Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori ep.25

April 1, 2007 | 30 Comments

Why is it always end up like this? It really depresses me when characters that I like end up getting screwed royally. I'm talking about the poor detective and Takuma, both of whom get really lousy fates in this episode. Well, for all I care the entire town can go to Hell now. It would be a good idea to drag Kikuri down as well. This is like Ai's village repeating all over again. It's hard to believe that there are only 4 decent people (Takuma, his parents, and the detective) from this entire town. Speaking of the detective, thanks to the Japanese Wikipedia, I find out that the detective's name is 「飯合 誠一」(Meshiai Seiichi). I'm not sure about the reliability of the information but we should know for sure next week when the official site updates the name of the victims. Either way, it's better for me to call the guy with his name than 'the detective'.

Continuing from last week's episode, Hotaru finds herself back in the real world and goes off to look for Takuma. Meanwhile, her brother, Seiichi, has been taken to an abandoned warehouse. A man asks Tsuyuki if he's sure that Seiichi is Takuma's associate. As Tsuyuki shows his Hell mark, he tells the man that if they left Seiichi alone, he would be dangerous. The man argues that this is happening because Tsuyuki used Jigoku Tsuushin. A woman, however, supports Tsuyuki and reminds the man that Tsuyuki did it for him. Tsuyuki tells the man, whose name turns out to be Hasue, that Hasue is equally guilty. The woman threatens Hasue as well by saying that they won't let him run away on his own. Outside the warehouse, Hone-Onna comments how the three have formed a disturbing gang. Inside Takuma's house, a group of men are looking for Takuma but can't find him anywhere. Hotaru who hides outside wonders what is going on.

When Hotaru is about to enter the house, however, someone throws a shoe from the bush. That person turns out to be Takuma. On top of a rooftop, Kikuri watches the two with a twisted expression on her face. Later on, Hotaru and Takuma are seen running secretly across the town and end up in her house. Takuma wonders why Hotaru saved him so Hotaru explains that Takuma is not the problem but rather, Enma Ai. She thinks everyone has gone crazy due to Jigoku Tsuushin. Takuma is surprised to know that Hotaru believes this so she explains that she's seen it all. Hotaru then tries to contact her brother but when that doesn't work, she decides to call a friend who's working at the shopping mall. Due to the phone call, the friend gets scolded by her supervisor so the girl decides to end the phone call. After the supervisor left, the girl takes out a straw doll from her locker. The supervisor suddenly disappears while giving a change to a customer.

Back inside her house, Hotaru finds the book that Seiichi was reading. She realises that this means her brother was doing investigation on Jigoku Shoujo as well. Takuma eventually has the courage to tell Hotaru that her brother has been captured and they'll be in danger if they remain here. As soon as Takuma said this, a few men can be heard banging on the door, trying to get into the house. Because of this the two decide to flee through the balcony. The two end up staying at an abandoned temple, where Hotaru believes they'll be safe. She explains that when she was in primary school, she often played hide and seek. If she hid here, her friends never able to find her right to the end of the game. Upon hearing this Takuma wonders if Hotaru wasn't afraid being alone because he's afraid and begins to cry. Hotaru assures him that he's not alone but Takuma tells her that he doesn't understand things anymore and feels as if he's a real devil's child.

Takuma thinks this is probably why people around him suffer from misfortune. Hotaru, however, believes that this is not true. As her mind flashbacks to the time when she saw all of the candles, she tells him that he didn't use Jigoku Tsuushin and didn't send anyone to Hell so he can't possibly be the devil's child. Hotaru also believes that her brother feels the same way. Takuma reminds her that her brother was attacked but Hotaru thinks his brother will be okay because he's strong and will certainly save them. With that said, she decides to send a text message to Seiichi's phone. Meanwhile, the vigilantes, lead by Tsuyuki decides to kill Takuma by any means necessary. Hasue is shocked to hear this and even more so when the others decide that he should take care of Seiichi. Meanwhile, Hotaru realises that Takuma is cold so she pulls him close to keep the kid warm. Unknown to the two, however, Kikuri has been watching from a tree.

After reading the book about Jigoku Shoujo, Hotaru realises that Jigoku Shoujo has had difficult times as well. She reads the part about how once there was a girl who was unfortunate because she's been chosen to be persecuted so that the livelihood of other villagers will be protected. A flashback shows Ai and Sentarou being cornerned by the villagers for trying to get away. The girl was then killed by the villagers' own hand and was thrown into a pit. Back then it was believed that her death was a sacrifice for the protection of the village. A group sometimes loses an individual's sensible thoughts. The negative mentality of humans who are part of a group still hasn't changed even now. Upon hearing the story, Takuma comments about how Jigoku Shoujo was also alone. Even then, Hotaru believes that one must not access Jigoku Shoujo. Although she's sad to hear the story, Hotaru promises Takuma that she'll protect him for sure.

