true hell exists within a person; HEAVEN'S A LIE

Kurebayashi Takuma

Takuma is a young boy who lives in a small town called Lovely Hills. He initially lives together with both of his parents in a large house. His mother is killed due to a dart shot into her neck by a family "friend." He wanted to get revenge on Takuma's father for becoming a famous producer. Takuma ends up being blamed for his mother's death and accesses Jigoku Tsuushin in order to request Ai's help. He ultimately gives the doll back to Ai because sending someone to Hell went against the values his father taught him. As a result of Takuma's father still wanting to move away from Lovely Hills, the man who killed Mrs. Kurebayashi assaults Mr. Kurebayashi while meeting him privately. Takuma walks in the room and is about to be killed for witnessing the assault, but the man suddenly disappears. The police enter shortly after, seeing his father unconscious on the floor and that Takuma is the only other person in the room.

Knowing that Jigoku Shoujo is indeed real, Takuma assumes that the man was sent to Hell by someone else. Unfortunately, no one believes his story. With his father in a coma, Takuma is left to fend for himself. Rumors begin to spread that he is the devil's child because he killed his mother and basically killed his father as well.

After a series of events, Jigoku Tsuushin becomes madly popular in Lovely Hills. After a user blames the disappearance of the person they hate on Takuma, the town goes berserk. Everyone begins sending the people they hate to Hell without thinking of the consequences because they have the "devil's child" to use as a scapegoat. Ai starts to become exhausted after sending so many people to Hell, but seems to take an interest in Takuma's plight. She continues to watch over him even though he ultimately decided not to take revenge when they first met. The town obviously treats Takuma as an outcast and someone to avoid at all costs. Cashiers, store clerks, people in the street...everyone is terrified of him because they think he is the causing people to disappear. With his father in the hospital and his mother dead, Takuma has no one to turn to.

Detective Meshiai learns of Jigoku Tsuushin and stumbles across Hajime's book about Ai. At the same time, his younger sister Hotaru visits Takuma's house, knowing in her gut that he must be innocent. While she is there, Kikuri, a small girl that has been following Ai around, brings her to Ai's house where she learns the truth about Jigoku Shoujo first hand. Together, they both save Takuma from being killed by a band of people who have used Jigoku Tsuushin and are afraid of being caught. Aware that the detective knows the truth about what they have done, one of them sends him to Hell. The car he was driving crashes but Takuma and Hotaru are unharmed. As they walk down the road, Hotaru opens her brother's laptop and requests Ai to send Takuma to Hell in order to stop the cycle of hatred.

Though Ai is openly emotional about the case while remembering her own similar past, she demands for Ichimokuren to become the straw doll to give to her. Hotaru sends Takuma to Hell and Ai accepts. As she is rowing the boat toward the gate to Hell, Kikuri provokes Ai by pointing out that Takuma's case is similar to her own past. Ai suddenly stops the boat and brings Takuma back to life. By doing so, the "boss" of Hell relieves her of being Jigoku Shoujo. Much to the complete disbelief of Ai's companions, that did not mean the end of her suffering. Ai's body is returned to life and therefore she will become 400 years old in an instant. Ai is obviously in excruciating pain as she withers in the snow. Seeing Ai in such a horrible condition and realizing that Hotaru tried to kill herself after sending Takuma to Hell results in him losing his patience. Even though his father told him not to succumb to hatred, he couldn't be patient anymore. Despite Ai's pleads to stop, Takuma runs off towards the town. She forces her pained body up and slowly makes her way after him. Her companions try to stop her because of her condition, but she no longer remembers them.

Takuma throws gasoline all over his house and onto the group of people who were trying to kill him. After they try to stop him, he drops the lighter and the house goes up in flames. The group lose their patience with him and finally go to kill him when Ai arrives and commands them to stop. Because she shows up, they immediately think someone in their group called her and start fighting among themselves. Ai holds out her hand and smiles when Takuma takes it and they begin to walk away. One of the men comes after them and hits Ai over the head with a shovel, just like when she was killed in the past. After she hits the ground, the rest of them come and start beating her to death. Even though her companions are nearby and ready to intervene, she smiles at them to let them know it is her decision to let things play out as they will. Takuma screams and openly questions them as how they could do such a cruel thing to Ai. He begs her to wake up as he starts sobbing, but she just takes his hand. With her sacrifice to save Takuma, everything is finally over. She can finally rest after watching over hatred for more than 400 years. Her body dissolves into sakura petals and they blow away.

The closing scene of Futakomori shows Kikuri riding in the boat back to Hell after Ai's parents are set free from the tree they were tangled in. She tells a small cherry in the boat that everything is over and that Ai's answer was exemplary. After twirling the cherry, she simply says "thanks for all of your hard work," and the boat crosses the gate to Hell.

b a c k   .   c l e a r   .   f o r w a r d    Heaven's a Lie and its contents are © Samantha, however Ai and Jigoku Shoujo are © Aniplex, Studio Deen and other rightful owners. Heaven's a Lie is a part of AFTER-DEATH.ORG.