Great news from Moetron: the third season for Jigoku Shoujo has finally been announced. I originally thought that everything would be over after the second season, but on the other hand, there were more than enough hints given that there was some kind of continuation coming. Now that [spoiler] is [spoiler], we should be seeing some new characters as well, and the [spoiler] will also probably get more development. This should be one to watch out for.

Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori, the second season of Jigoku Shoujo, which features a website. If you access it at midnight, you can enter the name of someone you want to send to hell. The only price: you’ll get sent to hell after you die yourself. For the second season, Hajime and Tsugumi have buggered off, while the series continues with its usual formula, though with a very different focus.

The second season has two major focuses. The first is Ai’s dolls, Ichimoku Ren, Hone Onna and Wanyuudo. In the first half, they start to get personally involved in some of the cases, while the episodes that follow reveal their background, and how they actually met Ai in the first place. The second focus is people, getting more and more lenient to send someone to hell. At the start of the season, I actually expected the cases in the second season to be even more extreme than the first season, but I was quite surprised when the opposite happened. Quite an amount of cases are way lighter than most of the latter half of the first season.

The cases in the second season were definitely more character-based. While the first season tried to create cases as extreme as possible, or to illustrate Hajime’s and Tsugumi’s differences of opinion, the second season tried to delve a bit more into the main characters of the different cases. In about 50% of these episodes, this didn’t work, but the other 50% were amazing. There are some beautiful stories among them, all accompanied by some of the most amazing plot twists.

There actually isn’t a main storyline like Hajime and Tsugumi, until very late in the anime. Still, even though this storyline has been getting less development than you would expect, nearly each of the final episodes is a beauty, giving the second season a definite better ending than the first season had.

If you got through the first season, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t check out the second season. Heck, it’s probably even possible to continue with the second season, without having finished the first one, all you miss is a bit of development. Still, I have to say that even though the second season has been excellent, the repetition did kick in at some moments. The usual formula did get annoying at some of the worse episodes, though that didn’t stop the good ones for really working out.

The graphics were of the same high quality as the first season, but a definite improvement has been made in the music-department. The first season already featured great music, but the second season takes another step further, and delivers a truly memorable soundtrack, with some amazingly catchy tunes. Overall, though, I had more enjoyment out of the first season, but that’s only because of the repetition. The final episodes definitely make for an interesting watch, and, unlike the first season, there’s actually a lot to discuss about with others.

Short Synopsis: The end of Emna Ai as Jigoku Shoujo.
Good: Beautiful episode, an actually good ending.
Bad: Questions left unanswered.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8.5/10

It finally becomes clear where this episode was working towards: forcing Ai to let go of one of her victims. Because of this, the spider immediately abandoned her from her position, and made her body mortal again. This returning her to the real world, in a body that’s 400 years old! The climax itself was beautiful. I loved how she tried to calm down Takuma, who had also finally become tired of his own morals, and decided to burn the house of the ones who made his life miserable.

You know, as I’ve been writing this, I’ve been hoping more and more for an actual third season. The ending did suggest that we’ve yet to reach the ending of this show. Still, the fact does remain that Ai’s dead, and she won’t come back. But then again, this show is called “Jigoku Shoujo”, not “Enma Ai”. The Spider remained unharmed through all of this, and the final moment of the episode suggested that he’s just recruited another girl for his plans. It’s also a pity that Hell Boy didn’t come back.

And Kikuri. What the hell was her role in this series anyway? I kept thinking that she had some kind of strange contract with Hell boy, but in the end, it looks like she’s connected to the spider, of all possible characters. I still haven’t figured out her exact role, but if I had to guess, then she was employed by the spider, in order to keep an eye out on Ai. I think that at one point, she started caring about Ai, and tried to find a way to relieve her from her tasks. Because of that, she probably stirred with Takuma, in order to bring Ai even closer to the boy. I think that by episode 24, she knew that Takuma would end up in hell in some kind of way. This would be painful for Ai, though in the end, she could rest peacefully. That’s probably why she was so gentle to the cherry near the end of the episode. And regarding her brattiness. That’s just who she is. It’s just her character, nothing more. And we still don’t know much about Ai’s grandmother.

Overall, I feared for the first couple of episodes, but overall, Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori has been a real treat. Definitely one of the highlights of the rather mediocre fall-season. I’m really hoping for a third season right now, which will answer all the questions left behind. But for now, I’ll consider this show as finished.

