Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori ep.04

October 29, 2006 | 20 Comments

This is slightly more enjoyable to watch because I feel that both the string-puller and the victim really do deserve to go to Hell. In addition to this, this episode also marks the first full appearance of the mysterious little girl from the opening theme. I have to say that I'm surprised to see the season arc starts so quickly in comparison to the first season. Maybe the writers have learned their lesson after season one or maybe this season is limited to 12/13 episodes and therefore, they have no choice but to feature the season arc as soon as possible. In general, I also enjoyed the second season a lot more possibly due to lesser expectation and also because each new episode feels a bit different from the one that preceeded it. I am also grateful for the weird and seemingly out of place comedic moments that are inserted in the story.

The episode begins with Ai ripping off a piece of fabric using her mouth and her hands. Not far from her, there are few marbles scattered around the floor. Ai tries to sew the piece of fabric together but while doing so, she pricks her finger. Because of this, she brings her finger to her mouth and sucks on said finger. It seems Ai knows that this scene alone will guarantee the perverts to come back next week just to see if she has more naughty poses in store for them. Inside a restaurant, a man called Yagizawa Shuuichi brings out a ramen for Wanyuudou. The owner of the restauran tells Shuuichi that he can go now and doesn't have to clean up because otherwise visiting hours will be over. He also kindly tells Shuuichi to bring Chinami, who is presumably Shuuchi's wife, some Gyoza. While this conversation happens, Wanyuudou does some noodle slurping action in slow-motion. WTH? When did this show turns into Yakitate!! Japan?!

Shuuichi then runs to the hospital to visit his wife and in time just as Nurse Hone-Onna exits the room. Yuuichi enters the room, giving his wife the Gyoza from his boss. Aww, that mascot in the plastic bag is cute. Omochikaeri!! They then turn serious when Chinami asks her husband to move her to a 6-bedroom ward because when she's alone, she thinks about many things. If she moves to a 6-bedroom ward, she'll be able to make friends since she doesn't know how long she will stay here. Shuuichi tells her that if she's lonely, she can asks her school friends to come visit and asks her if she remembers her friend's phone number. Eventually Chinami gets stright to the point and tells Shuuichi that she thinks he's lying about winning a lottery. Because of this, she asks him not to push himself hard with this expensive hospital room. Shuuichi assures Chinami that he's not lying to her and asks her not to worry.

When Shuuichi asks his wife why she looks out of space, Chinami suddenly asks him to promise her that no matter what happen, he won't have a grudge on anyone. Shuuichi is confused to hear this and wonders what made his wife said it. As it turns out Chinami thinks that lately his face looks grim lately. A flashback quickly reveals that Shuuichi has increased the visitor counter for Jigoku Tsuushin by visiting the website. Shuuichi apparently wishes for long nose since he lies again and tells his wife that he's just tired. Outside the room, Nurse Hone-Onna have just finished eavesdropping on Shuuichi and Chinami's convesation when she encounters a little girl carrying Higanbana (Red Spider Lily flowers). The girl is clearly a hellspawn judging from how big her eyes look. Meanwhile Ichimoku Ren looks pimp while waiting in a Host Club in the middle of a city. He, however, is unhappy because he's been forced to wait for one hour just to meet someone.

The man he's waiting for, Shouki, eventually come out and apologises for making 'Ishimoto Ren' wait. Shouki, however, likes what he sees of Ren to the point that he comes closer and take a look. Before the fangirls can scream "OMG, Yaoi desu!!!", Shouki has invaded Ren's personal space while the two are surrounded by pink flowers. Shouki tells Ren that there is a quota that he needs to fulfill if he wants to work here. For the first 3 months, it'll be 50 people. Geez, that means Ren has to whore himself with 16-17 people per month. After that, the quota will increase to 80 people. If he can't reach that quota, he'll be fined. Ren is surprised to hear this, thinking that there wasn't any kind of quota. Shouki, however, tells Ren that if he believes in people's words, he can't become a Host. In other words, Shouki just admitted that he's a big liar who probably doesn't pay his employee even if he said he will. Ren also realises that this guy is a sleazybag.

Inside the hospital, Chinami gets a headache and is about to give the nurse a buzz when said headache subsides. She, however, is startled when she notices that a small girl has been starring at her with her big blue eyes. Well, at least it's not Sadako. The girl asks Chinami if she's okay and Chinami pats the girl's head in response. Meanwhile, Shuuichi ends up borrowing money from someone to cover the hospital expenses. Ai's associates then reveals that at one point in his life, Shuuichi was involved in stealing an ATM machine with Shouki and one other person. Prior to the incident, Shouki has just been fired from a Hostclub even though he's been working hard at it. Back then Shouki swear to himself to avenge those who drove him out of the business. While sitting on a park bench, he saw a drunk man and decided to recruit him to further his plan. The two then encounter Shuuichi and worked together to steal the ATM machine.

When the time came to split the money, however, Shouki refused to do it right away. He also ended up hiting the other man with a lead pipe when the bum tried to take some of the money. Shouki then asked Shuuichi to kill the bum or else, he will kill Shuuichi. He also asked Shuuichi what will happen to his wife if he died. However, after Shuuichi killed the man, Shouki didn't give him half of his share and instead used the money to set up his own Host Club. Shuuichi can't go to the police because doing so will compromise himself. In the present time, Shuuichi comes out of the restaurant and notices a signage for 24-hour internet cafe. At the same time, inside Ai's sunset world, Ai has finished sewing a marble bag when she receives a request from her computer. Cut to a shot of Keiichi inside an internet cafe and apologising to Chinami. It doesn't take long before Shuuichi finds herself in Ai's world and is given Ichimoku Ren doll and the drills.

