Mushi-Uta

You know the drill by now. I would never have watched Mushi-Uta had not Mamiko Noto had a cameo in here. Heh. Yup, the sole reason for me to watch one of those series that I would never have watched no matter what the circumstances. Unless that circumstances is Mamiko Noto and that would drastically change everything. After all, when you have a series that has bugs, something that I am not really fond of. Okay, that’s a very weak word to describe it because more like I hate and fear those damn creepy crawlers! Even more so when I read the synopsis about people that have been infected by bugs known as Mushi, they gradually lose their dreams and emotions although in exchange they get some sort of supernatural powers. That’s enough to turn me off. Until Mamiko Noto came along…

Episode 1
Daisuke “Kakkou” Kusuriya shoots a girl who gives him her dream in exchange for making it true one day. 4 years later, we see a guy running away from GARDEN’S Special Environmental Conservation Bureau (SECB) as he will not be taken in. It seems there is also this Mushibane resistance organization that opposes GARDEN who is trying to take this guy in. Some big bugs battle but in the end, time runs out as the guy becomes infected and Mushibane has to give up and escape. Azusa “Minmin” Horizaki mocks Kakkou but the latter doesn’t give a damn. Kakkou is then told by Keigo Haji who is the branch chief that he will be going to school soon for his next mission. Minmin wonders if Haji has told him but it seems he wants this to be a secret. Next day, Kakkou becomes a transfer student. A boring introduction. Don’t want to attract attention? Also, classmate Rina Tachibana gets a certificate of appreciation for winning some painting competition. Later Kakkou goes to admire her painting and likes it because it is so beautiful but she gets embarrassed and tells him to leave. Later, Kakkou gets a call from Haji who explains this mission is to exterminate Mushibane as they recently have a charismatic leader who managed to expand the organization within a year. Also, we learn that Rina is actually from Mushibane and her codename is Lady. She is told that a fugitive named Fuyuhotaru has run away from GARDEN. She notes that the Host (those infected with Mushi) has become a Fallen (they lose their dreams, memories and emotions). We see some weird psychedelic snippets of Kakkou. Not sure what’s going on. Then across he spots Shiika Anmoto. So happy to see her, he jumps over the railway crossing!

Episode 2
Don’t worry, he crosses in time! Everyone almost died of a heart attack. Before the police can catch this troublemaker, Kakkou takes Shiika’s hand and they run. At some place, it seems Shiika doesn’t remember much. Kakkou seems to be interested in talking with her. Since he has school now, he gives her his contacts and promises to meet up later. It also seems Shiika is experiencing some lapse in her memories as she forgets why she is here. In school, some female classmates get nosy to know more about the girl Kakkou just met. They pester him if she is his girlfriend or ex. He denies it all. But with Rina giving her 2 cents worth of opinion that plain girls are the dangerous type and it is weird for a girl to give the okay signal for a guy she just met, Kakkou quips that the girl feels a lot like Rina. Kakkou and Shiika meet up. It seems like the perfect date a couple would have. Yeah, such a fun outing. Unknown to them Minmin, is spying on this interesting development. Shiika goes back to her home. Empty. Dark. She remembers snippets of her family life. Seems pretty normal. Has a caring sister too. Looks like she was afraid of that Mushi thingy since one of her transferred classmates showed such symptoms. Sister rubbished it as rumours. But one day when Shiika saw a girl going to be run over by a truck, Shiika unconsciously unleashed her powers to stop the truck. The girl saved and probably the truck driver died. Yeah, lots of blood. People who saw this become afraid of her and think she is infected. Worse, her parents turned against her and called the SECB to arrest her. Shiika is sad thinking about this so she calls Kakkou just to hear his voice and set up another date tomorrow. Looks like nosy Minmin is still listening and knows all about their seaside park meeting.

