It is said that life's encounters are governed by fate.
Tangled up in the threads of fate...
...are the ill-fated blossoms, pitiful and frail.
Lost in anger, sorrow, and tears...
Beyond the veil of midnight,
the retribution that you are helpless to reap shall be yours.
Itsuka hikari ni mukau sakasama no chou
Kimi to kami o kiru kagami no naka
Jugyou-chuu no rouka hibiku ashioto
Taezu ame no oto ga tsuite-kuru yo
Kanjiru mama no katachi wa mabushii amai hana ni naru
Doku no mi ni mo naru
Kyou mo ame
Ano hi to ima o sora to sora de tsunagitai no
In this craziness, uncertainty
Hitori hitori no omoi o bokura wa dokoka ni nokoseru darou ka
In this craziness, you gave me life
Hitotsu no omoi o bokura wa doko made mamoreru darou ka
In this craziness, uncertainty
Hitori hitori no katachi o bokura wa dokoka ni nokoseru darou ka
In this craziness, you gave me life
Sorezore no katachi o bokura wa doko made mamoreru darou ka
"When will the cherry blossoms flower?"
"When will they flower in the mountain village?"
"When will the cherry blossoms grow fragrant?"
"When the laughing child of seven plays"
"When will the cherry blossoms dance about?"
"When the singing child of seven goes to sleep"
"When will the cherry blossoms wilt away?"
"When the dead child of seven ascends"
"Home in the Twilight" "When the dead child of seven ascends"
"Home in the Twilight"
Tsugumi!
Huh?
Look at this!
Isn't it awful?!
What happened?
The boys! It's the boys!
That Suzuki guy yanked on it.
And it broke...
Yup! But Suzuki just laughed and ran away!
It's unforgivable!
Right?
Why don't you grab him and make him apologize?
Apologizing won't do any good.
That's right, because he broke it.
I know, let's send him to Hell.
Oh, great idea! Let's do that!
Let's get Hell Girl to send Suzuki to Hell!
He's a nasty guy anyway.
I'd be happier if he weren't around.
You gave me one hell of a scare.
I'm sorry.
I thought my heart would stop when I got the call from the hospital.
Sorry...
He was a good person, wasn't he?
That driver...
It was my fault, but he was apologizing so much...
Oh...
"Reception"
lf...
If I'd died in that accident...
Would you have hated that driver?
Y-You dummy, what're you saying?
He was a good person, wasn't he?
But if I'd died, wouldn't you have thought about killing him?
I don't know...
I don't know anymore...
I owe you an apology.
I'll stop now.
Hell Girl...
From now on, I'll never even mention her around you.
So, you forget about it.
Hajime...
Here, wipe your tears.
O-Okay...
"Japan's Cherry Blossoms"
Yes, that's right.
Oh, I see.
How does the schedule look for the other party?
-Yes. Yes, yes.
-Mother... -Yes. Yes, yes.
Okay, then please take care of it.
Is it okay?
Is it really okay for it to just end like this?
Is it okay?
Hey, good news.
What?
I'm going to Hawaii to cover a story.
Hawaii?
It looks like I can fudge the expenses, so let's go together.
It's a simple story, so it'll be like going on vacation.
You can swim in the ocean, Tsugumi.
Hajime...
What's wrong? Don't wanna go?
It's Hawaii!
Of course, I'll go.
Yeah? Okay, it's settled.
Then I'll make the arrangements for the tickets right now.
Let's see...
I'll go make some tea.
Sure.
Huh? That's strange...
I was sure I'd saved that crooked travel agent's number...
Crooked stuff is wrong.
Tsugumi?!
You know Sentaro?
What?
You know him?
Hell Girl...
Tsugumi!
Please stop this...
Come on, please, just stop it!
I won't get in your way! I won't chase after you any more!
So release my daughter!
I'm begging you! Stay away from us from now on!
"Japan's Cherry Blossoms"
Hajime...
Tsugumi, you're back?
We can't leave it like this.
We won't be able to end it like this.
To find out why... To find out what she wants to tell us...
We have to meet Hell Girl.
Tsugumi... But you...
I want to know the answers, too.
Ai, what's the matter?
It's nothing, Grandma.
Are you troubled about something?
No, I'm fine.
Could it be that you're...
I'm fine...
"Japan's Cherry Blossoms"
Mutsumi Village, huh?
They were here. Hell Girl and that boy...
Sentaro...
Who is he? How is he related to Hell Girl?
Why would she ask if you know him?
She's there?
She's not?
Don't scare me, damn it!
"Yamano Inn"
We almost never have any guests here during this season.
It's cold and if it snows, it blots out the beautiful view.
Ah, I see.
We've usually had snow by this time every year, so you're very lucky.
Oh, it's started.
Huh?
Snow...
Oh, you're right.
I can't believe it, just as we were talking about it.
Is the bath ready?
Yes, please help yourselves.
Tsugumi, go take a bath.
Alone?
What?
Oh...
Sorry, that was a weird thing for me to say.
Huh? No...
Then I will show you the way.
See you later.
What am I supposed to do in situations like that?
Do you feel it?
Do you feel something when you look at this view?
I'm coming in...
Tsugumi, Father's here...
Hajime...
Do you feel something when you look at the view?
That's what she asked?
Yeah.
What does that mean?
