Ai's Grandmother

Ai's Grandmother
Ai's Grandmother.jpg
Status	Alive
Gender	Female
Relatives	Ai Enma

Ai's grandmother is only ever shown as a silhouette seen through a paper screen that marks the boundary of her room, in Ai Enma's house. She is almost always spinning thread in this room. She seems to prefer speaking only to Ai, to occasionally inform her about a new client or simply ask if anything is the matter. However, she has made the exception of talking to others on three seperate occasions: first with Hajime Shibata, second with Kikuri, and a third time when she stopped spinning thread and thanked Ai's followers for all their help. When Ai must embark on a journey to send someone to hell, her grandmother prepares her nagajuban and lays it on the rock for Ai to wear once she has completed her ritualistic bathing. Although her voice gives the impression of a kind elderly woman who cares for Ai very much, the mortal fright displayed by the sole human who ever got the chance to see her face, implies that she might have an inhuman appearance.

She doesn't appear after Ai stops being the Hell Girl, as Ai and her companions no longer reside in the Eteranl Twilight. It's unknown if she still existed during that time. When Yuzuki Mikage briefly become the Hell Girl, Ai's grandmother was replaced with Akie. However, she later reappears when Ai becomes the Hell Girl again. On a side note, when Akie replaces Ai's grandmother, Ai's assistants note that Akie is merely a guide, as her soul has fallen into hell. Since The Spider is holding Ai's loved ones' souls, it's possible that the same is true for Ai's grandmother, or she fell into Hell in some other way. Either way, it's probable that she's a trapped spirit given form to assist Ai by showing her someone she may feel more comfortable with (which may explain why she can't seem to leave the Eternal Twilight).