Short Synopsis: Wanyuudo hitchhikes with a truck driver, who seems to have a grudge against an old man.
Good: I love this show; Even though nothing really happened, this episode was amazing!
Bad: How long must Kikuri (not Kirika) continue to ruin the incredible mood this anime sets?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Seriously, the past few episodes of Jigoku Shoujo have been one hit after another. And then to think that we’ve still got fourteen episodes to go, and something tells me that the creators are planning to save the best for last. This episode also was a special one. Not only is it a rare Wanyuudo-episode, it also is the first episode to hint about his past, when he was still a human. He seems to come from medieval Japan, probably after Ai’s time. In there, he once lead a carriage, carrying an important princess. This carriage then falls off the same cliff we see during this episode. It’s probably after this that either the spider or Ai found him, and recruited him, though we don’t get to see that part.
The case this time focused a lot on atmosphere this time. I’m not sure what it is, but seeing two people talk, while driving a truck on a lonesome road works really well, and the first half of the episode really takes its time introducing the case. It’s was almost like Mushishi. Then, with the second half of the episode, this anime gets its Jigoku Shoujo-vibes back when Enma Ai appears in front of the truck-driver, whose little brother died in a car accident on a dangerous part of the road because an old man refused to move somewhere else, forcing the road to be built dangerously around his house.
The old man, like usual, can’t really be called evil. He’s just an old man, who puts a huge value in his own principles. He’s been living inside his house for ages, it’s logical for him to not want to live somewhere else. Especially since he lost all of his family-members and is all alone, he just kept clinging on his house, which reminded him of his former loved ones. Even though he knew quite well about the dangers his decision caused.
The episode ends quite interestingly. The old man dies from a heart attack, before the truck driver could reach him. Before he dies, he gives Hone Onna the message that he gives all his possessions to the boy who died, aka the truck driver’s younger brother. This was his way of repenting for the sin he committed in order to live in peace for his last few years.
(On a side-note, I’m really looking forward to the thirteenth episode right now, seeing as most anime try to put in some spectacle at this point of the series. Especially with a concept like Jigoku Shoujo, it’s really easy to plan this. The first season already showed this when it featured an episode which focused at a guy, fifty years after he cursed someone).]]>
Author: psgels
Death Note – 15
Short Synopsis: Before Light gets the chance to kill L, L makes his move. Let’s just say that Misa didn’t like this.
Good: Death Note is getting more exiting by the minute! This episode had some awesome plot twists.
Bad: L’s timing may have been a bit too perfect.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8.5/10
Ah, of course. L can’t just die in front of everyone from a heart attack, since if that’s the case, Light will be getting all the blame. Instead, he had to set up a scene. L, however, managed to beat Light to it. Indeed, if the two Kira’s have teamed up, it means big trouble for L. Especially if Light happens to be Kira.
After the introduction, things start out very light, when Light runs into L, and Misa runs into the two of them later. L then starts behaving like an idiot. It’s pretty funny, but then the episode suddenly turns extremely serious, since he probably knew that Misa was going to be arrested beforehand. Because of this, he snatched her mobile phone, just before she was arrested, since he happened to be a bit in the neighbourhood (It’s like I said above. Death Note is an awesome series, but the timing seems to be a bit too perfect at times).
In the end, it seems that Misa remained an idiot, who couldn’t clean up after her. This caused her downfall. Since she’s the second Kira, L doesn’t want to hold back to torture her. She was so sad when she begged for her Rem to kill her, but the really good stuff happened afterwards. Rem made Misa give up the ownership of her Death Note. When she did this, Rem accidentally moved Misa’s hair which would have been very unnatural if there wasn’t a shinigami near her, and L happened to see that. There is NO WAY he’s not going to use that somehow.
To make things even better, however, Light has lost his opportunity of acquiring L’s real name (So he does have one. This makes me think about his parents again) and Rem also will kill him if he doesn’t save Misa. It seems, however, that Light already has a plan for this, which involves getting rid of his original Death Note, while keeping Rem’s. At least, that’s what is implied. If it will really go that way, then what will happen to Ryuk and his second Death Note? Something is telling me that the next episode is going to be one to remember. :)]]>
Ghost Hunt – 13
Short Synopsis: It’s now Mai’s turn to be possessed by Kenji. But what happened to his body?