While the two are resting, Ai, who's been watching over them, returns to the sunset world looking sad. When the grandma spider asks her what's wrong, she simply tells her that she's just a bit tired. Back to the temple, Takuma wakes up and notices that it is now snowy. However, he also notices that the townsfolk have made their way to the temple as well. As it turns out, Kikuri has been leading them to this place. Kikuri is quickly confronted by Ai who asks her why she did this. Kikuri, however, argues that she didn't do anything bad and tells her that things would be better like this. The consequences of this is that Hotaru and Takuma are captured by the townsfolk. Hotaru tries to tell them that Takuma is not the devil's child but of course, the explanation don't go well with these people. The two are taken to a lake containing a few boats. They plan on making the two disappear, claiming that their life will return to normalcy after the two are dead.

Hotaru freaks out upon hearing this and tells the villagers that they'll be in trouble if her brother finds out about this but the group simply laugh at her. Tsuyuki then kicked both Hotaru and Takuma into one of the boats before ordering Hasue to drop rocks into the boat to make it heavy. Ren who watches from afar is disgusted upon seeing this while Ai decides not to watch anymore. Meanwhile, Hasue has last second hesitation, thinking that this is going too far. However, the other pressures him, saying that it's too late now. Hotaru is clearly disturbed by now and keeps asking for her brother to save her. After being pressured by Tsuyuki, Hasue eventually has no choice but to grab a hammer to punch a hole on the boat, letting it sinks slowly. They then push the boat into the lake, causing Hotaru to panic even more. Thankfully for the two, Seiichi arrives in time. A few men tries to stop him but Seiichi warns them with a gunshot to sky.

The men flee in fear, allowing Seiichi to save Hotaru and Takuma from the drowning boat. In the aftermath, the tree end up taking the car that Seiichi was using to get there. The plan is for the three of them to leave the village and go to their father's house. Hotaru is happy to hear this, saying that their father will be happy to see them. When Hotaru and Takuma looks at the front seat, however, they realise that Seiichi has disappeared. Hotaru panics and tries to search for her brother but the car is now losing control and crashing down a street. It is then revealed that Hasue has pulled a string on Seiichi. Tsuyuki comments about Hasue is now truly one of them. Despite this, Hotaru and Takuma survive the accident and are now seen walking on the highway. Halfway through, however, Hotaru stops and opens a laptop she's been carrying. She then access Jigoku Tsuushin and puts Takuma's name in it while apologising for it. Back in the sunset world, Ai looks sad as she stares at a Spider Lily which got bent around the stem.

Impression:

First thing first, Kikuri really pissed me off in this episode. If it wasn't for her, the townsfolk wouldn't know about Takuma and Hotaru's hiding place. I get the impression that she has orchestrated this entire incident so that Ai will leave her position as Jigoku Shoujo. Now that Hotaru has requested so that Takuma will be sent to Hell, the only way this can be stopped if she refuses the case or if she stops being Jigoku Shoujo. That just reminds me how annoying it is that someone can just send a person to Hell even though the person probably doesn't have a grudge in the first place. I mean, what grudge could Hasue possibly have on Seiichi the detective? I don't count fear as a grudge. Ai should have rejected the case since it wasn't a valid request in the first place. Speaking of silly plot points, how on Earth did Hotaru manages to get a wi-fi connection in the middle of nowhere? Or is Jigoku Tsuushin works without internet connection?

It was really disappointing to see Hotaru succumbing to the group mentality of blaming Takuma for everything that has happened to her. This is even more upsetting because she was promising and trying to save the boy earlier. Another interesting point here is the part where she mentions how a person tend to lose their rationality when he/she is in a group. This is best exemplified by Hasue, who lacks his ability to make an independent decision which is not reliant on others. The sad thing is, Hajime was right when he mentioned in his book that even now human's pack mentality still has not changed. I also wonder if this is some kind of criticism targeted particularly to the Japanese society, which adopts bee hive mentality more than any other societies. It is well known that Japanese people prioritise society's obligation before individual choice. In real life, there are stories where an individual has no choice but to go with societal pressure instead of choosing the path that he or she wants to choose.

As for next week's episode, there are many things that can happen. From the preview, it seems Ai will give up her position as Jigoku Shoujo. The thing is, how will this help Takuma? If she doesn't have anymore power, what would happen then? Or is she planning a second purification ritual by getting rid of the entire Lovely Hills? But that will surely get her sent to Hell for sure. I think the annoying part about this series is that the good characters often end up in the same place as the nasty ones, which is frustrating if you're rooting for your favourites. Anyway, I'm just hoping the finale will have the time to reveal everything about Kikuri, grandma spider, and hopefully what will happen to Ai if she does give up her position as Jigoku Shoujo. I also want to know what happened to Hajime and Tsugumi but I don't think we'll see them again. As a note, I don't think they are dead because if they are, Tsugumi wouldn't have to hide from the detective on last week's episode. I just think they're trying to stay as far away as possible from the whole Jigoku Tsuushin business.

Preview

The final episode: Aizome.

© memento 2003