Archive for the 'Jigoku Shoujo' Category

Five more to round out the season

While I haven’t said much in the last few days, I have been watching a lot of anime. Here’s some shorty reviews of five more series, to add to the six other new shows that I’m watching this fall.

Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi

Homer?

Period piece with intrigue, politics, monsters, and more cross gender hi-jinks. From the young girl who dresses like a boy, to the cross dressing young man, and it’s trap city. I don’t know if I really like this show yet. Not much has happened in the first two episodes I’ve seen, but I do like period pieces so this will get a few more viewings.

Death Note

Smile!

If you need to know what this is about, you’ve been living under a rock. Let’s not be lazy…Yagami Light happens upon a notebook that allows him to write people’s names in it and they die. Hilarity Death ensues, along with some mighty fine detective work. It’s good, really don’t have much to complain about though. This is one that I’m reading the manga at the same time. The anime is following the manga like a script, which is good if you’re a fan of the manga. It’s intriguing, I’ll keep watching.

Hataraki Man

Lips!

Look, characters that are over 18 years old. Look, they have real jobs. Look, they portray Japanese business as high stress. I like this show. I’ve seen one episode, and I’m hooked at this point. The character designs are interesting, and shoot for some kind of realism. Well…at least there’s lips on the women characters. The main character goes into “manly” mode when she needs to work hard, but the more interesting part is that she’s undersexed, and can’t get time with her boyfriend. And this gets extra point for having the ending theme from Densha Otoko (”Sekai wa sore o ai to yobundaze” by Sambomaster) playing in the background of one of the scenes.

Yoake Mae Yori Ruri Iro Na - Crescent Love

Not a trap!

I can’t even count how many H game adaptations are out this fall, but here’s another one. This one, so far, seems to be devoid of traps, and just looks like all around harem goodness. Add to that some meido powaa, and we’re all set. Hot part time job action, along with a little parody of the Iron Chef, makes this enjoyable fluff. Caution, it’s very fluffy.

Jigoku Shoujo - Futakomori

Ai's eyes

Jigoku Shoujo is back, with a vengeance new kimono. This is really more of the same here. If you watched last season, this is familiar territory. I really like this kind of thing so it stays on the watch list. To be honest watching something episodic like this is nice every once in a while. You can put it down whenever and pick it right back up whenever you need to feel like taking revenge on someone. Ai gets a new kimono, and the pretty lady in her entourage gets time as the doll with the red string to be pulled. For more on the first season see namakemono’s post.

Jigoku Shoujo: The Final Judgement

Enma Ai is all business.

Deceit, Lies, Mistrust, Heartlessness–all words that describe things that are inevitable in today’s world. People who fall victim to these acts sometimes have their lives changed forever, usually for the worse. If you are in this position, there is always one place you can turn.

Enter the life of Jigoku Shoujo (Hell Girl), one who will seek revenge on someone by sending them immediately to hell. There’s a catch: you will go to hell also, but only after you die. A website called Jigoku Tsushin (Hell Correspondance), which can only be accessed at midnight, is where Enma Ai’s services are requested. Every week (almost), a new story of the unfortunate is told, as well as Jigoku Shoujo’s involvement in “conflict resolution”.

Enma Ai understands her job, she’s been doing it for over 400 years. Her character is quiet, calculated, and all business–since revenge is a dish best served cold. Mamiko Noto is the perfect voice actress in this type of role because of her very soft, sweet voice. Ever heard of, “Walk quietly and carry a big stick?” Yeah, it’s just like that.

Ren, Hone-Onna, and Wanyuudou: Honorable Associates

Ai has three helpers to get her job done, one named Wanyuudou, an older man who can change into a straw doll with a red string. Jigoku Shoujo gives her clients this doll and asks them to pull the string if they wish to send the person of their choice to hell.

Hajime and Tsugumi: Barking up the wrong tree...

As with every entertaining story, there’s more than one side. Around episode 8, two characters of importance are brought into the spotlight: A journalist Hajime and his daughter Tsugumi. Together, they are able to predict who is the next victim of revenge in order to stop Hell Girl’s attempts. Later on in the story, you find out that their relationship with Jigoku Shoujo is more than just on the surface.

That being said, I highly recommend this series if you enjoy an interesting story that’s twisting and turning new directions every week. I truly enjoyed it and looked forward to every next episode. I’ll admit, at first, the show starts off at a near standstill and can sometimes be a “yawner”, but toward the end, you reap the rewards for watching. The character designs are also very well detailed and have their own degree of reality, much different from what I’m used to.

With a second season of Jigoku Shoujo coming in October, there will be no need to seek revenge on the show’s staff, I will be too busy watching.

Jigoku Shoujo episodes 1, 2, and 3

Jigoku Shoujo (Hell Girl), is about people and their issues. To put it simply…If you have a problem with someone, you place their name in a website and Jigoku Shoujo will grant you revenge. The revenge consists of taking that person to hell for you. Of course there’s a catch. If you enact this revenge, you will also go to hell at the time you die. The show is about people in difficult situations that really have no way out. The subject of your revenge is simply taken (usually in an elaborate fashion) and disappears from the world. The website only shows up at midnight and the user doesn’t know about the covenant until later on. The user meets Enma Ai (Jigoku Shoujo) and gets the details of what will happen. They receive a black straw doll with a red string tied around it. The user must simply pull the string and the revenge will be granted, and their own fate sealed in hell upon their death. At that point Ai puts on a nifty kimono and goes off with her three friends to enact the revenge.

This is a simple show that I didn’t think I would like. Truthfully I’m not a fan of the occult, and with practically every anime this fall being about vampires, I’ve been at a loss on what to watch. The reason I like this show is because the show is not really about Ai and her friends, it’s about the people and their difficult situations. Episode one is about a girl who is getting bullied by some more popular girls in school. Two is about a girl who is being stalked by a corrupt detective. And Three is about a boy who dies and the resulting blame that is placed on his best friend. The dead boy was killed by a team mate trying to get ahead in Japan’s baseball world.

The simplicity of it works, no complex plots here, just you go to hell and you die. So Jigoku Shoujo is good. At least she’s not a vampire.