mushishi

The story features ubiquitous creatures called Mushi that often display supernatural powers. Mushi are described as beings in touch with the essence of life, far more basic and pure than normal living things. Due to their ephemeral nature most humans are incapable of perceiving Mushi and are oblivious to their existence, but there are a few who possess the ability to see and interact with Mushi.

One such person is Ginko (ギンコ?), the main character of the series. He employs himself as a Mushi master (蟲師, mushi-shi?), traveling from place to place to research Mushi and aid people suffering from problems caused by them. The series is an episodic anthology in which the only common elements among episodes are Ginko and the various types of Mushi. There is no over-arching plotline.
Characters
Due to the episodic nature of the series, there are very few recurring characters, and the list of voice actors is fairly lengthy. Ginko is voiced by Yuto Nakano and Travis Willingham in the English dub.

Ginko's unusual white hair and green eye color is the result of an incident that occurred when he was a child. No explanation is provided within the context of the story as to why his rather modern clothes do not seem to match the time period reflected by all other characters, although the author has explained it is a character design artifact from the originally planned setting in modern times. Ginko is a rare person who attracts mushi. This inspires his peripatetic lifestyle. Staying in one place too long will gather a potentially dangerous amount of mushi. He also smokes constantly in order to keep mushi away. In terms of personality, Ginko is rather laid back. However, he can be very serious when it comes to protecting people from mushi. He also often stresses that the mushi are not evil, but merely trying to survive like everyone else.

The only two other characters who have repeat appearances are Adashino, who appears in episodes 5, 10, and briefly in 18, and Nui, who appears only in episode 12, but whose voice can be heard narrating some of the opening and closing lines characteristic of each episode. Veteran seiyū Yūji Ueda and Mika Doi voice those characters, respectively.