Episode 3
Kakkou is so spaced out in class that he isn’t paying to his group discussion about the field trip to a recycling facility. You bet those nosy girls tease him about being in love and since he doesn’t deny, they press on for more details! How’s the kiss?! Even more so, they want to know how similar his girlfriend is to Rina. Since Rina claims she is elegant and tidy, Kakkou quips Shiika is quite the opposite and gets smacked. They resume about the field trip discussion and it seems that there are some Mushi lurking. Kakkou doesn’t care as he doesn’t want to get involved because it’s just a myth. They think of issuing a challenge to kill it but Rina gets upset about joking such things. As Kakkou meets Shiika at the park, Rina meets her Mushibane members who tell her that Fuyuhotaru will be showing up at the park. Guess who? Rina’s plan is to get Fuyuhotaru to join their side so that they can crush SECB and create a place of belonging for Hosts. Centi is determined to make up for his failure that day but Rina wants him to maintain protecting her because if it boils down to a fight, it will be a first for many of their members and she doesn’t want to lose them. Centi is shocked when his Mushi doesn’t obey him. Can we guess what this will lead to? At the park, nice date between Kakkou and Shiika interrupted when Haji has his SECB guards seal off the place and evacuate the people. A young girl named Mayu becomes so afraid that her bug starts attacking her family. Rina is there and is forced to take this young Host away. Kakkou gets a call from Haji about this farce. He is told that Mushibane members are here, especially their leader. Get dressed and go get ‘em. Centi tries to fight a SECB member. However his Mushi doesn’t listen to him. Because of that, the guards ignore him as their orders is to find and capture Lady. Mayu becomes desperate to reunite with her family so she escapes from Rina and stumbles into Kakkou. Because she wants to go home so much, Kakkou tells her that will come true as long as she doesn’t give up on her dreams. Then her Mushi appears and the moment he shoots it, Mayu falls into a vegetative state, much to Rina’s horror.

Episode 4
Centi is slowly losing himself to his bug hallucinations. Rina (in Lady form) accuses Kakkou for destroying the dreams of Hosts despite they live in fear for being devoured someday. Kakkou calls her weak and she will not save anyone this way. Rina disagrees and fights him with her Mushi, Nanahoshi. In the end, Centi saves Rina and they escape. One of Mushibane’s members, Mosquito got scared and runs away but stumbles into Shiika. Uhm, is it time to make friends. The duo then stumble into Touko Goroumaru, Haji’s retard assistant who is sent to guide them to where Haji is. Kakkou is confronted by Minmin who talks about Hosts being espers and the strongest ones become elites in SECB. It is her dream to become to strongest Host in SECB and she wants to know his dreams. Kakkou ignores her. She won’t let that slide and attacks him. He fights back but then she backs down and claims this is just a greeting. The next time they meet, he’ll die. Looks like she is a double agent for Mushibane. Rina and Centi are captured by Haji’s spider webs. He views Hosts as dangerous weapons AKA monsters. His dream is for Kakkou to find the original trio who created them all and exterminate them. After that, the elimination of all remaining Hosts will then return Japan to a safe country. He claims they don’t kill the Host but only the Mushi. However this is as bad since it’ll leave the Host in a vegetative state. Centi tries to protect Rina but he fails as Haji pumps many shots into him. Then he turns into his monstrous form. Haji explains he is undergoing the process of having his dreams devoured. Kill the Mushi now and this will save the Host’s life although he falls into a vegetative state and become a Fallen. Otherwise when the dreams are fully devoured, the Mushi will mature and Host will die. Rina tries to talk to Centi to wake up. Not happening. Kakkou arrives. Thank his lateness for dealing with a traitor. In fact, Haji knew Minmin was a double agent all along and has been feeding her with info. Kakkou feels like wanting to betray too but Haji is confident he won’t as he hasn’t fulfilled his promise to Fuyuhotaru. Kakkou goes all out to kill Centi while Rina trying to let her voice reach him. Kakkou believes that despite a Fallen’s state, as long as that person is alive, there is hope for recovery. Not sure what Rina did to extract Centi out. She takes him away as she talks about going back to the good times like before. Too late. He is already a Fallen. So, going back to fight SECB now?

