Location: Edo-period Japan & New Order-era Indonesia 🇯🇵 / 🇵🇱
The Story: In two different eras and cultures, two women lived under the rigid control of patriarchal societies. In 19th century Japan, Oiwa was a devoted samurai wife, betrayed and murdered by her husband. In 1980s Indonesia, Alisa, a former sex worker seeking a fresh start, was raped and then failed by the legal system, driving her to suicide. In life, both were powerless, their voices and anger silenced by the men around them. 🤐
The Twist: Their deaths were not an end, but a transformation into something powerful. They returned as vengeful ghosts—Oiwa with a disfigured face, Alisa as the horrifying Sundel Bolong. In the supernatural world, the power dynamic flipped: they now haunted and killed their male oppressors, finally expressing the rage they could not in life. However, the ultimate twist is that their stories, while appearing to be about female empowerment, actually reinforce the very system that oppressed them. Their anger is only permitted when they cease to be "women" and become monstrous, abject ghosts. True peace is only granted when they are pacified by religious figures or fade away, symbolizing the patriarchal message that female anger is so unacceptable, it can only be safely expressed from beyond the grave. 👰🏻 😇