Short Synopsis: Things go bad with Claire’s brother, Rose gets closer to finding her father, Hervé starts to use Kate to his advantage, Rachel gets spotted with her teacher and a sad thing will happen with relation to Mireille.
Good: A wonderful episode; Hervé gets better with every episode; great ending!
Bad: We still don’t really know why Rachel exactly chose to date her teacher.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8.5/10
That was amazing! Especially Hervé, he’s really turning into my favourite character for this series. The episode starts with Mireille being in a state of near-death, his sister is about to lose her best and only friend. I couldn’t help but sympathize with him, though later, we see him start to use Kate, and act coldly towards her. I’d almost start rooting for him. In the end, Mireille died, and she had to be beaten by tons of security guards because she turned into a monster (what, they don’t have any more civilized methods for this?). This definitely was a stimulant for Hervé, to find a solution as fast as possible. But how does he think of using Kate to cure his sister? I also nearly cried when he tried to strangle Lise. So sad.
Still, Hervé wasn’t the only one who was amazing. Claire also got caught up in some very interesting events: the death of her brother. Suicide, to be exact. His business was doomed to fail, so I wondered how he’d react when that happened. I never imagined suicide, though. Also, do we get to see Claire’s father after this? Anyway, because of this, Claire got a lot of airtime this episode. We saw her in lots of scenes, along with Kate, which were probably meant to build up to this. It’s definitely interesting to see how she’s going to react to this.
The next episode will probably be a big one for Rachel, since Luke found out that she’d rather hang out with her teacher than with her (seriously, what is it with girls falling in love with characters way older than them in this anime?). I’m still not sure why she’s doing that exactly. She obviously likes to be with him, but is it love? Rachel, in any case, does know that Luke already cheated on her.
Rose didn’t play a large role, but she was too cute when she tried to inquire information about her father in a crowded bar. ^_^ It does, however, seem that her father has been desperately going from one job to the other. He seems to quit them for some kind of reason. What could that reason be?]]>
Category: Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense
Death Note – 17
Short Synopsis: After day fifty (!) of confinement, Light and Misa finally get released.
Good: Misa looked beautiful when she was in the car.
Bad: Don’t tell me you didn’t see this coming.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
Dammit, just when I thought that this anime was so good with surprises it comes with this episode. Why did it have to be so mysterious when it was obvious that Light’s father was acting all along? It would have been way better off focusing on Light’s and Misa’s reaction to this, the people who didn’t know anything. Speaking of the two of them, they acted awfully normal for people who had been locked up for fifty days. Especially Misa. You’d think she’d go at least a bit crazy, but she’s immediately back to her normal self when her blindfolds are taken off. I really would have liked to see how the confinement changed them, but the only changes that came from them were because of the effects of their resignments of the Death Notes.
Still, this episode showed something very interesting regarding the Death Notes. The only thing that the resignation of the Death Note did for Light was lose his memory of everything related to the Death Note, and anything what would make him remember it, but nothing more. That’s why he forgot how he wanted to manipulate Misa, because of her power, but he didn’t forget Misa herself. (On a side-note: what would happen if L showed Light the “L, do you know Shinigami love apples?”-note to him once more). Still, based on this, you’d think his personality would remain the same. Rather bored with society, wanting to do something, not really caring for anything. But interestingly enough, he suddenly turned into a goody two-shoe. This shows how a Death Note is able to influence people. I’m suspecting that Light actually had the same personality before he found the Death Note, though he had lots of doubts about his life-style. When the Death Note arrived, and he saw what he could do with it, his true self suddenly started opening up.
And also about L’s building. What the heck? Why does he need such a high building in order to search for Kira? Why is he willing to spend so much money on the search for Kira, why does he say that he’s determined to catch the real Kira, when he also releases the number one suspect of Kira from confinement? I mean, he could have just left him there for a couple of more months, to see what happens, while continuing the investigation on Kira by himself. If I had to guess, it was to get the police officer’s trust on the case back. I can imagine that the team must’ve been falling apart for the weeks in which he did nothing but observe Misa and Kira. That’s probably why he let them go, but still ordered their 24/7 supervision.
It’ll also be interesting to see how Light will get his Death Note back. I mean, I just know he left some hints behind while he still had his memory, but it’ll be pretty tricky to do this when he’s continuously tied to L.