Episode 5
Uhm, did I miss something? Because Shiika and Rina are living together like family now?! Shiika accompanies Rina to her mom’s grave. Time for a tragic back story. In short, dad was a wife beater until mom died of a disease. Rina thought she was next and didn’t want to die that way. So she thought of killing him first. That was when she started receiving powers and became a Host. Although she attacked her dad, he managed to survive. Then she decided to use this power to rid of SECB. Apparently she doesn’t know Fuyuhotaru’s identity yet and vows to find her and make her an ally. Can I say she’s right under your nose?! That night, Minmin reports to Rina about SECB failing to secure Fuyuhotaru too. However she fought Kakkou and her identity has been busted. This means she cannot relay info from SECB to her anymore. Kakkou meets Haji as they talk about the past. Something about turning bureau members into Fallen as well as Fuyuhotaru. Flashback shows when Kakkou first joined SECB, his first mission was part of a team to take down Fuyuhotaru who had taken out some of its members. At the same time, there was a coup happening in the branch’s leadership so it was pretty messy. When the entire unit was taken out, Kakkou was the only one left so Haji forced him to take in Fuyuhotaru. Of course she is no other than Shiika. At first Kakkou didn’t want to do it but she wanted him to since she doesn’t want to hurt others anymore. Their dreams is to find a place of belonging. With Haji pressing him to capture Fuyuhotaru, she wants him to shoot her. Hence that opening scene of this series. After he shot her, he vowed to find their place of belonging and hoped she would remember it too.

Episode 6
Asami Minagawa doing some late night journalism about the Mushi, eh? She is spooked that her teacher, Oogui is here. She asks about her dreams before getting bugged. As Rina prepares for school, Shiika notices the same uniform she wears. She must go to the same school as Kakkou, right? I guess she wants to go to school too. Rina grants that wish as one weekend she brings her to school to also meet her friends. They play house, I mean, class before spending the rest of the day in town having fun. Such happy times. Then Shiika realizes she forgot to call Kakkou. What? He her boyfriend now? Rina gladly lends her handphone so that Shiika can hear Kakkou’s voice to tell her that she is fine. Hey, their park date was interrupted, right? Soon, rumours swirling around school that people will disappear or vanish into thin air and some witnessed this before their very eyes. Kakkou sees Rina painting at school late into the night so he warns her about Mushi and ghosts but she isn’t falling for that. Not sure what this part for because it’s to force some cheesy drama and trolling us some potential romance. Because WTF Kakkou tries to prank and scare her and this causes her to fall off the stairs. He manages to catch her but he gets a bit injured. Because of that, next day he is absent from school. Another late night assignment for Asami when she suddenly disappears and finds herself in some digital world before falling into some dark nothingness and then waking up in reality. What a great dream?! Rina goes to see Kakkou in his dilapidated place. So when did she become his mother or girlfriend? She claims she isn’t worried but the way she is spamming questions like if he is eating alright… HMMM!!!! This has Kakkou remember of something similar in the past. Chiharu Ayukawa keep pestering him about his minor injuries and making a big deal out of it.

Episode 7
Kasuo and her subordinates, Kirikiri and C, see Haji. They are from HQ and because Haji is taking his sweet time capturing Fuyuhotaru, her team will take the initiative from now. Kasuo then stumbles into Kakkou and she claims she will have the last laugh. Asami is in her digital dream. She sees one of her blur photos and it turns out to be Shiika. Asami then goes to see Shiika (when Rina is out). WTF she scared of her but still wants to talk to her? She confirms Shiika was at the park the other day and that she is a Host. Asami also admits she is a Host recently but wants her to keep this a secret and not tell anybody. Not even Rina. She fears her dreams will get eaten one day and then starts to make her own assumptions of those guys from SECB taking her away. Fearing that, she’ll go delete all her uploaded photos on her site right away! Wow. Really? Does she not know what gets uploaded on the internet, stays there forever? Haji and Kakkou meet again. Apparently we learn that Haji’s sister is in some vegetative condition. She thinks it is some illness, unaware she is continuingly eating his dreams. HQ doesn’t know about the Mushi she has as she is only eating his dreams. But Haji knows a loophole around this. Thanks to the recorded videos, he can go on without ever forgetting his dreams. Whenever he sees those hope filled dreams crumble away, he feels alive but angry too. His anger is used by her and she becomes his reason to live. That’s the best bond ever. Kakkou thinks he is broken but Haji feels he is the same. Later Kasuo tries to blackmail info of Fuyuhotaru out of Haji since she knows about his sister’s condition and threatens to hurt her but Haji mocks about her parents and this makes her mad. Haji will not give any info for free so he gives her a job to capture Asami. As Asami is furiously trying to delete all her photos, Minmin comes to burst the bubble as she tells Rina that Asami just became a Host.

