On Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto:
If I may quote Hashihime, who I believe sums it up perfectly, “Animation at least as good as Kanon, if you can imagine it. So beautiful it brought tears to my eyes. Complex end-of-Edo-period plot involving swordsmanship and magic. “
I agree, one hundred percent! Now if only I could understand what was going on……..
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My Enma Ai returns! I have so been looking forward to this second season of Jigoku Shoujo. Seriously. I know a lot of people were disappointed in the first season because they spent so much time on the episodic side of things and less on the overarching plot. But I have more forgiveness for it. I think there was a little nugget of information about Ai and her cohorts in every episode, and that was enough to keep me hooked.
This season picks up where the last one left off and we get to see Ai’s first meeting with the creepy spider. Then the episode pretty much follows the pattern of the previous season, with a few slight changes. I won’t go over them here, you’ll just have to go watch. :p Also, I’ve only watched this raw so I can’t really comment on much anyway XD.
There was no OP this time around, but the ED song was pretty with some absolutely stunning images of Ai. I love Ai. I think she’s absolutely beautiful, and I am always drawn to mysterious and melancholy characters. When I look at her eyes I just see this terribly deep sadness and my heart goes out to her. I often feel tears burning my eyes when I look at her and I truly wish to help take her pain away, help her find solace. I feel this way about many people in my real life.
I do hope that this season tells us more about the histories of the rest of her team, and her beginnings as Jigoku Shoujo. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for that.
P.S. Browsed Geegle lately? *chuckles*
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I thought the OP song was pretty good, pretty catchy anyway though I’m not sure how I feel about the singer’s voice. She was great until she really started straining for some of those notes where she really tried to sound gritty/edgy. The animation sequence was very well done though.
The ED was incredibly cute. I’m not sure if I’d say it fits with the tone of the series. It doesn’t really seem to fit the first episode, which was more on the serious side. But on it’s own, very cute and catchy.
The narration directly following the OP sequence reminded me of Basilisk a lot. (Never a bad thing). Gonzo did a great job on the animation. I hope they can keep it up, and the character designs are very appealing.
Alice’s voice is very appealing. I’m glad it’s not too girly and high-pitched, and I really like her personality so far. Oland is definitely mysterious.
I am quite fascinated by the war-torn world in which the series takes place. I’ve spoken to some friends who have lived through wars to try and get a feel for what it’s like. Having been born and raised in peaceful Canada, such things are so out of my frame of reference that I can’t even begin to imagine how it would look and feel. To not know whether you’ll have food, or clean water, or whether the weapons will be guns, tanks, or the biological kind that you won’t know are there until it’s too late…
I really want to know what’s special about Alice and that feeling she gets at the back of her neck. It obviously will play an important role and I need to know just what that is! I want to know more about Oland too, especially after that intense confrontation towards the end!
You know, I didn’t really notice the music until that scene with Oland and the tank. It fit perfectly and really helped build the atmosphere.
This is a first episode that has definitely drawn me into its world and made me intrigued by its characters. I will definitely keep watching to find out more.
For more in-depth writeups and a schwack of screencaps, visit Mentar and Omni’s sites.