“There’s Only You”
What They Say:
The comedy duo, Nanako and Haru of “Chaos Sweets”… They are rising in popularity day by day. They are so busy with work that they don’t have time to write any scripts. Their relationship seems to be sustained by jokes, but they have a secret. What was the promise they made?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
This week’s episode is a real treat. I was not expecting such a nuanced and emotionally complicated tale. It’s been a long time so I can’t exactly be sure but I believe this season’s writing could be the best one yet.
The story begins right in the middle of Hell Girls’ summoning. Ai has just finished explaining the deal to Haru, the girl who called her out when she decides to back out of it. This is not the first time this has happened as it is understandable not everyone is so quick to give out their souls for revenge. There have even been a couple of instances in which Ai herself has decided to forcibly take back the doll. This time her team hangs around Haru, indicating they know this story isn’t over.
Haru and Nanako are two very complicated women. Together they form Chaos Sweets, a stand-up comedy duo in which Haru plays the silly one and Nanako the straight man. In the eyes of the world, Nanako is a queen with an attitude to match. Supposedly she’s the one writing the skits, while Haru runs around doing chores and running errands for her. When asked why she puts up with it, Haru answers it’s because she promised Nanako to do anything if she’d let her be her partner. Looking at it this way, it’s simple enough, right? It’s perfectly understandable that Haru would be resentful of Nanako, it’s so simple it even feels boring. Except that’s not the case at all. In reality, it’s Haru who writes the skits and Nanako who begged to be her partner. So why would Haru want to send Nanako to hell?
What’s magical about this one it’s precisely the way it’s told. Just like Ai and her team, you are thrown right in the midst of it with no context to make sense of it all. Thanks to this situation you get a feel of what it must be like for them; of what it is to have to investigate almost backward, trying to make sense of seemingly irrational behavior or unwarranted reactions. I must admit I spent a good part of the episode wondering if I was ever going to understand these women or if there was some vital piece of cultural knowledge I was missing. Fortunately, it is all revealed by the end and it makes for a powerful depiction of humanity and love in all its imperfect beauty. There is no surreal trip to hell in this one, and it was definitely the right choice. To dive into that would have been disrespectful to the characters and it would have cheapened the message. The biggest and most welcomed surprise, however, was the end. I was expecting it to end in tragedy as it usually does, but I would never have thought that final act of “retribution” (if it can even be called that way) would turn out to be an act of love.
There is also a short scene with the mystery girl who seems to be following Ai, or is she? When Ai uncharacteristically decides to confront her directly, the girl doesn’t even seem to know who she is. So we still don’t know anything about her, but apparently, neither does she.
In Summary:
This season of Hell Girl has just begun and I can already tell it’s going to be great. If the first episode was pretty straight forward and just a way to get us back into the flow, this one was excellent storytelling. It seems like the writers have really stepped it up. Yes, the reasons for the summoning are ultimately revealed, but what matters is the way we get there. Pay attention to the details, the jokes they decide to tell in the routines, the little gestures. It even reminded me a little bit of Rakugo. There have been moving episodes before, sad ones too, but I don’t remember ever been this emotionally involved in Hell Girl. Here’s hoping it manages to keep it up, even if it breaks my heart every time.
Grade: A+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll, Anime Strike
