MainEpisode 1
From the Other Side of Twilight |
[Episode Screencaps] |
Being the first episode they really seemed to spend a lot of time on this one giving a good emotional and scary theme. The gap between when Mayumi's request her revenge and when she gets given the doll and explanation is quite long compared to most of the other episodes in the series.
Also the drama of waiting until she throws herself from the building to commit suicide before taking her to the other place really helped trigger an emotional response. The scene with Enma appearing as during the fall I thought was good, it could have looked quite silly and comical but I thought it fitted perfect.
The episode has a real feel of running out of control for Mayumi starting slowly with the slight bullying and extortion building up to her real hatred and pain as she being accused of everything by her teacher. It was easy to empathize with Mayumi and understand her actions the reasons for her actions.
On another note when Mayumi requests the revenge Enma responds immediately with a mobile message. This added some extra drama but is different from the normal way in which she appears in later episodes, appearing to the person quick in person. This could be because this was the first episode and they weren’t sure how consistent they would be, kind of like a pilot episode.
After the contract, the stalking of Kuroda Aya before she was taken to hell was very well done. Clever use of apparent camera angles to keep to surprise the viewer, for example when she picks up the ball and realized its a skull. Also when she walks through the various doors and suddenly realizes she is in other unexpected places added a great effect of disorientation.
During the stalking the use of the other characters including her friends brings up the question as to whether this was just supposed to be an illusion or where they really there in the viewers mind. I am fairly certain it was all meant to just be part of the illusion.
She does not confess her sins in the end claiming she has done nothing wrong, this seems to help justify to the viewer that she does indeed deserve her fate. However it also makes the suggestion that maybe if she confesses her deeds and asks for forgiveness she may be let off from being taken to hell. This is certainly not the case from seeing later episodes where people that have not committed any bad deeds have ended up being taken to hell.
Overall I thought this was one of the best episodes in the series really attaching you emotionally to the characters. I still found it a little bit tricky to get used to the one story a week format but after a few episodes I had decided I liked it.
