to research Mushi and aid people suffering from problems caused by them. The series is an episodic anthology with no overarching plotline in which the only common elements are Ginko and the Mushi. Ginko is a man with one green eye, who not only can see various types of mushi but also attracts them. Because of this ability, he is constantly wandering and smokes in order to keep the mushi away. He appears to have a generally laid back personality, however, he can be very serious and focused on his work when it comes to protecting people from mushi. He stresses that the mushi are not evil, but merely trying to survive like everyone else. A majority of the stories do not focus on Ginko but rely on him as a catalyst to move the story forward by diagnosing or curing mushi-related illnesses and phenomena. Media Manga Written and illustrated by Yuki Urushibara, Mushishi debuted as a one-shot in Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon on January 25, 1999. Later, it was serialized in Kodansha's Afternoon Season Zōkan from 1999 to 2002. It moved to Monthly Afternoon on December 25, 2002, and was serialized until August 25, 2008. Kodansha collected the chapters into ten tankōbon volumes published under the Afternoon KC line from November 20, 2000, to November 21, 2008. On November 21, 2013, Kodansha started to re-release the series in an aizōban format in their KC Deluxe line, concluding with the tenth on July 23, 2014. At the 2006 Comic-Con, Del Rey Manga announced that it had licensed Mushishi for an English-language translation in North America. Del Rey published the first volume on January 30, 2007, and the last volume, a combined edition covering volumes 8 to 10, was released on July 27, 2010. Kodansha USA also released the manga in digital format between July 29 and August 12, 2014. The manga was also licensed in some countries such as in France by Kana, in Italy by Star Comics, in South Korea by Daewon C.I., and in Spain by Norma Editorial. In addition, two additional chapters were published in the magazine on November 25 and December 25, 2013, respectively. They were encapsulated into a single tankōbon titled and released on April 23, 2014. Another special short was published in Monthly Afternoon on March 25, 2021. Volume list Anime The Mushishi anime adaptation was animated by Artland, directed by Hiroshi Nagahama, and produced