Good: Excellent mystery; The Ending
Bad: Why weren’t Matsuzaki and Masato involved in the case? Did they spend their entire time in the church baking cake?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7,5/10
After the previous episode, I began to wonder how such an arc could be made interesting. Still, the creators did it. This episode wasn’t good in the way of episode 5, but more of a heart-warming sort-of good. Kenji’s ghost is just too adorable. You almost want him to go to heaven. Especially after what that meanie of a Rin said to him. ^^
I also must congratulate this arc of Ghost Hunt for being the first arc with a really good ending. The previous arcs may have been interesting, their endings have always been nothing special. Still, I really have to say that the moment where Kenji’s body was found had a huge impact. He really did hide in an impossible place: behind one of the statues, high above the doors of the church. There’s indeed nobody who’d even think of looking there. Especially since he dropped his flute in a totally different place (he probably lost it when he was searching for a good place to hide). The scene afterwards, where he finally could go to heaven was beautiful, probably because of this.
This episode had some interesting main characters. Since the usual main characters was out-cold for the major part of the episode, we see the story from the perspective of Bou-san. It’s interesting for a change. Too bad we don’t get to know his thoughts, like with Mai.]]>
Saiunkoku Monogatari – 27
Short Synopsis: After the eventfulness of the previous episode, all the different characters prepare themselves for the upcoming events.
Good: Altered OP; Kourin; only now Sakujun’s impact on Shuurei becomes clear.
Bad: Sakujun may be a bit too perfect. I want to see some challenges for him as well. 🙂
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
Ah, the aftermath. The chess pieces are preparing themselves to be moved. Quite a lot of things happened, though, since there are so many characters who have a role in this arc. First of all, Sho Taishi seems to have arrived in Kinka. That’s pretty fast of him, considering everyone else took months to reach it. He considers giving the ring to three possible parties: the two governors, Tei Yuushun or Eiki. It also gets revealed that Sa Taiho did some pretty bloody things in order to get the lead over the Sa Clan in the past.
We also see a few glimpses of Tei Yuushun in this episode. I’m not sure what exactly his role is in this anime, but it seems to be a very important one, in order to be nominated for getting the ring. In any case, he’s now been locked up for half a year by none other than Sa Sakujun. Who this guy named Eiki might be… I have no idea. I’m suspecting we’ll learn more about him in the future episodes.
Still, the most important focus of the episode was Shuurei. Only now, it becomes clear how much Sakujun has made an impact on her. The guy is a bastard, though because he seduced Shuurei, she doesn’t see it that way. She hasn’t thrown away the instrument he bought for her. She never tied her hair up again. She never spoke of Sakujun’s real name. I’m wondering where this will go.]]>
Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto – 16
Short Synopsis: During their travels North, Akizuki and Kakunojou run into a new main character: Hijikata.
Good: Great atmosphere, as usual. Kakunojou can become very interesting in the future.
Bad: Even though Intermezzos contribute greatly to a series, they’ve never been very exiting.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 6.5/10
Interesting. We’ve actually been dealing with a 3-episode intermezzo. It basically features the journey from Edo to some other coastal city in Japan, where Enomoto’s ship is waiting. The first episode was meant to bring Akizuki and Kakunojou together, and as a farewell to the rest of the troupe. The second focused on Kakunojou getting her sword and this one, the third, introduces another, and probably the final, character important to the story: Hijikata.
Regarding the troupe, it’s interesting. They really were left behind, and they did not follow Akizuki. I finally realize the importance of the fourteenth episode. Akizuki is chasing after the lord’s head, so he’d obviously be following Enomoto. The troupe, however, managed to carry out its revenge, which means that they’ve got no more purpose to fight. The fourteenth episode indeed showed them going separate ways, and taking a step back from the main storyline. Kakunojou, however, had to make an important decision: Akizuki or Troupe? In the end, it seems she wanted to be with him, and she followed him. I wonder if we’ll see the troupe again, and more importantly: when?
Regarding Kakunojou’s sword, she can become very interesting. This episode showed that it holds some interesting powers. I’m suspecting that the following episodes will focus on her, trying to master this sword. It’ll be interesting when she finally has it under control.
Regarding Hijikata, it seems that he’s an ally of Akizuki. The two of them and Okita were related in the past somehow. We also see him as an army commander at one point, which does suggest that he’s currently in favour of the new government. It’ll be interesting to see what role he has.
The rest of the episode gets filled with a side-story, about a young soldier. I didn’t manage to really follow it, though it seems that he wants to visit his hometown, which happens to be on the way of Akizuki and Kakunojou’s destination. It seems his mother lives there, though apart from that I didn’t pick up much. I did see, however, that the guy learned quite a bit from Hijikata, a person he looks up to. Hijikata starts out with continuously keeping his sword ready, turning the boy a bit paranoid. When he also gets to the town he wants to go to, Akizuki once again shows that he can’t leave children alone (he’s been talking more and more recently, has he? ;))]]>
Jigoku Shoujo – 37
Short Synopsis: A girl who found a stray cat keeps getting harassed.
