Shinigami no Ballad ep.6

April 11, 2006 | 7 Comments

I realise that this is a rather late review but there's not much I can do since life's been kind of hectic in the past few weeks. It's rather unfortunate since this is probably the best episode out of all six episodes. I think there are at least two twists within the episode, both of which are equally pleasant to see. In addition to this, the ending is not only bittersweet but also has that touch of realism given to it. Overall, I have to say that I'm rather pleased with this series. It may not have great animation or out of this world plot, but I really like its languid, almost lazy pace that makes some of the episodes feel like they are slice-of-life stories. And when one thinks about it, death is indeed a part of life, albeit one that marks the end of the life itself. Anyway, if I have to choose three favourite episodes out of six, I'll probably say that this one, episode 3, and episode 2 are the ones that I like the most.

A girl opens her eyes and finds herself standing alone on a street, feeling confused of her whereabouts. After seeing two school girls walking past her, however, she remembers that she needs to go to school. When she arrives at the school, however, she starts to notice a few strange things. First of all, her friends don't seem to notice her presence. On top of this, when she goes to the cafetaria to have lunch, she seems unable to press the button on the vending machine (in Japan, some cafetaria requires you to order from a vending machine then gives the coupon to the chef). Because of this, she decides to go to a music room and see the object of her affection, an older student called Matsumoto, playing piano. Upon entering the room, she remembers how she once asked Matsumoto if she can record his piano playing so she can listen to it at home. Back then Matsumoto agreed to her request.

She, however, becomes disappointed when Matsumoto doesn't respond to her voice and simply exits the room. She is also surprised when she realises that she can't open the piano when all of a sudden she hears the sound of a bell. Upon hearing this she remembers that something has happened to her in the past. The girl's name is Sakura and at one point, she was encouraged by her friend to confess to Matsumoto about her feelings for him. Unfortunately for Sakura, just when she's about to confess, she sees Matsumoto kissing his girlfriend. Disappointed with what she saw, Sakura decides to run away from school and end up on a crossing bridge. Due to her foolishness, she decides to raise her body a bit on the bridge but ends up losing her balance and presumably fell down into the street below. Upon remembering the incident, Sakura runs back to the bridge where she fell and encounters Momo sitting on top of it. After hearing Momo introducing herself as a Shinigami, Sakura assumes that she has died.

She, however, claims that being dead wasn't her intention. She just felt as if she was drawn in as she was looking down. Sakura at first refuses to believe that she's already dead but after she finds out that she can float in the air, she realises that maybe this is true after all. Momo, however, tells her not to worry because she will take the soul of the dead. Sakura asks Momo and Daniel if leaving the world is the only option and unfortunately for her, both of them don't give her any choice. Because she doesn't have a choice, Sakura decides to at least say good-bye to the people that she's about to leave. They first come to her house to visit Sakura's family. Much to Sakura's surprise, however, both her mother and her sister is perfectly happy despite the fact that it's only been 3 days since her death. She's also disappointed when she finds out that even her friends act as if they are not bothered by her death. As a result, she becomes depressed about this.

In order to cheer her up, Momo decides to take her back to the piano room where Matsumoto can be seen practicing a song. After remembering the fact that Matsumoto has a girlfriend, however, Sakura thinks that maybe this is for the best. That night, however, Momo asks her to take a look at those people that Sakura has left behind. This time around, however, Sakura finds out that her mother has cooked her a bowl of her favourite food, Katsudon, even though she's not alive anymore. Sakura's mother thinks that maybe if she keeps making this Sakura will come home. Sakura becomes even more surprised when Matsumoto comes to the house to hand in the CD that he promised to record for her. Upon seeing this, Sakura realises that Matsumoto still remembers the promise he made to her. Last but not least, she finds out that her friends have been staying up late at school to make origami birds for her. Sakura becomes touch upon seeing this and ends up crying in sadness.

Sakura then tells Momo that she doesn't want to die anymore. She knows that she's nothing special but she wants to live on. Momo smiles upon hearing this and tells her that in that case she can do this. Sakura is surprised to hear this and even more so when Daniel reveals that the truth is she's not really dead yet. Sakura is simply in a coma state at the hospital but her soul for some reason has been wandering off. Her body is in okay condition despite the accident so everyone simply waits for Sakura to regain her consciousness. Before Sakura returns to her body, however, Momo asks her not to wish that she wants to die again. Sakura promises to do this even though she's embarassed about how her friends may think of her now. Once Sakura regains her consciousness, she lives a normal life as usual even though Matsumoto doesn't seem to return her affection. Momo then reveals that she helped Sakura because she wants everyone to live life to the fullest.

Impression:

This is such a nice and simple story to end the show. It starts off with a Twilight Zone kind of plot where the main character, Sakura, experiences an unusual day. If this had been a Twilight Zone, the episode would have ended eerily with a narration that more or less says that "Sakura finally realises that she's no longer living in the normal world for she now has become part...of The Twilight Zone". This episode, however, adds a few additional twists to the story with Sakura finding out that her family and friends looking as if they don't miss her. Just like in real life, some people often feel as if the people that they care about don't care for them in return. However, most of the time this is probably not true. However, just like those people, in the first half of the story Sakura only sees the part where his family and friends look as if they don't care about her. This is where Momo comes in and shows her that there is more than one way to look into a situation.

Momo shows that Sakura's loved ones can't always think about her 24/7 but that does not mean that they do not care. There will be time in their life when they do think and cherish Sakura. When Sakura realises this, she regains her will to live even if her life seems boring and not special on a glance. I think that at this point in time, it's obvious that the series want to say something to its viewers. It is well known that Japan has a rather high suicide rates amongst teenagers. Most of these suicides have a lot to do with either: broken hearts, bullying, or simply because people feel that their life is nothing special. I have no idea how a message in a popular entertainment program can reach out to those people but hopefully it does have such power. In this episode, Momo shows that even if one's life may feel average and even if it's filled with disappointment, there will always be someone who will miss a person if he or she passed away.

The series clearly want to convey the message that suicide is a point of no return and Sakura was lucky that she wasn't dead but simply in a coma. Otherwise, she'll have left the people who clearly care for her. It's also good that while the general message is optimistic, the episode also shows that sometimes certain things in life won't change in your favour. In the end, Matsumoto is still with his girlfriend and Sakura simply has to accept the fact that he has no romantic interest in her. That, however, does not mean that it's the end of the world. On the contrary, this episode asks its viewer to live life to its fullest, even if it may seem dull and full of unhappiness at times. Because, as long as a person is alive, they still have the chance to change their life no matter how hard it might be. Sakura, for example, can start using boxcutter to eliminate her competition. >:D Just kidding, people! Please lay off the knife and other sharp objects.

© memento 2003