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Ok, let's think this through a little before you do anything rash. That creepy girl said you are going to hell when you die if you pull that string. |
What would you do if some jerk took the last Klondike bar? Would you make a deal with a girl from hell to send that person straight to hell? Your soul would go to hell when you die, too, but at least you'd get to have that last and oh so delicious chocolate-covered ice cream treat. People's problems in the Hell Girl series aren't so absurd... yet, at least. So far it's a series about revenge; People that are so fed up with someone screwing them over and ruining others' lives that they are willing to go as far as sending their tormentors, and ultimately themselves, to hell.
There is a website that only appears only at midnight called HellCorrespondence.com. At this simple site a person can enter the name of someone they want revenge on. If you can get past the silly premise of a website that allows people to get revenge, then you’re in for an enjoyable horror series.
Once the name is sent, Ai Enma, known as Hell Girl, responds by sending the grieving person a message by cell phone or instant message. She, and sometimes her family of assistants, confront the person and give them a straw doll with a red string around its neck. All the person has to do is untie the string and their revenge will be exacted. The person they hate will be immediately sent to hell. However, there is a price. The person’s soul will belong to hell whenever they die. They are explicitly told that they will never know the joys of heaven and are even shown a little of the torture and suffering they will endure after they die. So, it seems that Ai and her family pretty much try to talk the person out of seeking revenge.
Some of the people pull the string immediately, while others wait as long as they can. But, of course, each person reaches their breaking point and pulls the string even after being shown what hell will be like. Once the person pulls the string Ai travels in a flaming carriage to where ever the evil person is at the time. Ai’s assistants then have some fun by tormenting the person for a little bit while they are still alive.
The horrors experienced by the person are meant to not only scare the crap out of them, but for them to admit that he or she is indeed a horrible person. Once a confession is admitted, or something close enough to it, Ai appears and says one of two things, depending on if you are watching the subbed or dubbed version. In the original Japanese audio Ai says, “Care to give death a try?” while in the dubbed English audio she says, “Perhaps it is time to die.” I can’t decide which line sounds more sinister, but either way the evil person smothered in flowers from Ai's kimono and then ferried to hell.
The person that was seeking revenge can know live their life happier now that the person that was giving them grief is gone. However, they now have mark right below their throat which is a sign of the covenant made with Hell Girl. They have been marked for hell and when the time comes, their contract will be fulfilled.
Each episode in volume 1 has its own contained story and characters, but follows the above formula. I can’t yet speak for the rest of the series, but I have a feeling that there will some ongoing story about Ai and her family/assistants somewhere in the series. I like the stand-alone episodes as they show different people with varied problems. Since each episode is short, it must set up the characters and their problems rather quickly. The first five episodes do a good job of fleshing out the characters and problems in the short time allotted. While it’s good, I think it could have been better had each episode been given an hour time structure instead of a half-hour. For example, three of the main grievers hear about the website by just overhearing a group of schoolgirls as they walk by. I can see this being used a maybe total of three times, but with a run of twenty-six episodes, I think it will be overused well into the rest of the series. Even with the short time and the formulaic structure, the plots and pacing work well, but could get tiring after an entire series with it. That, and some mysterious dialogue by Ai's grandmother, is why I’m guessing a bigger story about Ai and her family is coming down the line, perhaps how Ai became Hell Girl.
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The scariest thing in the series is Ai, Hell Girl herself: a monosyllabic young girl with soul-piercing red eyes and a dead-pan expression. |
So far I can’t tell if Ai is an actual living girl or a creepy undead hell spirit. She seems nice, but has to be somewhat evil given her power. Ai usually seems to wear a school-girl uniform or some kind of water-kimono as she spends much time in the stream near her house. When she becomes Hell Girl she puts on a black kimono adorned with colorful flowers. Ai lives with her grandmother and her “assistants.” Wanyuudou is an old man in human form, but turns into the straw doll and the flaming chariot. Hone is a beautiful lady that will change her clothing to infiltrate places and investigate the person who should be sent to hell. Ichimokuren is a young man in human form and also changes his appearance to help investigate or torture the damned. How these three are connected to Ai and why they seem to live with her may be revealed in further episodes.
We’re not really sure where Ai and her family live. It would make sense if they lived in hell, but where they are has streams, fields of flowers, and is a very calm, very nice place, so it could not be hell. Purgatory is also out. Wherever they are, they have a sweet Internet connection. The visuals of Ai's tranquil home and hell are well dawn and colorful for a morose series. The horrors experienced by the antagonists are also well conceived and would scare the pants off any normal person were they real and not animated.
The first volume of Hell Girl includes the first five episodes of the series. In the first episode, “From Beyond the Twilight,” good high school girl Mayumi is constantly picked on by Aya and her circle of jerk-friends. Aya takes money from her and sets her up in photos making it look like she’s a two-bit whore. In “The Possessed Girl” Ryoko is visiting the hell link in the first minute of the episode to rid her life of a stalker. The police have a suspect, but it is too complicated for them to outright arrest him. Ryoko hopes that contacting Hell Girl will put an end to her nightly misery. Episode three, “The Tarnished Mound,” shows high school baseball star Hanagasa beating Iwashita’s best friend with a bat, who dies from the injury. Iwashita is essentially framed for the murder and Hanagasa doesn’t give a damn about any of it. In “Silent Cries” a young girl named Junko lost her parents when she was younger and just lost her remaining family, her pet dog. Doctor Honjo said he did all he could, but his assistant knows otherwise and reveals the truth about Honjo’s practices. Episode five, “The Woman in the Tall Tower,” shows that Misato has been entering names in the hell link for many nights straight, but nothing has come of it. It is because it is not Misato’s wish for these people to die, but her manipulating and evil boss Riho. Ai’s assistants investigate Riho and Misato discovers the truth about her father.
I think it would be interesting if in one of the episodes the person decided not to pull the doll’s string and just deal with their problems themselves. However, if that happened, then it wouldn’t be in this series about revenge, hell, and being fed up with the rotten parts of life. The first five episodes have peaked my interest in the series. The initial premise may be a little silly, but seeing what makes a person draw the line between sending someone and themselves to hell is interesting.
Extras
The extras are a bit limited. There is a promotional video that has the Japanese voice actress of Ai in a sort of music video of the theme song. The video also has a creepy-ass mannequin of Hell Girl that has glowing red eyes when it somewhat comes alive. Along with the promo video is the making-of of the promotional video. It really isn’t all that interesting as what we are mostly treated to is the voice actress’ realizations of how making something live-action goes. There is a Character Profiles video that briefly details Ai and her family. There are also the requisite text-less opening and closing, along with a collection of trailers for other anime.
The DVD also contains two art cards and a reversible cover which are nice additions and help raise the extras score a little.
Score: 7.5
Based on the first five episodes only. The series could get better or worse.
Extras: 4.5
Edition: 5.5
You can also buy Volume 1 with a fancy red art box to keep all the other DVDs in.
-Shawn
Screener copy provided by IFC.
Hell Girl is currently showing on IFC should you want to check out the series online. Otherwise Hell Girl will have its network television premiere on October 3 if you get IFC.
