Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori ep.16

January 30, 2007 | 9 Comments

I am glad to see that this week's episode is actually a lot better than the last 2 or 3 which preceded it. A part of it is because the episode reveals Hone-Onna's background a little bit. The strength of the story, however, relies on Hone-Onna's friendship with the client of the week. Unfortunately there is a slight inconsistency between this episode and last week's episode. In this episode, Hone-Onna is reminded that they can't interfere with their client's fate but last week Wanyuudou actually helped a potential client from getting raped. Is there a difference between a client and a potential client? Or is it because Wanyuudou wasn't offering information to the client? In that case, would it be okay for Hone-Onna to interfere if she doesn't tell the client about what would happen? Anyway, I find it interesting that this episode has several cool shots for Ai and her helpers. This one in particular reminds me of a typical movie poster.

The episode begins with Ai, Wanyuudou, and Ichimoku Ren observing their client, Henmi Ran, who is holding a red straw doll aka Hone-Onna. Ran is in the middle of confronting Osamu Tejima, a man who has deceived Ran in order to obtain information about the company where she works. When Tejima makes fun of Ran by calling her stupid, Hone Onna is pissed off and urges Ran to give the man his just dessert but instead Ran thinks that she really was stupid. Before Tejima can leave, Ran asks him to at least help her company president, Asagawa, by paying off the guy's debt. Tejima rebuffs her plea and leaves the area with two women instead. After Tejima left, Ran realises that she has no one to turn but the doll but before she can pull the string, a middle-age woman stops him from doing so, claiming that if it's revenge that Ran wants, she can help her. The woman, Uetsuki Matsu, plans on making Ran looks beautiful so she can deceive Tejima in return.

At first Ran hesitates because she feels that she's stupid but when Matsu reminds her that she wants to help her company's president, Ran agrees to do it. When Matsu tells Ran that make-up is a woman's weapon when it comes to deceiving a man, Hone-Onna, agrees and has a flashback to the time where she seems to be working as a prostitute. Upon seeing the result of her makeover, Ran is surprised and asks Hone Onna if the woman in the mirror is really her. Hone-Onna thinks so and praises Ran as a beautiful woman. Ran then apologises to Hone-Onna because she might be doing what Matsu suggested. She hopes that by doing this she will change and become a stronger woman. While Hone-Onna admires Ran's determination to do so, she has doubts about Matsu because the woman reminds her of someone from her past. Before she can say anything to Ran, however, Matsu comes out to the living room again, bringing her acquaintance’s dress for Ran.

The next day, Ran goes to the bank to set up a new account and thanks to her new makeover, she manages to stop every straight males in their tracks. Ran is a bit nervous about this and asks Hone-Onna about what to do since this is the first time men stare at her. Hone-Onna has no advice to give but to tell Ran to get used to it. Even Wanyuudou finds Ran to be beautiful post makeover. Ren, however, thinks that he prefers Ran prior to her makeover. Anyway, much to Wanyuudou's surprise, he finds Ai reading a style magazine. After hesitating for a while, he asks Ai if she'd like to wear make-up. Ai, however, coldly claims that she doesn't need any. XD That night, Ran purposely sits not too far from Tejima and thanks to her new look, Tejima quickly notices her. The sleaze immediately asks her if she's meeting anyone so Ran tells him that she's on her own. Upon hearing this, it doesn't take long before Tejima asks to take her out.

Tejima offers to treat her, claiming that when it comes down to money, he has lots of it. Ran agrees with this and the two go out drinking. Ran quickly works to ensure that Tejima gets drunk badly. Once this happens, she splashes a glass of water on his shirt and pretends to clean it up, allowing her to take away his PDA/mobile. She then goes to the toilet and hands said PDA to Matsu, who tells her to leave the rest to her. After Matsu left the toilet, Ran is startled when she notices Kikuri standing next to her. Kikuri suddenly exclaims that Ran looks gaudy before running off again. Outside, Matsu uses Tejima's PDA to transfer money from his account. She then gives the PDA back to Ran, who in return, slips it back to Tejima's coat while she puts him inside a taxi. The next day, Ran goes to the bank to withdraw the money and on the television, she sees Tejima being accused by his business partners for misappropriating the money.

After Ran gets the money, she tells Matsu that she just wants the money that her president needs to pay off his debt. Matsu, however, would have none of that and decides to split the money in half. With the money, Matsu decides to open a Kaiseki restaurant. Ran comes to congratulate her but she has to meet Matsu through the back door because Matsu doesn't want her connection with Ran to be known to the public. Hone-Onna is angry about this and tells Ran to be angry as well but Ran being the good person that she is, just gives praise Matsu. Inside the party, Ren and Wanyuudou hear the guests talking about Sumie, someone who once worked with Matsu but hasn't been around lately. The next day, Ran wonders how she should use the money so Hone-Onna suggests that she eats well and watch performances. Upon seeing a couple asking for her to take their photograph, Ran wonders if one day she too will be able to meet someone nice.

