Subculture Anime Blog

Never saw it coming.

Summary:

A boy named Inuo transfers to Yuzuki’s school from Tokyo, and shortly after, most of the students start recognizing him for his several talents. When Inuo returns home one day, it is revealed that his mother has actually made him lie by saying that she was very sick. As this involves lying about his father as well, Inuo can only be angry towards his mother who refuses to leave the house. After even getting praise from his neighbors among other things on a particular day, Inuo becomes interested in the Jigoku Tsushin’s website. Yuzuki meets Inuo at the supermarket one day, finally telling him about another place close by that sells vegetables for cheaper. Yuzuki explains to Inuo that she knows this because she lives alone, but when he mutters how nice this is, she can only express a bit of surprise.

Inuo sits down to talk with his friend Washuzu afterwards, who has noticed his recently unhappy mood. Inuo finally reveals the truth about his family with this, but when Washuzu suggests that he tell the truth to the school, Inuo can only run back to his house. Inuo’s mother angrily punishes her son when she sees how late he has come back, and becomes even more angry when he admits to have told the truth to someone. She starts to cry in belief that Inuo would betray her just as his father did, however, then embracing him in tears. Inuo finally types a name into the Jigoku Tsushin’s website afterwards, then receiving a doll from Ai.

In the following days, rumors begin to spread around school about the truth about Inuo’s mother. Recently, she has been seen going out with men in the city. When Washuzu meets with Inuo again, he accidentally sees that he has contacted the Jigoku Tsushin. He attempts to calm the panicked Inuo, however, in hopes of convincing him that there are other ways of dealing with his mother. Washuzu finally shows Inuo that his mother has been spending her time with men at bars one night, and after seeing this, Inuo quickly pulls the string off of his straw doll.

It turns out that Washuzu was actually the victim of Inuo’s grudge, as his torture is carried out by the Jigoku Tsushin. As Washuzu desperately tries to save himself from falling from a cliff, the Correspondence members all place the blame on him. Meeting Ai when he finally falls, Washuzu is sent to hell. When Yuzuki meets Inuo at the market on one of the following days, she finds that he is completely absorbed in the lies that he has created. Even Inuo’s mother sees this upon reaching home, as Inuo continues to suggest that his father will be visiting.

Preview: Yuuko Goto and puppy abuse? Sounds like a winner to me.

Impression:

What? It wasn’t Inuo’s mother that was sent to hell, but his friend that tried to advise against it? I would have never guessed! SHOCK AND DISBELIEF!!! Ugh, this show really needs to learn how to build up drama, instead of force feeding it and assuming that it will be effective. I really didn’t like the direction most of this episode took, and it was really hard to be attached to Inuo and his mother. (I still want to know why their eyes are so messed up.) I also like how the animators’ idea of creativity this week was making Ai upside down during her “try dying once” phase. Honestly, the majority of the episode ended up being unintentionally hilarious because of silly things like that.

This episode did seem to establish that the third season is focusing on undeserved grudges though, so I’m assuming this will all play into the overall plot eventually. There was also the suggestion that Yuzuki may finally want to start doing more than hide under her sheets whenever she sees a vision now. It seems like she will be meeting some of the Jigoku Tsushin in person next week too. I guess I can look forward to that!

….Oh, and the episode gets a plus for a mischievously evil Kikuru. Gotta love it.