Where Sea Meets Man is the eighth episode of the anime series.
Synopsis[]
Ginko meets a man named Shirou on a shore who has been waiting two-and-a-half years for his wife Michihi to return after she mysteriously disappeared in the sea after an encounter with some strange sea snakes.
Plot[]
On the shore, Ginko meets a man named Shirou. As he wonders what he is waiting there, Shirou tells him he is waiting for his wife. Shirou then explains that two and a half years ago, his wife Michihi was from a more prestigious family, but they had to leave her town. As she wasn't liking the new place, they had an argument and then headed into the sea with two boats. Soon a haze appeared and white sea snakes started to swim around the boats. As he was loosing sight of his wife, he was calling her to come to him, but she was afraid of the snakes and soon his boat capsized and he woke up on shore. Ginko tells him to move on with his life, but gets interested in his story as it sounds familiar.
On the next day, Shirou sees a girl selling her catch for less than the market price and convinces the buyer to pay more. As he had worked in a wholesale store, he knew what are the prices in the bigger town and helped more people from the village to sell their goods at better prices. The villagers started to like him and accepted him as one of theirs. The tide starts to rise each day, while Shirou starts to see strange things, making the girl he met before worry about him, but he assures her he will be fine. Soon a haze appears and villagers comment that its like 2–3 years ago and how only empty boats returned.
Shirou decides to head into the sea and look for Michihi. Ginko shows up and tells him he did some research and explains about a mushi Umisen-Yamasen, a mushi that lives 1000 years in the mountain and thousand years in the sea. When time comes, the mountain one descend it, while the sea ones approach the coastal waters. Thousand days later, they meet at the sea and become a single Mushi. Ginko then explains that Shirou was able to return before, because while in the haze, only those with desire to return to land could see the land and return to it. As he confirms that Shirou had found something new to bring him back to land, they depart into the sea. Soon they find a boat, but are surprised to see Michihi still alive in it. Michihi and Shirou apologize to each other with Michihi commenting she was drifting for three days. As Shirou points at the wrong direction for the land, Ginko tells him he needs to says his goodbyes and to get away from Michihi, as she isn't human anymore and the mushi will transform into one soon. Michihi and the snakes then transform into a giant centipede and fly in the sky. Meanwhile, the villagers had given up on looking for Shirou and Ginko.
A month later, Shirou and Ginko reach the shore, making Ginko realize that inside the haze, the time moves on mushi time. The next day, Michihi's boat washes up on the shore, with the girl finding his wife's kimono and Shirou commenting it looks lovely.