Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori ep.19

February 19, 2007 | 15 Comments

This episode is so wrong on so many levels. Having said that, I admit that some of the fanservice are so unabashedly ridiculous that they are bordering funny. On a more positive side, the episode did a good job of explaining Wanyuudou's past and how he met Ai in the first time. It also offer a glimpse into how Ai used to operate prior to theh existence of computer. We have seen her using the postal service but this is an entirely different method which is far more believable than postal service. The story itself is a bit difficult to understand because the narrative goes back and forth between the present time and the past without any clear indication which part is the present and which part is the past. It doesn't help that there are two sets of grudges in this episode so you have to keep track on who is sending who to Hell and on which time period they actually live.

The episode begins with Enma Ai having a relaxing time in an Onsen (hotspring) before she stands up and bares her naked butt for everyone to see. Cut to a shot of three women enjoying the same Onsen in the past. One of them was surprised that there is an Onsen in their neighbourhood. Another woman is happy to have this because it means she can get rid of the fatique from working as a field labour. They then talked about how someone called Kahei is thinking of changing his job and open hot spring since this hotspring is in his land. Speaking of Kahei, he's in the middle of refusing a girl who wants to marry his son, Yohei. The girl, Tami, was upset about this and asked Kahei why this is the case. Later on, Kahei enters another room, relieved that he got his discussion with Tami out of the way. Another girl called Hanae asks Kahei's son, Yohei, what his father is talking about but Kahei covers it up by saying it has nothing to do with Hanae.

As it turns out, Kahei wanted to marry his son to Hanae because she's the daughter of a family which runs hotspring in Arima. Kahei wanted Hanae's family to give him pointers on how to run a hotspring Ryokan (Inn). Meanwhile during night time, two Samurai walked together using only a lantern to guide them in the darkness. One of them regretted this, thinking that they should have stopped at a lodge. He's heard that there is a Youkai (supernatural spirit) who tends to come out at a time like this. The other, however, scoffed at this, saying that they won't be taken seriously if they stay at an Ryokan. When he heard the sound of wheels approaching, he pointed out to his colleague that there are other people travelling through this road. Much to their horror, that wheel is really...one giant wheel in flame, aka Wanyuudou. One of the Samurai pulled out his Katana and tries to defeat Wanyuudou but chickened out at the last minute. He ended up falling off a cliff as a result.

Wanyuudou himself looked like a nutcase, screaming that he can still run over and over again. The next day, several people at an eatery mentioned that a Youkai in the shape of wheel has been terrorising travellers again last night. This makes someone wondered what kind of grudge that wheel could possibly have. Unknown to them, their conversation is heard by a girl who worked at the eatery. That night, a lone traveller travels the road and as expected, Wanyuudou appeared again to terrorise the guy. Much to Wanyuudou's annoyance, the guy is not scared or even surprised to see his appearance. Because of this he came back and confronted the guy, asking him why he's not surprised. The guy revealed himself as none other than Enma Ai. Instead of answering his question, she asked him if he really wants to scare people that much. Wanyuudou pointed out that he turned this way after the incident involving the young lady he served (as shown in episode 12).

He mentioned how after the horrifying incident, he found himself in this form. Because of this, the only thing he can do is to continue turning and run. When Ai asked Wanyuudou until when he plans on doing this, he told her until he rots in Hell. Upon hearing this, Ai asked Wanyuudou to follow her because she'd teach him something about Hell. Wanyuudou wondered if he should follow her in his present shape but Ai told him that she knows he can speak human language. Wanyuudou then closed his eye and when he opened his eyes, his shape has changed into that of a priest. As the two walked through the mountains, Wanyuudou asked Ai for her name so she introduced herself as "Enma Ai". Wanyuudou himself admitted that people often called him "Kaenyuudou" or "Wanyuudou". Ai thinks "Wanyuudou" sounds good. In the present time, Wanyuudou arrives in the same area and remarks how the Onsen has been nicely completed.

While relaxing inside the Onsen, Wanyuudou tries to recall what Ai once said to him. However, his thought is interrupted when three girls come in and asks if they can join in the Onsen with him. Like any other grandpa who wants to be cool, instead of being shy, he instead asks them if they go together here because of school holiday. He thinks it's very refined of them to do this. One of the girl denies that they are refined. If anything, they are a bunch of poor high school girls. Uh oh, this kind of conversation usually goes somewhere. Another girl called Ichiko, however, claims that she can stay here whenever she wants to. She then comes over to Wanyuudou and whispers to his ear that the truth is, this Ryokan...before she can finishes her sentence, the owner of the Ryokan opens the door and tells them that their dinner is ready. Because of this Ichiko tells Wanyuudou that unfortunately she can't tell him what she's about to say.

After the girl left, creepy Kikuri appears in the hotspring while Wanyuudou remembers what Ai once said in the same spot. Back then Ai asked him if he knows about Jigoku Ema (wooden tablet). That night, Kahei, Yohei, and Hanae greet Ai and Wanyuudou, telling them that them that they are the Ryokan's first customer. After dinner, Ai took Wanyuudou to a Shrine and opens her kimono revealing....a small black board with red strings attached to it. In addition to this, "Anata no Urami, Harashimasu" is written on one side of the board. Ai explained to Wanyuudou that if someone wrote the name of a person that they have a grudge on the other side of the board, that person will be sent to Hell. However, that person would also go to Hell. Clearly this is another way in which Ai used to operate before computer existed. In the present time, Yurie, the owner of the Ryokan takes a skinny-dipping inside the Onsen when the girl who introduced herself as Ichiko appears.

