Ai is known as hell girl, because she brings you to an eerie land and offers a black voodoo doll with a red ribbon tied around its neck. Ai warns everyone that if you pull the ribbon they will banish your rival to hell immediately, however once you die your soul will also go to hell. You will never see heaven but will suffer for eternity is her warning and she leaves those who seek vengeance to decide. The decision is always to get revenge and Hell Girl and her family begin to torment the minds of those who have been chosen. The person who summons Hell girl is also marked with a little symbol on their chest. The symbol suggests that they are marked for hell and Ai has followed through with her contract. Hell Girl is the last one to have her fun, after he family has tormented your enemy, she transports them to the river Styx and then delivers them to Hell. Each grievance reported is a sort of catch twenty two situation and once Hell Girl has kept her covenant the price for avenging your foe is your soul. A candle is placed on an alter and the foe is sent to hell, but it does not seem worth the cost of ones soul. The ending is so abrupt and seemingly unresolved each time that the entire show looses its luster.
PRESENTATION-The presentation contradicts the plot. Using detailed arrangements of color and layout, the DVD case is a visual treat. This is one case though where you can’t judge the DVD by the cover. While it looks like it should be an astounding film rich with detail in both art and story line the balance here is quite upset.
EXTRAS-This DVD comes with two beautiful art cards depicting Hell Girl with beautiful backgrounds. This is the best part of the deal. If you stopped at the extras you would be satisfied with this experience. Other extras include a “Making Of” Promotional Video Shoot, Promotional Video, Main Character Profiles, Text less Songs, and Trailers.
OVERALL
The title and artwork of this DVD is deceiving, as it suggests we will get a detailed look into the life of hell girl. However upon viewing the episodes there is not much excitement here and Hell girl only takes up the smallest pieces of the story lines. As somewhat of a grim reaper she simply collects those names listed by the victims who have agreed to her contract. It seems somewhat counter productive to condemn yourself to hell with your tormentor. Each episode follows a parallel rhythm, making it predictable. Each time someone goes to the site hell girl contacts them and says the same things and goes through the motions and another candle is added to the alter. While Hell girl and her family seem the most interesting we are not given any exposition or depth for those characters. I would love to see more clips abut the dynamics of hell girl’s life, yet I am given shallow predictable stories. Though the overall effect is creepy, I was not really pleased with this anime.
Overall: 5.0