Jigoku Shoujo ep.18

February 13, 2006 | 6 Comments

This episode is not as unique as the one that came before it. Having said that, it's still a lot more interesting in comparison to other episodes within this series. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that the writers manage to create a despicable villain, even if that said villain is a bit over the top in her crime. It also helps that the on-going plot with Hajime and Tsugumi continues to develop. I have to say, however, that I don't like where this particular plot seems to be heading since I really care for these two characters. I think part of the reason why the series has improved as of late is because Hajime and Tsugumi give the viewers some kind of emotional attachment that previously did not exist. Well, I do feel sorry for Ai from time to time but since she rarely talk and her facial expressions don't change that often, it's hard to tell what she really thinks or feels.

Kamikawa Miki is a high school student whose Welsh Corgi dogs are taken as hostage by a miserable excuse for a human being called Shimeno Meiko. The episode opens with Miki being abused by Shimeno because her cooking taste bad. Shimeno also threatens to kill Miki's dogs if she doesn't do what she says or if she tells anyone else about this. Unfortunately, no one seems to know her condition and some even assume that she goes to Shimeno's house to be tutored. One day when Miki returns to Shimeno's house, she finds one of her dogs, Yuki, dead from poison. Shimeno claims that she killed the dog because Miki's teacher come to her house that afternoon and she believes Miki was the one who talked to him about Shimeno. That night, Miki goes home and wishes that someone will help her to send Shimeno to hell. When she's half-awake around 12 at night, she sees her computer displaying the Jigoku Tsuushin website.

The next day, Tsugumi is about to go to school when all of a sudden she goes into a trance mode, allowing her to see Ai's and Miki's meeting. Tsugumi even starts reciting the exact same lines that Ai says to Miki, making Hajime slightly worried. As usual, Hajime wants to know the location of the place but Tsugumi asks her father if he really has to stop it. Hajime is shocked to hear this and tells his daughter that of course he has to stop it. After a little bit of investigation, Hajime finds out that lately Miki goes to Shimeno's house every single day. Meanwhile, Ai's associates make a comment about how 3 days have passed ever since the girl placed in a request and yet she still hasn't pull out the string. Wanyuudo tells the other that even though she hasn't pull the string, the girl thinks about it every single day. At the same time, Shimeno becomes angry at Miki again because she saw Hajime snooping around her house.

Shimeno tells Miki that now she's going to kill her other dog, Pinky, because of it. Miki is alarmed to hear this and quickly grabs the straw doll. But before she pulls out the string, she hears Shimeno making a surprised comment. Apparently Pinky has just given a birth to 3 very cute puppies. This seems to temporarily calm Miki's anger and make her a little bit happier. Unfortunately, the next day Miki finds out that Shimeno has killed Pinky and uses the 3 puppies as new hostages to keep Miki working for her. The next day, Tsugumi comes to bring change of clothes for Hajime. The two once again have different opinion on Jigoku Shoujo's role. Tsugumi thinks that some people deserve to be sent to Hell. Before they can argue further, however, a policeman and a teacher arrives at Shimeno's house and rings the bell. Upon finding out about this Shimeno freaks out and accuses Miki that she actually saw Shimeno's secret back then.

Shimeno threatens to kill the puppies but thankfully her voice is heard through the intercom. Hajime, who's quickly informed of the situation, shows the policeman and the teacher a way into the house. When they get in, Shimeno starts acting like the lunatic and accuses the three of wanting to get her property. While scuffling with the policeman, she trips over her plants and in the process reveals a skeleton of a baby. Shimeno is immediately arrested for killing her own child as well as the dogs. Meanwhile, Hajime tries to persuade Miki to hand over the straw doll but Miki then remember about the puppies. Unfortunately, she finds them drowned in the bathtub. In her anger, Miki pulls the red string and sends Shimeno to Hell. In the car, Shimeno admits that she killed her child so she can have the property all for herself. She is promptly sent to Hell, where she finds out that her face has transformed into a Hell dog's face. In the real world, Miki regrets the fact that she didn't pull the string earlier.

Impression:

I have a slight problem with this episode and it mostly has to do with Shimeno herself. She's just so over the top evil without any redeeming quality whatsoever. In this episode she manages to: threaten and abuse a little girl, poison and drown several dogs and worst of all, revealed to be a killer of her own parents and child. She makes some of those serial killers look tame in comparison. I also find it hard to believe that no one has noticed that she has killed her own child. Well, if logic does not have a place here, then fine, she really is one of the villest scum I've had the misfortune to see. Worst of all is the fact that she uses a child's fear for her dog's life and her conviction that no adult will trust a child's words that an adult has been abusing her. In short, she definitely deserves to go to Hell. In fact, I found her punishment to be rather tame. The animators should have used Dante's Inferno as inspirational material when producing these 'creative torture'.

The thing is, who deserves to be sent to Hell? We've seen in the past that people often abuse the system for their own needs. Anyway, I noticed that this is the first time the website appears on its own volition. As if it's acting in response to Miki's request. I supposed it's similar to the previous episode, where a doll manages to contact Ai without using the site. Moving on to other topic, once again Hajime and Tsugumi disagree about Jigoku Shoujo's role. Hajime seems to believe that human should not have the ability to send other humans to Hell. Tsugumi, on the other hand, believes that bad people should be sent to Hell. I think there is a big likelihood that this series will end in tragedy somehow. I am going to make a wild guess that for some reason, Tsugumi will get killed and will end up replacing Ai as Jigoku Shoujo. In his anger, Hajime turns to Jigoku Tsuushin to exact his revenge and also because being sent to Hell later on in life will allow him to be reunited again with Tsugumi.

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