Episode 8
Haji tells Kakkou about Asami turning into a Host. Yeah, he wants to see who will get to her first. Sorry, it’s Kasuo’s team. Asami becomes scared and will not go with them. So she runs around as they chase her. Yeah, makes her look like a horror movie victim, the way she is running about! Cornered, somehow she uses her ability to escape into the digital world. However Kasuo and Kirikiri also follow her and the chase continues. When Kakkou arrives, he sees C and seeks her help so C lets him into the camcorder. Before Kirikiri can kill her, Kakkou comes to her rescue, destroying Kirikiri’s Mushi. But Asami runs, thinking Kakkou is also out for her life. Kakkou and Kasuo face off. Some flashback snippets. Not sure what’s going on. She claims he was stronger and cold-hearted then and is weak now. Kakkou claims she is weaker for she only enjoys fighting. He knows about her deal with Haji. As she lost everything, when she becomes stronger only he will send her back to her hometown. That is her dream. Asami returns to reality just as Rina comes looking for her. Panicky Asami tries to delete everything in her camcorder, thinking this will erase those suckers. This disruption allows Kakkou to wound Kasuo. Asami thinks everything is fine now. And she still wants to hound Rina about her being a host and Mushibane (yeah, I guess she saw those photos in the digital dream). But for now they call it a night and go home. After they leave, C hacks the laptop. F*ck! Asami forgot to delete the data here! She extracts Kasuo and Kirikiri as they retreat for the day. Uhm, is Kakkou still trapped inside? Next day, devilish Asami burns the memory card. Yeah, think you’re free now? All that’s left is to interview Rina and spread the word! I thought she was scared sh*t about all this?! She attends class normally but looks like Kasuo found her camcorder in her clubroom and destroys it, effectively turning Asami a vegetable. Rina is horrified to see Asami’s transformation right before her eyes.

Episode 9
Rina so devastated she couldn’t save Asami that she is skipping school and seeking solace in the arms of Shiika? Is this how a charismatic leader should be?! Oh well, sometimes you have one of those days… Haji reveals to Kakkou that there was somebody who helped Fuyuhotaru escaped and that person is still unknown. Also, it is not certain if Fuyuhotaru was turned back from her Fallen state. The reason Fuyuhotaru returned to this city is because is most likely this is her birthplace. Haji further adds about his goal to eliminate the original trio and doing so he will fulfil everyone’s dreams. That’s like playing God, no? Rina trying to show that she’s okay to let Shiika not be concerned with her and to go on a date with her boyfriend. Shiika and Kakkou meet up and they head to the planetarium. Is it so boring that Kakkou fell asleep? When that’s done, Shiika talks about dreams and especially about a boy whom she met long ago who shared the same dream with her. Funny, Kakkou remembers saying something similar to a girl too. As Shiika is feeling weak, so assuring for Kakkou to ask if she’s afraid or running away from something. He won’t know if you don’t tell. He realizes that isn’t the most romantic question so he decides to hold her hand and get close. And what do you know? Rina sees this! Shock! Uh huh. So her boyfriend is the same guy whom she has a crush on, eh? Shiika tries to pick up her dropped documents and sees Rina’s sketches of Kakkou. That proves it. In that moment of wavering, the girls’ Mushi pops up a bit, revealing who they are. Rina runs away. Shiika gives chase. You not going after them, Kakkou? Yeah, it’s the girls’ problem. Not my fault they fall for the same guy! HAHAHA! Not sure if it’s a good idea as Shiika shows her Mushi to Rina to prove that she is Fuyuhotaru. Double slap because the target you’ve been looking for lives right under your nose in addition to having the guy of your dreams.

