| | Alternate title : Hell Girl
Studio : Studio DEEN
Licenced by : FUNimation
Length : 26 Episodes
Year : 2005
Genre : Mystery - Horror
Synopsis :
It is said that at the stroke midnight, you can visit "Hell Girl's" website, and there you can fulfill your greatest revenge. Sending your target into the depths of hell. However, you must abide to a contract. When the action of revenge has taken place, you have no chance to enter heaven. Therefore, you, also, will enter hell. But that time will come... the time of your death.
Added : 2005-10-30
Synopsis by : Himitsu
Last update : 2009-08-02
Last update details : Modify info
Score : 6.67
Number of reviews : 12
Link(s) :
Official #1 : Official Jigoku Shoujo Website (Japanese)
A-Source #1 : Anime-Source.com DVD Review by animevgirl (Volume 1)
Song(s) :
Opening #1 : SNoW - Sakasama no Chou
Ending #1 : Mamiko Noto - Karinui
Release(s) :
2006-09-21 -- Episode(s) 26 by Shinsen-Subs. BT Link
2006-09-21 -- Episode(s) 25 by Shinsen-Subs. BT Link
2006-09-21 -- Episode(s) 24 by Shinsen-Subs. BT Link
Found 73 releases. Click here to [ Find them! ]
Hits : 52631
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Posted by : ErwinRommel 
Posted on : 2008-11-16  
I recommend the viewer should he/she choose this anime to watch the first episode and then skip to episode 13. Hell Girl is an anime that is 13 episodes too long. The main story is wonderful by itself hence those filler episodes were completely unnecessary. Secondly the fillers really irk me because the execution of the punishment is like a childish prank and could have been done better. Lastly, Hell Girl is too conservative in its mood. The anime should have a more sinister tone for the kind of deeds being done in the series.
The side stories were typical and seem to make sending someone to hell a very trivial task. Just pull a red string and the person is gone. The simplicity for something so sinister is a great idea and the choice of Enma Ai to deliver the punishment is quite fitting but it did not require 26 episodes to deliver this. The series just slows to a snails pace in the beginning when every episode has the same structure at the start, middle, and end. Thankfully the bottom half is drastically better but the exceptionally poor quality of the first half really cast a pall over the second half.
It's almost comical to see the way Enma Ai punishes the bad people in this series. Even after 400 years she's still got that inner child-like mischief. Maybe I'm too used to horror movies but I figure divine retribution would be something more unholy then having dogs that you killed haunt your boat ride to hell. The punishments needs some Higurashi no Naku Koro ni insanity pumped into it.
The saving grace of the anime is the story of Enma Ai. It is well thought out and her death was fitting for a girl who ferries souls of vengeance to hell. Her story and the way the anime gave glimpses of it is beautifully done. I enjoyed watching Enma Ai begin to slowly lose her cool until the very end where she just lost her composure completely.
Character-wise though, she is poorly represented. While her appearance and rituals does give her a foreboding aura but it's nothing sinister. If you look at Enma Ai she is not someone you would speak easily to like how some of the characters did in the anime. When she appears it should be something every character should dread and feel like death is knocking on their doors.
I really look forward to seeing the second season because if the author managed to write something so good for Enma Ai then there is a potential for redemption in the second season. But until then, this show is a mediocre product that should have been better thought out before it was made.
5/10
Posted by : khairina
Posted on : 2007-12-22
I heard that this anime is the best anime that my cousin has ever watched, so I had to see for myself. Unfortunately, it turned out to be boring, most of the episodes have the same ending; he/she wants revenge on the person they hate most. He/she then sends that person to hell with the help of "Ai and the Gang". By the way, as the payment of he/she requested, they then go to hell when he/she dies. This anime shows the evil humans (most of it) without any good morality.
I can only give 3 marks to its drawings and the OST.
AS FOR ADVICE:
If you're under 12, pleeeaaaasseee have parental guidance before you watch it.
