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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Watch | 7 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 4 |
 periphereia
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[series:2114#3121] |
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It's tough to decide how I feel about this new season. When the first season came out I thought it was brilliant, loved it all the way through, but with each new installment I grow less impressed. When it gets down to it, it's the individual stories that are lacking. And how rushed the main story is wrapped up at the end. Which is sad, because I've continued to love the art and subtle mood changes in Ai throughout each season. This time around, in my mind, it had more potential than the previous with the introduction of a new character, but failed to produce a well planned and presented story. Seeing Yuzuki introduced to this season gave me high hopes. With her her quiet, innocent voice (Satomi Satou) and bright blue eyes, she was a breath of fresh air to the somewhat depressing and dark series. In a way, a younger version of Ai, but also quite the opposite to her and she managed to make the series a bit more personal, being the main focus this time around. As the story progresses we quickly discover that Yuzuki is strongly linked to Enma Ai and the Hell Correspondence, but the exact reason is not revealed right away. All we know is that Ai is using her as a sort of vessel, a way to reveal herself when the string is pulled from the straw doll's she gives to her clients. We're also introduced to a new spirit, Yamawaro, who follows Kikuri around often referring to her as "hime-san". His appearance and past is for much of the season, unknown. After the introduction of the new characters the series seems to slip into the usual way things work with Jigoku Shoujo. We sit through episode after episode of individual stories, usually some what dull or repetitive, even distant. There was a couple I liked, but for the most part I watched to see Yuzuki's involvement in the Hell Correspondence develop, oh so slowly. Still, I had my hopes up for when Yuzuki's story was fully revealed. And a little disappointed I was, not so much at her story, but at the way they revealed it. For most of the series it developed so slowly, and I was getting used to this suspense, it was almost thrilling to a point. But at the end they rushed all of it, far too quickly for my taste and I had trouble relating to her involvement because of the way it was handled or rushed. I feel like they should have planned the way the main story was revealed better, rather than going for a fairly easy approach, or perhaps typical of Jigoku Shoujo? But when a new character is introduced in the first episode (and a human at that) I feel like she should have been treated with more care. Even so I did enjoy this series to a certain point, Yuzuki and Ai's interactions were quite interesting yet slow and careful. The revenge scenes were much more lighthearted this time, adding a nice touch of humour to each episode, especially seeing Ai dressed up in special outfits, such as in episode one when she was dressed as a bee. The fanservice scenes between the two were a bit much, but somehow I grew to appreciate them, in their creepy but caring appearance, and the return of an old character made it even more satisfying. Though I feel there is more to the story yet, we will have to wait and see if there is a new season. And personally if there is, even though I'm still being disappointed, I would still be happy to view it. If you were a fan of the previous two season's, then you should definitely give this a shot, but be wary. Art- As stated earlier, I still really enjoy the overall art style of this series. It's suited perfectly to the dark and haunting intention of the storyline. Animation - started out brilliantly, but as expected, was getting a bit simple at time. Overall I thought it was good. Character Design - similar opinion to art, it really suits the style of the anime, and the character designs are perfectly suited to the personality of each main character. Music - The music didn't stand out to me as much as in previous season's. The opening and ending songs were wonderful, as usual, but it's the background music that disappointed me if anything. Series Story - As I've said, it had a lot of potential so I was generous with the rating, but it really didn't deliver like I'd hoped. Episode Story - Many episodes just didn't cut it, they were rushed and hard to relate to. Last updated Saturday, May 09 2009. Created Saturday, May 09 2009. | ||||||||
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