 Alternative TitlesSynonyms: MushiutaJapanese: ムシウタ More titlesInformation Episodes: 12 Status: Finished Airing Aired: Jul 6, 2007 to Oct 5, 2007 Broadcast: Fridays at 00:00 (JST) Duration: 24 min. per ep. Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older Statistics Score: 6.571 (scored by 69606,960 users) Ranked: #657322 based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #5313 Members: 17,392 Favorites: 30 Available AtResources Streaming Platforms |
Details Characters & Staff Episodes Videos Stats Reviews Recommendations Interest Stacks News Forum Clubs Pictures Ranked #6573Popularity #5313Members 17,392SynopsisMushi-uta's story takes place in the near future. Ten years before the story's opening, strange insect-like creatures known as "Mushi" began appearing. The Mushi are able to consume peoples' dreams and thoughts in return for supernatural powers. At the end of episode one, protagonist Daisuke "Kakkou" Kusuriya encounters a young girl named Shiika Anmoto. The two, in time, become quite close. However, unbeknownst to Kakkou, Shiika is an escapee from a secret prison known as GARDEN where those posessed by the Mushi, known as the Mushitsuki are held. GARDEN's military force, the Special Environmental Conservation Executive Office, dispatches its finest killer to track down Shiika. However, they are faced with resistance from the Mushibane resistance organisation, led by the secretive "Ladybird."(Source: ANN)Related Entries  MALxJapan -More than just anime- Characters & Voice Actors Staff Episode Videos Episode 12 Episode 11 Episode 10 Episode 9Reviews  Aug 14, 2014 I was bored one day, browsing through Crunchyroll, and came across Mushi-Uta. After reading a quick synopsis of the series, I gave it a go. It was different than I expected. Completely different. Though, I mean that in a good way. It was certainly enjoyable, yet really the only downsides to it for me were the last episode, or should I say, last battle, and some missing plot devices that could have extended this show even further. Let's get to it, then. Story: 9 I shouldn't exactly say that there's a story to this show... it's more like, an ongoing conflict between two groups of... people. One group is out to destroy the insects and create the fallen, while the other is out to save anyone who is a host to the insects. To find a place where they belong. The "story" of this series focuses strongly on the relationships between characters and how they grow during the situation that they've been put into. So, there isn't exactly a main plot other than one of the character's goals that she is striving for. I guess you could say it's character driven? The basis of this show is certainly unique and quite interesting. The way the characters deal with these insects is intriguing. And while it is interesting, it just could not bring itself to it's full potential. There are some plot elements introduced that are just kind of... there. They're introduced and, that's really it. Nothing beyond them is explained or take action. Such as, the three main devourers. Only one is introduced and, what happens to her in the end is really hard to determine. Also, the ending comes along without telling us what happens to other characters, such as ones that have become fallen. Of course, the fates of the three main characters is shown but... no one else, really. Other than the aspects that were left out of the story or left unexplained, I don't really have much else to complain about. It's a solid series, and it really pulls you in throughout the entire show, especially if you're a fan of romance and the relationships between characters. I'll explain what I mean by that in the character section. Art: 7I have to be fair, this series is from 2007 so it doesn't have the best quality animation out there. Though, I do have to say, the soft coloring and art of the series is very appealing and fits the mood extremely well. The action scenes were alright for the most part, and the last episode does contain some bad CG... that doesn't matter much since, there isn't too much action to begin with. It does it's job. The animation is nice and smooth, too. There just wasn't much impact to the action scenes. Sound: 8I won't say much about this, but I will state that I loved the soundtrack. Although I loved it, I gave it an 8 because it doesn't use a wide variety of songs. It uses a nice mix of violin, piano and even some saxophone, which usually I don't care for but it seemed to fit nicely in this series. I do love me some violin and piano though. It certainly added to the emotion, though, as certain scenes felt more... magical, or enticing, because of the creative visuals and beautiful music. Character: 8If you've ever seen Darker than Black or even Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom then the main character may seem familiar to you. In Darker than Black, Hei is an assassin who works undercover, though during the day, he's a normal college student. Though over time, due to certain events, he begins to grow actual feelings. In Phantom, Zwei is a normal teenager forced into the ways of an assassin, but slowly begins to break away and gain emotions after the encounters he's had with certain people. Kakkou, or should I say, Daisuke, is extremely similar to both of these. The only difference is, he isn't really an assassin... though he does go out on missions, using his skills to take down insects. And during the day, he's a normal school boy. Over time, like the other two characters mentioned, he starts to change his ways and views on things after encounters with certain people. After experiencing a somewhat normal life. He begins... to care for others. You can really notice how the characters grow in this series. Daisuke, Rina and Shiika, all change in some way or another. I only gave it an 8 because, well, they could have been developed even further and, at times their personality seemed sort of... bland. They're all experiencing some kind of depression, some kind of worry... though they're all determined. It's a nice cast of characters. Fairly small but, watching their relationships grow is certainly entertaining. Plus, don't you love shows where enemies (Rina is trying to save hosts while Daisuke takes them down) go to school together without knowing they are who they are, and end up getting close to one another? I won't say anymore. You'd have to see for yourself. It's really interesting, I swear! Enjoyment: 9 I felt really attracted to this series... it had an overall... melancholic feeling to it, and I really enjoying characters like Daisuke and Rina. Other than the final battles which, I didn't really care for, this series kept me wanting