Also, seeing as this episode marks the end of the Misa-arc, a new arc is about to start. It’s probably going to be the Yotsuba-group-arc. This episode already left a little teaser. A really vague teaser, actually. We seem to be dealing with a powerful company, which is run by eight people. Takahashi Ei’ichi, Higuchi Kyousuke, Ooi Takeshi, Namikawa Reiji, Kida Masahiko, Midou Shingo, Hatori Arayoshi and Shimura Suguru. Apparently, Kira’s murders were incredibly benificial for them, so they conclude that Kira’s one of them. They make lots of theories, but most of them miss the mark.
It’s interesting to compare the Misa-arc to the Naomi-arc. Both had their good and their bad points. During the Misa-Arc, Light really had some great moments, after finding out that there’s a second Kira, for example, and of course his involvement in the great plot twists in the episodes 14 to 16. During the Naomi-arc, I feel that Light’s planning talents were better executed. Not to say that he got dumb in the Misa-arc, but his strategies in this arc just didn’t match up to the great plans he had in order to track and kill Ray Penbar, and not to mention to fix the holes in these plans. The Naomi-arc also had an amazing ending, while the Misa-arc ended rather dull, like we saw in this episode. I also liked how the Naomi-arc was nice and down to earth, in opposition to the huge events in the Misa-arc. That did make sure of some amazing plot twists, though. It’s interesting to note that both arcs were troubled by some moments of convenient timing.]]>
Jigoku Shoujo – 41
Short Synopsis: A girl and her father work for a guy who’s running for the national president. This episode proves that politicians don’t always go fair and square.
Good: Kikuri… I guess.
Bad: Just doesn’t live up to the previous episodes, who already weren’t up to par to their predecessors.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 6.5/10
Yeah, that’s what you get with Jigoku Shoujo. Some episodes are totally amazing, while others are just standard, used to create a pattern. Still, now we’re this far into the series, standard episodes like this one aren’t as good as they used to be. Right now, the creators have to really do their best to impress me, which didn’t work for this episode. Still, I’m glad that they’ve decided to show their lesser ideas right now, so that they can save the best episodes for last.
Kikuri was surprisingly good, by the way. I’m referring to the scene in which she dressed up as a nurse. Normally, her jokes have been rather “innocent”, apart perhaps from when she interfered to send someone to hell, though I don’t think that was a joke of her. Though seeing that she mocks even the doctors and sick people was quite a surprise. Doesn’t she have any boundaries?]]>
Red Garden – 14
Short Synopsis: Rose’s training pays off; Hervé reveals more things to Kate; Interesting plot twist from Paula; Claire’s car breaks
Good: Hervé was brilliant as usual, I also loved Paula.
Bad: It’s already episode 14, and still no awesome episodes. When will they come?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7.5/10
A large focus of this episode was training, and increasing your strength. Rose finally starts to become more than just a strange bystander when she too manages to leap into the air, and Kate even manages to master this power. Claire, meanwhile, works out during her job and Rachel also seems to be training, as her muscles have been getting into good shape lately.
While this episode was mostly about Rose, my favourite moments had to do with Kate. First of all, she finds out that Hervé lied to her when she drives past the restaurant he mentioned, which seems to be down for maintenance. Because of this, Hervé is forced to either tell another lie, or tell the truth, with certain parts omitted, of course. He chooses for the second, putting Kate in a very interesting situation. Right now, she still is fine during the fights. But I can’t wait to find out how she’ll react when she finds out that the people she’s been fighting are actually Hervé’s comrades.
And Paula, dammit. Lula has connections to the headmistress of Kate’s high school. The headmistress is Paula’s aunt, who seems to have told Paula about what happened to Kate, and told her to look after her. And suddenly lots of things fall into place. The question then still remains, why only Kate? Is she special because she’s in Grace?]]>
Death Note – 16
Short Synopsis: In order to avoid getting killed by Rem, Light must save Misa. In this episode, he executes his brilliant plan.
Good: Definitely a unique episode; I love it when my favourite anime start using memory loss as a plot device.
Bad: Didn’t Light write down the names of criminals for four weeks in advance in case he’d end up in the hospital for some reason? Did he stop doing that?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10
Before I start, I’m sorry for the delays I’ve been having. My studies came with a pretty obnoxious deadline, so I haven’t been blogging as much as I’d like to. Right now, I’m going to try to catch up with my backlog, though I’m fearing that some shows are going to have to be dropped.