Posted by : ninetales
Posted on : 2007-08-19
This is the first horror anime I've ever watched from the start till the end so it deserves a review.
storyline
For a horror anime it's not that scary, but it has a unique storyline which makes this an interesting anime, the basis of the anime is the website which can only be accesed at 12 midnight and those with people who desire vengance/revange for a certain man/woman, then the person accesing the website will write the name of the person he wants to eliminate... then Ai Enma will apear before the person and will say her speech which she says for almost every episode... well that's the only thing I don't like about the this anime, it's quite repetitive and up until the second half of the story you'll find it prety boring...
characters
The characters are atl east good, Ai is the only character of the story that seems interesting specially when her past was revealed at the near end of the story and because mostly there are no definite characters at the story, it makes the characters the smallest aspect of the anime.
music
At least the music does well in the story both the background and the opening song... you might love the song too.
All in all this anime is quite boring at the start but it's highly recomended for ages 12 and below.
Posted by : Himitsu
Posted on : 2007-05-30
I've become more and more picky with my anime lately, there is hardly an anime which I look forward to watching, but Jigoku Shoujo managed to keep my interest through and through. In fact, I'm still interested in watching more, and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the second season: Jigoku Shoujo Futakoromi.
It started with one-shot stories with pretty much the same results. Later on, it seemed to pick up an overall story which wasn't extremely engaging, mainly because of their choices of characters. Tsugumi and Hajime were pretty normal minus the supernatural factor Tsugumi seemed to possess. The only tidbit that kept me interested was the question of how Tsugumi was connected to Enma Ai.
I really liked both OP and ED songs. Hakasama no Chou has a 90s country-like tune which I really enjoyed listening to (still do), and Karinui concluded each episode nicely with its eerie melodious whispers. Noto Mamiko did a splendid job with Jigoku Shoujo. With each episode giving off the same phrases, it felt very repetitive, but I never became tired of her voice.
I wondered if we were all a bit sadistic because after a few episodes, we pretty much know how things will end up. Is it that we enjoy watching people suffer? Well, there was one episode where I became extremely psychotic. I chanted for that person to die and yelled plenty of profanities at the monitor. While this is a bit insane, it shows that this anime is able to bring out extreme emotions in you. A good skill to have. Completing this anime was not a chore, and it was quite enjoyable. Its atmosphere and feel is not seen in a lot of anime.
Posted by : Rana
Posted on : 2006-11-17
The story is very weak. I mean, it doesn't make any sense, you hate someone so you can send him to hell, and the price is ... oh yeah, you will go to hell as well?! What kind of person would accept a deal like this? Not only that, as I said the story itself is kinda weak, even innocent people could to hell? I felt so so sorry in episode 21 for the nice nurse, she was great and yet sent to hell? The logic in a normal mind won't accept this idea at all!!
The characters are... mmm... what is the right word? Weird? Odd? They are not really bad, this anime shows a huge slide of mean and evil people, they won't even admit they thier sins. Ai Emma is an usual character, she is completely mysterious and we can't know what is within her heart due to her non-smiling face and her red scary eyes like blood.
The drawing is not familiar but not bad at all. It was pretty good, nothing too much, maybe there was a lack of some details, but that was not bad.
The Soundtrack was pretty good, I admit. I just hated the OP and ED. For some reason they were not really fitting with this anime.
To Sum :
-------------
IF YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO BE AFFECTED BY THIS ANIME DON'T WATCH IT. Seriously, some people watch animes and believe what is in there, specially the heaven and hell issue. It is too sensitive even to some religions, so I'm saying this again: Don't watch this anime if you think you are going to be affected.
I gave Jigoku Shoujo 2 points : one for the drawing and other for the OST.
Posted by : Chikage_Shampoo
Posted on : 2006-10-21
Jigoku Shoujo had a promising start that was later hindered by the seeming repetition of the series - True, different episodes showed different scenarios and one-shots, but nothing really happened to provoke thought. The concept of Enma Ai and her misery at performing her job was introduced little by little as the series progressed; however, this development, gratingly slow on viewers' nerves, only served to disappoint. Also, the introduction of the meddling journalist just took away from the purity of the series - after about a few episodes, he started appearing in every single episode (and- strange coincidence! His daughter can see the next victim!... (this was later explained, but I still found it quite annoying).), sort of like a good version of Team Rocket in the good ol' Pokemon series.
Animation: Enma Ai was beautiful, with her doll-like face and striking red eyes, her body swept up in a black kimono dotted with colorful flowers. Her fellow "workers", like Ren, also had nice character designs; however, the rest of the series was bland and lacking in animation (though, the producers depicted hatred and pain well - an attribute to the series).
