This was definitely the best episode of Shigofumi yet. It consists out of just one episode this time (at least, that’s what I suspect), and it tells the story about three guys who live ordinary lives at school. At least, until one of them commits suicide. The rest of the episode is quite an interesting insight to suicides, and to how people often try to search the deepest meanings behind them, while they can also be committed with simple reasons.
The guy in this episode simply wanted to fly. His father though, not knowing about any of this, convinces himself that someone violently murdered his son. He then hijacks the guy’s classroom in order to find out whether the guy’s friends know anything about it. Turns out that they too didn’t, but the guy’s father doesn’t believe it. Thankfully, Fumika comes and delivers the Shigofumi, so things are cleared up. I liked how well this episode was written, and the three major characters (the father and two best friends) were nicely developed for one episode.
The creators are also surprisingly quick with the development for Fumiko. But then again, I’m comparing this show to the Jigoku Shoujo which took twenty episodes before any information about Ai was revealed. Fumiko indeed was a normal girl at one time, who was actually friends with one of the two guys from this episode. Apparently, she killed her father at one point, which resulted in her, becoming the deliverer of the Shigofumi. Obviously, pieces of the puzzle are still missing, but it’s quite a nice start.
I compare this to Jigoku shoujo too! The way the letter is delivered (just like the doll )and Fumiko’s attitude (she doesn’t interfere whatever might happen, she has a duty and she accomplish it without taking under account her feelings, she seems not to have any even if she sure might hide some painful secrets). She doesn’t make friends though she obviously can’t cause if she does she won’t be able to get through her mission properly.
I really enjoyed this episode as well (but episode 2 is still my favorite), but I was upset at the silly censorship. Oh well, another reason to look forward to the dvd releases 😛 I’m not sure Fumika killed her father though, since the guy said she just shot him (fate unknown, really). Looking forward to more 😀
so even if there’s censorship it’s still good? i was ready for the worst so this is great to hear.
Oh my god, there are so many huge names involved in this series.
I knew Oukoichi is writing the whole scripts but not the staffs who are doing contis….
This episode was done by Satou Takuya, the next episode will be done by Kimura Sinichirou and the next next episode will be done by Yanagisawa Tetsuya.
That’s like the biggest line up I haven’t seen in years. And I am now more impressed by those names then the series itself, hahaha…..
Finally fansubs are out, and I can follow this anime!
I like Shigofumi, but sometimes I get irritated with it, which was not the case with mushishi or kino no tabi.
This time it was the shigofumi delivered to the beaten up father from the unborn baby. I found two things annoying: the sexism, and the “pro-life” bias.
– Sexism: the guy who dumps the girl and does not wish the baby deserves to be beaten up/killed, whereas the girl is simply considered “dumb”. What the heck, she has full and equal responsibility for getting pregnant and doing an abortion. Should she also be beaten up?
– pro-life/anti-abortion bias: the aborted baby’s shigafumi is a hand-shaped blood stain, suggesting that a child was murdered. Now if one equates child murder with abortion, then get ready to hold a funeral when you use contraception or have the period… Also it does not make sense. Either the lost soul is a fetus, in which case he would not have enough of mind to even send a message, or it’s the reincarnating soul of the baby, in which case there’s no point in posing as a child, he could as well write a fluent japanese hate mail typical of an adult. What really gets on my nerves is the typical pro-life “emotional” propaganda directed to your guts instead of speaking to your mind.
For someone who sneers at pro-life stuff appealing to your emotions instead of your mind, your “mind” made two massive errors.
1. Do you also claim that a baby that has been born could not haunt anyone if it were murdered? They don’t know anything either. At what point do you “know” enough for your ghost to haunt somebody?
2. So every time a woman has a period, she must be miscarrying? Science fail.