Terror Taught Me: Ju-on: Origins and Agency

In 2020 we got 2 new installments of The Grudge – one a continuation of the American remakes, the other a 6-episode prequel series/reboot/origin story to the Japanese original Ju-on. Today we’ll be focusing on the prequel series, written by Takashige Ichise and Hiroshi Takahashi.

Similar to our first Terror Taught Me, The Taking of Deborah Logan, a big lesson in Ju-on is making sure your characters have agency.

Characters Who Act

Actors are called that because they perform actions. Character descriptions on the page are well and good but unless you’re writing the Suicide Squad the audience won’t get to read that. Instead they will learn who these characters are by the actions they take.

(Let’s take a moment and specify that action in this article means dramatic action and not just bang-bang-pow stuff. Dramatic action here means a beat that advances the story. Physical fights can be dramatic action, but so can asking someone out or signing a lease or a host of other things.)

In Ju-on: Origins, the dramatic action for most of our main characters involves investigation. Whether an author on the supernatural, a child services worker, or an actress, they are pursuing the truth of what happened at this house and why others are impacted. Their scenes involved them making active choices in the pursuit of this goal, and helps keep the story moving from beat to beat.

That’s important, because without it we’d just hang out waiting for the next scare set-piece to land. By giving the characters objectives – investigating what’s happening – we have something to watch and follow. We get to invest in their pursuit and hope for success, while also providing a relatable foundation to access the story. We’d also be unsure of what’s going on and need to find the truth. Finally, it provides a structure, as we can fill these different threads drawing to a close by the end.

Applying to Your Own Writing

Whether writing horror or another genre, you can’t focus solely on the set-pieces. You need connective tissue in-between that moves the story along and invests the audience in your main characters. While it doesn’t have to be an investigation, giving your characters a strong goal and opportunities to pursue it will make your story stronger.