Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori ep.11

December 17, 2006 | 18 Comments

I'm impressed. It's been 3 episodes in a row and the quality of the story still remains good. If this trend continues, then I don't mind sitting through another 13 or so episodes. One thing that I am hoping to see is an episode which is shot entirely in Film noir style. That would be really cool to see. Speaking of episodes, Shoboi's Calendar shows that next week's episode, aired on the 23rd of December, will be the last episode seen for the year. The show will then take a break and return to the screen on January the 6th, 2007. I really have a headache now because different shows have different 'in' and 'out' Christmas schedule. I really should start drawing a timetable to figure out when an episode will stop airing and when it will air again. Otherwise I might miss an episode or waiting for one when it's not on air.

The episode begins with a flashback whereby a girl pulls a string on the straw doll. In the present time, the same girl, whose name turns out to be Amagi Shizuko, is awakened by a man called Ren. When Shizuko goes out to introduce herself to her neighbour (because she just moved in to this area), the camera reveals that 'Ren' is actually Ichimoku Ren. Meanwhile, Shizuko knocks on the door of her neighbour, Tachibana. When she doesn't get any answer, she returns to her apartment and is surprised to know that Ren is not there anymore. Shizuko then looks outside her window and notices Kikuri playing outside. Strangely, she suddenly finds herself standing outside as well. Upon noticing Shizuko's presence, Kikuri runs away while Shizuko's attention is distracted by the arrival of a cat. That afternoon after editing an article about Jigoku Tsuushin, Shizuko notices that the cat she saw earlier is trying to dig the ground, searching for food.

Upon checking the cat's food bowl, she realises that the reason the cat has been doing this is because the food inside the bowl is rotting. Shizuko decides to give the cat a can food but when the cat prefers to sleep, she becomes worried. Ichimoku Ren suddenly appears behind her so she tells him that she's concerned about the cat. The two decide to take the cat to a vet, who claims that there is nothing wrong with the animal. Having said that, the vet suggests that Shizuko takes care the animal. When the camera zooms out on the vet, it's clear that the vet is none other than Wanyuudou. Later on, Shizuko and Ren talk about the possibility of keeping the cat. Although she has no residential manager, Shizuko is worried what her next door neighbour would think since she hasn't had the chance to meet the person. That night a woman returns to the complex and looks upset when she can't find the cat and finds the food bowl inside the trash can.

Because the cat is making a noise, the woman in question knows that the cat is now located in Shizuko's apartment. As it turns out, the woman is none other than Shizuko's next door's neighbour. The next morning, Ren finds out that Shizuko has been researching Jigoku Tsuushin but decides to divert the conversation into the name that Shizuko has picked for the cat. When Shizuko reveals that the name is "Muru", Ren reveals that he has presents for the cat: a box of milk. Shizuko, however, refuses to give said milk to the cat, claiming that milk is actually bad for a cat. Because of this Ren tries to give something else but Shizuko curtly tells him that dried Sardines are not good either. Their conversation comes to a halt when Shizuko gets a phone call but when she picks up the phone, no one seems to be on the other side of the line. At the last minute, however, the person hangs up the phone so Shizuko chalks it to being wrong number.

Once she finishes the conversation, she notices that Kikuri once again is seen outside playing with the ball. She wonders if the girl is okay but Ren thinks there's nothing wrong with the brat. That night around 1AM, Shizuko gets another phone call but the call ends again when she picks up the phone. However, when she hangs up the phone, the phone rings again. Shizuko is freaked out about this and decides to unplug the cable. Outside the apartment, Ren confronts Kikuri, asking about her intention but she simply repeats his sentence. Wanyuudou tries to ask her to be a good girl but Kikuri claims that she's not a good girl. Hone-Onna is eventually fed up with the brat and picks her up while Ren threatens to report her to Ai if she doesn't behave. Ren asks Kikuri if she likes Ai and Kikuri nods so Ren asks her not to interfere with their work. When Hone Onna lowers the brat down, however, she kicks Ren's leg before running away.

Ren, however, doesn't care since he prefers that they focus on the bigger issue and points his gaze towards Shizuko's apartment. He thinks the show is about to begin. The next day, Shizuko is shocked when different delivery people (Wanyuudou, Hone-Onna, and Ai) delivers Sushi, Pizza, and futon that she didn't order. This continues on and on throughout the day. And strangely Shizuko doesn't once notice that the delivery people are the same guys over and over again. That afternoon, a note is stuck into her door, telling her to throw away the cat. She decides to inform Ren that she's afraid and wants to contact the police. Ren, however, thinks there's not much the police can do with a handwritten note like this. The stress eventually takes its toll on Shizuko and she starts to underperform in her job. Because of this, her boss suggests that she moves to another apartment but Shizuko doesn't have the money to move out from her apartment yet.

