Bethel Anime Club

Episode 9 and 10 Summaries:

Episode 9 (“The Heavy Seed”): After an odd pre-credits sequence in which a woman finds that she has grown an extra tooth on the roof of her mouth, we see Ginko asking some farmers for a bit of food. But the farmers tell him that they have no food to sell: it’s been a catastrophic year. The only village with a good crop—an enormous crop, in fact—is the one over the mountain, where they are having a “farewell harvest.” Supposedly it’s a curse (or perhaps a blessing) handed down by their ancestors: each time there’s a natural disaster the village has a huge harvest, but in exchange the ancestors take one of the villagers. It’s always the weakest one who’s taken, and before they die they always grow an extra tooth.

When Ginko arrives in the village he meets a young boy named Sane, whose mother is quite ill. The boy is glad that the harvest is so plentiful, but he knows that his mother is the weakest in the village and he’s terrified that she’ll grow that extra tooth. Ginko examines her, but the illness is purely natural and not something he can deal with. Sane tells him that when the villager dies the extra tooth (called a Mizuha) falls out and is enshrined by the village’s Saishi (holy man). Sane himself is in training to be the next Saishi, because sometimes he can see things that others can’t. Ginko’s suspicions are raised and he has Sane take him to Saishi, whom he asks about the “Narazu no Mi.” Saishi sighs, sends Sane back into the field, and goes inside for a nice long talk with Ginko.

Ginko begins by asking leading questions, but Saishi insists that the only reason his town has been having its miraculous crops is the village’s Saishi: they have been studying production methods for hundreds of years, constantly refining their techniques, and the product of their labor is the most prosperous village in the area. Saishi says that their good fortune is due to hard work, not the “power of the ancestors.” And the Mizuha? Only a coincidence—growing an extra tooth after adulthood is just something that happens occasionally. At this point Ginko mentions the Koumyaku, the source of life that all Mushi tap into, and tells the story of the Narazu no Mi. It’s a man-made object, an attempt by a Mushishi to control the Koumyaku and bring forth life. The Mushishi was successful in his pursuit even though the manipulation of the Koumyaku is the most forbidden thing for Ginko’s kind, and he created a bundle of energy that took the form of a seed. When planted in any ground this seed would bring enormous fertility, even under the harshest conditions; but in exchange it took one life from the people that benefited from it. It is unknown if any Narazu no Mi survive, but Ginko wants to ask a completely hypothetical question: if Saishi had access to that seed, would he use it? Of course, the holy man replies, it only makes sense—one life in exchange for many. It would be a greater sin not to use what that one life gives. But Ginko says that the seed is forbidden, that it destroys the balance of life, and that it is an attempt to gain a power that man should not have. Saishi explodes, yelling that “here, in this ground, the bodies of our ancestors sleep! We have cultivated this land—that is our pride!” Ginko says that Saishi’s tainting the ground by planting something unnatural into it, at which point Saishi remembers where he is and, laughing, says that the whole thing’s hypothetical anyway. Ginko leaves with the warning that that single seed would be too much for one person to bear, and too great a responsibility for that person to use. Saishi says he’ll think about his answer.

But Ginko’s not wasting time: the life of Sane’s mother is at stake. He tells Sane to gather the villagers: he will tell them the secret behind the farewell harvest and have them burn the crops. That will destroy the Narazu no Mi and refertilize the land; if everyone disperses for one year they should be OK for the future. But Saishi, who has followed Ginko and overheard his instruction, refuses to let it happen: how many people does Ginko really think will come back?. Saishi seems on the verge of attacking our hero when he collapses onto the ground, retching. Sane tells Ginko that Saishi has been acting sick recently, and he’s been taking a “medicine.” Ginko discovers that it’s actually poison, and asks the bedridden Saishi why he’s killing himself. Saishi responds by explaining the opening of the episode: years ago, when he first began his duties, there was a catastrophic crop failure and he was forced to use the Narazu no Mi. But the weakest of the villagers was his wife, and when she was taken Saishi nearly threw the seed away—only to rationalize his way out of it. He figured that he could use it one more time without killing anyone: if he weakened himself. Saishi’s true dream is to keep on developing farming methods that would allow the village to be endlessly fertile even without the Narazu no Mi. He’s willing to make the final sacrifice himself if it helps to make his dream come true. Ginko tells him that he understands, and makes a certain proposition…

Saishi’s plan works, and it is he who grows the Mizuha while Sane’s mother happily recovers. On the night of the Harvest Festival, Sane performs Saishi’s ritual duties and rushes back to his teacher’s house. There he and Ginko watch as Saishi dies. Sane is crushed, but Ginko has a surprise up his sleeve: although the Narazu no Mi cannot create life, it is designed to resurrect it. Thus it should be efficacious on a person as well as the land—but in all likelihood it would simply be absorbed into that person’s body, and bring him or her back as a Mushi. Saishi has agreed to try the experiment and, in his usual blatant defiance of the Mushi code, Ginko removes Saishi’s Mizuha (which is really the next Narazu no Mi) and feeds it right back to him. Saishi returns to life, and promises that he will watch over the village until his dream is fulfilled…