Short Synopsis: The detective survives the attack, while Takuma and Hotaru get captured by the sinful village people.
Good: Excellent episode, great climax. :)
Bad: None.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10

With this, I’m convinced: the climax of the second season is better than that of the first season, and the final episode has to be really bad in order to change that. Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean that the second season overall is better. Personally, the cases in the first season appealed to me more than in the second season. Hajime’s and Tsugumi’s differences of opinion were very interesting to see, but the climax itself was more focused at showing Enma Ai’s background than resolving the conflict between the two of them. And they also just disappeared afterwards.

With Takuma, however, things are getting really interesting. The focus of this climax is much more interesting, and it seems like the entire series has been building up for this. It’s not the background of Ai’s dolls, like I originally thought. These were just some necessary episodes in order to flesh out their characters a bit. The real focus of the second season is to show people getting more and more lenient in sending a person to hell. Overall, I found the cases in the second season far less extreme than those in the first one. And I have to say, that while I originally thought it a bit unbelievable, I do admit that I really like the way this turned out.

Another thing is that Jigoku Shoujo is starting to become selfish yet again. This time however, it’s far more interesting, as unlike the first season, she doesn’t feel hatred, but compassion. Takuma and Hotaru were very interesting in this episode as well. Especially Hotaru freaking out in the boat was awesome. And even though the detective disappearing in the end had it coming, the results of this were so worthwhile to see.

It also becomes clear now why Kikuri showed Hotaru the pot full of candles. She knew that Hotaru would understand that Takuma has never sent a person to hell, so she’d get close to him as well, so that Takuma would lose another person who got close to him. I also assume that she alerted the detective of Takuma’s whereabouts. The next episode will be very interesting to see, as she’ll finally reveal her plans. Takuma obviously is going to do something to make Hotaru stop cursing him, after which she’ll probably make herself really hated.

One thing that’s too bad: Hell Boy not returning. It seems that the climax will really be about Kikuri and Takuma. Ah well, there’s always hope for a third season somewhere. In any case, I’m glad to see that Jigoku Shoujo still shines as bright as usual. :)

Short Synopsis: The case with the devil’s child really gets out of hand now, when people find out that putting the blame on the devil’s child is actually easy.
Good: Hajime and Tsugumi are back. Well, at least Tsugumi.
Bad: No major twists in this episode.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7.5/10

This episode was definitely meant to show one of the main themes of Jigoku Shoujo even more: the fact that humans will commit sins when they’re easy and easy to cover up. Before, the thing that prevented people from sending a person to hell wasn’t because of the thought they’d go to hell themselves, but “what will everyone else think of me”. “Hell” is a nice concept, but people nowadays just don’t know how cruel hell can really be, so they pay no attention to that part. Now that the devil’s child has been an excellent person to put the blame on, people suddenly start cursing and cursing each other.

I’m also glad to see that Tsugumi has returned. She didn’t do much yet, but this episode mainly was meant to build up for the finale. Hajime also returns, but only in third person. We never really actually see him. Still, I’m glad they’re back. The only interesting parts in the episode were the ones that involved the Hotaru and Takuma. Sure, seeing random people send each other to hell is nice and all, but you can’t really connect to their characters, can you?

This episode also confirmed something I suspected ever since I saw the very first candle-scene, in the first episode of the first season. Ai doesn’t have to work forever, once she reaches a certain amount of clients, she’ll have accomplished her task. This isn’t mentioned directly, but Wanyuudo’s statement can’t mean anything else. I’m still not sure how Kikuri is going to get herself even more hated by showing the candles to Hotaru, but I’m sure we’ll find out about that next week. Remember, she has still to find out that her brother’s in the hospital (at least, I assume he survived the beating at the end of the episode).

Short Synopsis: Takuma returns yet again. This time, even more people in his surroundings die or disappear.
Good: And this is what happens when Jigoku Shoujo starts building upon a past case: awesomeness.
Bad: The spider needs more development!
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8.5/10

Haha, that was awesome! I knew that as Jigoku Shoujo drew to its ending, the greater cases would appear, and this one definitely is something to remember. It’s very interesting to see Takuma return yet again. And yet again he’s blamed for everything while he’s one of the few characters who actually never sent anyone to hell himself. He also continues his with his father’s ideals: if you do bad things to people, you’ll only be hurt back. And well, that happens quite a few times this episode. A guy insults another guy and gets sent to hell, that guy tries to put the blame on Takuma and he gets sent to hell as well.