more. I'm glad I found it... but I only wish that it was longer. Oh well...Thank you for reading! Now, time for me to look through some of that soundtrack... Reviewer’s Rating: 8 What did you think of this review? Nice 0 Love it 0 Funny 0 Confusing 0 Informative 0 Well-written 0 Creative 0Show all  Apr 22, 2016 StoryIt starts with an interesting concept of bugs giving humans powers at the cost of their dreams. There are two groups, one that use their bugs to kill any bugs they find, and another group trying to make a home for everyone that have bugs.Art/SoundI am not a critic of art/sound of anime. CharacterThe most interesting character was Asami Minagawa who is a supporting character that isn't a part of the light novels, which explains why she disappears once her part was done. She had the most development of the series other then Shiika. Enjoyment.It has some good moments, but most of the time I... get to an end of an episode, I just don't understand what is going on. Add characters in, they play their part, and then are gone. Need something to bring the 2 girls together? Suddenly there is romance, then its gone.OverallThere seems to be too much missing from the story to make much sense. There needed to be a second season to explain a lot of things, but with just 12 episodes it is like watching half of the movie Princess Mononoke, need to see the whole story to be good. Reviewer’s Rating: 5 What did you think of this review? Nice0 Love it0 Funny0 Confusing0 Informative0 Well-written0 Creative0Show all  Nov 21, 2018 Mushi-Uta is a series that mostly thrives on the power of its ingenuity in designs. Otherwise, the story is convoluted and rushed; and the characterization is harried, if not completely superficial. I, for one, actually really liked the way this series looks: the protagonist (Kakkō) resembles Ken in his Digimon Emperor garb from Digimon 02 and the mushi (“Originals”) designs in the finale are VERY reminiscent of Go Nagai’s Devilman. I tend to gravitate towards fringe or “cult” series, because I think that watching everything that’s acclaimed, all the time, is boring―but, there are many times in series like this, where, potential for something out-of-the-ordinary... is flushed, like a spider down a drain. See Sci-Fi Harry for a prime example of this.• The characters are practically cardboard cutouts, save for Rina, who is only a one-note character, herself, but still manages to have more of a personality. The main female character (Shīka) seems like she might be interesting, at first, but her characteristics don’t get fleshed out, so you’re just left with “shy” and “submissive.” Her voice actress is Kana Hanazawa, but it’s hard to tell because her vocal work in this series sounds amateurish―I don’t know if this is the fault of it being one of Hanazawa’s first roles or bad sound directing; either way, for a Japanese dub, all of the voices sound pretty horrendous. The romance between all of the characters is uncomfortably forced; there is no chemistry between any of the characters―it just happens. The main couple start hanging out because the male protagonist keeps following her around and asking her out, like a creep! And all of the other characters fall in love for no reason at all, there’s not a build-up, it’s just there… like most of the things that happen in this series. • The focus of the story is these people, practically have the equivalent to bug (無視) stands (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure reference), because the characters contractually merge souls with the insects (in the anime it is translated to souls, but the light novel translation translates their spirit binding into the form of dreams) with, or so the story leads you to believe; so much of the plot consistency is hard to follow. I was confused about the explanation of the “Fallen,” they briefly explain that it’s what happens when a human’s mushi is destroyed; they become “Fallen,” but it’s very convoluted. Many of the plot points seem skimmed through, or they just expect you to understand without explanation? The series is based off a light novel series, and the length of the entire novel series is crunched into only twelve episodes, that’s probably where they went wrong? The GARDEN plot seems incredibly important, but is only referenced through expositional chats. The story focuses more on the friendship between Rina and Shīka, and scenes with Shīka wearing sexy outfits, more than it ever bothers to bring up what the hell is happening in the storyline!• The “emotional” scenes aren’t given time to blossom, every time something happens―the scene transition so quickly that it’s hard to grasp anything, emotionally or mentally (it’s like: well, I guess that happened… ), or the story layers on more plot twists into an intense scene, making the episode more of a head-scratch than an epiphany; all of this happened because the studio obviously didn’t have the foresight to fit all of the required narrative dialogues into the anime. The directorial vision is interesting, but the plot is all over the place; I mean, I thought that this was supposed to be a story about battling bug monsters (?) and there’s a filler episode about a group of mushi-using thugs trapping a girl in a video camera… that was probably one of the worst episodes ever; it even mirrors the Omnimon arc in Digimon: The Movie. This series has already ripped the Digimon Emperor’s design, did we really need an entire episode homaging the cyber-space battle in its spiritual predecessor?• Overall, this series is a giant flop. Which is disappointing because I was drawn into the atmosphere of the first episode; I expected it to be an unpolished gem like Shigofumi. The character designs look like an edgy version of Uta~Kata, which I would have been down for, although Uta~Kata itself was a flop. Withering away in the annals of time, Mushi-Uta is a forgettable relic from 2007 that I rate a 3/10; I would only recommend if you like the designs, otherwise, it’s skippable! Reviewer’s Rating: 3 What did you think of this review? Nice0 Love it0 Funny0 Confusing0 Informative0 Well-written0 Creative0Show all Recommendations Recent NewsRecent Forum Discussion Poll: Mushi-Uta Episode 12 Discussion Faust721 - Oct 13, 2007 22 repliesby Archean-Return »»Jan 9, 4:49 PM Poll: Mushi-Uta Episode 11 Discussion cyruz - Oct 2, 2007 6 repliesby Noodle070 »»Aug 18, 2021 3:50 AM Poll: Mushi-Uta Episode 10 Discussion Zel - Sep 25, 2007 5 repliesby Noodle070 »»Aug 18, 2021 3:11 AM Poll: Mushi-Uta Episode 9 Discussion cyruz - Sep 17, 2007 7 repliesby Noodle070 »»Aug 18, 2021 2:22 AM Poll: Mushi-Uta Episode 8 Discussion Zel - Aug 26, 2007 7 repliesby Noodle070 »»Aug 17, 2021 4:04 PM |