Jigoku Shoujo ep.24

March 22, 2006 | 20 Comments

A very impressive episode although I have to admit that I'm slightly disappointed at the turn that the series takes. I also think that Hajime should be awarded 'Father of the Year' award just based on this episode and possibly next week's preview. I am always a sucker when it comes to good father figure sacrificing everything for the sake of their children. It's probably why I like Silent Hill series so much. I also think that the revelation in this episode is similar to Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly storyline. I kind of suspected this when the series keep zooming in on the twin butterfly ornament that Tsugumi owns. Well, with only 2 more episodes to go, I can't wait to see the resolution to this series.

桜の花はいつ拓く 山のお里にいつ開く
Sakura no hana wa itsu hiraku? Yama no osato ni itsu hiraku?
桜の花はいつ匂う 笑う七の子遊ぶ頃
Sakura no hana wa itsu niou? Warau nana no ko asobu koro
桜の花はいつ戻る 歌う七の子眠る頃
Sakura no hana wa itsu modoru? Utau nana no ko nemuru koro
桜の花はいつ朽ちる 死んだ七の子登る頃
Sakura no hana wa itsu kuchiru? Shinda nana no ko noboru koro

The episode opens with Ai building little mountain of rocks while singing the above song, which suggests that Sakura flowers' lifespan correspond with the action of 7 children. The eeriest one is reserved for the last line which says that Sakura flowers will decay when the 7 dead children rises from the ground. The scene then shifts into Tsugumi inside her classroom being shown a broken keychain belonging to one of her female classmates. The girls believe that a boy named Suzuki was the one who did it so they are thinking of sending him to hell as a payback. Wow, whatever happened to reporting him to the teacher and asking for compensation? Tsugumi is creeped out by what she hears due to last week's incident so she runs out of the school as soon as possible not noticing the incoming truck. The scene makes it looks and sounds as if Tsugumi had an accident but she was okay after all and is shown being picked up by Hajime.

In the car, Tsugumi mentions how the guy was nice because he apologised even though she was the one who's at fault. Having said that, she wonders if Hajime will hate the guy if she had died in the accident. Tsugumi then cries and tells her father that she no longer understand anything. Hajime finally realises that their involvement in Jigoku Shoujo case has put a lot of emotional burden on Tsugumi. Because of this, he tells his daughter that they should stop investigating those cases. At home, Tsugumi is seen talking to her now deceased mother while looking at a twin butterfly pendant. She asks her mother if it's okay for everything to end like this. In order to cheer Tsugumi up, Hajime suggests that the two of them take a vacation to Hawaii. Tsugumi happily agrees but before Hajime can book the ticket, Tsugumi channels Ai's thoughts again, this time she can be heard asking Tsugumi if she knows Sentarou.

When Tsugumi passes out, Hajime craddles her and begs at Ai to stop possessing his daughter because he is not going to pursue the investigation any longer. When Tsugumi opens her eyes, she tells her father that they can't stop now. Because no matter what they do, whatever they say, Jigoku Shoujo will not go away yet. Besides, Tsugumi wants to know the answer as well. Cut to a shot of Ai looking a bit scary and being evasive when her grandmother asks her if there is something wrong. Despite Ai insisting otherwise, her grandmother seems to realise that there is something wrong with her. A few days later, Tsugumi and Hajime are seen driving a car when in the middle of the road, they see a reflection of Ai in the rear view mirror. The two are creeped out and decides to stay overnight at a Ryokan. The owner tells the two that there aren't that many customer around during Winter. Hmm, I thought Winter Onsen is all the rage these days in Japan.

Anyway, just as the owner said this, snow falls and Tsugumi sneezes. So Hajime tells her to take a warm bath at the Onsen. While Tsugumi is in the Onsen, however, she suddenly feels Ai's body behind her. Ai is then heard asking Tsugumi what she feels in this scene. Tsugumi is freaked out about this but thankfully for her, not long after this Hajime comes in to the Onsen as well. She tells Hajime about her encounter but neither of them can figure out what Ai actually meant. The next day, Hajime asks the Ryokan owner if the waterfall place shown in Tsugumi's sakura book is nearby. Much to Hajime's surprise, the owner tells him that it'll only take around 20 minutes. She ends up showing them the way despite her initial reluctance. Because of this, Tsugumi and Hajime end up in front of a temple called 「寺童七」 - Temple of the 7 children. Unknown to the two, Ai is already there, standing next to one of the Buddha statues. Hajime and Tsugumi are then greeted by a priest who offers them 'Black candy'.

