MUSHISHI, VOL. 4

Manga can be described with dozens of adjectives, but one adjective you won't see often is “subtle.” American writers are encouraged not to announce their characters' motives, but instead to show them through the characters' actions. Japanese writers, particularly manga writers, like to explain up front why their characters have a grudge against the world, then get right down to creating pages and pages of awesome mech wars.

Both techniques, needless to say, have their advantages and disadvantages, but it's still relaxing to take in a quiet, insightful series like Yuki Urushibara's Mushishi once in a while. Ginko, the wandering white-haired shaman, has a wide range of emotions and motivations that aren't immediately accessible behind his stoic face. It's up to the reader to piece together his background and his life.

Volume four of Mushishi continues the tradition set by its predecessors. Instead of following a continuous storyline, Mushishi is composed of several short stories that centre around mushi. “Mushi” are not easily explained: they're essentially life at its most primitive form, mostly content to live alongside humankind but very capable of destroying entire villages if their survival calls for it. Ginko is a “mushishi,” an expert on mushi who travels from town to town to help people overcome problems and mysteries related to the mysterious life force.

The latest volume features more mushi-related oddities that vary from the typical to the strange. Among the problems Ginko encounters are mushi that create a false spring to lure animals out of hibernation and absorb their life energy; a human-mushi hybrid with a special connection to white bamboo; and a void-jumping mushi that also serves as an ingenious mail system for mushishi like Ginko.

The Mushishi series' pacing is unique in itself. Ginko makes his living by travelling on rumours of strange mushi being present in this village or that, but it's not until the aforementioned mail story that the reader learns there's far more to Ginko's work than garnering and acting upon random bits of conversation from villagers. Mushishi is full of connecting bits of information that form a chain that keeps the story from scattering.

Another trait that the series does well is romance, which we see a little of in volume four. The circumstances of Ginko's life make him perfect angst fodder: because mushi tend to gather around him when he's in more than one place for a certain amount of time, he has to keep on the move. He'd like to stay in one place, particularly when an equally lonesome girl invites him to do so, but it's impossible. Still, there's no outward regret on his part, or a loud cursing of his fate or even a visible sadness. He lets others know what he's thinking with a few words here or a glance and a question there. He doesn't waste words.

Volume four's stories are a little weak at times, (which is not made easier by the fact that the translation is disjointed at points), but its moments of strength border on powerful. If you've come this far with Ginko, there's no reason to go back.