This anime holds special significance to me. A lot of people misunderstand what it is about, including even those who made 3rd and 4th season. Many call it a horror. I made a review about it a while back but felt there is more to be said about it.
While some scenes are indeed cruel and gruesome, this anime is not about scaring people. It's about providing victims of abuse, bulling and other kinds of wrongdoing with relief and justice.
We all (at least most of us) would like to live in a helpful and supportive environment that cares and nurtures us. Something close to what Gochiusa or Bofuri depicts.
However not everyone is lucky enough to be surrounded by such a nice people. Sometimes cruel and malicious people enter your life and stay there to keep causing you pain misery and suffering. No matter what you do, they do not stop. Sometimes it's the very knowledge that it hurts you, motivates them to continue. No matter how much you protest or cry, they keep causing you harm.
Sometimes you or someone else can stop them, but other times they are too powerful or have too much control over your life to allow you to simply get rid of them. Back then I was in such hopeless powerless situation. There was nothing I could do to end the suffering they caused me.
I personally had to deal with a number of people just like that. There were certain cruel classmates in Russia, who thought that beating me and throwing away my belongings into rubbish bin was fun. Then they were my stupid parents who though that their crazy principles and rules are more important than my wellbeing and insisted on forcing them on me no matter how much I protested and cried. A true testament to "inhumanity of human nature", to quote Diablo II.
I did try to talk to my parents, but they mocked my complaints instead of doing something. I tried to complain to teachers about bullies, but they did nothing.
Sure, not all people are like those above. Some are nice and helpful. Some can even be friends. There were certain periods in my life when I was surrounded only by friendly people, and these were happy times when I could forget about past troubles.
However, one cruel monster often enough to eclipse 100 good guys. The amount of pain they caused leaves psychological scars that occasionally come back to haunt you in your nightmares.
Back then I could surely wish that I could just contact Jigoku Tsushin and get Enma Ai to solve my problems. Watching Jigoku Shoujo now let me feel glad that at least on-screen victims eventually got their relief and justice. That was the help I did not have, I had to constantly wake up back to the same old nightmare, my evil parents decided to plunge me into.
Nowadays I often blame bad things in my life on my parents. I somehow feel they are creeping somewhere around me discreetly to poison my life as much as their diminishing ability still allows them. However it could be some other malicious actors, who act against me in secret.
I am far too familiar with spiteful and malicious side of human nature and can easily suspect that such people are behind the hard times we are currently experiencing. Everything around us is a sick joke by these bastards. These bastards are too evil to be defeated by 'no kill policy' Batman or other superhero. They way they will break out and cause more harm. Only one way trip to hell for them will save us from misery and suffering they are spreading around.
One of the rules of Enma Ai's contract is that a person who made a pact will go to hell after their death. For most of the victims that is still a relief as their abusers make their lives worse than hell and getting out if this hell even briefly is still a relief. Many of the victims, whom Enma Ai helped, especially in the first season, saw her as a savior.
I can fully understand that sentiment. I can also understand a desire for revenge, people who caused me harm, deserve to suffer in return.
First season is the best in that. It takes on the matters with utmost seriousness. First it shows just how bad humans can be and makes sure very person Enma Ai sends to hell certainly deserves it. Then it executes justice in a somber and dignified manner.
Perhaps there are people out there that blame themselves instead of perpetrators like Shinji Ikari from Eva. There are also people who like to do victim blaming either out of favor or bribe from the abusers.
I am not one of them. I blame those who caused me suffering and want to see them suffer in retaliation for pain they have caused me. When it comes to depicting this psychology, there are surprisingly little anime out there. Other than Jigoku Shoujo there is also Elfen Lied and that is all.
I do hope that Enma Ai will eventually send everyone who ever caused me pain to hell. This is the kind of happy end that will make me happy.
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