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.
A butterfly, hanging upside down, that will head towards the light sometime
The reflection in the mirror as we cut our hair
Footsteps echoing in the hallway during class
The sound of rain follows us ceaselessly
Purely what we feel is blinding and can take the shape of a sweet flower
Or the shape of a poisonous fruit
Rain again today
I want to link that day to now, sky-to-sky
In this craziness, uncertainty
Will we be able to leave a trace of each of our emotions somewhere?
In this craziness, you gave me life
To what bounds can we safeguard one emotion?
In this craziness, uncertainty
Will we be able to leave a trace of each of our selves somewhere?
In this craziness, you gave me life
To what bounds can we safeguard each of our selves?
I will not be killed!
Be gone!
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!
Miss!
-Miss! -Miss!
I do not care.
So be it! Consign this grievance to Hell!
Miss...
This can't be...
Miss!
"Hell Girl"
Hajime, I can't breathe...
Tsugumi... Tsugumi...
You awake, Sentaro?
I made some rice balls. Eat.
Right.
Straw sandals?
Yeah.
You're making them for everyone again?
You don't have to do that, Pa.
It's fine.
Then at least get paid a little for them!
It's fine. Just eat.
Pa!
My body's weak.
I'm always a burden on the village working the fields.
This is like an apology for that.
Eat.
When I'm done, I'll help you.
Never mind that. Go play.
Ai came by earlier.
What?
You were sleeping, so she said she'd come later.
I don't have to today. I'll make straw sandals.
Go play with her.
You're her cousin and you're about the only one who'll play with her.
But...
Huh?
Ai!
What's wrong?! Did you get bullied again?!
Who was it?! Koukichi?!
That bastard!
Sentaro, hold on!
Come back, Sentaro!
That idiot...
Koukichi!
What was that for, Sentaro?!
Shut up! You made Ai cry!
You idiot! She's an evil spirit!
Why are you bothering to defend her?!
You know it, too, don't you?!
Uncanny things happen when she's around!
Just yesterday,
she put a dead butterfly on her hand and it came back to life!
It's her power as an evil spirit! No question about it!
Shut up!
Everyone in the village is uneasy about her, too.
They say if Ai stays here,
the village is sure to suffer some terrible calamity someday.
So I told her to go away!
Told her to disappear for the sake of the village!
What?!
Why you!
Anyone who defends Ai isn't with the village!
Get him!
Yeah!
Sorry...
Nah...
That butterfly wasn't dead. That was why...
Those bastards... Don't pay them any mind.
I'm sorry.
Here.
I...
I don't think you're an evil spirit.
You're just Ai.
Tonight, your daughter will be sacrificed to the mountain god...
...to insure abundant harvests for the next seven years.
This is a great honor.
A great honor.
Everyone is waiting at the shrine.
Come when you're done preparing.
Why is it Ai?
Because Ai's an evil spirit...
Because everyone thinks that...
That's why, right?!
Sentaro...
Because she's uncanny!
Because you want her gone!
That's why you chose Ai to be the Seven Sending maiden!
What?!
You all just want to kick Ai out!
Sentaro!
Then bring us a replacement!
Could you do that?
It's for the village.
I'll be waiting out front. Hurry up now.
Sentaro...
We want to ask you for a favor.
Now, go to the mountain god, cleansed.
Are you serious?
If we do that and the other villagers find out...
Please help us do this.
What?
We know it's something we shouldn't do.
More than anything,
when I think that the mountain god might bring his wrath down upon us...
But...
I'm begging you, Sentaro!
I'd feel wretched for Ai's sake if we just let her go like this.
We beg of you! Protect Ai for us!
B-But...
Ai...
Hey, hurry it up! I'm freezing out here!
All right.
I'll protect Ai!
It's still no good.
We don't have enough sunny days.
What's a man to do?
We'll just have to make a heartfelt appeal to the mountain god.
I'm sorry, but we'll be counting on you again tonight.
Right.
It's me.
I brought you a change of clothes and food.
Thank you...
This is awful...
Even if we scrape it all together, it won't be enough for taxes.
