as an old woman lost in the woods, with no idea why she’s there – which is how Ginko finds her, and returns her to the now elderly Youkichi at their shared gasshou-zukuri home. The two bicker amicably like any pair of contended elders, but the fact is that Mikage has been wandering off at night, saying she’s “going home”, and Youkichi is worried. After she’s asleep Ginko tells Youkichi that this may be work of the Oomagadoki (“Great Witching Hour” – interestingly, Ginko never specifically says this is a mushi), a being of shadow that appears at twilight. When one steps on its shadow or it steps on theirs, they switch places – with the human presumably left adrift in the shadow world the Oomagadoki inhabits.
It’s pretty obvious what’s happened here, and Mikage has overheard the conversation and put the pieces together. Both these old souls have reason to be wracked with guilt – Mikage for having stepped on Akane’s shadow, and Youkichi (who it’s clear was sweet on the young Akane) for having grown to love and marry her. But Ginko doesn’t judge either of them for this, and I’m not sure we should either. Youkichi has certainly done nothing wrong, and could anyone say truthfully that in Mikage’s place – frightened and alone in a world of perpetual dusk – that they wouldn’t have taken the opportunity to do what she did?
Again, we’re faced with a sad ending as a postscript – Mikage passes away a few years after the events of the episode, and Akane reappears as a shadow when Youkichi is visiting her grave. But as with “The Fragrant Darkness” I don’t think Youkichi’s decision is so obviously a tragic one. He’s lived a full and happy life, and even now Akane has retained enough of herself to be too kind to accept his offer to switch places with her. So Youkichi forces the issue – driven by his own guilt, perhaps, but in doing so he gives Akane a second chance to have the kind of peaceful and happy life that he’s had.
As is so often the case with Mushishi, we’re left to ponder an ending that’s full of loss yet also somehow hopeful and redemptive, and one that will stay with us for a long time. Perhaps this is because with Mushishi there are no true endings, no chapters which resolve themselves neatly – simply stories which lead us into the next. In this sense the end cards which close the episodes could hardly be a more appropriate bridge between them.
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Lang Xia
November 2, 2014 at 7:36 amthe little things really count in this anime..
you can sense the desperation when the old man finds his wife in the mountain. his voice trembles and makes you feel his nervousness of losing her.
The depiction of movement of the little girl turning away from the old man when he requests her to take his shadow.. Everything is so well done..
the music is too good.. what a masterpiece of story telling. have been reading your review after every episode. keep itup
admin
November 2, 2014 at 9:08 amThanks for commenting – I appreciate the sentiment. Casting has always been one of the most brilliant aspects of this anime, and this episode is certainly no exception.
SixFlags
November 2, 2014 at 10:55 amMan I still remember this story from the manga. If I ever had the task to convince a 20 to 30 year old to start watching anime, I'd go for an ageless series like Mushishi.
admin
November 2, 2014 at 11:39 amDoes that seem, like, really really old to you?
SixFlags
November 2, 2014 at 3:19 pmNot at all, I was referring to my own age group. 99% of my acquaintances do not watch anime, though.
admin
November 2, 2014 at 3:49 pmHeh, I guess it came off a little differently. Just struck me funny…
gilraen_tinuviel
November 2, 2014 at 4:23 pmWell, I still wouldn't recommend Mushishi. I think it's good, exceptionally good. But most of people I know, anime fans or no, probably would think it's boring or about nothing, and an episodic narrative doesn't help too.
Kim
November 2, 2014 at 8:23 pmI actually tried to get some of my friends then in their mid 20's to watch some episodes of the first series a few years ago. Most of them watched a few seconds of it and laughed at how overly dramatic it was. I try not to get offended when my friends don't like what I did but I did in this case because I felt they didn't really
give it a real chance.
I've found getting people to give anime a chance who look down on it is really hard even when it's a series as well written as Mushishi because people can't get rid of their preconceived notions of what anime is.
Although to be fair one of my friends liked it but she is a bit more open to trying new things than my other friends.
Gary Cochran
November 2, 2014 at 8:44 pmI'm 55 and still love anime. This series is just one reason why…
admin
November 3, 2014 at 12:50 amI think Mushishi is a very good series to recommend to non-anime fans (which is an interesting topic all to itself), but it has to be a certain type of person. Someone who's somewhat sympathetic to sci-fi/fantasy or avante garde film would probably be a better bet.
melodic thoughts
December 26, 2014 at 8:44 amI personally feel that this is not a series to recommend to a newcomer to anime. It took me a while of getting seasoned to a number of banal anime, and some more years of maturity to really appreciate and love this.
Blueicegal ♥
November 2, 2014 at 3:10 pmi think i'm the only one who is confused here. so when he stepped on her shadow what happened to him. and shouldn't she have gone into his body?
admin
November 2, 2014 at 3:48 pmIt's not a matter of possession. The idea is, when one or the other steps on the shadow the two people switch places, body and all.
Kim
November 2, 2014 at 8:18 pmI thought the ending was sad not because Youkichi gave up his life for Akane but because Akane still lost her life and the one that will greet her is completely different. Everyone she knew will be gone or old. Youkichi gave her a chance for a new life but he can't give her back what she lost.
And as for Youkichi while he was old and lived his life he is giving up more than his life to give Akane a chance at hers.