Her boss is not happy about this because her problem now ends up affecting him as well. Because of this he off-handedly suggests that she contacts Jigoku Tsuushin and sends the person responsible to Hell. LOL. When Shizuko tries to contact the real estate agent (Hone-Onna) to find a new place that accepts pet, she's informed that the new place will be far, it also requires her to put 3 months deposit. Shizuko eventually finds out from a private detective (Wanyuudou) that the person who's been harassing her is her neighbour, Tachibana Kyouko. When she finds out about this, she decides to write a letter to Kyouko to introduce herself and let her know that she's aware that Kyouko possibly hates cat. She promises to move but she can't do so immediately and has to wait for 6 months. Shizuko then places the letter in Kyouko's mail box and waits until her neighbour returns home. When Kyouko finds the letter, she starts banging on the wall, scaring Shizuko.

That night, Shizuko finally loses her nerve and decides to contact Jigoku Shoujo. Enma Ai then appears behind her and gives her the doll and the drill. The next day, Shizuko finds the door to her apartment wide open and she can't find Muru anywhere. When she and Ren look around for the cat, she asks Kikuri if she has seen the cat. Kikuri simply points at Kyouko's apartment. Upon seeing a plastic bag filled with freshly chopped meats, Shizuko screams in terror, takes out the straw doll, and pulls out the string. However, this time around no one says "Your grudge has been accepted". Ren then appears so Shizuko explains that she has contacted Jigoku Shoujo to send her neighbour to Hell. Much to her surprise, Ren agrees with this. The rest of Ai's associates then appear and ask Shizuko how does it feel to be terrorised, having her cat taken from her, etc. Shizuko becomes confused when Ren asks her if she understands what Amagi Shizuko felt.

She's especially shocked when Ren calls her "Tachibana Kyouko". Shizuko claims that she's Amagi Shizuko but Ren shows a mirror reflecting the real face of Shizuko. True enough, she really is Tachibana Kyouko. Kikuri then appears and pours a bucket of blood which quickly swirls around Kyouko. Ai then appears and "Ippen, Shinde Miru"-ed Kyouko. When Kyouko on the boat, she explains that she is angry at Shizuko for taking the cat when she finally gains the animal's trust. When Ren asks her why she didn't just talk to Shizuko, Kyouko claims that she never really thought about it. When Ren asks her if "Muru" is okay, Kyouko tells him that the cat's name is "Mii", her one and only friend. In the aftermath, the real Shizuko enters Kyouko's room when she hears Muru's voice coming from the room. Upon noticing countless photographs of the cat inside Kyouko's room, Shizuko finally realises why her neighbour has been angry at her.

Impression:

There are many clues planted throughout this episode that the entire episode is basically a punishment scenario for Tachibana Kyouko. The first one is the fact that 'Shizuko' doesn't have the Hell mark after pulling the string in the first half of the episode. And then there is the fact that time seems to lapse in abnormal manner. At one point 'Shizuko' was inside her room and at another, she's outside looking at the cat. In addition to this, none of the people that she encounters in her daily activities are real people. They've been recast by Ai's associates. The most important clue of them all is the fact that the straw doll, which is either Wanyuudou or Hone-Onna (since Ichimoku Ren is acting as 'Shizuko' boyfriend), did not say that her grudge has been accepted. That's probably because the doll is fake. Towards the end, however, we saw the real Shizuko with the Hell mark because she's the one who pulled the string on Tachibana Kyouko. I have to commend the writers on using this narrative technique on the episode as it makes the story more interesting.

The story itself is quite sad if one thinks about it. Tachibana Kyouko clearly doesn't have many friends and when she found the cat, she thought she finally has a friend. As a result, she was angry when Shizuko took the cat and treat it as if it belongs to her. The thing is, most people would confront Shizuko and either ask her if they can take care the cat together or tell Shizuko that the cat is hers (try this charming ice breaker: "What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine"). The same thing can be said with Shizuko. She wouldn't have feel so terrorised if she takes the step to confront the person in question. Assuming what Kyouko experienced mirrors what happened to Shizuko, then I think Shizuko should have talked to Kyouko directly instead of sending a letter. The problem is, people rarely talk to their own neighbour these days so it's easy for two neighbours to misunderstand each other. Still, don't people normally resort to a little catfight (:P) first before doing anything drastic like pushing someone into oncoming traffic sending someone to Hell?

Pop quiz: Your neighbour has been playing loud rap/heavy metal music all night long. Your reaction:

a) Hell, Yeah! I love making my eardrum bleeds.
b) Plays Pachebel's Canon in D Minor loudly to show that your taste in music is far superior.
c) Plays Mahou Shoujo Purupuru Pururin loudly to drive the bastard insane.
d) Sic the police on them.
e) Makes sweet music with Ai by calling 1-800-JIGOKU-SHOUJO.

© memento 2003