Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori ep.21

March 11, 2007 | 9 Comments

Yeah, I know it's a bit late but I'll write up the next episode after this. As far as background stories go, this is probably the best one that has been shown thus far. Unlike Ren and Wanyuudou's story, this one doesn't come across as an afterthought. about Hone-Onna as opposed to simply attaching the story to the plot of the week. If anything the plot of the week is just a supplementary element to Hone-Onna's background story. Unfortunately, the rise in the quality of the writing is not accompanied by the rise in animation and character design. If anything, the character design takes a rather nasty nosedive this time around. Hone-Onna, for example, look different everytime she appears on the scene. This is slightly problematic because without the visual cue, it's hard to know if a character is actually Hone-Onna or someone else.

A long time ago, when a fisherman was out at night, he found a girl crying near a riverbank. When he approached the girl, the girl turned around and showed her beautiful face, asking the fisherman to save her. The sleazy fisherman invited her to come back with him and have a drink at his house so the woman told him that she's happy, revealing the other side of her face, which is nothing but skeleton. She's Hone-Onna. The fisherman freaked out upon seeing this and ran away from her. For some reason, Hone-Onna looked disappointed after the man left and her face reverted back to normal. She was also startled when she sensed the presence of another being in the area: Ai. Ai suspected that Hone-Onna is lost. Hone-Onna wondered what Ai could possibly understand. Ai, however, ignored Hone-Onna words and instead asked her to come with her. Despite her hesitation, Hone-Onna eventually took Ai's outstretched hand.

In the present time, Ren, Ai, and Hone-Onna are sitting inside a cafe, observing a woman and her boyfriend. Ren points out that the woman was charmed by the man but the man only used her for her money and gambled everything away. The woman is then seen persuading the man to come back to her because she's pregnant. Ren who sees this suggests that she should just untie the string. Despite the woman's plea, the man ends up leaving her, prompting Hone-Onna to say that the one who always cry is the woman. All of a sudden Ai claims that there is something. Upon seeing the woman, Hone-Onna notices that the glass door shows a reflection of another woman hovering on top of the pregnant woman. Another flashback then shows a shop selling traditional medicine. A girl who was making paper balloons looked happy when she heard that her young master has come home.

The young master went straight into the girl's room, announcing to the girl, Tsuyu, that he's back home. He immediately pointed out since the weather is cold, the clerk should have let her work in warmer room. Tusyu, however, didn't mind working in this room. The master immediately praised her paper balloons because it is popular with children. He believed because of the ballons, the store's medicine sales doubled. All of a sudden the guy remembered that he has brought a present for her. He presented her with a hairpin, telling her that he thought it'd suit her. Without missing a beat, the guy immediately placed the hairpin on Tsuyu's hair, causing the girl to blushed. Tsuyu cried in happiness when her master told her that the hairpin suit her well. He, however, asked her to keep secret from the other girls in the shop since they might get jealous. Tsuyu promised that she'd ensure that she won't bother her young master.

The master suddenly declared that he's been patient for a while so he's decided that he would ditch his right to inherit the shop and will elope with her. Tsuyu cried again, saying that she feels that she's in a dream as her master kisses her and pushed her down to the floor. Eww, period Japan secks. A few days later, the two were seen running away in the middle of a snowy night. After a while, Tsuyu pointed out to the master, whose name turns out to be Shinzaburou, that no one followed them. She also wondered if it's okay for her to wear the beautiful Kimono given by him. Shinzaburou assured her not to worry about it. Their conversation came to a halt when two men with carriage came. Shinzaburou was glad to see them and asked Tsuyu to get into the carriage. Tsuyu insisted that she can still walk but Shinzaburou asked her to ride on it. A few minutes later, the two arrived in front of a building called 「吉朝」- Kicchou.

The place is actually a brothel and Shinzaburou was there to introduce Tsuyu to the Madam of the brothel. The Madam asked Shinzaburou if Tsuyu is a virgin and Shinzaburou gave a hesitatant "yes". In response the Madam tells him that if he lies, she'd soon find out about it. The Madam immediately guessed that Tsuyu is not a virgin anymore and mocked the audacity of Shinzaburou to lie. As it turns out, Shinzaburou wanted to sell Tsuyu to pay off his debts. The Madam admits that normally she wouldn't deal with a non-virgin but she'll take Tsuyu. The Madam then gave Shinzaburou his payment, prompting the guy to thank her. The Madam, however, told him that if he wants to thank someone, he should thank Tsuyu. Because of this Shinzaburou apologised to Tsuyu before leaving her behind with the Madam. After Shinzaburou left, the Madam told Tsuyu that she knows Tsuyu can't cry depite her grief. She believes that's just how men are.

In the present time, the pregnant woman, Youko, is advised by her friend to forget her man. Ren who watches from a distant with Hone-Onna points out how friends is handy during rough time. Hone-Onna seems to agree with this and recalls her time back as Tsuyu. At that point Tsuyu was older and had an apprentice called Kiyo. Kiyo seemed jealous of Tsuyu's hand mirror and asked her where she got it from. Tsuyu told her that this is just a cheap item given to her by someone called 'Tecchan'. Kiyo pointed out that she never received that kind of thing. She claimed that although she tried her best, no one ever gave her even a piece of comb. Kiyo also showed how unlike Tsuyu, she can't even make paper balloons well. Tsuyu believed that's only natural since she's been making paper balloons for a long time. One day, Tsuyu planned an escape plan for Kiyo. Kiyo, however, refused to go unless Tsuyu come as well and besides she wanted to stay in the brothel.

