I have noticed that the positive comments so far have mostly said 1. "I'm a big fan of the original manga" and 2. "It was beautifully shot". Together, these phrases sum up exactly what's wrong with Mushishi. It is a high production value film that is content to appeal solely to a relatively small subset of its potential audience.
I was terribly disappointed by this film. It's not that it was simply slow, leaden, plodding, etc. I can fully enjoy a film that does all those things if there's a payoff, if it ultimately makes sense and gives you a sense of there being a complete wholeness to the underlying concepts.
This did not happen.
Clearly I don't live up to point #1 - I am not a manga fan.
OK, so let me say something positive - point #2 is true. It was beautifully shot and the production values are excellent. A very nice film to look at.
My ultimate impression - if you are not already a fan of the manga, avoid, avoid, avoid.
I was terribly disappointed by this film. It's not that it was simply slow, leaden, plodding, etc. I can fully enjoy a film that does all those things if there's a payoff, if it ultimately makes sense and gives you a sense of there being a complete wholeness to the underlying concepts.
This did not happen.
Clearly I don't live up to point #1 - I am not a manga fan.
OK, so let me say something positive - point #2 is true. It was beautifully shot and the production values are excellent. A very nice film to look at.
My ultimate impression - if you are not already a fan of the manga, avoid, avoid, avoid.