Hello dear readers. I am back from a long hiatus. I meant to update this sooner as a late Thanksgiving present. But alas the turkey got to me and made me lethargic as all get out. Then again, that is what a good feast will do to you. Originally I began this chapter a while back but it got lost in my files somehow so I had to go from scratch. We are now nearing the finish line. I am ever so grateful to the people who stuck with me on this through thick and thin. Let it be noted, there are references to Season 1 and 2 with this shadowing how Ai became the Hell Girl and how she coped with her circumstances little by little. I am not certain if I should do a Season 2 aftermath. However, there seems to be a high demand for it. Enjoy and review.

Japanese words and translation

Torri: slanted wooden gate used in Japanese ceremonies

Nagajuban: under-layer kimono

Yokai: a type of sentient spirit in mythology

Honne Onna: Literally meaning 'bone woman'

Disclaimer: Jigoku Shoujo does not belong to me but to Miyuki Eto. All else is mere liberty.

Jigoku Shoujo Season 1: Aftermath

Chapter 25: Ai Enma

A small village nestled within Edo's mountainside lay quiet and peaceful beneath a full moon. One should say as peaceful as a village could be after partaking in the sacred slaughter that took place the night before. On the outskirts of the village, a large tree stood tall overlooking the entire village and mountainsides with a large wooden gate at its base (1). Suddenly the ground began to shift and soon a pale white hand shot out.

Minutes later…

An adolescent girl with long black hair dressed in a tattered white nagajuban robe hanging slightly off her shoulder walked through the burning village singing as if in a trance. She walked on undaunted by the echoing screams of her persecutors as they struggled to escape their fiery coffins. And she was the nail that sealed their fates. She continued to sing happily rejoicing over the justice she was administering unto her tormentors. They would all pay dearly for what they did to her and her parents. A jolt ran through her being. It was almost as if someone were watching her. She shook it off. As far as she was concerned, everyone was either dead or burned to a crisp. Finally she made her way back to the tree and stood before it just as the last of the screams died down.

She stood for a long while before her final resting place. She collapsed and proceeded to cry contented tears. She had done it. Her mission completed. She could now rest in peace.

"Are you satisfied Ai?" a deep voice called out to her. She looked up and her blood red eyes widened. From a thread hung a medium sized black spider with three yellow eyes with purple pupils on its abdomen, and intricate purple and green markings and red fangs. The eyes seemed to suck her in. She found herself falling only to end up floating in a black, watery void. In front of her was a mass of tangled roots beneath a tree that glowed a fluorescent green. Next to the mass, was a large jellyfish with eyes resembling the four-pointed flower. She gasped in horror when she noticed two things tangled in the mass; two skeletons with the remains of their hair and clothes still hanging off of them. Immediately, visions of her dear parents passed before her. Her mother who smiled as she brushed her hair. Her father who would play the flute to her as they sat at the edge of the docks. Ai clasped her hands in prayers.

"Ai' the voice called again. The jellyfish opened his three eyes. "In releasing your anger and vengeance, you have slain many lives. That is a grave sin" the creature accused. Ai seethed in anger. "But I did nothing wrong. They are the ones who are wrong. It is their fault" she yelled.

"You will not be allowed to go to Hell" the creature said. "Instead you shall remain on earth to atone for your crimes" he sentenced. Ai gasped in shock. "If you defy this mandate, the souls of your loved ones will wander aimlessly for all eternity". Ai bowed her head and clasped her hands resigned to her fate. A gust of wind blew at her making her hair fly wildly around her. The creature's eyes returned to small slits. When she opened her eyes, she was standing at the edge of a rocky riverbed, the edge aligned with lanterns, the creature providing the light for the moon. She was dressed in a black kimono with flower patterns that seemed to float. The creature's voice boomed loudly uttering her fate.

"From this moment on, you are Enma Ai, The Hell Girl".

"The-Hell-Girl?" she whispered. With a blank look, Ai began her dreaded fate as a ferrywoman and emissary of the underworld.

()

The first hundred years were tedious. Still, she knew the consequences of refusing to carry out her duties. Her instructions were as followed: receive request, meet the client, give them a straw doll with a red string wrapped around its neck, tell them the ramifications of taking such revenge, and give them time to consider it. If they changed their minds, she would take the doll back. If they did end up pulling the string, she would then deliver the justice owed to them. Of course, the recipients would plead and beg or justify, still it was for naught. At first, Ai had tried to resist until the spider had to remind her of what was at stake.

Overtime, she learned to seal her emotions and continue her duties. She began to forget her life in the village, her parents, and even him. Who was this man that she could not fathom or recall? All she knew that it brought her great pain. In the meantime, she would spend her days locked in a perpetual land of twilight in a house owned by a kindly old woman who she referred to as 'grandmother' who preferred to be seen behind a paper screen who continuously spun a spinning wheel who also graciously prepare her nagajuban's for her. Slowly but surely, she acquired three other compatriots. (2)The first was Wanyudo, a large wheel yokai who would appear as an elderly man when in human form. The second was a man named Ichimoku Ren, who was formerly a katana who gained a conscience after a period of time, which made him aware of what was done with him. Third being to join was a woman named Honne Onna, who was originally a prostitute who was eventually killed after trying to escape. Her restless spirit unknowing meshed together with the bones of other victims and became a wandering spirit.

Those three made things very interesting to say the least. They would go undercover and help her to determine whether the clients truly deserved the revenge. As the years passed, the whole of Japan changed as did the people (3). The way to access the Hell Girl would change every few decades, so naturally Ai and her companions had to adept. Anything from newspaper columns to magazines to the internet. The Jigoku Tsuushin was a hit mostly for the teenage audience. It was rare she got an adult client. She carried on her days with no emotion, no care, no feeling whatsoever. Until as she was about to cross a railroad track to the next street, red eyes locked with chocolate brown. A strange wave of nostalgia washed over her. Ai knew not what the feeling was. All she knew was that her true test of self will would begin.

And there we have it. The Spider sure is an emotional blackmailer isn't he? Using Ai's parents as hostages to do his dirty work and more if Ai fail to uphold her end of the bargain. These are but sure signs of an emotional and mental abuser. Perhaps Miyuki Eto is basing it off her own experiences? Good thing Ai is never one to lie down so easily as was shown in the ending episode of Season 1. I tried to be as accurate as possible with naming aspect of Japanese mythology and such. Brina Palencia has configured her voice acting talents to the memorable character we know today.

I think meeting Ai was pivotal for young Tsugumi in turning her relationship with her dad around. It was there he was able to see just how much he was harming those he cared about by focusing more on his job than his own family. I think if Ayumi had confronted her husband of how he was neglecting her, things would have turned out totally different. Then again, we can never truly know. Until next time.

Next Chapter: Moving on?-Hajime and Tsugumi Shibata

Chapter Footnotes

(1) Pronounced torii, these are largely used in ceremonies in Japan

(2) Season 2 reference

(3) Even modern Japanese residents agree on this matter