Ah, "Jitaku Keibiin 2 Episode 4," another chapter in this twisted saga that unfolds like a cheap paperback novel left out in the rain. We find our anti-hero, Hikimori, a guy about as sharp as a bowling ball, attempting to 'safeguard' his ancestral home from his relatives. His methods? Let's just say they involve more lube than logic.
Hikimori's Aunt Shiho, a woman with more baggage than a jumbo jet, becomes his main target. Their dialogue is a delightful cocktail of forced outrage and barely suppressed desire. She's a caged bird, he's holding the key, and he's not afraid to jingle it in front of her.
Similes aside, the mansion itself is practically another character. Gloomy and dripping with secrets, it’s the perfect setting for this family’s dirty laundry to be aired out, one illicit encounter at a time. And boy, does it get aired out. Turns out Hikimori’s parentage is about as straightforward as a pretzel factory explosion. Incest, fake marriages, and enough repressed desires to make Freud blush are the order of the day.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper noir tale without a healthy dose of irony. Just as Hikimori thinks he's won, inheriting the house he so desperately craved, he gets saddled with a responsibility more terrifying than any relative: his own twisted family ties.
The ending, as predictable as it is pathetic, sees him trapped in a different kind of 'safeguarding' situation with his suddenly devoted aunt. Looks like this home guard is off the market, and not in the way he initially fantasized about. The mansion, ever-watching, probably just sighs and adds another layer of grime to its already sordid history.
Loading comments...