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Feb 1, 2009 11:41 AM
#1

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Aug 2008
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THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE.
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This is without a doubt, one of the best Mitsuganae episodes out there. We get to explore Yamawaro's past in this episode, and his past is probably the most intriguing out of all of Enma Ai's gang's past (excluding Ai's of course). This is a pretty sad episode, too. I feel bad for Yamawaro.

I never really liked Kikuri, but this episode made me like her better. I'm not exactly sure why, but maybe it's because it showed that Kikuri isn't always evil and bratty and that she can be cute in a sort of bratty way >.<

Thanks, person who gave me this on another site a long time ago, lol.
Feb 2, 2009 6:34 AM
#2

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Mar 2008
188
hmm i have to disagree big time here with u, man. i only gave this 3 out of 5 becoz at least they give us a story about the new Hell Club member.

however, it was a big mistake imo to add another mysterious being.. i mean, wat the hell is he, actually??? mountain straw? straw demon? straw angel? straw alien?? ^^; i dont know.. the point is, the only mystery i need in this series is Enma Ai.

i was expecting a more touching episode than this, and a more creative storyline.. but unfortunately they have failed me. and the trend of skipping the Jigoku Nagashi (Hell Sending) is getting on my nerves.. i wanted to see the old man suffer with the fungus eating him up and beg ai for help. XD
Feb 2, 2009 11:10 AM
#3

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Aug 2008
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You didn't enjoy any of the past stories of other Jigoku Shoujo members? I really liked it, because it explained Yamawaro's past, hence character development. It really annoys me in drama-like shows where they don't explain each main character's past/personalities enough, so this episode is very refreshing to me.

I thought it was quite touching, actually. Yamawaro learned what it was like to have a family, what it was like to call a woman his "mother", only in the end, to part with her because she lost her sanity.

I don't really think the Jigoku Nagashi is necessary for this episode, so I didn't mind skipping it. I think the look on the old man's face when he realized his wife wants nothing to do with his "eternal youth" potion right before she pulled the string was enough punishment. And frankly, I found this more enjoyable than any random episode where random people get sent to hell. This is like the Akie episode; while the formula is the same, this time, it involves people we actually care about.

Thanks, person who gave me this on another site a long time ago, lol.
Feb 7, 2009 6:56 AM
#4

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Mar 2008
188
u misunderstood me there. i said i gave this 3/5 becoz AT LEAST they gave us a story of Yamawaro. and i loved the stories about the other Ai's Servants' past too.. as u said, it contributes to character development and makes us feel closer to the main characters.

but wat i meant was really bad about the story is that ALL of the other servants(except kikuri, she isn't really a servant anyways) were perfectly normal human.(ah sorry i forgot about ichimokuren. well at least his existence is more understandable. sword spirit legends are quite common) and now we get a yamawaro who came out from a forest naked with i dont know wat on him that makes ppl scared of him.he looked like he was glowing brightly, and most probably should've been mistaken as a deity or a buddha or something.. but noooooo.. ppl are scared coz he shines brightly! he's an alien!!!! ^^;;;

about the jigoku nagashi, well ok i agree with that.. but i still want to see that man suffer for using yamawaro as a guinea pig.. and for not winning the nobel prize for creating an eternal youth potion XD
lonehunter88Feb 8, 2009 3:11 AM
Feb 9, 2009 3:31 PM
#5

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Feb 2008
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that did not make any sense at all. so the guy killed his kid in an experiment, and then used waro waro after that? did the eternal youth elixir work or was that an illusion. and the fall of the house what was with that? although she used the old school correspondence.
Feb 9, 2009 4:12 PM
#6

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Dec 2008
1347
Loved, loved this episode.

It was sad though, but it was really interesting to finally see Yamawaro's past, since I also, like OP, found him the second most intriguing character.

Also agreeing with OP that my opinion of Kikuri got better after this ep.


There is nothing in this world more ugly than imperfection
Feb 9, 2009 5:29 PM
#7

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Aug 2008
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kisami said:
that did not make any sense at all. so the guy killed his kid in an experiment, and then used waro waro after that? did the eternal youth elixir work or was that an illusion. and the fall of the house what was with that? although she used the old school correspondence.


