Mushishi (蟲師, Mushishi?, lit. Bugmaster) is an anime series based on the manga of the same name, which was written and illustrated by Yuki Urushibara. The series focuses on the adventures of Ginko, a mushishi who travels from place to place chasing rumors of occurrences that could be tied to mushi.
Season 1[]
The first season contains 26 episodes that aired from October 23, 2005 to June 19, 2006. There was a brief hiatus in March following the twentieth episode, after which the show resumed airing in May.
| No. overall | No. in season | Episode title | Original air date | Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "The Green Seat" | October 23, 2005 | "The Green Gathering" |
| 2 | 2 | "The Light of the Eyelid" | October 30, 2005 | "The Light in the Eyelids" |
| 3 | 3 | "Tender Horns" | November 6, 2005 | "The Soft Horns" |
| 4 | 4 | "The Pillow Pathway" | November 13, 2005 | "The Pillow Path" |
| 5 | 5 | "The Traveling Swamp" | November 20, 2005 | "The Traveling Bog" |
| 6 | 6 | "Those Who Inhale the Dew" | November 27, 2005 | "They That Breathe Ephemeral Life" |
| 7 | 7 | "Raindrops and Rainbows" | December 4, 2005 | "Rain Comes and a Rainbow Is Born" |
| 8 | 8 | "Where Sea Meets Man" | December 11, 2005 | "From the Ocean's Edge" |
| 9 | 9 | "The Heavy Seed" | December 18, 2005 | "The Heavy Seed" |
| 10 | 10 | "The White Which Lives Within the Ink Stone" | January 8, 2006 | "White Living in the Inkstone" |
| 11 | 11 | "The Sleeping Mountain" | January 8, 2006 | "The Mountain Sleeps" |
| 12 | 12 | "One-Eyed Fish" | January 15, 2006 | "The Fish Gaze" |
| 13 | 13 | "One-Night Bridge" | January 22, 2006 | "One-Night Bridge" |
| 14 | 14 | "Inside the Cage" | January 29, 2006 | "In the Cage" |
| 15 | 15 | "Pretense of Spring" | February 5, 2006 | "Spring and Falsehoods" |
| 16 | 16 | "Sunrise Serpent" | February 12, 2006 | "The Snake of Dawn" |
| 17 | 17 | "Pickers of Empty Cocoons" | February 19, 2006 | "Picking the Empty Cocoon" |
| 18 | 18 | "Clothes that Embrace the Mountain" | February 26, 2006 | "The Coat That Holds a Mountain" |
| 19 | 19 | "String From the Sky" | March 5, 2006 | "Heaven's Thread" |
| 20 | 20 | "A Sea of Writings" | March 12, 2006 | "The Sea of Brushstrokes" |
| 21 | 21 | "Cotton Changeling" | May 15, 2006 | "The Veil Spore" |
| 22 | 22 | "Shrine in the Sea" | May 22, 2006 | "The Sea Palace" |
| 23 | 23 | "The Sound of Rust" | May 29, 2006 | "The Cry of Rust" |
| 24 | 24 | "The Journey to the Field of Fire" | June 5, 2006 | "Flames of the Fields" |
| 25 | 25 | "Eye of Fortune, Eye of Misfortune" | June 12, 2006 | "Eye's Fortune, Eye's Misfortune" |
| 26 | 26 | "The Sound of Footsteps in the Grass" | June 19, 2006 | "The Sound of Trodden Grass" |
Season 2[]
The second season, titled Mushishi: Next Passage, contains 20 episodes that aired from April 5, 2014 to December 21, 2015. The season went on a brief hiatus in June, after the tenth episode aired. After the special episode "Path of Thorns" aired in August, the rest of the season started airing in October.
| No. overall | No. in season | Episode title | Original air date | Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 | "Banquet at the Forest's Edge" | April 4, 2014 | "Banquet in the Farthest Field" |
| 2 | 28 | "The Warbling Sea Shell" | April 12, 2014 | "The Chirping Shell" |
| 3 | 29 | "Beneath the Snow" | April 19, 2014 | "Under the Snow" |
| 4 | 30 | "The Hand That Caresses the Night" | April 26, 2014 | "The Hand That Pets the Night" |
| 5 | 31 | "Mirror Lake" | May 3, 2014 | "The Mirror in the Muck" |
| 6 | 32 | "Floral Delusion" | May 10, 2014 | "Lost in Blossoms" |
| 7 | 33 | "Cloudless Rain" | May 24, 2014 | "Sunshowers" |
| 8 | 34 | "Wind Raiser" | June 6, 2014 | "The Whirlwind" |
| 9 | 35 | "Valley of the Welling Tides" | June 14, 2014 | "The Milk of the Valley" |
| 10 | 36 | "Depths of Winter" | June 21, 2014 | "The Bottom of Winter" |
| 11 | 37 | "Cushion of Grass" | October 19, 2014 | "The Bed of Grass" |
| 12 | 38 | "Fragrant Darkness" | October 26, 2014 | "The Scented Darkness" |
| 13 | 39 | "Lingering Crimson" | November 2, 2014 | "The Final Bit of Crimson" |
| 14 | 40 | "Hidden Cove" | November 9, 2014 | "The Hidden Channel" |
| 15 | 41 | "Thread of Light" | November 16, 2014 | "The Thread of Light" |
| 16 | 42 | "Sea of Otherworldly Stars" | November 23, 2014 | "Stars in the Jar of the Sky" |
| 17 | 43 | "Azure Waters" | November 30, 2014 | "Aquamarine" |
| 18 | 44 | "Lightning's End" | December 7, 2014 | "At the Foot of Lightning" |
| 19 | 45 | "Mud Grass" | December 14, 2014 | "The Mud Weeds" |
| 20 | 46 | "Tree of Eternity" | December 21, 2014 | "The Eternal Tree" |
Special episodes[]
The first Mushishi special episode, "The Shadow That Devours the Sun", aired prior to the start of the second season on January 4, 2014. "Path of Thorns", the second special, aired during the second season's brief hiatus on August 20, 2014. The third and final special, "Bell Droplets" had a theatrical release in Japan on May 16, 2015.
| Season no. | Episode title | Original air date | Chapter(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Shadow That Devours the Sun" | January 4, 2014 | "The Shadow That Devours the Sun" |
| 2 | "Path of Thorns" | August 20, 2014 | "The Ragged Road (Part 1)" "The Ragged Road (Part 2)" |
| 2 | "Bell Droplets" | May 16, 2015 | "Drops of Bells (Part 1)" "Drops of Bells (Part 2)" |