Mana: This is my last request. Please give birth to me. I want to meet you all over again. I do. And I want to look at this lovely ocean once again, next to you.



MUSHI-SHI 22.
Shrine In The Sea 沖つ宮(おきつみや)



Villager: So, who is he?

Villager: I... I don't know... I'm not exactly sure, but he was talking about the uminaoshi.

Villager: What? Really?

Villager: Yes. I wonder how he heard about them.


Ginko: Perfect. Came all this way and absolutely nothing to show for it. These islanders sure are tight-lipped. Well, guess I'll just take it slow.

Ginko: Hmm? That strange glow... what is it? It's too bright to be sea-fireflies and too dim to be the glow of fishing lanterns.

Mio: I don't know. I'm not sure what they are.

Ginko: Ah, so you can see them.

Mio: So tell me, do you know much about things like that?

Ginko: Well, yes. It's how I make my living.

Isana: Mommy! It's time to make dinner! Grandpa's ba--It's the stranger...

Mio: You're welcome to stay with us if you like. With all the snakes around, it's not safe to camp here.


Isana: Grandpa! We have company!

Mio's Father: Now that's a rarity. Who's this guest, Mana? Tell me.

Mio: Her name is Isana.

Mio's Father: Oh... right. Forgive me, Mio.


Mio: Unless it clouds up, I don't think you'll see them again tonight. They disappear whenever the moon is out.

Ginko: Oh, huh...

Mio: Ginko... I've heard... you've been asking about the uminaoshi... is that true?

Ginko: It is. Know anything?

Mio: Look, out there... The glow always appears near those two rocks, and only when the sky is moonless. Below those rocks lies an underwater trench. Everyone on the island calls it the Dragon Shrine. Many people have lost their lives in that spot. It's a short death though. Somehow they're reborn looking exactly the same. Ginko... did Isana... look like a normal child to you?

Ginko: You mean that...?

Mio: Isana... she's my daughter and the uminaoshi of my mother.


Mio: Father! Father, don't do this... Please, she's still alive!

Mio's Father: Mio... I have to. No one's ever survived this disease before. She won't come back unless we submerge her while she's alive, you know that!

Mio: Don't do it!

Mana: I'm sorry... Mio... I'm afraid to die... Going away forever and ever... terrifies me... Please, understand that your father and I do this so I can come back... This is what I want... Let me do this...

Mio: Mother... Mother!


Mio's Father: Mio, tomorrow is the day. The full moon is finally here. Please do it... I'll never ask you for another favor. Don't you want to see your mother again? I do, so do all our relatives, we miss her terribly. We want Mana to return to us, don't you? I know it hasn't been easy for you losing both your husband and then your mother. You've been through a lot, dear, but just think. If you have a child, you'll have something to live for again. Please Mio... This can't work without you.

Mio: ...Very well. If seeing that child will make you all feel better, then I guess it's my duty. I'll give birth to it. But the child is no longer my mother. You have to promise me that you won't call her Mana.

Mio's Father: Just one will do.

Mio: Any one, huh?

Mio's Father: Yes. I'm not sure how it happens, but if a person swallows it, it eventually becomes a child. And in a month, it develops into the person we submerged.


Mio: It might be hard to believe, but that's exactly how Isana was born.

Ginko: You mentioned your late husband. Any chance... she's his child?

Mio: No, that's impossible. My husband died a full two years before Isana was born. Ginko, I... I want to know what that child is. I have to know.

Ginko: Well... I'm not really sure yet, but your daughter appears to be human to me. Plus, you were pregnant and gave birth to her. For now, just think of her as a child that looks a lot like her grandmother, and nothing more.


Mana: Mio? What's the matter? Can't fall asleep? Mommy has that problem sometimes. Wanna know what I do? I close my eyes and imagine that I'm a big fish in the ocean, swimming back and forth very slowly. Then I start to go deeper and deeper, and the water gets bluer and bluer... And before I know it, I'm asleep, just like that.

Isana: Mommy...? What's the matter?

Mio: Oh, it's nothing, sweetie. You get back to sleep, okay? There's nothing to worry about.


Isana: Yeah, that's right. They told me I'm the uminaoshi of my grandmother. There are lots of people like that here. See, that little girl's one too. When she was six, she was bitten by a snake and almost died, but then she got reborn. Same thing with that woman over there. She had only been married for a short time when she got attacked by a shark. She was reborn too. Her husband had to wait nearly twenty whole years to marry her again. Just look, the reborn and their loved ones are living happy lives now.

Ginko: What about you? Are you happy?

Isana: When people call me Mana... it's confusing. But Mommy never calls me that. I'm so happy to have her for a mother. And I'm so happy that I can live here forever and ever. I love it here. I really do.


Ginko: I don't see anything... but still, it's not safe to approach the glow at night... Maybe I should just wait until the next full moon.

Isana: So does that mean you're going to stay with us until then?

Ginko: Sure does.

Isana: It's so lovely. Look!