What do we do, Pa?
We have no choice but to have them settle...
...for the barnyard and foxtail millet in the storehouse.
But that's what we're supposed to eat! If we do that...
He's been like that all the time lately.
Must be hungry...
It can't be helped. Not with his ma's milk not flowing.
Poor thing.
At that rate, he might not make it through this winter.
"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"
That scared me.
I know.
Sentaro?
Is it safe to leave the shrine on a moonlit night like this?
I-It's fine.
The villagers are all distracted by the state of the rice paddies.
I see...
Does it feel good?
Yes.
The moon is so beautiful.
Yeah.
If only...
If only things could stay this way forever.
Ai...
Why don't we leave the village together?
What?
Nah, it's nothing. Really...
You're strange...
Sentaro, what have you done?!
How...
There was a rumor going around...
That you were going into the mountains every night.
Now we know.
The reason our rice crops are suffering...
...is because she defied the ritual!
You brought down the wrath of the mountain god on us!
Did you ever think about how our village is starving?!
Ai... What a girl you are! It's unforgivable!
-Run, Ai! Run away! -You're not getting away!
-Why you! -Move!
Stop it!
Let me go!
Pa, let me go!
Catch her!
Don't let her escape!
Stop it!
Help me, Sentaro!
Sentaro-!
Shut up!
Ai!
No...
Nooo!
It makes me hate myself...
I want to help the Miss,
but the crucial moment comes and I can't do a thing for her.
If the Miss hadn't taken us in,
we'd have ended up rotting away in Hell.
We owe the Miss an enormous debt...
Where could she have gone?
Don't tell me she's really been banished to Hell.
Now, calm down.
Panicking won't help anything.
It's the way of things to turn out as they will.
-Let go! Let me go, Pa!
-Don't go! Don't you go! Stay here! -Let go! Let me go, Pa!
-Don't go! Don't you go! Stay here! -At this rate, Ai will... Ai will...
-Listen to me! -At this rate, Ai will... Ai will...
Listen, Sentaro!
You were helping to violate the village's ritual, too!
Do you want to die?!
If you do something again,
you won't be the only one to pay the price!
Pa...
This was something Ai once accepted, too.
But that was...
We have no choice but to do this.
If we are to beg the mountain god for forgiveness,
we have to do this.
It's for the sake of the village. Bear with it.
Don't...
Please, don't do this!
Ai...
Ai!
Sentaro...
Ai!
Come on, hurry up and finish it!
Hurry up and do it!
Hey, Sentaro!
Sentaro, you have deceived the mountain god these past six years.
Atone for that sin.
If you do not beg forgiveness, this will be for nothing.
I don't want to...
It's for the village! At this rate, everyone's going to starve to death!
I'm hungry...
At least, if next year...
Please, Sentaro!
Sentaro!
It's because of you and Ai that the village is suffering like this!
Hurry up and beg for forgiveness!
If my milk won't start flowing again, he won't last much longer...
Sentaro...
Do it for the village!
Do it.
You said you would protect me...
I trusted you...
I trusted you!
Move aside!
Come on, bury them!
Yeah!
Sentaro...
Great mountain god,
the girl that violated the ritual has been dealt with!
So please...
So please save the village!
I will curse you!
All of you!
Even from beyond the grave, I will curse you!
A fire?
"When will the cherry blossoms flower?"
"When will they flower in the mountain village?"
Ai?! "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..."
You saw that?
Yeah.
I don't understand...
I don't understand Sentaro...
I do.
What?
I understand.
Always a dead end
There is no escape
I place my sorrow upon a bird in the sky
And I'll let it fly
This place is ephemeral
An eternity that binds me
Coming or going
All that passes by are dreams
"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."
If you really want retribution,
untie that red thread.
However,
once you have your retribution,
you will have to pay the price for it as well.
Curses come home to roost.
You know all that already, don't you?
Now, all that remains is for you to decide.
"Hell Girl The Ephemeral" Now, all that remains is for you to decide.
"Hell Girl The Ephemeral" Tsugumi...
"Hell Girl The Ephemeral"