Ichiko asks Yurie if it's okay for her to take a leisure bath like this. In response Yurie asks Ichiko if Ichiko has any complaints about their service. Ichiko claims that tonight's dinner is too high in calorie and when Yurie claims that's the best dinner that the Ryokan serves, Ichiko throws Yurie's kimono into the hotspring. As a punishment, Ichiko wants Yurie to return to her room naked without any towel. She also demands that Yurie gives her 10,000 Yen (around 100 dollars) allowance money. Because of this, Yurie has no choice but to run around the Ryokan buck naked trying to get into her room. Unfortunately for her, she runs into Wanyuudou, who gets a full sight of her naked body. She immediately apologises and runs into her room. The scene is then intersect with the past where Tami (the girl who got rejected by Kahei) visited the Shrine. As Tami wrote Kahei's name in Jigoku Ema, in the present time Yurie writes Ichiko's name on Jigoku Tsuushin.

In the past, Wanyuudou asked Ai if there's a person who would use the tablet since they too would go to Hell later on. Ai confirmed this and appeared in front of Tami. Ai then gave Tami a black straw doll. Ai then gave Tami the drill and explained that she too will go to Hell after she dies. Tami explained that she already had her wedding planned and is already pregnant with Yohei's child. And yet because Kahei wants to built a hotspring, he ended up choosing a different daughter-in-law. Because of this, she pulled the string on the doll but the doll didn't say anything so maybe it was just a normal straw doll. Ai then asked Wanyuudou to follow her so he followed her and came to her sunset world. After Ai took a bath and put on her Kimon, she's about to walk back to her victim. However, Wanyuudou asked her if she's always walking. When Ai confirmed this, Wanyuudou turned into a carriage and asked Ai to ride on the carriage. He then flew into the sky.

As a punishment, Kahei got swallowed by the hot water from the spring before transported into Hell inside a large wooden crate. Wanyuudou watches as Ai rows the boat which takes Kahei into Hell. In the real world, Yuhei finds his father boiled alive leaving only his red carcass. Outside the Ryokan, Tami laughed and told herself that she'd destroy the Ryokan. In the present time, Ichiko laughs and thinks that it would be better if this Ryokan is destroyed. Inside the Ryokan, Hone-Onna reveals to Wanyuudou that Ichiko, who's in the middle of slapping Yurie, is a descendant of Tami. It seems Tami holds a grudge of this Ryokan right before her death. Ironically, it is now Kahei's descendant, Yurie, who has a grudge on Ichiko for the embarassment that Ichiko caused her. True enough, Tami pulls the string on the straw doll so Ichimoku Ren tells her that her grudge is accepted. As a punishment, Ichiko is pushed into boiling water by Wanyuudou and Hone-Onna.

In the aftermath, the Ryokan gets into a scandal so Yurie posted an announcement that she would close the Ryokan. Inside the spring, Yurie reveals that Ichiko caught her adding minerals into the hotspring because the real hotspring had dried up years ago. Because Ichiko tried to blackmail her, Yurie ended up sending her to Hell. Unfortunately, Ichiko already told her friends to reveal the truth to the mass media in case something happened to her. As a result, after 400 years the Ryokan will be closed and Ai and Wanyuudou are her last customers. Wanyuudou comments that it seems they are the first and last customers. Cut to a shot of Wanyuudou lifting a passed out Kikuri using her loincloth. Upon seeing Ai, Yurie realises that she's none other than Jigoku Shoujo. In the past, Ai told Wanyuudou that a person's grudge never ends. She then asks him if he would like to follow her. Wanyuudou admits that he can't become her friend. Because of this she asks him to be her leg and he agrees.

Impression:

I think the fanservice is a bit over-the-top in this episode. I don't generally complain about fanservice but this one kind of embarass me to a degree. For example, why did Ai expose her breast in order to show the Jigoku Ema (wood tablet) to Wanyuudou? Couldn't she just show the plate like normal people do? I'm sure people don't normally flash their 'hidden goods' in order to show their license or their new iPod. Unless, of course, we're talking about porn. Plus that scene with Kikuri at the end was kind of creepy albeit slightly funny. Having said that, I find it amusing that Wanyuudou was the one who gets to see so many women naked in this episode. Ichimoku Ren doesn't get to have any fun in this episode. Or maybe he swings the other way. I also couldn't help laughing when Wanyuudou was acting crazy, trying to scare the poor villagers. It was also amusing to know that Ai used to walk to go everywhere before Wanyuudou became one of her helpers.

Preview

As for the story of the week, it's strange that Yuhei never once complains about the arranged marriage deal. I guess he doesn't love Tami as much as I thought he does. Tami's grudge itself is interesting because this is the first time a grudge continues through its descendant. The irony here is that if Ichiko hadn't provoke Yurie, Yurie might not have a grudge on her. Speaking of Yurie, here's where the fanservice mindset rears its ugly head again. Yeah, I realise that Ichiko told Yurie that as a punishment she must go back to her room without towel. But it's not like Ichiko was around to notice even if Yurie goes back to the room wearing her wet kimono. Anyway, the whole Onsen part of the stor really made me nostalgic for Japan. While I was there I didn't have the chance to go to Onsen with my friends since my Japanese lesson ended a bit later and by the time I finish, we're about to watch film and go to a restaurant.

© memento 2003