This is the first time we've ever been to this out-of-the-way place.
Thank you. You're such a darling.
It's nothing.
Isn't it great that the weather has cleared?
And there isn't too much snow on the ground, either.
Yes.
Whereabouts do you plan to visit?
If you'd like,
there happens to be a place behind us that offers a great view.
Ma'am, is this place far?
What?
Oh...
Well, it's about 20 minutes from here, but...
Oh, really? Please tell me how we can get there.
Um, but it's winter right now...
Local stories?
I'm not originally from around here, so...
Oh, why not inquire at the temple?
The temple?
It happens to be right on your way to the waterfall.
The head priest there may know those kinds of things.
"Shichidouji"
Please. It's just stem tea, but it will warm you up.
Thank you for the tea.
You have certainly traveled a long way, coming from Tokyo.
And at this time of year...
Covering stories for a magazine sounds like hard work.
Yes, well...
"Freelance Reporter Hajime Shibata"
Mr. Shibata...
"Freelance Reporter Hajime Shibata" But what a coincidence...
Oh?
Old stories, is it?
The truth is, I am not exactly from these parts, either.
I was hired for the job, if you will.
I had no idea.
I am sorry I could not be of help.
Oh, not at all.
That's brown sugar candy.
They're delicious.
Brown sugar candy?
It's a time-honored flavor.
You're right, it's really delicious.
Isn't it, though?
Oh, yes. I just remembered something.
Do you know of a practice called Seven Sending?
Seven Sending?
It is apparently a practice that was once observed in these parts.
In order to ask for good health...
...and abundant harvests of the mountain god,
once every 7 years, they supposedly made a sacrifice to the mountain...
...of a girl that just turned seven years old.
A child of seven to the mountain?
That's the same age as me.
"Seven" That's the same age as me.
"Seven" Seven is a number that represents the yang of ying and yang,
"Seven" so it is an auspicious number.
So it is an auspicious number.
In other words, it symbolizes auspicious events...
...and in turn,
it is also said to be the number that invites auspicious events.
So, to invite auspicious events to occur in the village,
they sacrificed a seven-year-old child to the god?
This temple was supposedly built...
...to appease those young souls wandering in the mountains.
Hence, the name...
"Shichidouji" Hence, the name...
"Shichidouji" Yes, and the man who built this temple...
"Shichidouji" ...is actually the founding owner of this brown sugar candy maker.
It was built over 400 years ago in the Azuchi-Momoyama period.
The owner was supposedly originally from around this area,
but left due to some circumstance...
...and later went on to succeed as a brown sugar candy maker.
Though, I understand...
...that no one related to the founding owner works at the shop anymore.
But even now, several times a year,
they send us these candies as an offering.
What is the shop called?
Yes, that's the coincidence I mentioned earlier...
It's called Shibataya.
What?
Shibata?
So that was it...
That was it.
Head Priest, what was the name of the founding owner of Shibataya?
"Shichidouji"
I'm told that his name was Sentaro.
From the way you look, I guess you couldn't find her, either.
You struck out, too, huh?
We sure are a hopeless bunch.
Don't say that.
Honestly! Where could the Miss have gone?
It's not even for any jobs.
She's just been disappearing without warning lately.
Well, you know, the Miss is a young lady...
Ouch!
You think this is a time for joking around?!
You didn't have to throw that at me! That hurt!
Oh? Back again.
-What?! -What?!
Oh...
You meant that one...
Hold on...
Just maybe...
Is this the place?
The view that you saw?
Someone piled these up?
This is...
Hey!
Ai Enma?
Gotcha!
No! Let go, Sentaro!
-Sentaro?
-You can't catch me! -Sentaro?
-You can't catch me! -Hell Girl and Sentaro...
So, the two were childhood friends...
You're here.
Hell Girl!
It still remained.
The abominable bloodline had not died out.
It was that blood that led me astray.
Abominable? What in the world are you talking about?
Stop!
Stop...
Please! Stop!
Please!
Stop, Sentaro!
Tsugumi, you okay?
You were buried...
What?
You were buried?
Were you? By Sentaro...
What?!
Do you mean to kill me once again?
Transcending time... Again, like you did then?
Though I have accepted it all...
I will not be killed!
Be gone!
She's here, just like I thought!
You can't, Miss!
Stop this! You mustn't kill at the behest of your emotions!
You will be banished to Hell!
Even so, I do not care!
This is bad. Her heart is completely ruled by hatred!
Run!
What are you doing?! Hurry!
Miss, stop this!
Be gone!
Miss!
-Miss! -Miss!
I do not care.
So be it! Consign this grievance to Hell!
Ltsudatte yukidomari de
Keshite nigerarenai
Sora no tori e kanashimi nose
Tobasu no
Koko wa karinui
Watashi o shibaru eien
Yuki mo kaeri mo
Sugite yuku wa yume
"This is a work of fiction and any similarities between the names of characters or organizations in this story and actual names are entirely coincidental."
Miss, you've done nothing wrong.
It's the same in every era.
Humans are creatures that hurt others for their own happiness.
By covering their sins with other sins.
And when they do, bitter grudges are born.
Yes, just like with you, Miss.
"Hell Girl Hell Girl" Yes, just like with you, Miss.
"Hell Girl Hell Girl" Next time, "Hell Girl".
"Hell Girl Hell Girl"