Shuuichi is relieved when he finds out that he doesn't get to go to Hell soon but later on after he dies. He thinks in that case, it can't be helped since he's going to Hell anyway. However, he can't leave Chinami at the moment. Yeah, isn't this comfortable? This way Shuuichi gets to have his cake and eat it since he's going to Hell in the first place anyway. Meanwhile inside the hospital, the nurse is shocked when Chinami tells the nurse that the creepy little girl is her daughter. Yeah, I'll be shocked too since she looks like Hellspawn and she pours orange juice into a vase of flower. Chinami tells "Kii-chan" not to do that but the brat claims that she wants to give it to the Higanbana. That girl is Hell-incarnate, I tell you. At the same time, Shouki gets a phone call from Shuuichi and the two end up meeting in the park because Shuuichi wants his share of the money that he doesn't earn. He threatens Shouki by saying that he'll go to the police otherwise.

At the same time, inside a Church, little brat pours orange juice into one of the Holy cups and tells the statue of Christ that it's "Icy". That brat is going to Hell for sure and she'll suffer a great pain. Little brat, however, is shocked when Ai suddenly opens the door to the Church and proceeds to run away from her. Inside the hospital, the doctors are performing brain scan on Chinami and shakes their head when they see the result. After the examination, Chinami is taken back into her room, Shouki who's been watching after her from afar decides to follow her into the room. Hone-Onna who sees this try to stop Shouki but is distracted when little brat calls her "Grandma" and asks her to take her to the bathroom. In a park, Shuuichi is waiting for Shouki but instead gets a message from his wife saying that his friend is now with her in the hospital room. Shuuichi quickly realises that the 'friend' is none other than Shouki and proceeds to run to the hospital.

When Shuuichi arrives in Chinami's room, Shouki and the little brat are inside the room. Shouki tells Shuuichi that he and Chinami has just had a talk not too long ago. An upset Chinami asks Shuuichi if he really did kill a man. Shuuichi tries to deny this but Chinami seems to believe Shouki instead of her husband. In his anger, Shuuchi launches an attack on Shouki but ends up getting hit instead. The little brat then leaves the three of them in a room and closes the door. Chinami suddenly gets a headache again but before Shuuichi can press the emergency buzzer to tell the nurse, Shouki already grabs it and asks Shuuichi not to bother him again. He then breaks the buzzer so that Shuuichi can't call for help. In his anger, Shuichi pulls the string on the jackstraw and Ren tells him that the grudge has been accepted. As a punishment, Shouki is transported to his club where Ren, Hone-Onna, and his customers get to make fun of his disgusting face.

Wanyuudou then brings a mirror so Shouki can see his face, which is pretty much non-existent and has been replaced by a giant black hole. From inside the hole, Ai appears and "Ippen, Shinde Miru" him. By the time he's inside the boat, Shouki already gone nuts, putting his own hand into this own face. In the aftermath, Chinami is saved by the doctor and is recoverin inside her room. Back in the sunset world, Ai's associates are surprised to see Ai appearing with the little brat. Ai gives the brat the pouch with two little marbles in it but the brat rips the bag apart. Ai's associates are angry to see this but Ai simply observes the girl quietly. Back to Shuuichi, he apologises to his wife for committing a sin and becomes happy when she regains her consciousness. Much to his shock, however, Chinami does not recognise him and instead asks Shuuichi if he has seen her daughter. The episode then ends with a shot of the Higanbana inside a vase.

Impression:

This was a rather interesting case where the person being sent to Hell, Shouki, was also a victim of circumstance. However, he turned evil in order to avenge those who wronged him and later on didn't hesitate to use kill other people to further his plan. Shuuichi was not that different either. He was willing to steal an ATM machine and kill a man to get the money that he needs. When he didn't get the money, he didn't hesitate to send Shouki to Hell. It must have been an easy decision for him to make too since he was already going to Hell in the first place. So either way, he gets to have the avenge his grudge on Shouki. The only one I feel sorry in this story is Shuuichi's wife, who not only suffers from a debilitating disease but also ends up losing her memory. Although that could be a blessing in disguise for her as well. I did wonder if things could have turned differently if that little Hell-brat didn't stop Hone-Onna when the later tries to stop Shouki.

I think the little brat did a few things to ensure that Shuuichi will pull the string and send Shouki to Hell. The thing that annoys me the most is the possibility that she orchestrated the incidents that lead up to Shuuichi pulling the string. This includes closing the door so that Shuuichi can't ask the nurse to help Chinami. She's like the reverse of Ai, who sometimes go out of her way to help her victim, or people like Hajime and Tsugumi. I think she has arrived to replace Ai and judging from her behaviour, she won't hesitate to make other people miserable. Interestingly enough, Ai doesn't seem to mind and actually went out of her way to make a marble pouch for the brat. Maybe she's tired of doing her job and wants someone else to take her position. Before I forgot, I have to say that I'm amused to see what looks like a reference to Yakitate!! Japan (when Wanyuudou slurps his noodle in slow-mo) and Ouran High School Host Club (when Ren gets molested by Shouki).

Preview

On next week's episode: Wanyuudou becomes a nanny. Oh noes! the horror!!

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