For the professor, I guess you can say that. I'm not too sure, since I didn't watch it with subs. He used it on Yamawaro because Yamawaro is a spirit, not a living thing. He cannot die from the experiment, unlike all the plants and animals the professor tested on. I think the eternal youth that the wife and professor drank were not advanced enough, so they returned to their old form after awhile. The real, final product of the eternal youth potion was the one at the very end; the one that the wife refused to drank and sent the professor to hell instead.

Anyways, after thinking about this, I have to say, next to Enma Ai's back story, Yamawaro's my favorite.

Thanks, person who gave me this on another site a long time ago, lol.
Feb 9, 2009 11:33 PM
#8

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Oct 2007
3470
kisami said:
that did not make any sense at all. so the guy killed his kid in an experiment, and then used waro waro after that? did the eternal youth elixir work or was that an illusion. and the fall of the house what was with that? although she used the old school correspondence.
All I have to say is that I don't know when or what exactly happened. Why did the lady sometime young and sometime old? If she became young again, then why did she became old again?


"A Legend is but a tale of a beautiful lie."
Feb 11, 2009 1:40 AM
#9

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Jan 2008
532
Very interesting episode. Though the whole fungi thing was pretty gross. =/
Feb 11, 2009 5:20 PM

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Oct 2007
377
kisami said:
that did not make any sense at all. so the guy killed his kid in an experiment, and then used waro waro after that? did the eternal youth elixir work or was that an illusion. and the fall of the house what was with that? although she used the old school correspondence.


I absoulutely agree That did not make any sense. The time jumping along with almost every thing else was super confusing.
Feb 12, 2009 11:14 AM

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May 2008
2797
Finally we know Yamawaro's background, since we already know the others from the previous seasons.

Also, lol at Wanyuudou shaving his head. I always thought that his hair didn't grow. Now I want to see him in an afro xD
Mar 21, 2009 2:09 AM
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Nov 2008
61
I think this ep. is some kind of tribute to japanese sci-fi horror movie. Like many of gimmicks they made in hell punishment scene (Godzilla-Ai , Western Wild , Hell Mecha, TV Game Show etc,) are tribute or parody to those things.

And this ep. seem like a tribute more than parody.Because they take it seriously (And how the Evil Mansion collapse at the end of this ep. is very like some old movie plot.) Yamawaro is now a character with emotion and not just a co-comedian of Kikuri-hime.
May 27, 2009 11:15 PM

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Mar 2009
106
kisami said:
that did not make any sense at all. so the guy killed his kid in an experiment, and then used waro waro after that? did the eternal youth elixir work or was that an illusion. and the fall of the house what was with that? although she used the old school correspondence.


I'm confused too >.< but I think that he didn't kill his kid and the 'kid' she was refering to the whole time was yamawaro. The elixir part I don't get though and also why did the house fall? D=

ah oh but I liked the yamawaro back stories, eps of backstories are my fav =) I gave it a lower score cause of the fugus thing though, that was gross >.<
May 29, 2009 7:47 PM

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Dec 2008
335
I also agree that this episode was really confusing. Not very interesting also, I mean, wwth is he? And the timeline shit also confused me, like when did Enma Ai meet Yamawaro? I didn't like this episode really, why do they always play these backround episodes later on and not in the beginning, Yamawaro should have been more properly introduced in episode 1. Poor ass story.
Sep 28, 2009 3:05 PM

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Aug 2009
1657
Yes, this episode was confusing indeed.

I didn't like the different time zones that happened.
So, Waro-waro isn't a human but a mushroom spirit that was living in the mountains?
That old lady used the old Jigoku Tsuushin to curse her husband. So, does that mean she was holding Yamawaro as a straw doll for a long time? She only pulled it in the very end though.

And wtf, what was that hurricane thing that sucked their mansion in the end?
Very confuisng. =\
Jan 25, 2010 2:24 PM

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Nov 2009
769
this was so interesting but... SO confusing XP well i got the basic plot but y were they old then young DX i no it was goin past present and all but... did she really have him 4 that long...??? eh so confusing but seeing waro-waro 4 a whole epi made me SO HAPPY X3
Feb 20, 2011 4:38 AM

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Oct 2008
7711
Quite confusing. :S
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.~
Jul 9, 2011 3:30 PM
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Jun 2009
522
It feels like they randomly jammed several things into this episode, that cannot be explained logically. So Yamawaro is some sort of mountain fairy or spirit that can take physical form. The old lady is sometimes old, sometimes young, but when she contacted Jigoku Tsuchin, internet/cell phones didn't exist yet. Does that mean that she contacted Ai much before the first season? Maybe that explains why Yamawaro wasn't in first or second season. He could've been kept with the old lady until only recently.

