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View Full Version : Rant about Jigoku Shoujo


ydraliskos
09-21-2007, 08:31 AM
EDIT: Note to mods. Please don't merge this with some jigoku shoujo thread I'm sure exists somewhere. This is a standalone post, and a specific one, made to be a rant. It has no place in a thread were fans of an anime discuss things, and would be only viewed as a trolling attempt.


Have you watched this anime? If you haven't, you better not read below, because here be spoilers. You've been warned :)


Okay lets start.


I really can't get over how shitty, skewed, and forced the ethics of this anime are.

Basically, the deal is you send someone to hell, and in exchange you also go to hell when you die. No limits.


What the fuck number 1: During the first episodes, the agents of JS seem to ask the victims of the curse if they repent, and when they subsequently don't, they send em to hell. They conveniently dropped this when innocent victims started getting shafted(About 2 of them, don't expect any creativity here). I assume they didn't like rogue views of morality skewing their perfect worldview. Or whatever.


What the fuck number 2: The bad guys. After 2 episodes of the same things, you keep expecting them to mix it up a little. They never do. Each and every bad guy is the worst, non-repenting scum of the earth, and gets righteously sent to hell because... fuck yeah jigoku shoujo. Way to take the easy way out and not explore any possibility of repentance or human villains.


What the fuck number 3: In 99% of every revenge case, the revengee (the person who does the curse) goes from being miserable to being the happiest fucking person in the world, because somehow killing the fucker that wronged you makes your life better in every and all ways. You won't believe how they stretch the plot in order to make the revengee's lifes better after they kill someone. It doesn't even make sense, most of the times. A revengee can be suspected of murder, then the real murderer disappears, and next thing you know, everyone loves the murder suspect, and know he didn't do it


What the fuck number 4: Japanese schoolgirls. They rank somewhere below psychotic mass murderer, but somewhere above regular psychotic criminals. At least as far as this series is concerned, expect schoolgirls to be the worst fucking scum of the earth. Where are they even getting this? This shit did not fly where I went to school, and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't fly anywhere else in the world either. Certainly not as many times as there have been episodes in Jigoku shoujo about it.


What the fuck number 5: Stupid revengees. Look, it's simple. You sent the fucker to hell, you get sent to hell. Hell = infinite, Life = finite. Do the math, you're not gaining anything, jesus people. Except the cases where the revengee was about to be murdered, the whole rest of them are complete retard personalities that you'd be hard pressed to find in real life.

And let's not forget "THIS CANNOT BE REPAIRED I MUST TAKE REVENGE EVEN THO EVERYTHING IS SOLVED ALREADY" bullshit that happened in more than 5 episodes.



What the fuck: Futakamori (yeah, spoilers for second season too): So ok, first season managed to weld some continuity in this boring revenge of the week fest. You get some recurring characters, some plot, and near the end, shit gets real. Cool, I like that.
Then, second season comes, and we're back to revenge of the week for 19 fucking episodes.

Did they feel they didn't explore the dynamics of having stupid protagonists curse irreparable absolute-villains into hell in the exact same fashion during the first 26 episodes? Apparently, this is exactly what happened, because nothing ever changes during the second season either. Not a single mature attempt was made to show a real, honest, humane revenge case. At least not in the first 4 episodes of season 2, because god knows I didn't watch the rest of this shit. Just skimmed till 19 to see if there's any continuity. Oh well.




I bet I can find an episode of Mushishi that handles the subject of revenge better than these two whole fucking seasons ever did. I bet I can find two, actually.

BlueCheese
09-21-2007, 08:51 AM
I have to ask, why did you even start the second series as well? lol

ydraliskos
09-21-2007, 10:15 AM
I was curious to see if there would be an overreaching plot-line about the cast. I didn't think they'd just go back to curse of the week after already grinding it to dust during the first season... I didn't really watch it tho, just skimmed through.

Oneironaut
09-21-2007, 11:43 AM
To address a few of your points:

In the beginning the plot casts the use of Jigoku Tsuushin as morally acceptable -- if very stupid. The people who go under deserve to suffer endlessly, and the "repentance" scenes emphasize the image of Jigoku Shoujo's as a figure of unusual justice. The disconnect between the morally-charged stories in the beginning and the ones of sickening cruelty at the end, is a conscious decision of the writers.

The damned were not all scum. Several were morally ambiguous. Two who were even virtuous.

I'm not going to defend the logic of the show. For Japanese schoolgirls to consign themselves to an eternity of torture to escape temporary problems is ridiculous. Even for Japanese schoolgirls. I think the writers aimed to show how vengeance distorts the mind (hint: Enma Ai). I think they missed the mark.

The series is episodic. It's repetitive. Slash the second series and wrap the first up into thirteen episodes, and then you have a great anime. As it is, the producers stretched a good idea out so thin it broke.

Wesley
09-21-2007, 11:44 AM
I started watching the second season, but after about eight episodes I figured out that it was pretty much the most morally reprehensible anime I'd ever seen. Basically no one does the right thing. Ever. No matter what the situation or who they are or what they do, they always do the wrong thing.

On the other hand, Hell is a different place in Eastern circles to my I understanding, so you're pretty much destined to go there no matter what you do anyway. You J-Walk, you go to Hell. That's how ridiculous it is over there.

There's no such thing as redemption. Ignorance is not an excuse even if you become Elightened at some point in your life.

Actually the only real difference between Western and Eastern philophises is that if you're Faithful, you shall be saved. Believe in God, keep Him in your heart as you toil through the day, and you shall be Forgiven.

Hell Girl isn't the Devil, but she's there in case someone is stupid enough to pact with her. It's just her job and her and her crew are pretty much of the same opinion as you and I that humans are easily lead astray and can be quite pathetic and petty. Not to mention self-destructive.

I will say Hell Girl is pretty darn cute and badass when she sends someone to Hell.

Still, the worst part is how they tease you in the show, like "This person will finally not condemn their immortal soul!" HAHA fooled you!