Shigofumi, Episode 6
Scream
I often justify my habit by saying that I love a good serial: I can even call my favorite live-action American show, Lost, a pretty good time for all its faults. But in truth, I like a good anthology as well. It’s just regular-episode television that bores me. Whether comedy or drama, sticking the same characters into various situations with only a vague semblance of progressing story is wasted opportunity if you ask me. At any rate, Shigofumi is turning out to be a great anthology.
Story
Bad news
While Episode 5’s delivery to a cat was largely an excuse to develop Fumiko’s back story, this time it’s a more strict anthology route. A meek kid named Kikukawa is bullied mercilessly at school and another kid, Morishita, sells him out to protect his own ass, even though he snoops on internet message boards and sees how horrible things are for Kikukawa. Eventually, Kikukawa tops himself and Morishita finds himself the recipient not only of the bullies’ torture, but a vengefully-written Shigofumi from his dead classmate.
Neither rain, nor sleet, nor your sorry ass…
Tying things together, Fumiko’s former classmate is still exploring the mystery of what happened to her. His detective dad worked the case of her father’s shooting, and he confirms she’s been in the hospital for three years. So… as I feared, she is indeed a Fuko. Sigh.
Welcome. You’ve got mail.
Thoughts
I think one of the reasons why the anthology route works for me is the ability to change tone and vary the stories without jacking up the flow. Compare this to the sweetly sad episode with the tennis player, and it’s obvious you couldn’t do those same two types of episodes in a standard show. This one was dark as hell, and it made me wonder at the realism level of the psychologically brutal bullying. Is it really that bad? I suppose it’s probably not too far-fetched.
The Show
This is the first I’ve written on Shigofumi, another series you can chalk up to my flu. Now I’m up to my eyeballs in weekly anime, and though I’d still drop them all just for True Tears, I’m really enjoying this odd beast. Again, the anthology factor is a change of pace, Fumiko’s deadpan delivery is fun, and overall it’s just a slightly less conventional kind of enjoyment. It’s that change of pace that also sets it apart from perhaps its nearest comparison in recent memory, the repetitive Hell Girl. It was created by Ichiro Okouchi, the writer behind Code Geass, and Martian Successor Nadesico director Tatsuo Sato. I suppose the Ruri comparisons probably aren’t just in my head.
JC Staff (Shakugan No Shana, Azumanga Daioh and a ton more) does their typically capable job of animating, with the same dash of computer assistance you see in Shana.
Music is a pretty decent part of Shigofumi; incidentals are often suspenseful and kind of eerie. The OP (by Ali Project) is just odd, kind of makes me weirdly nervous in a way that makes a suitable prep for the show.
I’m looking forward to watching more, and though it’s not as rad as that other show about death and uh, notes, it’s a pretty good break from harems or action shows with no action.
- otou-san out!