Episode 10
Kakkou as mad at Haji that he knew Shiika was Fuyuhotaru all along. Haji did this because he wanted her to play a role so that Lady will be eliminated together. However he miscalculated and now they’re best friends. However this also works in his favour because now Lady has a weakness. This means she will be fragile and it’ll be easy to kill her. Once she’s gone, panic will spread throughout Mushibane and victory will be ours. Or his. Kakkou can’t shoot him so he shoots his car instead? Oh well. He claims Hosts have feelings too. You think this dude cares?! Rina is feeling dumb. When Shiika tries to leave forever so as not to give her trouble, Rina claims she isn’t mad and they have always been like they were. Both girls try to be considerate. Rina giving her support for Shiika to be with Kakkou. But Shiika claims she won’t see him anymore because she has her. Yeah. Yuri > dicks! Later Minmin sees Rina to tell her she has found out GARDEN’s base. Basically it is at the recycling facility and there is a midnight train that takes you only there (sorry, not to Georgia! HAHA!). Next day in school, Rina tries to tell Kakkou that he supports him and Shiika. Of course he wants to see Shiika again. Is she trying to brush aside her own feelings? Later Rina introduces Shiika to Mosquito and Snail. Both of them babysit her while Rina goes to meet Kakkou in secret tryst?! HUH?! Anyway, when Mosquito and Snail ask about GARDEN, Shiika explains it is a fake town filled with zombies AKA Hosts. As they have no emotions, they don’t think for themselves and will do anything you say. Anything. Shiika views them as empty vessels and doesn’t want to go back there.

I’m sure Rina didn’t call Kakkou over just to paint him. She talks about willing to die for the future. She’s serious. But she is shocked when he tells her she does not need to go to GARDEN to make a place for Mushibane. How he knows? He reveals his Mushi and Rina thinks he has him fooled all the time. Yeah, I agree you were the bigger fool. Rina summons Nanahoshi to kill him but stops. WTF?! I thought she was dead serious? If she can’t kill him, how can she handle GARDEN and save everyone? He adds that GARDEN and SECB aren’t their enemies. If it was, he would’ve destroyed them long ago. Shiika is strong because she didn’t blame or hate anyone. She reminded him that it is more important to be alive rather than die for others. He saw the same in Rina too. As long as they’re alive, they’ll get through. One day their dreams will be fulfilled. So don’t go to GARDEN. It’s a trap. Too bad Rina remains stubborn. She’ll do what she needs to do. Next time they meet, they’re enemies. That’s what they always say. Shiika reads a late letter from Rina. You know, the goodbye she is saying and the dreams she hopes Shiika will fulfil. Sad. Oh Shiika, you won’t find Rina back home. Just a really nice and recently completed painting of Kakkou. Rina takes the train to GARDEN. Don’t say they didn’t warn her because the moment she arrives, zombies everywhere as she lets out a horror scream.

Episode 11
Haji is also here to explain to Rina about this facility where GARDEN observes these Hosts. She is shocked to learn as Haji hints that Mushi are created by humans. Haji reveals his tactic to use Rina to get Fuyuhotaru here. It’s like killing 2 birds with a stone and he’ll get the Host who wiped out almost the entirety of SECB when they tried to capture her 2 years ago. With numerous SECB guards surrounding her, Rina begins her fight. Meanwhile, Shiika is confronted by Oogui. She reveals she is one of the original trio who created Hosts. However she is only here to remind her. As Hosts can recall their dreams many times, she wants Shiika to have more of such dreams so that she can feed on them. Shiika will not lose to her so Oogui has her prove herself. Shiika’s Mushi protects her but is ultimately saved from the blast by Minmin. But it’s out of the fire and into the pan because Minmin now wants to get her. Looks like this traitor is in love with Haji and she thinks that she’ll be rewarded if she hands Fuyuhotaru to him personal. Shiika’s Mushi just blasts away everything. Because it’s easier to kill everybody who wants to hurt Shiika, right? Yeah. RIP Minmin. You get what you give. Not over for Shiika as she gets stabbed! Rina puts up a brave front as she fights the endless waves of SECB. She has Haji in her grasp but such great timing as her Mushi matures and she turns into a monster. Haji saved a second time as Kakkou makes his entrance and protects him from a falling slab. He is going to save Rina but damn, he too is at his limit and his Mushi also matures. Making it worse as Oogui is here and will begin her harvesting.

