| From Beyond the Twilight | |
|---|---|
| S1 EP 01 Title.PNG | |
| Name | |
| Kanji Title | 夕闇の彼方より |
| Romaji Title | Yuuyami No Kanata Yori |
| Season | Jigoku Shoujo |
| Episode Guide | |
| Previous | Next |
| None | The Possessed Girl |
"From Beyond the Twilight" is the 1st episode of the season "Jigoku Shoujo".
Plot
The episode centers around the life of a young girl named Mayumi Hashimoto and her tormentor, Aya Kuroda.
It all starts with Mayumi being entrusted with her classes' hard-earned donation money, 100,000 yen. As she puts the money in her schoolbag she is unaware that she is being watched by the class bully, Aya. Skip forward and the class is excitedly putting up their appreciation certificate for the donation, but all is not as it seems. Mayumi had lost the donation money and had been forced to borrow the 100,000 yen from Aya to be able to cover the missing cash.
Thus starts Mayumi's blackmail, and eventual torture, by Aya Kuroda. Although Mayumi had managed to repay Aya the 100,000, through shameful means, having stole the money from her mother, Aya claims that this only covers the interest and proceeds to extort the poor Mayumi, escalating the blackmail into attempts to prostitute Mayumi for a free dinner. Having taken photos of Mayumi in the grasps of an older man, Aya threatens to expose Mayumi to the entire school community if she doesn't continue to support her and her friends financially. This all drives Mayumi to seek the only assistance available to her in her situation.
She accesses the Jigoku Tsūshin, and Ai Enma soon makes her entrance. Mayumi is transported to Ai's sunset world where she receives the black straw doll and is promised Aya's immediate transport straight into the depths of Hell the moment she unties the red thread from the doll's neck. However, there is always a price, Ai tells Mayumi that when she dies her soul will also belong to Hell, she would never know the joys of Heaven, being left to wander, in pain and suffering, for all eternity. Mayumi is horrified by her glimpse of Hell and although she keeps the doll, she doesn't untie the thread straight away.
But of course, Aya doesn't stop there. Mayumi is called to the headmaster's office as a picture of her with an older man has been posted on the school's server, he is disgusted. This drives Mayumi to untie the thread, sending Aya spiraling into a world of horror and exposing her as the one who stole the donation money and ruining Mayumi's life. Even after watching herself do it, Aya will not admit her sins to Ai's three assistants, Wanyuudou, Ren Ichimoku and Hone Onna. Therefore, she is consigned to an eternity in Hell, waking in Ai's ferry-boat on her way across the river Sanzu. Even though Mayumi is now marked by Hell Girl's fire symbol tattoo on her chest, a constant reminder of her future damnation, Mayumi manages to pick up her life and move on, resuming her former place in her school's community and retaining her status as a model student.
So, all's well that ends well, for Mayumi Hashimoto that is, at least temporarily, and as for Aya Kuroda? Well, we can only imagine, once Hell Girl delivers her victims to their destination their story ends there. However, we do get to glimpse a candle with Mayumi Hashimoto's name written on it in Japanese, burning until she dies presumably, until she joins Aya in Hell.
Characters
Trivia
- This episode marks the first appearance of Ai Enma, Wanyuudou, Ren Ichimoku, and Hone Onna.
- This episode is the basis on which the first episode of the live-action television series is also made.