Jigoku Shoujo - Hell Girl

JIGOKU SHOUJO

(Hell Girl)

The first series of the genre-defying anime, renowned for its social commentary. 

(The different seasons all tell their story in a different manner, so will be reviewed seperately)

OVERVIEW - Sitting in a place of its own between the genre's of  "a slice of life", (Japanese) horror, "monster of the week" and mystery series, Hell Girl has managed to influence a great deal of other shows, with referances to Ai's most well known catchphrase "Ippen, Shinde miru?" being used, referanced and copied in a large number of other animes. Spawning three anime seasons, each told in a different style, a live action series and a manga, as well as breaking the "cute shy-girl" typcasting of Ai's voice actress, the series is a must for all fans of anime. 

REVIEW -  The basic story of Hell Girl is about Ai Enma, an agent of Hell who's job it is to provide revenge for others. This is done via a special website that can only be accessed at midnight, and only by someone with enough "hate" to want someone dead. Once those conditions are met, Ai appears, sometimes with her three companions, and states the conditions of the curse. She presents the person with a straw doll with a red string around its neck, once the string is pulled the "recipient" will be carried to hell, but the price is that the person who pulls the string will be cursed to go to hell once they die themselves. Those who do are left with a black "seal" on their chests as a reminder of their sin, and their fate. The person cursed to hell is basically tormented by Ai's three companions once the string is pulled, normally in a way fitting to the way they made others suffer, then Ai appears, states her poem-like curse and vanishes them away, ending in a boat with Ai, who always states "this revenge, will ferry you to hell".

Hell girl presents itself initially a as a "monster of the week" style story, with each episode having its own tale to tell. As the season progresses we begin to see more and more of a link, especially with the Shibata's involvement. Each person's own unique circumstances are shown, and in most cases the "bad" person is really quite nasty, with examples such as a schoolgirl who steals charity money from the class rep who was looking after it, then blackmails the rep into constantly paying her back, and almost completely ruins her life, or the stalker policeman, in charge of investigating his own crimes and trying to put the blame on his partner. Around episode 9 we're introduced to the paparazzi photographer and investigator Hajime Shibata and his daughter Tsugumi Shibata, who has some kind of strange link to Ai herself. While the episodes keep their "weekly tale" aspect, the investigations of Hajime, spurred by the effects on Tsugumi, begin to link the tale together, and dive into the past of both the "hell correspondance" and Ai herself.

The biggest thing about the series however, is the fact that it presents the dark side of Modern Japan with all its warts intact. Bullying, social pressure, abuse of power and position are common themes, as well as the apologetic nature of the more "modest" normal citizens. Unafraid to show the real horrors of life, such as rape, child abuse and just downright social inequity the show pulls no punches in presenting just how nasty human beings can be to each other. In many cases you're hoping the person who gets the doll pulls the string because hell is probably the only place these "assholes" are going to get what they deserve. Ai's completely stoic, unemotional personality adds a degree of creepy to the situation too, with her large red eyes peeping out from under a typical "miko" fringe, unblinking, unjudging and unmoving as if staring into your very soul. coupled with her soft voice, equally as unemotional as her demeanour, her pretty, child-like appearance and ability to simply appear out of no-where, it really adds a level of chill most people miss while going for a "SHOCK!!" approach. In the word of the well-known webcomic "Megatokyo"... "Ph34r t3h cut3 0n3z"

Production wise, I want to speak about before the summery section, because its very hard to talk about. the first season obviously had a low budget, with many sequences repeated, re-used and barely changed. The animation occasionally breaks down into "distorted body shapes/sizes" when trying for perspective shot and has some awful cars in it in places, yet while this is present, it hardly takes away from the series. Its not a "big action" show, its charm is in its slow, creeping horror, the inevitable conclusion that you know is coming but you somehow want to not happen. while this improves across other seasons, with the first season being the worst for it, parts of this remain. I do think that those that do stick around are in fact intentional, such as Ai's Kimono pattern that moves on its own/doesnt move when she does. 