The priest then informs Hajime that there used to be a tradition whereby every 7 years, girls age 7 years were taken to the mountain to be sacrificed to the mountain God. Ai, who overhears this from the outside looks shocked and remembers of the time when she wear ceremonial robe and walks in front of other villagers. In the flashback, Sentarou can be seen clearly looking concerned. In the present, the priest explains that this temple is built to please the souls of the children who were sacrificed. This happened around 400 years ago, around the Azuchi-Momoyama period. The person who built the temple eventually made a candy store which produces the black candy that Tsugumi just consumed. The name of the person was Shibata Sentarou. Upon hearing this, Ai looks as if she's regained all of the memory and looking angry because of it. She crushes the berry in her hand, making her fist looks as if it's drenched in blood.

Meanwhile in the Sunset world, Ai's associates are looking for her but unfortunately they can't find her anywhere. Ren makes a joke about how maybe Ai is in that age where she starts looking for boys and gets promptly smacked by Hone-Onna using her flute. All of a sudden, Wanyuudo senses that someone coming but it turns out it's only the grandma spider, who's also looking for Ai. Wanyuudo suddenly get a clue of Ai's location. Meanwhile, Hajime and Tsugumi decides to take a look at the waterfall area when all of a sudden the scenery changes and they see little Ai playing with Sentarou. Hajime realises that Ai and Sentarou was childhood friends. All of a sudden, however, they are confronted by Ai who coldly remarks that it appears the abominable blood still exists. She then proceeds to show the Shibatas a vision of when she was buried alive by none other than Sentarou. She also asks the two if they had come to kill her again.

Ai now completely loses it and tries to kill the Shibatas by sending them to Hell using her Kimono-patterned flower. Before she manages to do this, however, her associates appear and warn her that if she sends people to hell based on ill feeling, she will go to Hell as well. Ai, however, doesn't care any more and sends a blast attack towards Hajime and Tsugumi. Wanyuudo manages to block the first, destroying the carriage that often used to carry Ai. However, Ai does not give up easily. She sends another blast attacks toward Hajime and Tsugumi. This time around, however, her attack connects with the Shibata, sending the two flying downwards into the waterfall. Wanyuudo looks up in surprise and calls after Ai but it's too late because Ai has summoned a thunder to strike at the Sakura tree, burning it to the ground. She then tells the other that she doesn't care anymore. She just want this grudge to be delivered to Hell.

Impression:

That was so awesome. I never expected Ai to go insane from finding out about her past. I actually thought that she will fight Grandma spider towads the end. At the moment, however, it seems Grandma spider had a reason for not letting Ai know about her past. Sometimes what is buried is better stay buried. Having said that, I was happy to see ritual sacrifice included in the story. Some of the folklores that mentions these traditional sacrifice do sound grim most of the time. And the shocking thing is that, more often than not, they involve young, innocent girls. Having said that, I guess it's a minefield for a horror story. In the end, Ai turns out to have a long-held grudge against an entire clan of Shibatas. Speaking of grudge, her appearance in this episode reminds me of Sadako from The Ring or for that matter, female ghost image from Japanese horror story. That mostly has to especially with her long flowing hair in the pool and the way she appears in the rear view mirror.

I am keen to know what will happen from here on. Will both Hajime and Tsugumi end up in Hell? What's the point of doing this since whatever mistake Sentarou committed, it was not the mistake of Hajime and Tsugumi. But I supposed this is a proof that even if a person knows that revenge is wrong, his/her heart won't be happy until his grudge is satisfied. But if this is the case, what will happen to Ai? How can she sends someone to Hell when she herself should be in Hell as well for trying to send two innocents to Hell? I suspect this is where Grandma Spider will play a role. Maybe she will offer Tsugumi the chance to be the next Jigoku Shoujo? But in that case, what will happen to Hajime? Having said that, I think the preview is misleading. There are still two more episodes to go. I highly doubt that they will send Hajime and Tsugumi to hell while on next week's episode and leave the last episode without both characters.

Preview:

Next week's preview: Holy mother of God. Is that Tsugumi turning into an apprentice Jigoku Shoujo and is that Hajime being taken to Hell?

© memento 2003