Subculture Anime Blog

Triple threat!

Summary:

While Akie is at the book store with Yuzuki, she tells her about the frightening rumors about murders happening in the city. Further more, the events are supposedly identical to those that happen in a certain book. The author, Kamisaki, overhears the girls talking about this in the same bookstore. As the book has slightly been gaining more popularity because of these recent events, Kamisaki is eventually interviewed by a woman named Asaba. As Asaba questions him about what he thinks about the situation, Kamisaki states his belief that a murderer would murder with or without influences. It is soon announced that the murderer has been arrested, and as the two watch this on a nearby TV, it is stated that the young boy decided to take action after believing that the book’s content was interesting.

Without Asaba’s approval, the media begins portraying the book’s connection with the recent murders in a rather negative way. When she sees this, Asaba becomes angry at both herself and her editor who decided on the action. As the news reporters among other hindrances even prevent him from entering his own home, Kamisaki continues to feel guilty and worried about his situation. As he even looks up the murder online later, the Jigoku Tsushin watches with interest.

Yuzuki and Akie eventually meet a girl named Michio Yui, and while traveling with them to town, Yui reveals that her sister was actually the victim to the recent murder. Having heard from the murderer himself that he had no memories of his actions, and that his reality was blurred because of the novel, Yui did not know who she should send to hell. Yui meets Kamisaki at his workplace, then taking a chance to talk with him outside. Yui initially doesn’t believe his claims that the media reported his story falsely, but Asaba soon appears with the fact that she has proof.

Realizing that she has been lied to, Yui brings up her initial interest in contacting the Jigoku Shoujo. Having heard of this, Kamisaki relays the fact that his life has also started to plummet because of the recent reports on the media. Even Asaba has a strong grudge, leading the three to do a triple contacting of the Jigoku Tsushin. With this, the murder, editor, and once friend of Kamisaki’s are all sent to hell simultaneously. Yui, Asaba, and Kamisaki express a bit of relief when they confirm that their deed has been done, but Kamisaki soon disappears as well. With Ai on the ferry, he learns that the boy’s mother had put a grudge on him. She had believed that it was his fault that her son was driven to do such things. Kamisaki does not believe he has done anything wrong, but Ai relays that the other victims also felt this way.

Preview: Hone in a bikini.

Impression:

Ai pulling off some Matrix moves in this episode! But wow, three at once? Something like this has happened before if I recall correctly, but there was a nice twist at the end to make things even more interesting. It was funny to see the three grudgers express some relief after what they had done, only to have Kamisaki put in the same shoes as those he had punished. Again, this just continues to strengthen the message this show has seemed to put off since the very beginning of its run. I also liked how the media was presented in this episode, since we all know they’re a bunch of dirty liars (a joke, of course). Kikuri was as entertaining as ever, and I laughed out loud when they actually played on the subtle fact that Asaba’s boss was applying some weird foot cream during one of the earlier scenes. With inner dialog and a plot that didn’t seem completely out of place this week, I actually liked this episode quite a bit when compared to the last few we’ve been getting. With some nose-bleeding otaku in the episode preview though, I can only wonder how long this will keep up…

Oh, and nice censoring. LOL.