This mushi's name means 'false bud'; it's a mushi that supposedly looks like a flower, and it's responsible for a very unusual, and apparently rare, phenomenon.
Usobuki on the ceiling.
In the middle of winter this mushi creates a 'false spring', causing trees to blossom and releasing a scent that wakes creatures from hibernation. The mushi then feed off the creature's energy, and eventually start releasing a scent that sends any animal caught in this false spring back into slumber--even if they weren't sleeping to begin with. This state of deep hibernation continues until the mushi is able to release another scent to wake the sleepers when spring actually arrives. Afterward, the mushi shrivels up into a chrysalis-like husk.
The creatures under the influence of this mushi don't seem to come to any harm; in fact, it seems they can remain this way for years, if the mushi isn't found to fix it, though they probably need someone to look after them.
As it turns out, despite the name, the mushi don't look like flowers at all--at least, not when they're making the false spring happen.
Usobuki
This mushi's name means 'false bud'; it's a mushi that supposedly looks like a flower, and it's responsible for a very unusual, and apparently rare, phenomenon.
Usobuki on the ceiling.
In the middle of winter this mushi creates a 'false spring', causing trees to blossom and releasing a scent that wakes creatures from hibernation. The mushi then feed off the creature's energy, and eventually start releasing a scent that sends any animal caught in this false spring back into slumber--even if they weren't sleeping to begin with. This state of deep hibernation continues until the mushi is able to release another scent to wake the sleepers when spring actually arrives. Afterward, the mushi shrivels up into a chrysalis-like husk.
The creatures under the influence of this mushi don't seem to come to any harm; in fact, it seems they can remain this way for years, if the mushi isn't found to fix it, though they probably need someone to look after them.
As it turns out, despite the name, the mushi don't look like flowers at all--at least, not when they're making the false spring happen.