And Yes! I finally have a small idea about Kikuri’s plans! What if she’s actually trying to get sent to hell herself? At this episode, I finally realized that she’s been trying to get hated all along. Takuma hates her probably the most of all people. Right now, she’s planning to do something with the detective’s sister, which will probably have an even more negative effect on him. Remember, Takuma has yet to send anyone to hell, and there is a certain hell-boy that has been sent to a certain place. What if he needs Kikuri in order to escape yet again? I really can’t wait for the next episode!

Overall, when you compare Kikuri and Takuma to Hajime and Tsugumi, I’d have to say that I like Hajime and Tsugumi better. At least, at this point. It’s probably because of the two got more attention than Takuma and Kikuri. But the latter two have yet to feature their ending. The ending for Hajime and Tsugumi was decent. Not bad, but not special either. The ending for Takuma and Kikuri, however, seems full of potential. I’m not trying to expect too much, but the unique character of Kikuri and her entire opposite Takuma are proving to become very interesting.

Short Synopsis: It’s time for the final number of cases. This is actually the first to feature the same main character as a previous episode: Takuma.
Good: Very nice twist. Episode 40 may have been disappointing, seeing it continued in this episode was great!
Bad: A bit too much based on coincidence.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10

I believe that this episode introduced the beginning of the end. Kikuri has been more annoying than ever, and if I had to guess, then the next episode will be featuring the final case, after which episodes 24, 25 and 26 close off the series, explaining what the heck Kikuri actually is, and why she’s so annoying. Still, could this really make a good ending for Jigoku Shoujo? Or am I smelling a third season? :P

In any case, it was great to see Takuma, who had to live alone for three months, with the experience of seeing his mother get killed, his father get stabbed, and being the centre of all gossip. All around, people talk about how he killed his mother and nearly his father, and how it’s strange for him to get released. It’s not strange, therefore, for him to get ignored by everyone. Still, he proved to be quite a strong boy, ignoring everything that has been thrown at him, waiting for his father to get out of his coma.

The girl meeting up with Takuma may have been a bit too coincidental, but it had some great results. Her original house was taken away because of the destruction of a station, which in the end was cancelled. It seems that she lost her parents afterwards somewhere, not sure how, though. In any case, she’s planning to leave her hometown to somewhere else. For that, she needs money, which she blackmails off the one who initiated the building of the station.

Then it seems that Takuma’s father really was right when he said that if you do bad things, they only come back at you. It’s the same for the girl, Seri, as she’s now got the angry wife of the guy who she blackmailed with a doll in her hand after her. Poor Takuma, first his mother dies, then his father gets put in a coma, then he makes his neighbour disappear, and now, the only girl that acted normally towards him gets sent to hell as well. I wish there were more cases like this in Jigoku Shoujo. It’s actually pretty interesting.

Short Synopsis: Hone Onna’s background! A woman, meanwhile curses a man because he refuses to be responsible for the baby he gave her.
Good: Finally we have a bit of a good explanation of what happened to her; nice twists.
Bad: Right during the climax, the sound of my computer decided to call it quits. Me no like.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10

First, before I start with the episode, I finally realized something. You can play nice games with the scene where the candle is added: some candles have the same description on them. Try to find as much look-alikes as possible!

Anyway, with this episode, the background of the three dolls finally is complete. Hone Onna has quite an interesting background. We already knew that she was in a brothel and that she ended up dead in a river somehow, but now we finally find out how this happened. Things can basically be summarized by Wrex’s statement: all men are bastards. First one sells her off to the brothel, then when that guy has finally decided to free Hone Onna from the brothel, another one comes and kills both of them. In fact, he used a former friend of Hone Onna, whom he later dumped, after impregnating her. That girl committed suicide afterwards.

Right now in the present time, the spirit of this girl keeps sticking to people with similar experiences, so it’d be only a matter of time till Ai would run into her, and Hone Onna would meet her spirit again. During this episode, this happens. It seems that she still bears a grudge against her.

Out of the backstories of the three dolls, I’d have to say that I like Wanyuudo’s most (apart from the fanservice, perhaps). That’s probably because he had the biggest influence on Ai’s method of working, since he was the first one she recruited. It’s interesting, Wanyuudo had a standard backstory, but a large influence on Ai, while Ichimoku Ren and Hone Onna had interesting backgrounds, but they didn’t really have a large influence on Ai and how she works.

