Recap / Hell Girl S 1 E 6 Early Afternoon Window

Keiko Yasuda is walking home with her daughter, Haruka, when she sees a man walk out of the house of her neighbor, Namiko Todaka. Todaka realizes that Keiko has caught her cheating on her husband and sends one of her lovers to Keiko's house with a threatening message telling her not to speak of it to anyone. Keiko tries to act like nothing is wrong, but Haruka knows something is going on. The next day, Todaka is gossiping with two other women when Keiko walks by and takes the opportunity to harass her and even has her daughter, Yuria, bully Haruka at school. One of the women Todaka was gossiping with says that she deliberately makes life difficult for people she doesn't like. Yuria starts bullying Haruka by spreading gossip and when Haruka brings it up, Keiko panics. Keiko's husband, who works for Todaka's husband, has been yelled at by his boss and blames Keiko, who tries to say that she caught Todaka in an affair.

The next day, Todaka sends a man to Keiko's house to make it seem like the latter is the one having an affair. The man barges in and sexually assaults Keiko, who is hospitalized afterward. Haruka accesses the Hell Correspondence and submits Todaka's name. While Haruka watches Todaka and her family enjoy the evening Ai meets Haruka. Haruka asks to know what happened between Keiko and Todaka, saying that she is tired of seeing her mother suffer. Ai says that saving Keiko is beyond her power, but she can avenge her. Ai hands Haruka Wanyuudo's straw doll, laying out the terms of the deal, then asks if Haruka still wants to know what happened. Haruka accepts and sees all of Todaka's actions up to that point. Haruka returns home to find her father abusing Keiko over his difficulties at work, pulling the doll's thread when she gets to her room.

Ai rides forth to claim Todaka's soul as Ichimoku Ren arrives at Todaka's house disguised as a mailman. She lets Ren inside and starts undressing him when her husband walks in. Todaka tries to make an excuse, but her husband appears under her and tells her to stop lying. Todaka continues to make excuses, but her husband throws the curtains open and reveals her infidelity to a crowd of witnesses, Hone Onna among them, who taunt her. Yuria also appears, crying that now she's going to be teased at school. The two women shown gossiping with Todaka earlier in the episode start gossiping about Todaka herself while her husband continues to yell at her. Todaka yells at them to leave her alone, leaving "Yuria," who reveals herself to actually be Ai. Ai banishes Todaka to Hell. Todaka is ferried through Hell's gate in a state of perpetual lust.

Haruka reflects that seeing her mother happy again is enough to keep her happy despite knowing that she sold her soul for it. During her monologue, Yuria passed by Keiko chatting with two women and brought up Todaka's infidelity. A candle with Haruka's name is lit.

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This episode contains examples of:

• Afterlife Antechamber: Before her Hell Banishment, Namiko Todaka went out of her way to ruin Keiko's life to keep her silent about the former's adultery. As punishment, Namiko ends up in an identical version of her home where her husband, Ryuji, catches her cheating, shoots down her excuses, and exposes her to the neighbors gathered behind the curtains. After Yuria cries that she will be the one bullied in school, the crowd, including the two women who gossiped with Namiko, start gossiping about Namiko before laughing at her, effectively subjecting her to the same suffering she inflicted on Keiko.
• Break the Cutie: OH, poor Haruka and Keiko. Their lives are ruined because Namiko believed Keiko would’ve reported her behaviour to her husband. They get better at the end, though not completely in the former’s case.
• Break the Haughty: What happens to Yuria at the end. After viciously mocking Haruka’s situation, she finds out it was her mother who committed infidelity.
• Can't Take Criticism: When Keiko calls out her husband for prioritizing his job over his family and his unwillingness to listen to her explanations about Todaka, Haruka’s father didn't react very well and proceed to slap her so hard.
• Death Glare: Todaka gives Keiko an absolutely chilling one immediately after being caught in the act.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Todaka ruins Keiko's life for catching her in an affair.
• Domestic Abuse: Haruka's father cares way more about his job than about his wife and takes his anger about his troubles at work on Keiko.
• Evil Laugh: Ichimoku Ren can be heard laughing mockingly in the background as illusions of Todaka's neighbors show up in her Hell Banishment scene. After Hone-Onna proclaims near the end that Todaka will become a laughingstock once her affair is exposed, the entire crowd laughs like this.
• Gossipy Hens: The other two women who appear with Todaka and later Keiko. Illusions of them also appear during the Hell Banishment. They also have daughters who help Yuria make Haruka’s (and presumably Yuria’s herself after the epilogue) life miserable.
• Harmful to Minors: While Haruka didn't witness it personally, Ai shows her the rape of Keiko at the hands of a gangster, with Todaka snapping pictures of the aftermath for blackmail and threatening with doing the same to Haruka if Keiko dared to speak out. Understandably, Haruka is disgusted by the scene and begs Ai to not show her anymore.
• Hate Sink: Noticeably, this is the first of many episodes to contain more than one character that are this. The Todaka family waste no time harassing the Yasuda family, Haruka’s dad isn’t sympathetic towards his daughter and wife, and the Gossipy Hens get in on ruining Keiko’s life as well.
• Ironic Echo:
  • Keiko stops a conversation about Todaka's infidelity with the same line that Todaka and Yuria used. Yuria looks very uncomfortable upon hearing it.
    "That's enough, you two."
  • An indirect one, but Keiko's husband and the illusions of Namiko's husband in her Hell Banishment use the same line when their respective wives object to their accusations of cheating.
    "Who do you think even pays for this easy life of yours?"
• Ironic Hell: The adulteress Todaka is sent to Hell in a state of perpetual lust.
• Karma Houdini: While the Todakas get their just desserts for their actions, Haruka's father never suffers the consequences of his abuse of Keiko and refusal to listen to her when she tried to explain to him about Namiko's affair and then setting her up to turn him and the neighborhood against her.
• Malicious Slander: After Keiko accidentally caught her cheating, Namiko plots to frame Keiko as the adulteress to cover up her affairs and sent a flashy gangster to tease and eventually rape Keiko; Namiko then takes pictures of the aftermath and threatens Keiko with doing the same to Haruka if she dared to speak out.
• No Listening Skills: Whenever Haruka's father thinks the worst of Keiko, he refuses to listen to her explainations.
• Not Now, Kiddo: Keiko tries to tell her husband she caught Todaka in an affair, but every time she opened her mouth, her husband flies into a rage, blaming her for his problems at work.
• One Side of the Story: After the rape incident, Keiko tried to explain to the neighborhood that Namiko set her up to make herself look as the adultress, but the neighbors turn a deaf ear on her explanation and turn their backs on her, thanks to Namiko dragging her name to the mud. Her husband, Hideo, as well refuses to hear her out when she tried to tell him about her crimes. The only one willing to hear out her side of the story and believe in her innocence is Haruka.
• Out of Focus: Wanyuudo only appears when Ai goes to punish Namiko and Hone-Onna doesn’t even show up in the episode.
• Parental Neglect: Haruka’s father is not sympathetic towards his daughter either, ignoring her situation.
• Pizza Boy Special Delivery: Ichimoku Ren invokes this at the beginning of the Hell banishment by arriving dressed as a mailman.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Todaka sends a man to rape Keiko and then photographs it to blackmail her, on top of staging it to make Keiko out to be the adulteress in this case.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Keiko delivers one to her husband for caring more about his job than her, when he refuses to hear her out. However, this angers her husband enough to slap her in the face and keep yelling at her. Todaka also gets a blistering rant from several illusions of her husband before she is sent to Hell proper.
  "Mr. Todaka": Who do you think even pays for this easy life of yours? You should be ashamed of yourself, you bitch! You get everything you want, but it's never enough! You're pathetic! I can't let a dirty whore like you ruin my good reputation!
• Revenge Porn Blackmail: After the gangster was through with raping Keiko, Namiko photographs the whole thing to blackmail her into silence. On top of that, she threatens Keiko with doing the same to her daughter, Haruka, if she dares to speak out. It should be noted that Haruka is underage, which means Namiko would risk prosecution if she went through with her threat.
  Namiko: If you don't want anyone to see this, you should keep your mouth shut about other people's business. Because if you ever do tell, well, I think we'll have to get some pictures of your daughter next time.
• Shirtless Scene: Ichimoku Ren gets one during Namiko's Hell banishment when she's about to make out with him... before an apparition of her husband catches her in the act.
• A Taste of Their Own Medicine: After Yuria and the whole neighborhood find out her mother has been the adulteress all along, she ends up on the receiving end of her own bullying. Not only it's implied her Girl Posse has turned on her, but Keiko and (formerly) Todaka's posse mocks her over her now-broken home. In another show this would be seen as her getting her just desserts, but here it's implied that Yuria may eventually snap and get revenge on Keiko (and possibly even Haruka).
• Trauma Conga Line: Keiko's life starts going downhill the moment she catches Namiko Todaka having an affair through the latter's window. First, she's threatened by Namiko's latest lover, who brought a plate of cherries to keep her silent. The next day, she gets harassed her over it while her daughter, Haruka, is bullied by Namiko's daughter, Yuria, at school. Moreover, she gets raped by a gangster and cast as the adulteress before Namiko takes pictures of the aftermath for blackmail. As a result, Keiko's family become pariahs in the whole neighborhood until Haruka sends Namiko to Hell. While Keiko has gotten better in the epilogue, it's implied she became as bad as Namiko, evidenced by her condescending treatment of Yuria.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The Gossipy Hens’ daughters, Haruka’s father, nor Yuria’s father are seen in the epilogue, though the latter gets a brief mention.
• Would Hurt a Child: After the gangster she sent to rape Keiko was done with her, Namiko snaps pictures of the aftermath and implies she'll do the same to the former's daughter, Haruka, if she dared to speak about it.