Ginko: An island where people can be reunited with their lost loved ones... A place where no one ever truly has to say goodbye... In that sense at least, this is paradise... But still...


Mio: There's a slight resemblance. Well, that's what I used to tell myself when she was a baby. After all, I didn't know what my mother looked like when she was a child. I didn't have a clue. But then, everything changed when Isana grew older and got bigger. Little by little, bit by bit, her looks, her personality, even her facial expressions began to resemble the mother I knew and loved... My mother is gone... I know that. But Isana looks just like her... and she calls me "Mother." I may have given birth to her and raised her, but... she doesn't seem like my own...


Ginko: They're coming from the Dragon Shrine...


Ginko: Those globules... It's just a guess at this point, but I think they're created by some sort of mushi. I can't say for sure, and I have nothing definitive yet. But it seems to make sense, especially when you consider... I found human embryos inside them. The beginning form of life for every one of us. Someone swallows a globule and they become pregnant. They then give birth to a child virtually identical to the loved one they submerged at sea. That suggests these mushi can return people to their embryonic states.

Mio: So does that mean... Isana...

Ginko: That girl... she is physically identical to your deceased mother. And from here on, she's going to resemble her more and more. However, she was born and raised by you, Mio. She may look just like her, but she cannot turn into your actual mother. In fact, as far as Isana's concerned, you are every bit her "mother."

Mio: I see... So, that's how it is... I guess I'll find a way to be strong.


Isana: Hey, Ginko!

Ginko: I was thinking about leaving tomorrow if a boat's available.

Isana: Hmm?

Ginko: If I get any more involved, I might begin to question if I could ever leave this island... I don't have any right to take away your happiness or anyone else's.

Isana: Thanks, Ginko... Thank you. When Mommy's about to die, I'm going to do the same thing she did for me. I'm going to give birth to her. So that way we'll be together forever. I couldn't live without Mommy.


Man: We'd better wait and see what the weather's going to do today. It could be a typhoon.

Ginko: I guess I don't have any choice.


Isana: Sounds like the storm's getting worse...

Mio: It's loud. I sure hope it doesn't keep you awake all night.

Isana: Oh, don't worry. I know a good way to fall asleep, Mommy. First I close my eyes, then I imagine that I'm a big fish in the ocean swimming back and forth very slowly. Then I start to go deeper and deeper, and the water gets bluer and bluer. And things start to get darker and darker as I head towards the bottom of the ocean. Then before I know it... Mommy?

Mio: I'm sorry, sweetie... I'm fine... just thirsty. Stay here... I'll be right back.

Mio: Be strong... Be strong... It's going to get swept away... (gasps) Aah!


Villagers: Where are you, Mio?! Mio! Mio! Can you hear us?

Villager: My boat, it's missing!

Villager: You don't...?!

Villager: Look, over there!

Ginko: (gasps) Mio!

Villager: Isana! No, wait! Don't go near that glow! It'll eat you alive.

Ginko: Don't be so hasty! We do this cautiously.

Isana: Right! Mommy! Hold on!

Mio: (screaming)

Ginko: They've surrounded the boat. What do we do?

Mio: Isana! Stay away! Please!

Ginko: No, wait! Isana!

Ginko: Are you all right? Isana, what about you?

Isana: I'm okay.

Ginko: Get in! Hurry!

Mio: Aah!

Ginko: Damn... These things are strong... Can't budge... not an inch. If they eat me, will they turn me into an embryo too? I'd have to start life all over again... A new beginning. Now there's a thought. Some would kill for that. But me... not a chance. Instead, it'd be more like... like a bad joke. What...? They're letting go...?

Ginko: (coughing)

Mio: We need to get out of the water!

Ginko: The storm... it's passed! Why... why did the mushi let go so suddenly...? So that's it... The moon... the moon is out...


Ginko: I'll admit I don't know much about these particular mushi, but I'll share my theory with you. That weird glow, that's how they lure people in. They eat them and regenerate those people as embryos. That's just their nature. These mushi have a particular diet -- they feed on the length of time a person lives. Anyway, I'm sure both of you had figured this out already on your own. And as for your other issues, give it time. I'm sure you'll work them out.

Mio: Right...

Ginko: As for you! You jumped right into that water without a second thought! Thanks for scaring the daylights out of me.

Isana: (giggles) I'm sorry.

Ginko: That was dangerous. Even if they'd eaten your mother, you would've seen her again when she was reborn, you know.

Isana: Yes. But they would've eaten up all the time Mommy had lived, wouldn't they? I couldn't let that happen to her. I'd be so lonely... But even so, I think I'd rather see Mommy die than give her entire lifetime away to someone else.

Mio: You think just like I do. And that's just what I'd expect... from my daughter.


Ginko: Uminaoshi -- they'll continue to occur here on the island as long as people choose rebirth over death. After all, they help put the dying at ease. They fill the void in the hearts of their loved ones who are left behind. But perhaps being able to die without that hope, at least here, is one of life's rare and fortunate blessings.