Episode 12
Oogui having a field day devouring those puny SECB guys. Third time’s not the charm for Haji as he becomes fatally wounded. He warns Kakkou about Rina’s Mushi completely breaking free from its Host. As Kakkou tries to fight it, Rina is having visions of him. She blames him and tries to kill him but realizes he is not the problem. Who are our enemies again? That’s right. The ones that feed on our dreams! Don’t give up on your dreams! Instead of killing the Mushi, he manages to break her free from it. However it is too late. Rina’s last words are for him to be with Shiika as he is the only one she has left. Be a place for her to return. After that, Rina disintegrates. Instead of regretting he couldn’t save her, Kakkou uses his last ounce of power to beat up his own Mushi into submission so he can give Nanahoshi a Merry Christmas present. With Nanahoshi destroyed and Oogui satisfied, she leaves. Meanwhile Shiika is still alive but having deliberations with her Mushi to kill everyone or not. But luckily Kakkou is here for her. Looks like they remember each other now. In the aftermath, Shiika wakes up in hospital. Kakkou is there but remains hidden as he tells her about Rina’s death and how she never gave up on her dream till the end. I suppose cue for Shiika to be strong and live her dream, huh? He warns SECB will continue to observe her from now on. He adds that next Christmas he will wait at the planetarium. He can’t meet her yet but he’ll definitely go. Huh? So that’s like stalking level? Then off he goes, leaving only behind Rina’s award winning painting for her. As the city undergoes reconstruction, Touko visits Haji who is in ICU.

A Bug In The Ointment: Bug Dreams Are Made Of These…
What. The. F*ck?! WTF happened?! What does it all mean?! Can it end like that?! Oh well, what to do? Not that I was expecting or having high hopes from this series in the first place. But still, can’t help feel and hope that there was something more to all that. Definitely a bittersweet ending at least for where the anime adaptation is concerned because if you would like to know more, feel free to continue reading the rest of the volumes of the light novel of the same name that this anime adapted. The story and characters as I read from comments are better fleshed out than this crappy adaptation. Yeah, the anime feels so buggy…

From what I can see the story of this anime adaptation, it feels flimsy and mostly waste of time. It feels like a wasted potential as a big chunk of the anime focuses on the school life of our protagonists. I mean, WTF is that even necessary? They waste time by focusing too much on the budding feelings between Kakkou, Shiika and Rina and turn it into some sappy love drama romance. Well, for the most part. Because of that, it feels like SECB and Mushibane and whatever bug related matters have been tossed aside. The whole thing feels like a drama between them and not something on a big scale because I was under the impression at first that this was going to be a huge nationwide war between SECB and Mushibane to retrieve the (not so) mysterious Fuyuhotaru. And look what it turned out to be? Some weird drama romance we’ve got. And it’s not even a good one. I suppose that’s to build some character, huh? So it was never really about SECB, never really about Mushibane, never about GARDEN and certainly never about the Mushi. It all feels like side plots and stepping stone for the aforementioned trio and their weird love drama. It’s like they’re banking on the cliché surprise factor of when they start to realize the other’s identity but also felt conflicted because of their feelings from all those moments together. Yeah, weird dreams we’re having.

The characters are mediocre and appalling because like I’ve said, it’s all to build up to the fact that the trio who never realized each other’s true identity to suddenly realize that. How will feelings of love get in the way of bonds and friendship? We got our answer here. And it was cheesy to say the least. How convenient for Kakkou and Shiika to not remember each other when they first met so that they can play this cute dating game together. How convenient for Rina to take in such a cute stranger and let her live in her home and they both fall for the same boy! What are the freaking chances! Oh well, happens a lot in manga and anime.

I suppose if I had to look at it from a different perspective, it is to give these characters some sort of development because you know, despite the trio being Hosts, it is to show that they still have that strong human side. Uh huh. Rina isn’t some cruel local leader of Mushibane. Why, she can have feelings and fall in love too! Kakkou isn’t some mindless dog who works for Haji. Why, he can have a normal school life and a cute girl to like him back too! Shiika AKA Fuyuhotaru isn’t some monster who can wipe out an entire organization who is out to target her. Why, she has her soft side too! So kawaii! Now do you see why this absurd waste of time drama was necessary? Their dreams may be fulfilled but it sure hell wasted our time! Certainly their past wasn’t fleshed out well enough because who the f*ck let Fuyuhotaru escaped and why? The anime didn’t say so but the internet told me it was Oogui. And how did Shiika recovered from her Fallen state? Anime didn’t address that so I am thinking it wasn’t important.

