Subculture Anime Blog

My……my bread is….!

Summary:

After seeing the skeleton remains in the run down apartment complex, Yuzuki starts to believe that Ai is simply playing another trick on her. She leaves with this in mind, but before she can escape, Ai begins to show her familiar visions of the past. This brings Yuzuki back to scenes of her younger life, as her father returned one day to give her an early birthday present. The Mikage family was of course happy, but a few days later, Yuzuki’s father passed away due to a bus accident. During a later press conference, it was decided that the blame would be put on the driver. This was despite the fact that the bus breaks were faulty. This caused several people to hate the Mikage family, as Yuzuki’s mother Sayako fell to severe stress.

Despite being offered a job by her childhood friend Satoshi, Sayako and Yuzuki still suffered from the opinions of those in the town. Satoshi even advanced on Sayako as she started to become sick, causing her to leave even this small hint of salvation. Unable to find hospitals to take her in, Sayako eventually left with Yuzuki to take shelter in a shrine. She prepared to kill her daughter here, but was unable to as two cheerful girls appeared to make a prayer. Sayako died shortly after, however, leaving a feeling of revenge in Yuzuki’s heart. As Yuzuki recalls, she herself had died shortly after. With this, Yuzuki agrees to take Ai’s role as the Jigoku Shoujo.

Preview: Quote the Raven, “Nevermore!”

Impression:

Cliched, predictable, but somehow effective! There’s something about Japan and their way of displaying unrealistically sad situations. From Yuzuki’s coincidentally losing her mother’s keychain to a lethal step attack, to the never ending sight of broken down homes, angry posts, and distasteful looks, I couldn’t help but think that I’ve seen this all before. Still, seeing a loli Yuzuki’s revengeful eyes in dark red was absolutely delicious. I genuinely felt angry at the townspeople for their irrational treatment of the Mikages as well, finally giving me something of a real attachment to Yuzuki’s character. I’m curious to see how things will go with the seemingly soul-less Akie and Wanyuudou next week, but with only one episode left, I suspect there will be one more dramatic change before Yuzuki can truly take Ai’s crown.