Jigoku Shoujo – 59



Short Synopsis: A transfer student from Tokyo arrives at the school.
Highlights: Only this series can come up with those kinds of plot twists.
Overall Enjoyment Value: Objective: 6,5/10 (Lacking) Subjective/Biased: 8/10 (Excellent)
One thing I love about Studio Deen, besides the masterpieces they churn out once in a while, is that in some of their other adaptations, they’re downright crazy. Incidentally, Hiroshi Watanabe’s name is very often tied to these cases, but the fact remains that some of their series just feature plot twists that no other studio would have the sanity for to include.

This episode was just awesome, but SO for the wrong reasons. I have no freakin’ idea why I liked this episode so much: you could see the big twist coming from miles away. Ever since the classmate started to involve himself with the poor transfer student who got abused by his mom, there was no way that he was going to send his mom to hell and let his classmate live. And yet the conclusion felt awesome, seeing the guy turn just as crazy as his mother. Seriously, at this point I’m convinced that for the third season, Hiroshi Watanabe weaselled himself somewhere in the production-team someway and kept throwing in his own suggestions. There’s no other explanation. ^^;;

One other thing I absolutely loved about this episode is how Ai’s dolls were having the time of their live inside the punishment scenes, and they never tried to feel pity for him. It’s logical for Kikuri, but Wanyuudo, Hone Onna and Ichimoku Ren have really changed in the period between the second and third season, and they’ve become less emotionally attached to the different cases, unless it involved them directly, like in the previous episode.

I guess the message in this episode yet again that there are times in which you shouldn’t stick your nose too much into other people’s business. While the case in this episode was definitely an example of a family that actually NEEDED help, but too often I see in anime characters that needlessly involve themselves with those in trouble, without giving them the chance to solve their issues for themselves.

4 thoughts on “Jigoku Shoujo – 59

  1. At that moment when he showed the transfer student where his mom is at the red light district, he had that creepy smile.
    Is he really trying to help this guy, or is he getting something out of this for himself?

  2. Interesting,I actually find Studio Deen one of the weakest animation companies. All shows they’ve churned out for the last 5-6 years have been absolutely atrocious (Vampire Knight faired well, we could’ve done without Studio Deen’s involvement obviously). Its quite sad really what they’ve been degraded to, considering they were responsible for shows like Full moon, Fruits Basket and the fantastic Kenshin OVAs.

  3. Up until now, this series seems a bit weaker than the first two ones, ” a bit” though. What i liked better before was that strong feeling of wishing to send someone to hell, it was so ” I can’t take it anymore, I hate him, send him to hell!”, cause all the people sent there were really bad through and through , a total waste , but now we always feel sorry for people going to hell, they’re not really bad, just have made some mistakes or got closer to the protagonist, i know it’s done on purpose but anyway I liked it better before.
    It’s interesting to note that some series improved a lot ( Gundam oo) and some got weaker remaining nevertheless good ones.

  4. i kinda dont get wat the reason is…
    i mean the guys had a mean smile…
    but…
    mayb hes thinkin that..
    mayb at this point…
    he wont sent himself to hell…
    i mean…is the writer still considering wat their audiences think anymore…
    it feels like…they’re just…
    well…donin wat they want to do…
    and not thinkin wat would happen if the audience does not believe them anymore…
    at least…its like that for me…

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