Eventually Ran decides to donate the rest of the money. Hone-Onna can only sighs, realising that Ran has no trace of greed within her. She also thanks Hone-Onna because she thinks it's because of her that she could change. When Ran checks on the tea that she boils, however, Hone-Onna straw doll disappears from the room. As it turns out Ai has summoned her because they need to go back home. Hone-Onna wish Ran the best and she'd pray for her happiness from afar. She's also glad that the grudge has disappear. Ren corrects her and explains that the reason Ai summoned her back is because the object of Ran's original grudge, Tejima, has died. Meanwhile, Matsu visits Ran to let her know that Tejima has killed himself. Matsu thinks she and Ran are now accomplices. Ran tells Matsu that she'd surrender herself to the police but won't tell them about Matsu. Matsu suggests that Ran think carefully and offers to work with her but Ran refuses.

After the rejection Matsu tells Ran about how there was a girl similar to her. She thought someone who's doll-like like Ran would have been easier to control. But now that doesn't seem to be the case, she pulls out a knife out and points it at Ran. Meanwhile, Ren gives Hone-Onna an old newspaper clipping about a girl who was killed. Hone-Onna quickly realises that Matsu was the killer and asks Ren why no one told her about it. Wanyuudou points out that even if they did, she can't let Ran knows. In response, Hone-Onna knocks Wanyuudou out of her way and runs back to Ran's apartment. Unfortunately by the time she arrives there, Ran is already dying. When Ran explains that she's been used, Hone-Onna gets flashes of herself drowning in a river while her Mama-san watched with a smirk on her lips. In her dying breath, Ran wonders why people deceive other people. In response, Hone-Onna points out that those people are not humans. They're 'demons'.

Ran tells Hone-Onna that if Matsu is a demon, then she has to sent her back to Hell. Hone-Onna tells Ran that if she does this, she too will fall to Hell. Ran thinks she can't help it because this is a consequences of her own action. She also thinks they must stop Matsu from deceiving other innocent women. Upon submitting her request, Ai appears and asks Hone-Onna to turn into straw doll again. With her last breath, Ran pulls the string so Hone-Onna gravely tells her that her grudge has been granted. As a punishment, Matsu is being chased around by Ai and her associates (who now dressed up in period dress, notably the Shinsengumi). All of her victims then terrorise her before Ai sends her to Hell. In the aftermath, Hone-Onna finds that Ran has passed away as well. Wanyuudou reminds her that they can't (get attached to their clients) but Hone-Onna cuts him off by saying she understands but she wants them to leave her alone for a while.

Impression:

This episode felt a lot sadder more than other episodes in the series. Hone-Onna clearly cares a lot about Ran and sees parts of herself in Ran. In a way it's like seeing a younger version of herself suffering the same kind of ordeal that she used to experience when she were young. It's certainly a position which I can understand quite well. That probably explains why I feel satisfied after seeing the punishment scene in this episode. As usual, the scene could have been a lot gorier and more painful. I was thinking that maybe Ai should have speared Matsu's mouth when she tried to sweet-talk her. After all, her main sin was deceiving others with her mouth. Having said that, I've yet to see someone as naive as Ran. I find it hard to believe that she wasn't aware from the start that she's committing a major fraud. I mean Tejima deserves it and more but it was still a fraud and if someone is about to commit one, they should be aware of the consequences.

Preview

It makes me wonder if Matsu would have killed Ran if Ran wasn't talking about going to the police in the first place. Well the old hag will probably still kill Ran but if Ran can pretend to work with her for a while, maybe she'll spare Ran. And then maybe Ran can...oh, I don't know, discreetly push the old hag off the cliff. Falling accidents are not murder or so I've been told. If there are witnesses, feel free to toss them aside as well and blame it all on Oyashiro-sama*. On a more serious note, it's nice to actually know how Hone-Onna died but that still doesn't explain how she ends up working for Ai. And we're running short on time since there are only 10 episodes left and I doubt the writers will completely goes into full-arc mode without a little bit of case of the week every now and then. Oh well, next week is a story about how Ren ends up working for Ai. Hopefully they would also reveal if he can actually quit the job or if this is an eternal purgatory.

* I've been told that this doesn't work in the real world and that people would just think that you're crazy. Only use if you're prepared to go to mental hospital.

On next week's episode: When Ren met Ai.

© memento 2003