Jigoku Shoujo ep.20

February 22, 2006 | 19 Comments

It looks like this series is on a winning streak lately. After several early duds, the series finally shows some good storyline from episode 13 and forward. The problem is, I suspect many viewers have already given up on this series a long time ago. This is really unfortunate and I suspect if the producer had cut down the episode numbers from 26 to 13, they could have had a much tighter and interesting series. Anyway, this episode is an example of some of the better works within the series. On a glance, the story admittedly sounds silly. However, on a closer inspection, this is actually a pivotal episode for the series. The series also employs several social commentary, most notably the tendency of the media, especially television, to sensationalise matters. The main scene in this episode actually reminds me of a rather similar scene from Takashi Miike's horror film, One Missed Call.

The episode begins with a TV psychic known as Esper Watanabe trying to lift what looks like an electric train using his ESP power. In the middle of doing so, however, a sound loudly exclaims that the entire thing is a farce. Upon investigating the source of the noise, the TV presenter realises that the speaker is none other than a young psychic boy called Gill DeRomfeld. In a showdown-like stance, Gill exclaims that he'll reveal Watanabe's lies. Watanabe immediately becomes flabbergasted and demands explanation from his producer. Unfortunately for him, it seems his producer had planned this all along. She wants Watanabe to do psychic battle with Gill in front of national TV. Watanabe reluctantly agrees, thinking that the kid is just like him. Much to his surprise, however, Gill actually possesses a real supernatural power. Using this power, Gill creates some kind of hallucination whereby a bunch of rocks attack Watanabe.

Gill tells Watanabe that if Watanabe wants him to stop, Watanabe needs to admit his lies. Otherwise, he will go to Hell. As soon as Gill completes his sentence, the ground beneath Watanabe opens, making Watanabe falls onto what looks like a fiery Hell. Meanwhile, Hone-Onna, Ichimoku-Ren, and Wanyuudo are seen in the city. It seems they are about to do some more investigation into Hajime and Tsugumi's situation. Despite this, Ren is a bit worried about what will happen if Ai finds out about it. By the time they get into Hajime's apartment, however, they hear a man screaming so Ren uses his ability to peep on Hajime and Tsugumi. It turns out the sound simply comes from the TV program that is watched by Hajime and Tsugumi. The program, however, features Watanabe rolling around on the ground looking as if he is in pain or trapped in a fire. At the same time, a voiceover from Gill tells the reporter that right now Watanabe is in another world.

Hajime who is in the middle of watching the program, doesn't seem to believe this, prompting Tsugumi to point out that he believes in Jigoku Shoujo. This forces Hajime to answer that even if that's the case, he believes that sending people to Hell is not a punishment. He classifies that kind of action as a murder. Because of this, Hajime asks Ai if she's get a vision from Ai again. Unfortunately Tsugumi hasn't seen anything and she wonders if Ai really communicates with them. Hajime doesn't know either but he thinks if Tsugumi can see what Ai sees, then it is likely the reverse is also true. This piece of theory seems to be enough for Wanyuudo so he tells his colleagues that they've should leave now. Before they get away, however, they see and hear Gill talking about Watanabe experiencing Hell. In the TV studio, the TV producer, Abe, informs Gill that it seems Watanabe harbours a grudge on them. Gill, however, tells her that they should encourage his grudge.

Gill then asks her if she's heard about Jigoku Shoujo. He claims that just like him, she's the real deal. He then gives Abe an offer she can't resist: the chance to watch Gill DeRomfeld vs. Jigoku Shoujo. Gill also tells Abe that Watanabe will be the one who contacts her. At the same time, Ai is seen trying to play a flute while being questioned by her associates. Ai claims that she doesn't know how Tsugumi is connected to her. Hone-Onna is a bit relieved to hear this. Especially after she finds out that Ai doesn't get signal from Tsugumi even if the reverse is true. Before she can say anything else, however, Ren and Wanyuudo warn her that the little spider already makes its way to the room. Meanwhile, the comical Watanabe feels depressed after the incident with Gill. He contemplates the idea of suicide but before he can go ahead with the plan, he gets a call from Abe asking him if he wants a chance to dish out a revenge on Gill.

Watanabe, of course, does not resist the opportunity and accepts the offer immediately. Because of this Abe asks him to come to the studio the next day. It seems she and Gill has the plan of setting Watanabe inside an enclosed set and makes his life miserable so that he'll contact Ai. Their plan, however, is interrupted when Hajime appears and asks for a brief interview. Hajime asks Gill if he knows anything about Jigoku Shoujo, thinking that Gill is going to contact her to fulfill a revenge request. Because of this, Hajime tells the boy that using Ai is not going to bring happiness to anyone and that revenge is meaningless. Gill laughs at this and tells Hajime that even if a person's mind understands this, deep down in the heart, he/she will still want to crush his opponent. That's just how human behaves. Hajime seems to agree with the comment but despite this, he still tries to convince Gill otherwise.