Kiyo also asked Tsuyu why she has to decide everything on her own. She believed she knows what's good for her and will make her own decision. She told Tsuyu that if she wants to run away, she should do it on her own. In the heat of anger, Tsuyu slapped Kiyo and asked her to do what she asked her to. In the present, Hone-Onna got teary upon remembering her past but she focuses her attention towards Youko and her friend. The friend asks Youko what's so good about the guy that Youko likes. Youko points out that the guy always look after and treat her well. The friend disagrees, believing that it was just an act. Unfortunately Youko doesn't want to accept this. She tells her friend that her boyfriend, Makoto, is not that kind of guy. Another flashback shows Tsuyu trying to escape with Tecchan's help. They thought Kiyo would come with them but much to their shock, Kiyo revealed their plan to the Madam and a Samurai.

Kiyo explained that she got the Kimono that she wear from the Samurai and it's much higher in quality to the one that Tsuyu was wearing. Because of this, she doesn't want to run away and believed Tsuyu brought this upon herself. The Samurai then moved to slice Tsuyu but Tecchan protected her and died in the process. Tsuyu decided to run back to Tecchan and ended up getting killed as well. After her death, Tsuyu's body was dumped into the river and ended up floating to the riverbank where she would later met the fisherman at the start of the episode. While her body floated in the river, several blue spirits hovered over her and made a comment of how miserable, frustrated and sad she seems. Tsuyu agreed with the assessment and told them although she's dead, she can't die. Upon hearing this, the spirits from the nearby dead bones floated and entered Tsuyu's body. Tsuyu sat upright and became Hone-Onna.

In the present time, Hone-Onna is surprised when she sees Youko inflating a paper balloons just like Kiyo used to. Her observation got distracted when Kikuri comes and asks her to cool down the hot dog. Because Kikuri is impatient, she ends up dropping her hotdog. Meanwhile, Youko goes off to meet Makoto again but is rebuffed as usual with Makoto declaring that they are over. Youko doesn't mind if Makoto doesn't love her but she wants him to know that her feelings for him is sincere. Makoto accuses her of just wanting her money back but Youko denies this and instead points out that the child she's carrying is his. Makoto tells her that it's none of his concern and orders Youko to do whatever she wants with it. He even called her an annoying stalker. A disturbed Youko cries after Makoto left and decides to pull the string on the straw doll. As a punishment, Makoto finds himself inside a noodle shop but his noodle contains a baby in it.

Makoto then get drown in some kind of uterus liquid while Ren, Wanyuudou, and Kikuri hold onto his body while wearing only loincloth. Oh, the horror!! Nearby, there is a large baby floating. As it turns out, the entire area is just a test tube and Ai can be seen looking at it before sending Makoto to Hell. On the boat ride, Makoto wakes up and finds himself pregnant. A chestbuster baby then broke through the womb, causing him to yell in pain. In the real world, Youko regrets her decision and tries to kill herself. Hone-Onna, however, recognises that Youko is controlled by Kiyos's spirit. She asks Kiyo why she's doing this. As it turns out, Kiyo was killed by the Samurai when she told him that she's pregnant with his child. He then dumped her into the same river where they threw Hone-Onna. Because of her anguish, Kiyo has been making other woman go through the same experience. Hone-Onna thinks Kiyo simply makes herself miserable by doing this.

Because of this, Hone-Onna/Tsuyu asks Kiyo to stop doing this and besides she doesn't have any grudge towards Kiyo. Kiyo shakes her head and tells Hone-Onna that she's stupid. Having said that, she's glad to have seen Tsuyu/Hone-Onna again. Kiyo then jumps into the river, killing herself. Hone-Onna can only cry as she mutters about her friend's stupidity. In the aftermath, Youko wakes up and wondering what she's doing in the place. She then touches her belly and tells her child that they'll be okay. Later on, Hone-Onna is seen playing with paper balloon near the riverbank. When Ai appears to declare that their job is over, Hone-Onna apologises for not going with the others before. She then tells Ai that she won't be doing this job forever, wondering if one day she could pick Kiyo up. She just feels that she's been saved enough. Hone-Onna then hands out her hand to Ai and asks her if they should go back. Ai accepts her hand and the two leave the area.

Preview

Impression:

The punishment scene for this episode is probably one of the best in the series. It was creepy when Makoto found the baby floating in the noodle. The chestbuster towards the end was also blood-curdling to say the least. The most interesting part about the episode, however, belongs to Hone-Onna's past. It's surprising to know that she's the only human out of the three. Unfortunately, she has the worst luck of the three. First, she was sold to prostitution by the young master she fell in love with. If that's not bad enough, her next boyfriend and herself got killed while trying to escape the brothel. Props to the animator for explaining why Tsuyu ended up being called Hone-Onna though. The reason she's alive now is because she got revived by the spirits from bones near the riverbank. Speaking of the riverbank, her first scene with the fisherman reminds me of a classic Japanese horror tale, Yotsuya Kaidan.

I really thought at first that the theme of the episode was something along the lines of "All men are evil". Thankfully that doesn't seem to be the case because 'Tecchan' turned out to be a decent, kind man who protected Tsuyu until the end. If I have to guess, this is basically a story about how Hone-Onna was betrayed by the two people that she loved so much. The first one was Shinzaburou, the young master that she fell in love with. He took her virginity then sold her out to brothel in order to clear out his debt. The second person was Kiyo, who clearly was a bit jealous of the attention that Tsuyu received from 'Tecchan'. The thing is, I don't understand why she felt the need to report Tsuyu to the Madam. It makes me wonder if the friendship that Hone-Onna treasured all of these times were actually one-sided. Anyway, it's interesting how Hone-Onna doesn't think she'll be doing this forever. I wonder if she can really get out of this job easily.

On the next episode: It's the return of Takuma, the Devil's child.

© memento 2003