Not to be confused with the 1976 kung fu film, Web of Death.
Provides Examples Of:
- Arc Words: "Do you believe in the Web of Death?" Along with variations.
- Adults Are Useless: All, except the older teacher that guides Chiharu, are this or worse. Particularly Onko, who is abusive and bullies Ai after being prompted by Chiharu, and Ai's mother, who is neglectful, too busy with work and is utterly oblivious to what is going on in Ai's life and her situation.
- Addled Addict: Akiko quickly becomes this for most of the movie.
- Asshole Victim: Onko, who is killed by Ai for abusing her. Depending on your view, can be said about Chiharu and Yoko by the end too, to varying degree. They sure screwed up.
- The Bully: Chiharu becomes this for most of the movie after Fuyumi dies. Yoko too as she becomes her supporter, but she is generally a less severe example, most of the time just standing by and watching as opposed to directly participating in the bullying.
- Big Bad: Chiharu seems to be the closest thing the movie has to this, being hostile and generally antagonistic to almost everyone for most of the movie (save Yoko and one teacher), terrorizing her formers friends and even the teacher alike, having part in killing Fuyumi due to petty jealousy, bullying Ai for something she is equally responsible for, forcing Onko to join in on it, bullying Akiko for supporting Ai and causing her addiction and, as a result, being responsible for her death and her killing Yoko as well, causing most of the problems, death and tragedy in the story. Even though she repents and feels sorry in the end and she and Ai reconcile and end as old friends they were again.
- Bullied into Depression: Akiko has shades of this. Along with "bullied into addiction".
- Chekhov's Gun: The darts board hanging in the main characters' classroom, which Yoko and the others play in the beginning. Its tragic significance doesn't become apparent until the very end where it ends up as the thing to kill Ai.
- The Dragon: Yoko somewhat becomes this to Chiharu, though she is not very ardent in the role.
- Descent into Addiction: Tragically, Akiko's main arc. She goes full way, starting out as one of the nicer, more moderate girls, compared to tough as nails Chiharu, hyper-social Yoko and withdrawn sombre Fuyumi. Then, once Fuyumi dies, she gets bullied by Chiharu and Yoko along with Ai and it shakes her pretty hard. After the two take her to a nightclub where they get the drugs, she develops a severe addiction and becomes an utter shell of a human being for most of the movie, becoming perpetually drowsy, delusional and numb. In the end, it becomes so bad that she kills Yoko in delusion, after fighting with her over her refusal to give her more drugs, and then eventually dies herself from overdose, with a little help from the Web.
- Downer Ending: All main characters die by the end, only partially salvaging their friendship before they do, at best. Fuyumi dies in the beginning by seemingly falling from the school roof after Ai sends her name to the Web at her own request and Chiharu also sends it out of jealousy. Yoko dies from delusional Akiko's hand, Ai and Chiharu send their and Akiko's names to the Web to put it to rest and die the following morning, Akiko dies from overdose in her sleep, Chiharu falls from the school roof like Fuyumi and Ai gets hit in the head with a
darts arrow. - Driven to Suicide: Fuyumi, possibly. Her request and insisting to have her name sent to the Web genuinely comes across as and may actually be this, since she was implied to suffer from depression, addiction or both herself. She dies by supposedly falling from the roof, which may be self-inflicted. Also, Chiharu possibly by the end as well.
- The Dog Bites Back: At one point, after being routinely abused by Onko, Ai decides she has had enough and kills him by sending his name to the Web. She contemplates and/or threatens to do this to Chiharu and Yoko as well, confronting and saying them this in their face, though they don't take her seriously and she eventually decides against it.
- Evil Phone: Web of Death is mainly distributed through cell phones. And that's what is most often used to send death messages.
- Functional Addict: Yoko may be this, as opposed to Akiko's Addled Addict.
- Sucky School: The main characters' school generally appears to be this, at least to some degree, with rampant bullying going all ways, student-to-student, teacher-to-student and even student-to-teacher and no one really caring, where students are and what they do.
- Sadist Teacher: Onko. Maybe not sadist per se, but definitely abusive towards Ai, due to Chiharu goading him into it.
- Self-Harm: Akiko comes to this half-way through, cutting her arm with a razor, her comment implies it's because she feels numb.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The Web is implied to be supernatural in origin, however, all deaths supposedly caused by it can be entirely written off as coincidences and accidents, as unlikely as some of them may be. None of them happen explicitly via supernatural means, Fuyumi may have simply jumped from the roof herself, after being very moody and vaguely suicidal, to commit suicide to escape whatever may have been plaguing her, Onko's death may be a simple accident, though unlikely coincidence, Keiji's death might have been a freak accident too, Yoko was directly killed by frantic Akiko herself, without the Web seemingly being involved much at all, despite Akiko earlier trying to send Yoko's name there. Akiko is likely to have died of overdose, Chiharu may have driven to suicide by guilt and Ai may have been an unlikely accident too. However, the spiritual sounds that can be heard each time the Web is involved and death happens and Ai and Chiharu seeing Fuyumi's ghost imply there to be something supernatural at play still there. Though the latter too can be attributed to the extreme guilt caused visions, even if unlikely.
- Nice Girl: Ai. Akiko was also this, before being bullied by Chiharu and becoming addicted. Compared to Chiharu, Yoko can be counted too.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Fuyumi becomes a ghost after death and haunts Ai and Chiharu on few occasions, seemingly blaming them for her death. She looks the same she did in life, wearing the same school uniform, albeit deathly chalk-white pale.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Chiharu sent Fuyumi's name to the Web seemingly over petty jealousy because Fuyumi was closer to Ai.
- Reformed Bully: Chiharu in the end, though, unfortunately, it's for a short time.
- Redemption Equals Death: Chiharu reconciles with Ai in the end and asks for her forgiveness. To decide everything once and for all, they decide to send their own names to the Web and see what happens and Ai says that if they survive, she'll forgive her. They die soon after...