Towards the middle of this series we begin to see a murkier approach to the weekly stories, which becomes more pronounced in later series and episodes. On the odd occasion someone gets sent to hell who you may (or may not) feel really deserves it, this is Shibata's main drive, the "unfairness" of it, that there's no real justice involved and no way for the "Accused" to defend themselves. Its a good, sound concept in all honesty, because "hell" or whomever's running it obviously wouldnt care less about justice, they would simply want as many under their control, in hell, as possible and each curse gives them two. Its this wonderful fact that really brings home the "morality" aspect of the show, that vengance brings nothing but pain, that someone is always willing to profit from your misfortune and that cute girls with red eyes and creepy straw dolls really are from hell.

Finally, The overal story of the series, Ai's story, is actually pretty fantastic. Ai's character really shines even without her showing any real emotional aspects for the majority of the show and you really do begin to get an understanding of why she is like that right at the end. The second season looks more into the pasts of her three companions, so dont expect much info about them yet. A great show taken in its entirety, it works well as a weekly/episodal morality show too. 

SUMMARY -

Story -  Another example of smaller stories building into a larger arc, its "monster of the week" format can be a little dull after a while, especially if watching episodes back to back but its worth sticking with them to gain the pieces of the larger story which is all about Ai Enma, her past and reasons for becoming the personification of blind vengance. Always harsh, controversial and unapologetic in their depictions of the cold reality of life, each episode has its own dark tale that really carries a weight of some kind. While these stories may not be ground breaking or world shaking on their own, the compilation of them in the series creates a show that questions morality, modern life and our own disconnection from the communities we should be part of. Very powerful stuff, somewhat affected by the "constant repitition" caused by the lower budget production 9/10

Production - Cursed by an obviously low budget, shaky, stop-start animation in places, distorted figures and repeated scenes, the biggest let-down of the series is this. While some of the scenes add to the "creepy" feeling by way of their repitition its more of a "lucky coincidence". The production improves as the season goes on, but not enough to overcome the wonky feeling of the earlier episodes. 4/10

Music - A real "love/hate" area for me in this anime, with the opening theme being the best example of this, a guitar-based mid 2000's style "indie" piece, its opening, verse and bridge have a distinct melancholy feel, its chorus retaining that by being performed in a minor key, yet once played through a single time, the song bursts into a key-change into a major key, giving an uplifting feel to the piece suddenly. (the song is called "Sakasama no Chou" for referance, the key change in the full piece comes towards the end) Similarly the score and insert music for the series are a real hit-or-miss affair, with some pieces bringing a real power and chill to the scenes, others being overly dramatic for the part and cursed with the "lead hands playing obvious synth strings" problem a lot of shows have. its outro theme is the melancholic ballad "Karinui" performed by Ai's own voice actress, Mamiko Noto, and combines the feel of a traditional Japanese piece in the construction of the melody with contemporary music. Its only the odd key-change in the opener and heavy-handed occasional music that prevents this series from getting a top score here. (personal note, the mix of powerful tribal drumming and gentle chime-like effects in the piece used when Ai prepares for sending a soul to hell, then travels to earth, is one of the best musical score pieces I've found outside of Yoko Kanno's work) 8/10

Accessability - An awful lot of the imigary used in the series is very specific to the Japanese concepts of "Hell", with Ai living in the sides of the "Sanzu River" in a traditional hut surrounded by plants known as "red spider lily", all symbolic of the Japanese Buddhist traditions, add to that Ai's appearance, in either a black "sailor suit" school uniform or a floral Kimono at almost all points, the use of cherry blossoms, symbolic for their fleeting but overwhelming beauty in Japan. The show also deals with modern Japan's social problems, such as Hikkikomori, Stalking via calls and texts, adultery, abuse of political power and so on, many of which have few, if any, direct contextual links to similar western issues. Not one for the newcomers. 1/10

 Overall Impression - Hell Girl is a powerful piece, marred by low budget issues and maybe a touch too long at 26 episodes, its reach, scope and impact cannot be denied. Breaking boundries, challenging morals and opinion while never falling into the trap of making the "bad" side "good" or heavy-handedly attempting to invoke empathy and understanding for their actions. Even now, 7 years after its initial release it has a powerful wake that many other shows have emulated, to varying degrees of success, its influence even felt in western shows (many plot points in the respected series "Supernatural" can be seen as being taken from this series, which predates it). Season One sets the tone, background and style for the ones that follow. 10/10

Final Score - 32/50