Kaire

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Jigoku Shōjo ( Hell girl)



"At midnight every night, you can access Jigoku Tsuushin online. If you type in the name of someone who you have a grudge against there, Jigoku Shōjo will appear and send that person to hell. Rumors of the site spread among children living in cities. However, no one speaks of one thing, that you must make a contract with the Jigoku Shōjo to carry out revenge against your grudge."
The series is mainly a collection of short stories. Each of them descript the suffering of a different individual caused by one or more
antagonists of him/her, and the subsequent punishment they inflict on them with the help of Enma Ai, aka the "Jigoku Shōjo" (Hell Girl).
During each story, the
protagonists' dramas are explained in detail from the start of their grudges, through the escalation of their torment until it becomes unbearable and they resort to the "Jigoku Tsuushin", a mysterious black colored web site only accessible at midnight. The contents of the site are only a text: "あなたの怨み、晴らします。 (We will take revenge on your behalf.)", a text box where the grudge's object must be written, and a "送信 (Send)" button. Some time after the post, they are visited by Enma Ai, a young red eyed girl wearing traditional sailor school uniform. She delivers them a black straw doll with a red string tied to its neck, and she tells them that if they want their vengeance to be delivered, they must remove the string from the doll, and their enemies will be immediately taken to Hell. However, a crest shaped mark will appear in their chest, always reminding them that after their lives come to end, they must give compensation by having their own soul also sent there.
Enma Ai doesn't work alone. She lives in a house in an unknown world that is in eternal sunset with her grandmother who orders her around and whose face never appears. Ai also counts on the help of her three assistants. When they are not under her services, they stay in the form of three straw dolls, otherwise they assume the form of Ichimoku Ren, a handsome young man in casual clothes, Hone-Onna, a beautiful woman wearing a kimono, and Wanyuudou, an old man wearing a hat and a red scarf who becomes the same black doll delivered to each one of their "clients". They help her during the event when their victims are confronted with their own sins, prior to the moment when Ai (dressed in traditional kimono with floral patterns) ferries them to hell. Also, the trio helps her investigate the true nature of their cases when something seems suspicious.
In episode 8 of the series, two other recurring characters are introduced: A journalist named Shibata Hajime who is investigating the stories involving the Jigoku Shōjo, and his daughter Tsugumi. After an encounter with Enma Ai, Tsugumi starts to have visions of what Ai sees and thus the two become more and more involved in Ai's matters. The fact is Hajime doesn't agree with Ai's methods; he believes people should solve their problems by other means than resorting to vengeance, and tries to stop those who contracted to the Jigoku Shōjo from sending their grudges to Hell with Tsugumi's help. As the story progresses, Tsugumi begins to question if Ai's ways are as wrong as her father believes, but little do they know about the true reason why their thoughts are connected.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Squall Leonhart



Squall Leonhart is the protagonist from Squaresoft's (now Square Enix) role-playing game Final Fantasy VIII. He was designed by Tetsuya Nomura and Yoshitaka Amano, with heavy influences coming from game director Yoshinori Kitase. As the lead character of Final Fantasy VIII, most of the game is seen from Squall's perspective. Squall's Limit Break (special move) is Renzokuken, which is a series of four to eight slashes preceeding one of four finishing moves.
In the game, Squall is a 17 year old student at
Balamb Garden, a prestigious military academy for elite mercenaries known as "SeeDs."[1] As the game's story progresses, Squall becomes friends with Quistis Trepe, Zell Dincht, Selphie Tilmitt and Irvine Kinneas, and falls in love with Rinoa Heartilly. These relationships — combined with developments in the game's plot — gradually turn him from a loner to an open and caring person.[1]
Squall has appeared in several other games, such as Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts II, and Chocobo Racing. His weapon, the gunblade, also appears in other works.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Rinoa Heartilly


Final Fantasy VIII
In the game, Rinoa is a member of the Forest Owls, a small resistance faction seeking to liberate the small nation of Timber from Galbadian occupation. Rinoa first meets
Squall Leonhart, the male protagonist of the game, at a ball at Balamb Garden. During the dance, she manages to charm the usually stoic and unfriendly Squall into dancing with her. Her purpose for visiting the Garden is revealed when the Forest Owls hire Squall, Zell Dincht, and Selphie Tilmitt as mercenaries. She stays with them as they are forced to flee Timber, and ends up traveling along with them for the remainder of the game.
Outspoken, spirited, emotional and compassionate, Rinoa is in many ways the polar opposite of the cold and unsociable Squall; in fact, in the previous summer she was romantically involved with his long-standing rival
Seifer Almasy. Together she and Squall go through many things, including Squall flying into space to rescue her from the sorceress' memorial and surviving time compression together. Although their personalities do clash at first, Squall and Rinoa not-so-gradually fall in love, and their relationship is a major focus of the game's storyline.
Rinoa's weapon of a choice is the Blaster Edge, a bladed ring mounted to her wrist that acts much like a
boomerang. She is assisted by her faithful dog, Angelo, during battle. Due to events later in the game, she also acquires a secondary limit break called Angel Wing, in which she becomes uncontrollable for the remainder of the battle, acting on her own by casting spells with greatly increased power.
Rinoa has a questionable family life. Her mother died when she was 5 from an automobile accident. After that her father cut himself off emotionally. She has taken to calling her father 'Caraway' (his last name) instead of 'Dad', and she changed her last name from 'Caraway' to Heartilly, her mother's maiden name. Rinoa's mother was named Julia Heartilly, who was a love interest of Laguna Loire.