Mushi-Shi

Kouki--a stream of light flowing deep underground, the font of all life. When a man ignorant of its effects on the living meddles with it, the mushi-shi must act before there are unintended consequences.

Birdsong is suddenly heard when a sea shell is held up to a girl's ear. In a fishing village still reeling from a tragedy years before, a strange mushi indicates an ill omen. What misfortune will be brought to bear on the people?

Snow constantly falls around him. Impervious to the freezing cold, the man is gripped by the searing memory of a winter he had spent together with his little sister.

A hunter roams the mountains at night without the tools of his trade. The being that toys with life, and then extinguishes it is a fragile "thing" caught between the realm of man and mushi.

Who, or what, is reflected on the surface? When the boundary between the real and unreal collapses, only the self who lives in this world can determine how to continue one's existence.

The countless blooms adorning the branches are trees are an enthralling tableau showcasing the beauty of spring. Those who have a neverending desire for such beauty will eventually broach a taboo. For whom do the ephemeral flowers bloom?

The woman continues her travels as she foretells the coming of rain. With every raindrop that falls from the clear blue skies, she is reminded of her curious fate, one that cannot be washed clean by any amount of tears.

A ship sails with wind in its sails across the calm seas. A boy able to command the mushi and call the wind must find his own path in order to see the horizon within himself.

Amidst the wintry snow, a valley is full of green and ripe for harvest. A man toils on without need for slumber, as if to make amends. He works for his family's livelihood, and for his blood legacy...

A mountain refuses to welcome spring. Snow continues to fall, and animals continue to slumber. It is the will of the mountain lord... as if he, himself, is waiting for death.

After his encounter with Nui and before becoming a mushishi, young Ginko moved from place to place, due to his condition of attracting mushi. At one point he found himself instructed and cared for by a mushishi named Suguro, in the lands of a dying Mountain Lord. Ginko wonders about his place in the world and the natural order, as Suguro worries that the new Mountain Lord hasn't yet appeared.

A man feels something vaguely familiar, yet terrifying, as he smells the scent of flowers at night. As an old man, walking through the woods, he finds a tunnel, and is compelled to enter it. While going through it, he reminisces about important events in his life up to that point, but it seems there is something he can't quite recall. Perhaps long ago, the visit of a traveler looking for shelter on a rainy day, might help shed light on the unsettled feeling he has.

Dusk--an uncertain hour that is neither day nor night. When two long shadows intersect, a darkness awakens from its long slumber.

There are channels that exist in this world unbeknownst to man. At times, man can send their thoughts to traverse these paths at will to another and share the same thoughts.

A lost boy seeks solace, but the skies only offer a glimpse of unattainable affection. Man is capable of becoming attuned to what lies outside of the five senses--the brilliance of life, the light that shines from within.

A myriad stars adorn a solitary patch of an otherwise pitch-dark sky above her. The girl gazes upon the eerie sky and familiar light.

Thirsting for and beguiled by water, the boy continues to live his life, as though lost or responding to a distant memory from the womb...

Unanswered hopes and unheard feelings lead one to seek out signs that will guide them forward through the suffocating darkness that not even lightning can illuminate.

Death clings and grows, what should have stayed in the ground has started to creep up.

The one place that has stood the test of time, but humans have come. But the memories aren't lost.