Anyway, about the episode, I loved it! Light’s plan: turn yourself in, pretend to be Kira subconsciously, and get locked up. Beforehand, bury the Death Note somewhere where nobody can go, and leave some hints that only you can understand, so that only you can find it back, also give Rem’s Death Note back. Once in prison, wait a few days, and then forfeit ownership of your own Death Note. Because of this, you’ll lose your memory and start blabbering nonsense because of the situation. Get released, find clues and get back your Death Note.
Still, there still remain a few questions, which will have to wait till the next episode to get answered. How will Light get out of prison? The end of the episode showed a nice twist, but will it really be enough for L to release him? Also, why did he have to go through such huge lengths to save Misa? Why is him being confined necessary to free her?
Still, this plan may have been nice, the really good parts were the mind games the characters played with each other. This episode was one of the most emotional Death Note episodes yet, and it made great use of the memory loss to confuse the heck out of L, while L turned the Light without his memories crazy in his turn, by confining him for two weeks. Light’s father also was brilliant in his worries about his son.]]>
Jigoku Shoujo – 40
Short Synopsis: A Kikuri-episode. A former actor is determined to get revenge on his neighbours.
Good: Great killing scene; nice twist in the ending.
Bad: A bit of a boring antagonist this time
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
Hmm, dammit. This time, it wasn’t the usual formula which was the worst thing about the episode, it’s the antagonist this time. He just lacks a bit of depth, comparing to the other ones we’ve seen so far. I never really understood his reason, even after reading Memento’s summary. Okay, he’s pretty evil, though he doesn’t grab me like the most other antagonists of Jigoku Shoujo did.
Still, that doesn’t mean that this episode didn’t have some very juicy bits. The background music was as good as ever, and Kikuri gets some development as well. I’m still not sure what the little brat is trying to do. And why does Ai approve of her so much? Could the spider have ordered her to take care of Kikuri during her missions? And what is Kikuri after? Does she want to take Ai’s place?
It’s also a good thing that in this episode, people actually died. You don’t get to see that often in Jigoku Shoujo. People either die outside of the episode, they get sent to hell, or they just end up living, though badly hurt. The deaths in this episode made quite the impact. Especially the one of the mother. The death of the father had an especially nice after-effect, seeing as the antagonist suddenly disappeared, leaving the main character, the son of the mother and the father, with the blame of the murder. I just would have liked to see a bit more of what happened after this, though. We see the boy in a police car, but that’s all.]]>
Jigoku Shoujo – 39
Short Synopsis: A guy has lost his wife and son in a truck accident five years ago, and his daughter has been in coma ever since. But why would he want to access Jigoku Tsuushin?
Good: Lots of Ai-airtime this time. Nice ending.
Bad: This episode just doesn’t match up to the quality of the previous episodes.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
Dammit. Here I was expecting a huge episode, and then it comes with such a usual one. We have this guy who has this grudge against a number of idiots who tried to be on television while his wife just died. Right now, he’s feeling that his time is coming, and he at least wants the idiots to die before he does. In the end, he can’t kill the last of the idiots, so he lets Ai do it for him.
Still, I do feel that this episode featured a turning point. No major one, but Ai and Kikuri were exceptionally present in this episode. Especially Kikuri was finally more than the annoying brat of the past episodes. She finally shows a bit of what she can do, and the effect this has on the different cases. I’m suspecting that the following episodes will continue to delve deeper in this. Ai also actually contributed to the research. Either that, or she wanted to try out being a waitress. I’m not sure what that purpose was, same with her, eating a snack at the Oden. Okay, it was amusing, and she looked REALLY cute, but the point…?
Still, the ending was surprisingly good. Okay, his daughter waking up was unavoidable, though the creators actually found a good reason for her to wake up at that exact time. I also like how this episode put emphasis on the punishment of hell and the punishment of killing someone. The guy now has to live his life with two punishments: seeing his daughter find out that he’s a murderer, and if that wasn’t good enough, he’d have a nice and cosy hell for him as soon as he dies, which probably won’t take long.
I’ve also been wondering… will Hell Boy return? And what about Hajime and Tsugumi? The fact remains that the final few episodes of this series will bring some kind of conclusion to this series. Though so far, we’ve got no clue as to what this might be, in contrary to the first season, which clearly focused on Hajime’s struggle against Ai. I’m suspecting Kikuri and the spider will be playing a huge role in this. Especially the spider. He’s been getting an awful little amount of development, though. I want to see more of him… err.. it.]]>
Jigoku Shoujo – 38
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).]]>
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. :)]]>
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.]]>