This episode also had quite some nice production-values. Some camera-movements were looking very interesting, and especially the punishment-scene looked better than usual.

So, with five episodes left, and Hone Onna, Ichimoku Ren and Wanyuudo have had their background show. What’s up next? Kikuri will probably make her move in the next episode, but will that be everything? I’m hoping for Hell-boy to return!

Short Synopsis: See what happens when two people try to be alike and together at all costs.
Good: Nice ending; The music gets better and better; Nice symbolism.
Bad: A truck is a popular plot device; The usual formula again.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7.5/10

When I first heard Ren talk about Wanyuudo, I thought that he was taking a small break after the rather strange previous episode which made him be away for a couple of days. Though then it appeared that one client just had been holding him for a very long while, without releasing the string. In fact, she was blackmailing her victim with it. To make things even more complicated, the two of them once were friends, who did everything together dressed alike.

It’s interesting, we have a fairly standard case, but the episode was a really enjoyable one. Especially the history of the two was very nice. This is what happens when you get obsessed over a friendship. Ai and Kikuri nicely symbolized the case as well. Seeing Yurie witness Marie with a boy (aka Ren) also was a very interesting. Especially seeing that even though she gets blackmailed and abused like hell (pun intended), she actually doesn’t mind this at all. She just hopes to get back to the good old days.

The ending is debatable. The truck definitely was overused, but I like how things turned out in the end with Marie sending herself and her best friend to hell, just so that they could meet up with each other. It makes you wonder, though. What kind of place is hell exactly? This show never really shed light on this.

The question also remains: how will this show end? We’ve got the history of Hone Onna still to come, with possibly another episode dedicated to Ichimoku Ren, but what is to happen next? It would be great to see Hell-boy return, but what kind of conclusion will that give to the series? And what about the spider? And Ai’s grandmother?

Short Synopsis: One of the strangest episodes yet. Wanyuudo’s past gets revealed when Ai gets summoned to the place where she first met him.
Good: I liked the narrative style a lot. The two cases at the same time were confusing, but very enjoyable.
Bad: This episode had more freaking fanservice than a hot-spring episode of a harem-anime, and that has to say something!
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7.5/10

Whoa, the fanservice, the huge amounts of fanservice. That’s definitely something you don’t expect from a series like this. Almost half of the episode was in a hot spring. While I can understand the small amounts of fanservice that have been featured in the show before, this definitely was way too much.

Still, ignoring the fanservice, we have an excellent episode. It’s one of the first in which two stories are told at the same time. One where Ai meets Wanyuudo, near a local hot-spring resort which just opened, and one where Ai returns after 400 years, to carry out yet another grudge. The interesting thing is that these cases are very much related. The first case is about the owner of the hot springs. He refuses to let a girl marry his son, just because he wants him to marry the daughter of another hot-spring owner. The girl becomes so angry about this, since she already carries the son’s baby, and because of this she sends the father to hell.

At that time, Ai still worked alone. She used a shrine, for her victims in order to contact her. The straw doll also was just an ordinary straw doll, instead of one of her companions in disguise. You’d wonder why Wanyuudo started to take over it’s role, though. She also used to walk to her victims, since she didn’t have the transportation facility that is called Wanyuudo yet. It does make you wonder, though. At one time, she’s able to just appear wherever she’d like, and at other times, she just has to walk.

In any case, during this particular case, she heard a rumour of a Youkai which has been bothering travellers. I assume that she looked for people to help her, and then she finally found what she searched for in Wanyuudo, so she recruited him. Later, she found Ichimoku Ren, in sword-form, like we saw in one of the previous episodes. I’m suspecting that the next episode will be dedicated to how Ai ran into Hone Onna. I think that she also has a small story to share with us.

In the second case, the descendant of the girl who was rejected starts blackmailing the owner, the descendant of the boy she was in love with, because she found out that the owner artificially maintains the hot springs, as it dried up long ago. Things are too late, however, and this gets leaked out before the girl can get sent to hell. It’s interesting to see that Ai and Wanyuudo were the first and the last customers in the hot springs.

Another interesting thing to note is that at one point, Ai decided to make her victims vanish. In the case 400 years ago, she left the body, boiled and all. That was quite the shock. I wonder what made her decide to do this.