Storyline: An original concept. "Message me if you wish to seek revenge, and I'll carry him/her off to Hell for you, but there's a catch! You're gonna go straight there right after you die. Here, I'll hand you a voodoo doll with a red string. And if you pull the string, I'll do this."- modern layman's terms of Ai's haunting and gloomy quote. We love it how that afterstatement "But you'll go straight to hell after you die" is timed just perfectly.
The one-shots showed a string of people who had committed wrongdoings for others, and these others exacting revenge via Enma Ai, but this leads one to think- Were the people really that wrong that they should be sent straight there? (Of course, none of them believed that they were wrong - a sort of argument against this statement. But is that not human nature?) This series shows how the weight of one's hatred/sorrow/pain can lead them to act rashly, and how these rash actions (aka sending a person down under via Enma Ai) can place a burden of sin over one's soul. However, although there were a variety of scenarios present, the end result was fairly rigid throughout most of the series, except for the ending and a few episodes before that.
The very last scene after the ending credits was a fitting ending; however, the two episodes before? It explained some things, but they weren't very apt. The ending threw a ton of questions at me, but so many weren't answered.
The key point in this series may be the "psychological factor"- Jigoku Shoujo depicts the craziness, the pain, the hatred that leads up to such rash actions extremely well. This may or may not freak viewers out, but this series affected me much more than Elfen Lied did (>.> of course, I seem to love the gory animes and laugh instead of backing away in disgust...)
Characters:
One-shots = a lot of characters with no development.
Main character = Girl who's just doing her job. We see snippets of her, but nothing really happens except the same thing, and this is presented so slowly that nothing really actually happens (except for a short, confusing burst at the end), so nothing here.
Meddling people = bane to the plot. This journalist, Hajime Shibata, was like... I dunno. Just there, trying to tell Ai that she's wrong and ALWAYS knowing where to go (because of his daughter...). This became VERY annoying, as he stayed from a few episodes in to the end of the series.
Sounds/Music: A nice opening song as well as a sequence.
Overall: A good watch for one-shots and late-night horror madness; however, certain characters may prove to grind on one's nerves.
Posted by : eltimsy
Posted on : 2006-10-15
Alright well the previous reviews before me are fairly informative about this anime so some of the stuff I say will probably be a bit similar. Anywho, I felt that it would be good to write a review based on the entire anime since the others didn`t. So, The basic storyline is outlined as pretty much an episode-based anime where each episoide you find sort of a new story. Usually at the beginning you find someone with a problem and wants revenge so that person calls Jigoku Shoujo "Enma ai" to take revenge for them. Most of the episoides this happens fairly smoothly and the person is sent to hell. A few have small twists and near the end some episoides are based on other things.
Frankly, you can probably count how many episoides that don't have the basic pattern... maybe 4 or 5? Don't know exactly but its few enough that it's a special event when its different :P.
Animation
The animation isn't outstanding but some parts of it are well done. The backgrounds are definitely the thing they put the most effort into. Most scenes are mixed with lots of movement and colour that they look really nice. They also mix some CG into some scenes for different weather effects, etc. On the other hand some things kind of get annoying such as many scenes done where Jigoku Shoujo lives. They tend to repeat A LOT of scenes to get the episodic effect across. The other problem is definitely the lack of emotion from pretty much any of the characters working with Jigoku Shoujo, herself included.
Sound
The sound is very suitable for almost any case. They have a really nice OST, opening and ending. I really have nothing to complain about. The voice acting was done fairly well too, such as the emotionless and empty Jigoku Shoujo voice! VERY fitting.
Story
Here's where mixed feelings come in. Is there really a story in this anime? Or is there not? Yes, there sort of is a story, and no, there really isn't. If you want to base this anime on a main theme and plot that runs throughout the series the closest thing you can get starts at episoide 9. When they introduce the journalist and his daugther. You COULD say that the main story is his goal to try and stop the "revenge" and try to figure out who Jigoku Shoujo is. This of itself isn't really developped much till very end. Most of the time he's having trouble himself figuring out if he's doing the right thing or not. Thus you can also say there isn`t really a story. More like little lessons for people in each short story. Most of the time is focused on the trouble of people, not the main arc anyway. On the plus side, you get many very interesting situations that merit revenge. Only a few that dont, but all in all it was done quite well.