The episode’s final voiceover tells us that ultimately Saishi succeeded: the road was long, and there were some very bad years, but ultimately the village was prosperous. And there were no more farewell harvests…

Episode 10 (“White in the Ink Slab”): In Adashino’s village on a fine spring day, three children have snuck into the sensei’s storehouse. They know that they shouldn’t touch anything, but they just can’t believe all the cool stuff they’re finding—until the girl finds an absolutely beautiful ink stone. That night there’s a desperate knocking on Adashino’s door: it’s the children’s parents. The three have fallen very ill, with a disease that appears to suck the warmth out of their bodies (in fact, the girl is so cold that when Adashino examines her he finds that she is literally exhaling small chunks of ice). The girl tells him that when they tried making a bit of ink it felt like something cold came off of the ink stone, and they all inhaled it. Since he can’t handle the situation Adashino calls in Ginko and tells him that the ink stone was sold to him under the pretense that it was carved from a Mushi fossil. Ginko laughs and tells the doctor that he’s been had: Mushi don’t leave fossils. But clearly there is something odd about the ink stone. Ginko examines it and determines that it’s a Mushi that’s still alive, but just knowing that it freezes people who inhale it is not enough for him to determine its type. Adashino says that the previous owners of the stone all died after using it, but there is a carver’s seal on it. Ginko finds an address for the crest and goes off to seek out the ink stone’s maker…

He finds the woman who crafted the stone in a small mountainside house, tending her garden—apparently she doesn’t make ink stones any more. When she sees the ink stone she quietly thanks Ginko for bringing it back, and asks if he will give it to her so that she can destroy it herself. Ginko asks for her reasons, and Tagane tells her story:

She grew up as the only child of the most respected ink stone maker in the area: her father was a living legend, and she wanted nothing more than to carry on his legacy. Unfortunately Tagane had a fiancé, a man who lived one mountain away and wanted Tagane to join him at his family’s store. Although she protested that she could not leave her lode, her fiancé was insistent—especially when her father fell ill. Finally she decided to prove her abilities by making an ink stone better than her father’s, and after much searching she found a rock she felt strangely drawn to. She poured every ounce of her skill into carving it, and produced something even her father said was brilliant. The first time she used it, she noticed that a strange, cold cloud seem to come from it; but since there were no ill effects she thought nothing of it. Tagane hurried across the mountain to show her fiancé; when he saw it he admitted that she had a true gift and promised to ask his parents if she could remain in her house after the marriage. But the next she heard of him, less than a week later, he was dead—killed by the mysterious malady that is now afflicting the children. The family sold the stone to a dealers, where someone else purchased it before Tagane could get it back; after that she could do no more than track it as it passed through three more people’s hands. Every person that used it died, and Tagane gave up her career and her hopes.

Tagane apologizes for being unable to be more helpful, but Ginko’s figured out what the stone is. He hurries back to Adashino’s village, and she insists on coming with him. When they get there Ginko collects some important items—coal, a heater, water—and, rounding up the children, Adashino, and the parents, makes for the nearest high mountain. Along the way he explains what’s going on: the Mushi is something called Kumohami, which ordinarily behaves roughly like a thundercloud: it wanders the atmosphere eating water vapor and producing ice. From a human’s perspective, it makes it hail even when there’s no clouds. Unfortunately the Kumohami depends on the wind for its motivating force; if there is an extended period without wind it may filter down into the lower atmosphere and go into hibernation. The ink stone contains hibernating Kumohami, and every time it is rubbed a little bit is released. When people inhale it it begins to consume the moisture in their bodies and produces ice and extreme cold.

The group of pilgrims wends its way up the mountain, stopping frequently to give the children very hot water. They climb up and up and up, but just when it seems that they’re about to collapse the girl begins to groan. Ginko orders everyone to hold their breaths and they watch as palely pink clouds emerge from the children and float away from the mountain: the Kumohami has come out. Ginko explains that it’s a matter of air pressure: the Kumohami can only move in higher regions (unless they are forced, as when someone scrapes the ink stone). Tagane was okay after making the ink stone because she crossed a mountain to deliver it to her fiancé; now the same trick has saved the children. As the cloud floats away from the peak, Tagane sobs her joy into the cold mountain air.

Later that day there’s a rather nasty little argument: both Ginko and Tagane want to destroy the ink stone and free the Kumohami, but Adashino insists that he rightfully bought it and he doesn’t want to see such a beautiful thing destroyed. Ginko ends up winning the fight by telling the doctor to think of it as a warning and reminder that what he collects are dangerous. Fortunately Adashino doesn’t hold a grudge, and when Tagane announces that she feels that she can resume making ink stones again, he asks to buy the first one she makes.

As the episode ends, Tagane goes to the beach and scrapes the stone until it is entirely gone. The cloud over the ocean is beautiful—even if the hail it creates will cost the village rather a lot in roof repairs.