SHIGOFUMI

Letters from the Departed

It is October the month of Halloween and spooky stuff. (I might do another review similar to this)

An anime series that came out in 2008 with 12 episodes and an OVA which came out in the same year. There was also a Light Novel version that came out from 2006 to 2008 with 4 volumes.

The anime series just as the title is about letters that were written by the departed addressed to people whom they wish to convey their last unspoken messages. It does not have to be a relative it can be a friend, mentor or whoever they want.

The main character of the anime series is Fumika a young girl (young looking girl) with almost no emotions is one of those tasked to deliver the last unspoken message of the departed and to deliver it to the recipient of the letter. As one of the carriers of the Shigofumi she wears a black cloak and a staff which seems to have an artificial intelligence, very high tech for those who carry letters of the departed.

This 12-episode anime series was very interesting to watch, the story was king of unique during the time it was aired although there was another series with a similar theme of the main character being carriers of telegrams or packages that needs to be delivered no matter the cost. But that is for another review, this review is for Shigofumi.

This series got me hooked on watching from start to end, it also got me wondering if this has happened in real life. A departed soul given on last chance to make a letter and address it to anyone he wants to convey his/her final message as a departed.

In real life we get those psychics and paranormal guys who says they can connect the physical realm to the spirit realm and give people one more chance to connect with their departed loved ones one last time. The psychics and paranormal people use devices and mediums in order to make a conduit between the spirit realm and the physical realm but most of the time they are called fakes. In this anime series the souls are given a short last chance to make a letter to anybody they want to convey their message. The ones who carry the letters from the Spirit Realm to the Physical Realm are called Mail Carrier and they also seem to be souls of the departed who might have been given a chance to roam around and do something for the other departed souls that can move on.

The main character in this film is named Fumika who delivers the letters of the departed to respective people to whom the letter has been addressed to.

Fumika carries a staff named Kanaka which tries to guide Fumika and reminds her of her mission but for some reason Fumika treats Kanaka much more like a weapon swinging her like a club to smash on those that threatens her. She also carries a gun that has a stamp on it meaning that the gun is also a message addressed to someone unknown even to Kanaka.

There are other mail carriers other than Fumika in the series and the most often that shows up with her is Chiaki and she also has her own staff named Matoma or rather called Tomato Juice.

In the story it turned out that Fumika was not dead for very long since she was recognized by a former classmate named Kaname Nojima who knew her in Junior High and Kaname is now in High School so it shows that Fumika has just recently passed away or so they thought after they saw her physical body in a hospital in a coma. This later opened the issue if Fumika was a twin sister of the Fumika in the hospital or they are one the same.

They later got a lead to Fumika’s father Kirameki Mikawa who is a famous novel writer who in this series was an all-out weird character for me. He uses his daughter as his “draft” where he writes all over her body and later transferred to paper. Weird way to get inspiration.

Watching through the entire series from the start it never gave a hint that the series would later follow the backstory of Fumika. The first few episodes focused on different people with their own stories to tell. Just like in one episode that really got me was the episode where one male character has been curious about where do souls of the dead go once they die. This character committed suicide just out of his curiosity and after that he sent a letter which was delivered by Fumika and was addressed to his friend and his father who has taken his former classmates’ hostage and threatens to kill everyone inside due to the confusion as to why his son would commit suicide thinking that his son has been bullied or something. After reading the letter he still could not accept the fact that his son just committed suicide out of pure curiosity for the afterlife and there he also described that he has been given small amount of time to write a letter to anyone he wants to convey his final message before moving on.

So, this series somehow shows a possibility on how a departed soul can communicate with the living one last time. But having to read a letter written by someone who has died is still creepy for me even though this is just an anime or purely fiction and no living creatures were harmed in making the anime series. Except for those who are easily absorbed by these kinds of shows.

Kind of makes audience think the same question doesn’t it. Where do we go once we die and can we still send messages to our loved ones in the realm of the living. But still please do not get too absorbed by the show and later commit suicide just to find out what happens once you die.

This series for me must be considered under the psychology genre along with the horror, slice of life and mystery I think. I would advise not letting viewers below 18 to watch this alone also those viewers whose mentality are below 18 just to be safe due to the theme and content of this series.

I might revisit my other review and make a list of anime series that needs proper viewer discretion due to heavy and sensitive themes that the anime series has. For my experience I have seen anime and other series to have themes that are too heavy or sensitive for their supposed target audiences.

Highly recommended for those who wants to watch these types of anime series

credits to owners of the video and the pictures