Good: Beautifully paranoid. It really takes a while to understand what’s really going on.
Bad: Absolutely none
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5
What a brilliant episode! After the past few episodes, I almost never expected this show to turn even better, but damn… it did it again. It perfectly developed its main character, Shizuko, combining it with some paranoid moments full of mystery. We have this girl, who’s just moved in to her new apartment. There, she finds a cat, and decides to adopt it. Little does she know that the cat belong to her neighbour. When the neighbour finds out, she starts making all kinds of strange phone-calls, and she starts harassing her in all kinds of anonymous ways. But that’s not even the real beauty of this episode.
[SPOILER]Huge spoiler up ahead. Seriously, if you haven’t seen the episode, close this window NOW. You really NEED to see the episode first before reading it.
Seriously!
I’ve been depending on Memento’s summaries to fill in the small gaps of things I didn’t understand. I’m SO glad that I did this for this episode, because otherwise, I probably never would have gotten the real meaning of this episode. It’s basically one huge punishment-scene! We see the real Shizuka pull the string off the straw doll, and afterwards, we see an extra-lengthy punishment of her neighbour, who is basically being put in the same scene as she was! Brilliant! I kept wondering why Wanyuudo, Ichimoku Ren, Hone Onna and even Ai appeared so often in all kinds of different forms, but that totally explains it.
When Kyouko, the neighbour, also gets carried to hell, it’s also great to see her side of the story. It seems that the cat has been the only friend she had for a long time. When she was asked why she didn’t just “talk to Shizuko” about it, she answers that she just didn’t think about that. It’s so interesting, she was so obsessed over her cat being taken away, that she didn’t notice the best solution. It’s now also really clear why Ren, Wanyuudo and Hone were lashing out at Kirika like that. They were in the middle of their play, while Kirika was trying to mess things up. ^^;
It’s really too bad that so many people have dropped this in the first season. It’s starting to get more interesting by the minute right now. It’s such a pity.]]>
Ghost Hunt – 12
Short Synopsis: It’s Christmas, and a local church gets pestered by a hide-and-seek-playing ghost.
Good: Great to see a different side of Naru-chan and Lin. Kenji’s case is interesting.
Bad: What can the creators do to make this arc special?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 6/10
Ah, the beginning of the next case. This seems to be another small one. We have this church, who’s taking care of foreign children who can’t live with their parents for some reason. 30 years ago, a child named Kenji lived there. He loved playing hide-and-seek, though during one game, he never came back. People also never managed to find his body. Right now, 30 years later, he’s started to haunt the children who live in the church by possessing them, and forcing them to play hide-and-seek.
I’m actually wondering whether this anime will be able to surpass the fifth episode. Sure, the episode was nice and all, but I’m feeling that the past few episodes got nowhere near the huge quality of episode five. Still, it could be that this is the intention of the creators, to make the middle arcs focus more on the characters and their development than on the ghost stories. If it’s indeed been building up for the second half of this show, I’m interested to see what the next arcs have in store for us. :)]]>
Jigoku Shoujo – 36
Short Synopsis: Hone Onna seems to have normal human friends. One among them is a cute little idiot named Tetsuro.
Good: Great direction, a real pitiful case this time.
Bad: The toilet with teeth could have been better
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7.5/10
Oh, my. That was very interesting. We have a Hone Onna episode this time. It seems that a year ago, she met a guy in the train who wanted to recruit her for a movie he was making. The guy is named Tetsuro, and he’s quite the idiot. He keeps running after women and he acts like a little kid at times, and most importantly, he never learned to take responsibility. He keeps relying on his wife, girlfriends and Hone Onna for everything by using his cute puppy-dog eyes.
I don’t believe he really has any evil intentions at all. He’s just an ignorant fool, without any realization of the things he does. I guess that that was the reason the women stayed with him. Still, in the end, this ignorance sent him to hell, when he accidentally messed up the car of a guy who’s probably been having a hard time, making this the final straw. Especially when Tetsuro splashed him with hot coffee afterwards. I wish we could have seen more of this guy, but I guess it would have hurt the episode. Right now, the mystery surrounding Tetsuro, and how he could ever be related to Jigoku Shoujo was very interesting.
The strange thing is, that I really liked Tetsuro as a character, despite him being a huge idiot. He indeed was too cute to stay angry at. That’s what made his being-sent-to-hell scene also so great. Especially since Hone Onna had to say goodbye to a dear friend of her. Actually, three dear friends of her, since she decided to cut ties with his wife and girlfriend as well. I just wish the creators chose something better than a giant toilet with teeth to begin with.
Also, why was Ai blushing at the beginning of the episode? I’m also glad to see that Kirika is getting better with every episode progressing. She was actually funny this time, when she appeared in a frog raincoat, flying away with a green umbrella in front of Tetsuro.