Not sure about Mushibane but sometimes it feels like Rina is playing house with the declining members of her local Host friends. And to think SECB thinks she is some new charismatic leader who have recruited many into Mushibane recently. Where the heck did they get that info?! Or did love actually break Rina?! Either way, she does not seem to be a Mushibane leader. Certainly fooled us there. Oh yeah, thank goodness Rina and Shiika didn’t try to salvage their relationship by becoming yuri!!! HAHAHA! Imagine the way to console their broken hearts for falling for the same guy is to fall for each other! What a way to get back at Kakkou for two timing them (even though it is not). Thank goodness I didn’t write the script here.

As for the other characters, not sure if Haji is playing the villain and God at the same time but at this point I don’t care. He is a character written just to helm the antagonist role because the series just needs one to distract us from the Mushi. Humans are the biggest crooks, right? So Haji is like a sneaky and scheming person as he knows a lot of stuffs and has everyone dance in the palm of his hands for his greater plan. It’s hard to say he is a good guy even if his intentions are good (that term used very loosely) because of his evil face. You see those evil eyes and grin? How can you not say that someone is not evil with that kind of look! And Kakkou being his lapdog who can’t go against him, I don’t think I am seeing Haji taking anything of him that is of value as hostage, do I? Am I missing something? Or those Kakkou sympathize with him in some ways? So he gets to live but Rina gets killed? Okay. Whatever. Then this Minmin is like one b*tch whom we’ll love to hate because she’s just a b*tch. So she’s a double agent and the reason why she still goes back to Haji is because… SHE IS IN LOVE WITH HIM???!!! Oh boy. I actually didn’t see that one coming. Yeah, almost laughed my ass off and fell off my chair! I have almost become a fallen! Sorry, lame pun. But come to think of it, now I can understand why she hates Kakkou and wants to pick a fight with him because he is close to Haji. Yeah, this better not turn gay!!!

And one of the most out of place character is Touko because she is so ditzy that she is more WTF than funny. Not sure if everyone hates her because I noticed Kakkou always ignores or hangs up on her when she talks to him. It’s amazing she is still alive in the end. I suppose somebody needs to be the comic relief seeing Shiika and Rina are too serious and they needed somebody unrelated to loosen the tension. Honestly, Touko is not the answer! And speaking of Kasuo and C? What happened to them? After crushing Asami, they are never seen again. Save for that final episode montage. Looking well and kicking. But really, what happened after that? Did they return to HQ with their tails between their legs? In that case Kasuo is just all talk and a bully. She sounded like she could do the job but eventually failed. WTF? And what’s this past she has with Kakkou? Again, not clearly fleshed out but again, at this point I don’t care. Hence it makes Kasuo feel like a side character so that it would lead to the event to drive Rina to some sort of despair over the loss of a friend. Oogui? Oh well, now we know who she is, better be careful… Rina’s Mushibane pals? Where the heck is Centi now? What the fate of Mosquito and Snail now that Rina’s gone? Yeah, forgot not to care anymore.

For the action parts, it feels obligatory and mostly wasted. I thought I would be seeing people with different insects and each having cool different insect powers but there’s just a handful of them. Heck, don’t even know what Mosquito and Snail’s Mushi or their powers are but I can guess from their names. Yeah, they didn’t even f*cking fight. While it looks cool at first, Kakkou using his insect as power source to fire his gun, this is his only arsenal I believe. And what can Rina do by just zipping around on her Nanahoshi? Yeah, you’ll get easily bored with the limited amount of action and moves. That’s why there isn’t so much action sequences unless necessary for the plot. This explains why so much cheesy high school trolling love drama. More so when you think about how people should be fighting against bugs and not using Mushi to fight each other despite they got infected! You people really being played by the Mushi.

