Subculture Anime Blog

Contains a cute cow loli.

Summary:

In class, several students try to ignore a group of bullies tormenting a boy named Mizuhara Fumio. Even Yuzuki attempts to ignore the situation, though she seems to struggle. In the infirmary later, Yuzuki declares that she will not become the next Jigoku Shoujo. As she discusses her plans of studying and properly finding what she wishes to do though, Tsugumi appears to ignore her. Fumio is further forced to give the bullies money during the school day later. When he meets his teacher afterwards though, he is delighted at the news that he has been accepted into the high school he has been aiming for. Before he leaves, the teacher mentions to Fumio that he should not bring the watch he is wearing to school. This was something he received from his father.

Fumio receives a camcorder from his father that night as a gift, but while he tries it outside later, it is taken by the usual group of bullies. Fumio offers the camera to the group in exchange for them to leave him alone, but despite this, the leader of the group declares that Fumio will not escape even if he moves cities and schools. Fumio contacts the Jigoku Shoujo that night, and as he receives his doll, Yuzuki struggles to stay calm after seeing the vision.

When the leader of the bullies returns home, he is greeted by his energetic younger sister Suzumi. While she takes care of the dishes for him, she goes on to discuss her brother Tomohide’s goals as a baseball player. Despite her claiming that she will take care of the housework while their widowed mother works, Tomohide claims that he will work. Suzumi asks about the father that left the siblings before going to bed, and though Tomohide agrees that he was a nice person, he cannot help but feel guilty about something. Unkown to Suzumi, her brother holds a certain mark on his chest.

Even when Hone approaches Yuzuki and her friends at a restaurant, Yuzuki is determined to ignore the Jigoku Tsushin members. Hone easily sees that this is because she doesn’t want to accept her fate, and though she wonders if Yuzuki would really become the next Jigoku Shoujo, Ren reminds her that Ai would not tell a lie. Kikuri approaches Yuzuki while claiming that she will not lose, but despite all of her friends’ reactions, Yuzuki continues to ignore the correspondence members.

After looking at a job location, Tomohide decides to return Fumio’s camera. When he reaches his wealthy family’s home though, Tomohide cannot help but become extremely annoyed by Fumio’s stating that high school was only a place to go before college. This causes him to further torment Fumio later, and when he sees that he has a straw doll, he laughs with the belief that he has not prepared for the consequences. Tomohide reminds Fumio that he would fall to hell afterwards, and that he would not be happy despite his choice, but Fumio pulls the string off of his doll in fear either way.

When the teacher mentions his not showing up in class on a later day, Tomohide’s two friends claim that Tomohide was sent to hell. They panic at the thought that others are thinking of grudges, and though most of the class starts discussion about the subject, Yuzuki remains determined all the same. Elsewhere, Fumio notices that there are still bullies at the high school he will be attending. While walking with her friends in the afternoon, Yuzuki notices several of the past grudge holders around her. When Ai appears, she attempts to escape from her. Since Ai had told her that true hell is in one’s heart, Yuzuki denies the need for the Jigoku Tsushin’s intervention. Ai states that Yuzuki currently holds a grudge on her though, and when she mentions her belief that Yuzuki wants to send her to hell, Yuzuki despairs.

Preview: Kagero.

Impression:

Hahahaha. Where’d your animation budget go, Deen? Can’t even animate bullies tormenting a rich boy without stills and speed lines anymore!? Ah, but despite that silliness, this episode wasn’t bad. It was actually interesting to have three different stories going on at once, and Tomohide’s being a previous grudge holder aided that. Obviously though, the main attraction is still Yuzuki. With only three episodes left, I suspect we’ll be spending the rest of the episodes looking into whether or not she will be able to avoid becoming the next Hell Girl. Since I’m covering this late, I was already getting hints about Ai’s claiming that Yuzuki “wants to send her to hell.” (I’ll be the only one giving spoilers around this blog, alright!?) It was funny to see Yuzuki actually believing that she could ignore the Jigoku Tsushin, but she just couldn’t run from all knowing Ai! Also, the second appearance of the sakura tree at the end of the episode confirms that it is foreshadowing events, rather than being something from Yuzuki’s past. The child’s cry is also part of this. Can anyone confirm if this cry is from Ai when she was being buried? Am I totally off base to be reminded of this?