The middle run of Mushi-shi’s second season takes both a darker turn and an upswing into more familiar territory. Episode five is the interesting tale of a woman who becomes tied to a mushi and must struggle for her sense of identity, but even this seems light in comparison to episode six.

With the release of episode four, Mushi-shi is now a quarter of the way through its second season and while the tone of the stories has changed, the method and pacing remains the same as the first season. The first four episodes cover darker stories, all relating to the death of a person close to the featured characters.

Like reuniting with old friends or picking up a conversation years later as if no time had passed at all, Mushi-shi (Sequel Series) continues its tradition of meditative stories and soft-spoken, thought-provoking concepts enhanced by beautiful backgrounds and beautiful music.

Eiichiro Maruo is a first-year high school student, and he’s at the top of his class. In fact, he’s known as “Ei-chan” (A-chan) for his grades and his painstaking meticulous notes. After deciding to join a sports club to balance his otherwise sedentary academic lifestyle, he settles on taking advantage of a free trial at the local tennis club. Little does he know that one year from now, he’ll be competing in the Kanagawa Junior Tennis Circuit!

This year, Anime Matsuri was held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston, Texas from March 14-16, 2014. Now, Anime Matsuri has become a big name in Texas anime conventions since its beginning in 2007. They were notorious for promising big and delivering little, and even I had been warned about the cancellation of panels, guests, long line times and overall disorganization.