Before he can say anything else, however, Gill uses his power to give Hajime a hallucination. In the hallucination, Hajime sees himself in front of his wife's gravesite when all of a sudden the grave stone moves and flies towards Hajime. Once the hallucination is over, Gill guesses correctly that the gravesite belongs to Hajime's wife, prompting Hajime to realise that Gill has a real psychic ability. Meanwhile, Gill and the TV producer continues to make Watanabe's life miserable by treating him like an idiot. Eventually Watanabe is fed up with this and notices a laptop that has been 'accidentally' left behind by one of the crews. He decides to open the computer, which gives him access to Jigoku Tsuushin. Inside the Sunset world, Ai's associate are wondering if Ai and Tsugumi are guilty of the connection between the two. However, before they can talk about it some more, Ai comes out and tells them that they have a revenge request.

Ai then appears inside the set where Watanabe is living and gives him the doll. Before Ai can show Watanabe what will happen if he pulls the string, however, the set is lifted open by the TV crew. Gill then makes an appearance and greets Ai, telling her that he's glad to finally see her. He also reveals that he's got a bunch of cameras set on her. Because of this, Ai has no choice but to summon Hone-Onna and Ichimoku Ren to cover their presence from the cameras. The two start to use their power to scare the TV crew but unfortunately, Gill manages to use his power to bind Hone-Onna and Ichimoku Ren to cross-like poles. He then tells Ai that he was born with a power. When his parents found out about it, they became afraid and decided to kill him. However, Gill managed to leave Hell and once he did that, he sent his parents to Hell. While he says this, he manages to molest Ai by touching her face over and over again.

Strangely, when Gill mentions all of these, Ai gets a flashback of cherry blossom tree and her own body falling backwards. Gill then tells Ai that it's because of his power that he's been treated harshly by others. Gill believes that Ai is probably the only person who understands his feelings. Upon hearing this, Ai sees the flashback again. However, this flashback temporarily shocks Ai and as a result, she is unable to say anything sympathetic to Gill. Gill becomes angry and starts to throw Ai around the room like a ragdoll. He then pins Ai to another cross-like board and tells her that it looks like her clothes are torned apart. Gill claims that he wants to give Ai a new clothes and proceeds to change her clothes into a Victorian Goth Loli type. After he gets bored playing with her, however, Gill decides to burn Ai alive. Despite this, Ai manages to escape unscatched and doesn't seem to have any desire to fight Gill.

Unfortunately, Watanabe still harbours a grudge on Gill and threatens to send the boy back to where he belongs. Gill warns Watanabe that he'll go to Hell as well if he pulls the string. Despite this, Watanabe decides to pull the string anyway. Upon doing so, a giant demon arm crashes through the window and grabs Gill's body. Gill is then tortured inside a portrait whereby his body is gnawed by a demon version of his parents and teachers. Ai asks Gill if he has tried dying so he respond with a simple "Again?". Ai then sends Gill to Hell and as she rows the boat, Gill promises her that he'll come back to have a rematch. Meanwhile in the real world, Watanabe feels relieved despite the fact that he now has one of those Hell marks. At the same time, Ai is seen reminiscing about her recently regained memory until her grandma tells her that another request has arrived. When Ai stands up, however, she sees an image of a boy in the distance for a few seconds. Ai is shocked to see the boy to the point that she drops her flute.

Impression:

Hmm, where should I start? Well, to begin with, the revenge-wisher of the week, Watanabe, was a bit of a caricature. He seems to be rather silly and harmless. I think Ai recognised this as well and this is probably why she had this tender smile on her face when Watanabe was hesitant to pull the string. Maybe deep down, Ai didn't want him to go to Hell. Speaking of Ai, she finally got some character development in the form of a flashback. But what happened back then? And why did Gill's word struck such a chord in her to the point that she regained her memory? Was she also a kid with power who got killed by her parents? Or is it because she once killed someone just like Gill? Either way, it seems that her associates are not happy with the way she has been acting lately. Despite this, however, they remain loyal to her to the point of hiding their investigation from Ai's grandma, which appeared as that creepy spider halfway through this episode.

It was also amusing to see Hone-Onna looking rather happy when she went out to investigate Hajime and Tsugumi. I got the impression that these guys don't get out of their world unless they have a mission. Their investigation of Hajime and Tsugumi didn't tell anything revealing though. Hajime, however, said something important to Tsugumi in regards to sending a person to Hell. I also wonder why he saw an image of his wife's gravesite during Gill's hallucination. Moving on to Gill, he turned out to be more than just a gimmick character here. I like some his lines, especially when he told Hajime that even if people know that revenge is bad and meaningless, their heart will still want to crush their enemy. I am not sure about the validity of this argument but I think there is certain truth to it. Having said that, I can't help but wonder if Gill said the line partly as a way of justifying his action in killing his parents.

I do feel a bit sorry for Gill though. It seems to me that he lived a miserable life due to his power and he longed to find another person who can understand his pain. The problem is, Gill's story acted as some sort of catalyst to Ai's memory. As a result, she became confused and could not give a proper response even if she felt sympathetic towards his plight. This is probably why she decided not to return the beating even after she snap out of her shock. However, once Watanabe makes a request to send Gill to Hell, Ai had no choice but to facilitate the request. In a relation to this, did anyone else notice that Wanyuudo couldn't do anything while he's still in the straw doll mode? I find that rather amusing. I also like the fact that this episode finally confirms that Ai does not remember her past. I was never sure if Ai got into this deal willingly or if she does it partly because she can't remember her past.

© memento 2003