The house sank at the end because of the marsh surrounding it. But why would it suddenly start to sink just because the man was ferried away?
Aug 12, 2011 6:49 PM

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Dec 2010
4764
I didn't like this episode and I'm not gonna comment on it, if I change my mind I'll edit my post or smth...
Aug 23, 2011 8:26 PM

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Jun 2009
310
This story was good and all but not touching enough I will say :/
But I really like him as a character.
Kikuri is just annoying T.T
I like how they're finally going to what this is all about.
Jan 28, 2012 5:53 PM

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Aug 2009
2554
Im confused... xD
Feb 3, 2012 12:28 AM

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Dec 2011
47
guyklc said:
...I never really liked Kikuri, but this episode made me like her better. I'm not exactly sure why, but maybe it's because it showed that Kikuri isn't always evil and bratty and that she can be cute in a sort of bratty way >.<

I agree. She wasn't nearly as bad as she normally is.

...Though I made the mistake of eating dinner during this episode; worse yet I was eating stuffed mushrooms )=D <-- Mushroom, not smiley face
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Mar 2, 2012 3:38 PM

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Aug 2011
139
What...
It's been a long time since I've been this confused about an episode in anime - and that is quite bad, considering that Jigoku Shoujo only has 1-episode stories (therefore no further explanation as to what actually happened here).
So, the real son died because of the professor's experiment and Yamawaro, who is actually some kind of fungi spirit, decided to take his place after years. That part is understandable. The confusing part is - did the elixir actually work? The doll was given to the old woman, but she was keeping it while under the effect of elixir (seemingly young). When she killed the professor, though, she was old again! That change of age happened in other parts of the episode too.
Was Yamawaro a doll or no in the episode? He was a doll at one point, and took human form at another point, just to become a doll again later. The only thing I can think of as an explanation is that the woman went crazy and was imagining the elixir working and Yamawaro being in human form. In that case, why did they appear young to Yuzuki, and why were there two Yamawaros in the end (one looking at the castle sinking, and the other in the woman's hands)?!?! Seriously confusing.
Mar 16, 2012 9:08 AM
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Jul 2009
531
I don't get how Enma went to Yamawaro when I thought she didn't have a body since the ending of Season 2?
Unless she asked him to join somewhere hidden in the last season, and he didn't decide to become part of the Hell group until this season?

Hope this makes sense o.o
UserDeletedMar 16, 2012 9:11 AM
Jul 2, 2012 8:36 PM

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Jul 2011
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Aug 10, 2012 3:11 PM

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May 2012
25827
Was a great back story about Yamawaro was quite interesting what happened to him and what that doctor wanted to accomplish!

Great episode I must say good to know more back story's ones in a while :D
Sep 20, 2012 4:53 PM

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Apr 2011
2241
Unnecessary episode on Yamawaro.

Boring overall.
Oct 2, 2012 8:09 AM

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Jun 2012
625
This is one of the weakest episodes this season.

I didn't really care about the new member, as he isn't interesting at all, and this episode just made me care even less about him.

It was a convoluted story made even more confusing with time jumps. His past is hardly even tragic; he consented to letting the guy do experiments on him to help his research on a youth elixir, and it worked. He didn't seem to be in any pain, but the girl decides to send the scientist to hell regardless.

3/5.
Some parts of this post may be exaggerated.
Dec 18, 2012 9:25 AM

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Jun 2011
360
Yamawaro's background episode was a total disappointment for me... I expected a good one but this left me feeling absolutely nothing and the whole episode was a bit confusing... And what the hell was/is he anyway? lol
Jan 12, 2013 6:32 PM

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Sep 2012
8174
Yay for Yamawaro's background. Unfortunately, I had no idea what was happening during the episode.
Mar 5, 2013 1:59 AM

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Jun 2012
406
And we finally find out about his story... took them long enough xD

Didn't quite get that part when house is collapsing... what's up with that? Why did it collapse?
Oct 19, 2013 7:01 PM