Wanyuudo has been getting surprisingly little attention, by the way. There was one episode in which he stood in the centre, the one with the punk guy. Apart from that, it’s either been Ichimoku Ren and Hone Onna. Also, will Ai also get a few episodes in which the case relates to her?
In any case, I have to say that the second season is well on its way on becoming better than the first one. It’s only been episode ten, and we’ve already been treated to some wonderful cases. I was beginning to worry a bit after the first six episodes, but the quality suddenly made a huge leap in the right direction with the seventh episode.]]>
Jigoku Shoujo – 35
Short Synopsis: Something is seriously wrong between a sister and her brother.
Good: Awesome antagonist this time, extremely creative. The confession-scene was great.
Bad: The usual formula, unfortunately.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7,5
Holy god… during the first scene of the episode, we get the impression that this story is about a girl with a big-brother-complex. Well, it appears to be tad different from this.
Okay, get this. We have this girl, who has a brother. This brother:
– Likes to cook for her.
– Works as a model.
– Buys fancy dresses…
– …only to wear them HIMSELF and dress up like a girl.
– Is in love with his sister.
– Seduces all of his sister’s new boyfriends away from her, IN GIRL-MODE.
– Suddenly tries to hit on her.
Okay, individually, these things aren’t that bad. Okay, some may be a bit annoying, but it’s NOTHING like when you actually start combining all of them. This is one crazy guy, and I can imagine why his sister would hate him. It’s interesting, since she’s yet another girl who’s using Jigoku Shoujo to run away from her problems. I wonder what would have happened if she never got into contact with Jigoku Shoujo in the first place. How would she have solved the problem then? If I had to guess, she’d use her own strength to stop him somehow, but would that be before or after he went too far?
Still, I loved the ending in this one. It showed that this girl is well aware that she sent her brother to hell, seeing as she’s really missing him. It had to be a difficult decision for her. It seems that in the end, she chose for the easy way out.]]>
Jigoku Shoujo – 34
Short Synopsis: A fake website for Jigoku Shoujo has appeared on the web. But why?
Good: Gotta love the plot twist.
Bad: This really needs to get subbed. Why isn’t it getting subbed?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Why did I ever lose faith in this series!? It’s awesome. That’s what this episode definitely showed. I think that one of the best things of this show is its repetition, even though most people seem to be turned off by it. Because it’s so repetitive, it builds up a certain pattern for each episode. When it starts playing with this pattern, the show turns really interesting. That definitely became clear with this episode.
It already starts out well when it doesn’t really feature a clear main character. We have our antagonist, Baba Shouko. But there’s no real protagonist. We switch a bit around between different characters, we have a student who’s being bullied by her, a teacher who’s seeing her students suffer, a student who gets blamed and expelled for creating the fake Jigoku Shoujo website, Hone Onna and, of course, Jigoku Shoujo. Each one of them gets about an equal amount of development.
But then the real goodness begins when the teacher invites the expelled student to send Baba Shouko to hell with the real Jigoku Website. It seems that the teacher had called upon Jigoku Shoujo herself in the past, when she was still a high school girl, seeing as she hated Baba Shouko herself at that time. Still, she chickened out. Now that she ended up in the same school as her, she actually tries to USE one of her students to send Baba Shouko to hell. Brilliant.
Especially taken into account what happens next. Baba Shouko herself appeared, and reveals that she actually doesn’t have any evil attentions at all. She’s just your usual strict teacher who wants to make her students good members of society. I like that kind of teacher, seeing as kids these days are getting ruder and ruder by the minute. She kindof reminds me of Ro from Saiunkoku Monogatari. But yeah, at the time, the children probably won’t acknowledge this. And some cases will never come to understand it, see the teacher as an example.
The question also remains: did Baba Shouko cause all of this, and more importantly, is she guilty? It’s true that she was the reason that Kuriyama-sensei turned out the way she did, but Kuriyama herself also is to blame, because she never saw the real meaning behind Baba’s behaviour. Still, can you really blame someone for not understanding something quick enough? Still, the fact remains that Kuriyama tried to use one of her students, while Kuriyama actually sent someone to hell. That’s another thing I love about this show. There’s almost no character who behaves ethically correct all the time. The previous episode was an extreme example of this as well.
Also, you have to love the attempts to stay out of the copyrights by turning “Google” into “Deegle”. It’s actually quite a cute name. ^^; I’m also glad that Kirika is improving. I mean, she still is the annoying brat, but she was actually quite funny in this episode, and she actually listened to Ai. I’m really beginning to wonder why she’s in this show in the first place. I mean, she has to have a reason, doesn’t she?]]>