ED Sequence

ED: 「Dream Catcher」 by OLIVIA
Watch the ED! Mirror 1 Mirror 2 (30MB, XviD)
There was no opening, but the ending more than made up for it. I love the song, and it being sung by OLIVIA just made it all that much better. The ending sequence looked pretty high budget too, with flowers moving everywhere and Ai turning butterflies.

Despite the fact that I had no interest in seeing this season’s anime offering of Jigoku Shoujo, I had high hopes for the drama version, which airs Saturday nights from 25:20 to 25:50 on NTV. It suffices to say that I was quite pleased with what I saw. The first episode basically follows a girl who’s being bullied and how she gets revenge – pretty standard stuff as far as the Jigoku Shoujo story goes. What made it so entertaining was seeing how everything translated into a live-action environment. The drama replicates almost everything from the anime, including the cell phone message, Ai’s world, her entire speech, the boat to Hell, and more. Ai even has her Macintosh. Much of the music sounds like it came right off the anime soundtrack, and the sound effects made me tense enough that I actually jumped in my seat at one point. I don’t think that ever happened in the anime version for me; the live-action is just that much creepier, especially if you’re watching it in a dark room. As for Ai, Iwata Sayuri did a decent job with the part, but I miss Noto Mamiko‘s voice in the role. I did like how Iwata Sayuri said ippen shinde miru, and that was followed by a very pretty and colorful live-action version of the flowers coming out of Ai’s kimono. Ai’s helpers also look and act very much like their anime counterparts, though we didn’t get to see that much of them in this first episode. I can’t wait until Hajime and Tsugumi show up 🙂
I think I’ll continue watching this, if for nothing else but the entertainment value of a live-action version. It might get old once the initial excitement wears off, but for now I’m enjoying the Jigoku Shoujo drama quite a lot.

71 Comments

  1. Well… I don’t know if I like the flower effect at all here, but Ren and Ai look pretty close to how I imagined them, if they were real people. It doesn’t look half-bad… but then again, it looks like a lot of j-drama, which hasn’t really interested me at all. Still… I can think of worse live adaptations.

    Haesslich
  2. tensai: So you’ve watched this through already, then? You’ve also watched the second season, which actually has semi-original stories? You’re an expert with all things anime, and are the leading authority on such matters? By all means, let us hear your ‘wisdom’.

    It’s late, and one-liners like that annoy me. May as well DL the thing and then trash it, or give a better answer. ‘Not liking j-drama’ is one perfectly valid one.

    Haesslich
  3. Hmmm- I haven’t seen this yet, but the only two things that gets me is that Enma is older and Wanyuudou isn’t bald. However, I’m open to creative licensing on their part. I’d like to see this when I get the chance. Also, the second season of the anime includes a mysterious younger girl in the Hell gang (in case anyone is interested).

    Stahlwolf
  4. “Haesslich ” Relax my friend I really like J-drama and I´ve watched this too as densha otoko too.The problem here is the “feeling” from the original anime THAT I DO LIKE and i am watching the 2nd season too is a little different….I don´t know what it is but compared to the real anime environment this is a “trash class B terror movie” that only makes me laugh and laugh 😀

    tensai_otaku
  5. in other words :
    something tells me that every time they try to copy animes to novels (like in sailormoon 😆 ) they fail too much on the acting part making the show a practical JOKE!!!
    so what else can I say:

    😀 😀 😀

    tensai_otaku
  6. Yep, Sayuri is a bit too old to be Ai, I don’t really get the Ai aura. Tsugumi is going to feel pretty weird too, with her well endowed child actor… Well glad to see that the drama is scarier, as I hoped and expected it to be. Now if Ai looked a bit more like Ai…….

    Sigh.

    DSJFX18
  7. shoot man. looking at the screen caps it doesnt get close to the anime. Ai is not one bit scary or sad at all. she even smiles! very dissapointing impression. aint Ai suppose to be like a little girl, rather than a teenage girl?

  8. 1am = 01:00 hour.

    25:00 hour does not exist on earth. Our rotational period only consists of 24 hours.

    In the Japanese TV world, 25:00 does exist. Here’s what I say at the beginning of every season as a technical disclaimer:
    “All times are given in a 24-hour, relative-day format where times are extended to show which day they belong to. For instance, Friday morning at 1:30AM would become Thursday at 25:30 to show that the episode aired late Thursday night.”