Character
Here is where the anime lacks the most out of everything. Since they base this anime mostly on short stories, you never really get a feel for characters. Sure the journalist and his daughter are sort of developed here and there, but there is not enough time spent on them to make it a job well done. The main crew doesn't really get much work either. You only really find anything about Jigoku Shoujo during the last 3 episodes. Even then not much is worked out with a shaky ending too. What surprised me more was the weird spider they had during the whole series that started talking during the end. Either way, MANY characters lacked i.e. lead characters. On the plus side some of the side characters weren't too bad.... They had some of them that did get enough time to put some depth and feeling. Although you never really see any of them again, it was still alright.
Value and Enjoyment
I think there is some value to this anime. It does teach some lessons about life and its ups and downs. The only problem I have with it is that it seems too easy. In life you don't get an easy solution as in calling someone to take revenge for you. They did put a negative effect to this revenge but still its WAY too simple. Either way, you can still learn some stuff from the stories so its not soo bad. If you were to ask if I enjoyed this.... I would say yes, 'cause it was a fun watch. Although the first 8 episoides were painful to watch..... the last 14 or so I watched all together so it was alright. Although by the end I started skipping over the annoying parts they kept repeating, i.e. the contract part... and the boat to hell. That got REALLY REALLY repetitive by the end. So the lesson is: DON'T watch it all together!!!!! Anywho, I guess this is for someone that wants to watch something with less main story more side stories. Less action and movement too. I must say it definitely is a drama like other people have said. Sogive it a try if you have nothing better to watch too!
Posted by : wulkhell
Posted on : 2006-09-19
The reason that got me into this series was simply because it is classified horror, however in my opinion it is not scary at all...
Story- repetitive, 4/5 of series are about how villains causing others to suffer, and which can be very disturbing before they get sent to hell. It is also depressing whenever the bad guy gets sent to hell that the victims also get sent to hell when they die = = No matter what, those victims (supposed) will always pull the red sting (doing so basically means their enemies will get sent to hell, despite knowing that they will get sent to hell too eventually) in the end even without a legitimate reason. The story starts to develop more into the main characters in the last few episodes, and that reminded me of the game 'fatal frame - crimson butterfly', where the villagers sacrificed little girls to the god in order to bring well being for the majority of people in the village... A word that best describe the ending is hasty!
Animation - the drawing is consistent throughout the series, and can tell they put into quite a lot of efforts into background (trees etc) too. Design of the characters is also quite different to other animes I've seen, but myself find it hard to describe...
It took me a month to finish the series, as mentioned above I got annoyed of the unjust things keep happening in the story and somehow I decided to resume watching it 3 weeks after stoped watching it. The only thing I got out of this series is to be nice to other people, YEAH!
Posted by : MrSentimental
Posted on : 2006-07-30
Well, It's always a good thing to see the bad guys get what's coming to them. But this anime did not have a real triumphant, victorious feel to it with its revenge on the bad guys thing. No one wins here. Not even the victims, who you might kind of be routing for. The story line became repetitive after a while. Things got a little more interesting at the end when they focused more on the journalist, his daughter, and Hell Girl with her cousin at their village. But it took way too long for some interesting character things to develop. Otherwise the characters from the single episodes just came and went. Not anyone that I felt I could really care about. I was hitting the fast-forward button way too often to recommend this.
The artwork was OK, but nothing that blew me away. The voice actors and actresses did a real good job. I liked the ending theme. Some of the music during the episodes was good and dramatic. But perhaps more dramatic than what was actually going on in the picture. Ho hum.
I was disappointed. I was hoping for something with a little more to it, with some more intensity. 2 1/2 Stars. 5 out of 10 rating.
Posted by : akakp
Posted on : 2006-07-06
Jigoku Shoujo turned out to be a surprise hit, as I expected a horror/psychological/scare viewers as best as possible anime but instead watched a series with a very intriguing story. It's really after the 7th episode that the story really captured my attention and kept me watching until the end.