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May 2012
310
.....Someone please enlighten me. Just what the hell just happened?!
Nov 1, 2013 8:51 AM
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Apr 2013
9
Apparently, some people didn't understood this much. We all know this is about Yamawaro's past. But that wasn't time shifting, most of it occurred in the present timeline. The elixir just wasn't effective that's why they revert back to their old selves. But yeah, it would be confusing since they didn't really showed what they look like when they regress.
Dec 7, 2013 5:07 AM

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Jun 2012
536
well i liked to see more background but this was one hell of a weird episode but still liked the episode only really missed the hell scene.
"When a flat-chested loli hugs you, she holds you closer to her heart"
"--I am a single bullet. It has no heart. Therefore, it does not think. It just flies straight towards its target."
Jun 21, 2014 10:53 PM

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Sep 2013
2717
Very confusing episode. A lot of bullshit has happened that didnt made sense.
"I have been wielding a blade since before your were swimming around your father's scrotum." - Kurou
Aug 17, 2014 3:08 PM

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Jan 2014
1655
Nah this wasn't that confusing, but yeah that get old then return young thing was bittersweet.
So Yamawaro was like, the guardian of the mountain..
Nice but absurd, even for Hell Girl.
Dec 12, 2014 11:06 PM

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Nov 2013
1630
Wow that episode was confusing as fuck.

That scene with Waro lying down on the table naked was kinda kinky.

MINDFUCKING PLOTS!

Okay episode I guess 6/10
FunnyRatmanDec 12, 2014 11:12 PM

Oct 13, 2015 6:33 AM

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Aug 2014
605
This is so confusing.

Oh, pitiful shadow cloaked in darkness.
Thy actions cause men pain and suffering.
Thy hollow soul drowns in thy sins.
How would you like to see what death is like?
-Enma Ai
Oct 20, 2016 5:00 PM

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Apr 2009
1200
well... that was effing nasty, my hate for humans reign on; why can't you just leave these otherworldly things alone if they're not harming you _<D?

all my hate goes to the crazy labcoat-guy in this episode -w-

also; i don't understand the rage of someone not being human, or not having been human from the beginning; mr. 1-eye guy is a sword....
I like to comment Episodes as i Watch them.
May 7, 2017 11:05 AM

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Apr 2009
2791
meh. They should never have added Yamawaro to the group.
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May 15, 2017 2:57 AM

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May 2015
771
LOL at Yamawaro coming out of the mountains like...

Jun 16, 2017 4:06 PM

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Aug 2014
1185
i feel like i didn't understand anything
"Even if it has good reviews, if I don't like it then it is shit"

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Jul 14, 2017 6:40 PM
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Mar 2016
346
this episode was kinda confusing
Oct 27, 2017 7:00 AM

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May 2015
5873
So Yamawaro was/is some kind of mountain spirit.
"The future is always blank. Only your willpower can leave footsteps there."

"Ruling over death means ruling over life. Death is the climax of life. To have the best death, you must honor life."
Jun 11, 2019 7:02 AM

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Jun 2017
722
So If I understand this episode correctly, this thing about Yamawaro started in the 1940s or something, during the war with the U.S. He met Ai Enma sometime in that but refused to go with her until a little later.

Kind of confusing but a nice episode otherwise. We got to know more about Yamawaro's past.
“What do you do when there is an evil you cannot defeat by just means? Do you stain your hands with evil to destroy evil? Or do you remain steadfastly just and righteous even if it means surrendering to evil?”
― Lelouch Vi Britannia
Feb 1, 2021 7:31 AM

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Mar 2019
3716
Nice episode, made me not hate this kid so much, though I still wish those 3 were the only servants, but I don't hate him now. Nice backstory. Mitsuganae finally getting good episodes. Hoping this isn't the last.
Come on man,where is that Noragami season 3 masterpiece.We want it, Bones!

Jun 18, 2021 9:26 PM
busy week =_+

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Dec 2014
3048
I don't really like Yamawaro or his back story. This episode didn't trigger any emotion in me, at all. It was subpar compared to Ren's or Hone Onna's.


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CURRENT: semi-hiatus (busy)

Nov 12, 2022 8:00 PM
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Dec 2017
27759
meh pretty much cba about ren's story to be honest

Aug 5, 2023 10:35 AM

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Sep 2017
3917
I didn't really pay any attention to this episode. Well, it didn't really matter because in the end it was just plain boring and confusing. Almost felt like it was a filler?
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