Mushishi Zoku Shou 2nd Season - Episode 2

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This was a riveting time loop episode where we witnessed a man relive both his regrets and his happiest moments in life. Each loop of Kaoru’s life were shot slightly differently in order to avoid being overly repetitive. That in itself wasn’t very interesting but there were some subtle changes that complemented the tension building done by the superb pacing.

These shots are the first and second time that Kaoru was shown entering the tunnel. In the second shot, Kaoru is farther into the tunnel which visually communicates how he’s being absorbed deeper and deeper into the time loop.

Time loop stories are built on sequential patterns. The insert shots (first two) of Kaoru taking a step into the tunnel were part of that pattern. After being made aware of his situation by Ginko, we started to anticipate if he will break the pattern. The first two insert shots helped build this anticipation that made the third insert shot of him stepping away from the tunnel even more gratifying.

After Kaoru entered the tunnel to save his wife, the loop was restarted from her perspective. The top row is Kaoru’s time loop and the bottom one is the wife’s. As you will notice, the wife’s time loop was consisted of POV, over the shoulder, and side view shots done from her vantage point.

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