Art and animation are pretty standard and you can tell it is of the 2000’s era. This means characters look like other animes of that same era such as Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni, School Days and Suzumiya Haruhi No Yuutsu. Most scenes are dark and gloomy, perhaps to reflect the nature of this series but because of that, I feel the animation quality takes a setback as it is sometimes too dark to see what’s going on. A bit of CGI was used and mostly for the bugs. Looks weird but does not make it look horrible as compared to some recent animes. While the bugs aren’t fuel nightmare, since I don’t primarily like bugs, of course I’m not very fond of it. Especially those with many legs… Ugh! And one of the weirdest uniforms, why does SECB members wear goggles?! Is this part of the official uniform? Weird. Makes you look badass is one thing… And Mushibane just wearing a simple mask to hide their identity, I mean, does that really cut it? This anime was done by Beat Frog and till today it remains the only anime they have produced.

And now this is the most atrocious part: You know I already said how Mamiko Noto was my motivation to watch this series, right? Well… SHE ONLY GOT 1 F*CKING LINE IN THIS ENTIRE WHOLE SERIES!!! OMFG!!! As Chiharu, that short flashback with Kakkou was the only line she ever said in the entire series!!! IT FEELS SO WASTED!!! I FEEL SO CHEATED!!! GIVE ME MORE MAMIKO NOTO FOR GOD’S SAKES!!! IT’s NOT LIKE YOU KILLED OFF HER CHARACTER, NO???!!! And here I was thinking, ah, now that this character featuring her has popped up, maybe she’ll pop up more in later episodes even as flashbacks. I was actually waiting for this to happen! It never did! Oh my. I feel so sad. My dreams were not fulfilled!!! No wonder when the series ended, I feel so bugged out and this might be the primary reason! So who this Chiharu character you asked? Don’t know. The anime doesn’t care. Of course I did a bit of lazy Google research. She’s the missing sister of Kakkou who was the one who turned him into a Host and in subsequent chapters she became the main character after Kakkou has fallen as a Fallen. But yeah, why do I care about all that if Mamiko Noto is going to voice any more of her lines in a series that never got a sequel, HUH???!!!

The other voice acting that surprised me was Kana Hanazawa as Shiika. At first I did not recognize her until much later. No matter how much I hear her lines, she does not sound like the Kana Hanazawa that I am used to hearing. Perhaps this was one of those moments, the early days when she was fairly new in the voice acting industry and her voice hasn’t ‘matured’ to her current trademark one yet. But for others like Yukari Tamura as Minmin, Marina Inoue as Kasuo and Ai Nonaka as C, thankfully I could recognize them. The other casts are Shintarou Asanuma as Kakkou (Tsuda in Seitokai Yakuindomo), Hitomi Nabatame as Rina (Yukiji in Hayate No Gotoku), Daisuke Hirakawa as Haji (Makoto in School Days), Mitsuki Saiga as Oogui (Phantom in MAR), Yumi Shimura as Asami (Kanaria in Rozen Maiden) and Reiko Takagi as Touko (Kaolla in Love Hina). The opening theme is the same name of this series. A pretty generic rock piece that feels rather okay for me. Nothing that special. The ending theme on the other hand is a slow rock, Sayonara by Hiromi Sato. Brings me back to those good ol’ days of 2000’s animes that I watched like Clannad, Air, Izumo: Takeki Tsurugi No Senki to name a few. Yeah, this song has that kind of nostalgic vibe.

Overall, this series is definitely disappointing. Even more so for me when Mamiko Noto couldn’t even make a decent cameo! WTF???!!! How could this even f*cking happen???!!! The anime adaptation has more unresolved questions than answers so if you really want to watch it, be prepared to be disappointed or get ready to continue with the light novels. Otherwise, everything here is just mediocre and doesn’t make sense. It’ll leave you bugged for days! Just kidding. But who knows? Maybe because those unanswered mysteries will just keep bugging you until you find the inner power to just give up and move forward with your life! Heh. The irony. Especially me living the dream of watching animes that I want despite many of them being crappy and garbage. Good thing this anime didn’t get a sequel because what kind of song will the bugs sing? Well, only hearing the crickets chirping amidst the sound of deafening silence.