Shigofumi – Stories of the Last Letter – 13



Short Synopsis: Fumi still gets bullied, which catches the attention of one of her classmates.
Highlights: Good to see more of this series.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Okay, so I’m not sure whether this is THE Shigofumi-OVA, or just a regular DVD-special, but more Shigofumi is always welcome, since the original series was just too damn short. This episode basically tries to involve all of the main characters, and focuses more on fleshing them out, rather than it just being another random case.

The main bullies were a bit stereotypical, but I liked the idea of trying to fake the Shigofumi. Especially that red envelope was a nice touch. This episode also shed some light on where the name Shigofumi came from: it’s another play with numbers: 4(shi)5(go)2(fu)3(mi). I also don’t think that the final two numbers are randomly chosen, as they also spell out Fumi’s name. The first number also makes sense, since “Shi” can also mean “death”. That only leaves the five, of which I’m not sure what that points at.

Overall, while it wasn’t the best episode and a bit unfocused, I’m glad to see a bit more about this series, and especially to listen to this series’ awesome soundtrack again. It’s ironic: this series has a very haunting soundtrack, and yet it has to settle with such a mediocre ALI-Project OP.

Now, where are those Gunslinger Girl – Il Teatrino DVD-specials?

3 thoughts on “Shigofumi – Stories of the Last Letter – 13

  1. ‘shigofumi’ derivated from shigo=after death, fumi=letter
    but when you chop off each letters, it becomes…
    Shi=4, go=5, fu=2, mi=3

    ‘shi’ and ‘go’ are ‘four’ and ‘five’ in Japaneses. (well yes ‘shi’ also means death, but it also means ‘four’) ‘fu’ and ‘mi’ are respectively ‘two’ and ‘three’ when counting the numbers.(casue counting system in Japaneses is quiet different from that in English)
    You can also say ‘ni’ and ‘san’ for counting but ‘fu’ and ‘mi’ are only used in counting.
    (one-two-three-four-five)
    (ichi-ni-san-shi-go)
    (hii-huu-mii)-three is as far as I know. I’m not sure if there’s more, but I really doubt it because i have never heard of anyone saying after three. And actually they are derivated from…
    (hitotsu-hutatsu-mittsu-and goes on…)

    Anyway, you watch tooooo many stuff…tooooo fast….slow down~

  2. Something odd I just kinda thought of… Fu=2, Mi=3, and 2 and 3 can also be pronounced ni and san, as you said, so if you change the spelling but not the pronunciation you get neesan… and you end up with shigo-neesan, or after-death sister O.o Sorry. It just popped into my head randomly.

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