  9. I´ve already watched “THIS CRAP”…and I´ll never change my mind about this shit!
    It´s like a B horror movie that only makes me laugh all the time I saw it!!
    Well in my country we have a proverb like this:
    taste is like a BUTT everyone has it´s own 😀
    So keep your butt that i´ll keep mine 😀

    tensai_otaku
  10. On another note an actual 25th hour will exist on Earth one day…couple of millions years from now…just a note…the days are getting longer…

    I’ve watched live action Sailor Moon, Princess Princess, and BoogiePop…anime type stories, even a snoozefest like the 1st half of the 1st JigokuS season, just cannot transfer into a live format…

    Zzz...
  11. woah, i watched the anime series up about half way and never go to finish it. I might check this out to cover for that but, i can’t see how they will cover everything into 1/2hr action.

    maiko
  12. Although Iwata Sayuri doesn’t physically represent Ai in terms of facial features (it would be difficult to anyways), she’s expert at portraying the innocent-yet-creepy-school-girl if you’ve seen her ‘Kisshoh Tennyo’.
    Thanks for the screencaps!

    Yukina
  13. Ah swt common guys, live action will not be able to replicate the anime 100% .. at least they retain the key plots and character from the anime series . ( in this episode’s case, it’s almost the same as the anime’s )

    and ya i have to agree this Ai is not scary .. and she is as tall as/taller compared to the victims ahahahhaha O_O .. might be because i’m used to her image as a child XD .

    Looking forward to wanyuudo firey- chariot part … =D

    joobs
  14. They could at least pick a less chubby/more lolita ghoth looking japanese. But hey that’s my preferences anyway. I mean she doesn’t look like a girl from hell. More like ‘Im going to McD’s, you are coming with me’. yeah.

    AvexMode
  15. I’ll give this a try since I love the anime and it’ll be interesting to see it in live version. From the screencaps, they all look like their anime-counter parts which is a good thing.

    koyuki
  16. did Jigoku Shoujo started as a manga? how old/young are all the cast supposed to be? man, i just watched the first episode of this live-action drama and it was really really bad. like CronuZ said, it feels more obasan than shoujo. Onna looks like an old prostitute it felt disgusting…

    though may not be low-budget, it does seem low in ambition and important details are not being taken care of properly. it seems like they just want to make this series for the sake of it. i’m totally unconvinced… thumbs down…

    tensai13
  17. i like anime version of this title and now l don’t see drama version, because of my thinking that looks anime version better than drama version of all title. But after i read your comment about drama version of this title, i rethink and find for drama version’ stuff ^^

    PS. i think Enma Ai in anime version is better than well, MO~E!

    Jz
  18. WOW EVEN YHOUGH I CAN’T FIND THE SITE FORME TO WATCH LL THE CONTENT OF THE DRAMA I CAN SAY THYAT IT IS REALLY CUTE.IAM A FAN OF GFH AND WHILE IAM TAKING A LOOK AT THE PIC. ” IT LOOKS REAL JUST LIKE IN THE ANIME EPISODE I SAW”SO WHAT I CXAN SAY TO THE PERFORMERS IN THE DRAMA ” A BIG CONGRATULATIONS” FOR THEIR VERY EXCELLENT WORK. MORE POWER!

  19. wow! this j drama is really fantastic even though i can only see it by the pic. because actually i can’t find the video. but if i can see the video then i’ll watch it. even though others criticize this negatively, I want to say a big congratulations for the performers of this jdrama .godspeed!

  20. …i love the effects and Iwata Sayuri did a good job…wait, is Enma Ai smiling?…i really love the anime and also the live-action…the second season (anime) is still not here in the Philippines…and the live-action…i only watch in sites where they view it…darn it animax!!!!…

    GFH99
  21. hey the serie is good i llike so mvch i wanna know if anybody know where i can read the manga beacvse the 3 season i think change all beacvase vse the cel phone well if anybosy have somethting to say about this write me or agree to msn

    giorgio
  22. No offense but this was bad, I’m not saying that as an anime nerd either, but they completely screwed up Jigoku Shoujo.

    First off: Ai’s actress is too old, and too friendly looking, her eyes need to be brighter, her voice needs to be colder, and more expressionless,
    and the scene where she putting on her kimono and flipping her hair makes me wince.

    Second: The special effects remind me of power rangers, like the flowers coming off of Ai’s Kimono, though I did like how they actually managed not NOT kill off Ren’s giant eye.

    third: Wanyuudo is 40 years too young and 40 pounds too heavy, and he’s got hair (wanyuudo is bald) I like who they picked for Ren and Hone Onna though.

    Sorry if that was a little long, but yeah, I think they made this drama on 30 cents budget, Sorry if I sound picky and like a total Anime freak, it’s just I really liked how both seasons of the animation turned out, and I was merely curious when finding this, although I am disappointed. I think they could’ve done better.

    w-l-k
  23. Where can I download the drama for free online? I watched the first season of the anime and it was awesome, now I really want to watch the drama… Plz tell me where I can download the drama series. Thanks!

    Eidrib

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