Story - Each episode is a unique story about different people who have it bad in life. It gets to the point where the person is in such a bad predicament that he or she turns to the Hotline to Hell to extract revenge. If you type the persons name on the Hotline to Hell, Enma Ai, or Jigoku Shoujo, will take that person to hell if you pull the red string on the doll given to you. But beware, two graves are dug when one seeks revenge. All the episodes are pretty much different stories of people seeking out revenge turning to Jigoku Shoujo for help, but it's the 8th episode that introduces our main characters Hajime, the father journalist, and Tsugumi, the daughter who has recurring visions of Enma Ai and the next Hotline to Hell victim. The introduction of these two characters makes the story a lot more enjoyable as there's finally some continuity in the anime. The stories are still about random people and their thirst for vengeance, but now Hajime and Tsugumi are on a quest to stop people from taking revenge before it's too late. While watching Jigoku Shoujo, you'll be wondering who Enma Ai really is and why she's exacting revenge for random people.
Animation - Animation is nicely done. Character designs are neat and look clean. The ambience of the anime is a bit gloomy throughout, but matches the anime well since it is about horror/mystery.
Music - Forget the opening and endings. Watch them if you want, I didn't really care for them at all as the songs weren't catchy and op/ed animations weren't very lively. But what do you expect from a horror anime? The music in the anime fits well with the scenes.
Jigoku Shoujo turned out to be way better than I had expected. The story becomes quite interesting after the 7th episode and kept me watching until the very end. Hajime's journey to stop those seeking revenge and to find out who Jigoku Shoujo really is becomes more intriguing as the series progresses by and nears the end. Jigoku Shoujo isn't really scary at all, sure it's labeled as horror, but you'll find out that it's more about mystery solving than being scary. If you're into watching horror with a mystery solving quest, then watch this anime as soon as possible and you should be satisfied in the end.
Anime Rating: 9/10
Posted by : Tex_Arcana
Posted on : 2006-01-09
Should a grown man be afraid of such a porcelain doll like character as Enma Ai? Well maybe if your another character in the anime Jigoku Shoujo. Yeah, be very afraid. I read about this anime a while back and decided to give it a miss. I'm glad that I decided to change my mind.
The premise of the story is if you need vengence for a wrong done to you you can access a web site called Gateway to Hell where you type in the name of the person you want eleminated. Afterwards, Enma Ai also known as Hell Girl, comes to you and hands you a doll with a red cord tied around it's neck. She tells you that if you untie the string, she will take your antagonist directly to Hell. Sounds simple right? Only thing is she tells you that if you do you enter a contract with her in which when you die you will also go to Hell and just to make sure you totally understand gives you a little taste of what you can expect for all eternity. It's some pretty gruesome stuff too folks.
I really do like this anime. The first 3 or 4 episodes had me wondering though. You would think that the title character would have a pretty good part and more action. While the voice acting was excellent and lent to the creepyness of the show it was starting to look like they had recorded Enma Ai's part once and just kept using the same recording. The real action was provided solely by her helpers who would torment and run Hell Girl's prey to ground (making the punishment fit the crime). They consist of a young man, a beautiful, sexy woman, and an older bald man. They are like her Impossible Mission team that delivers the most of the horror in this anime (not counting the dispicable people (everyday horrors) that are brought to justice.
After those first episodes though Ai does get more involved in the story line as the stories get more involved. She still says the same lines (they are like a ritual) but she get more lines and more involved with the action.
All in all, my impression of this show is like back in the days of old school horror when Rod Serling's Twilight Zone or Night Gallery was the ultimate force of horror on the small screen. They didn't depend on blood and gore (just how much fake blood can you watch before you get bored?) but relied on creativity in the stories and the viewers own sense of forboding. The art is top notch, surreally beautiful one moment and horrific the next. The music is soft and lovely to driving and intense. The story lines make you want to hate the villians and feel sorry for the villians victems because though they are saved they payed a heavy price for that salvation. Really don't miss out on this anime. Stick with it past the first few episodes when it seems it is going to get boring because it gets better and better.
Posted by : Guido
Posted on : 2005-10-16 
Astounding animation quality in both character designs and visuals.
The most striking feature is the meticulous care that the staff focused on the eyes. They are slightly smaller to anime standards, but their impact is powerful upon the viewers.
Whenever I see the characters' eyes I feel like they've seen deep through my soul.
Enma Ai is the folkloric clich
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