Jigoku Shoujo

Jigoku Shoujo takes place in modern Japan where the internet has filled the lives of many people in this bustling world of technology and sins. This anime portrays the cruelty of the human race, and shows that there are many people in this world that suffer terribly and that, indefinitely, most people wish those that are making their lives miserable would just die and go to hell. And, of course, Jigoku Shoujo, or Hell Girl, is there to exact their revenge.

The storyline is wonderful. The anime itself is mainly episodic, and each episode focuses mainly on one person, and the suffering they're experiencing due to ... one person. As you read more into the character's lives, and just how badly they're treated, you, yourself, will want to see that red string pulled, just so that person can suffer what he/she's had coming to them, and you'll be anxious to see their horrifying experience before they're ferried off to Hell by Enma Ai, the Jigoku Shoujo.

You won't always see the the person's experience in hell, nor will you always see the person being carried off by the Jigoku Shoujo. The main experience of this anime is coming to know and feel sorry for the characters that are desperate enough to call forth the Jigoku Shoujo to end their suffering. If you're looking for humor, this isn't a series to watch. Though it does have it's moments, it's more for the people that enjoy supernatural and paranormal related anime, such as Ghost Hunt and XXXHolic. In fact, if you enjoyed either of these, though the two of them are more humorous than anything else, I recommend putting Jigoku Shoujo, and Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori on your plan-to-watch list.

Anyway, this anime is one of those where you'll either love it or hate it. This is a series that got me hooked on the first episode, but if you aren't enjoying it by the third or fourth, then you most likely won't get into it. I hope this review has helped you and convinced you to look into this wonderful anime. Have fun and enjoy.

[Edit 2017: Full disclaimer - I have watched 15 episodes from start to finish, 1-10, 12, 23-26. The rest I either watched on x2 speeds or substituted with reading synopses. (MAL doesn't allow retroactive changes to episode count)]

It's like a badly chosen present. The outside wrapping is perfect, with a pretty ribbon to top it off. When you look inside though, the contents of the box aren't very impressive. You'll probably never use it or end up giving it to someone else.

These are the words I'd use to describe Jigoku Shoujo, a series strongly recommended to me by a friend. I was told the art ... was amazing, and it was. The story, however, is far from it.

The art and sound are what constitute as the wrapping paper. Every detail is immaculate, the character designs are vibrant, and every time Ai says "Want to try dying once?" it sends shivers down my spine. It deserves a warm hand of applause in that department.

However, where the animators succeeded, the writers failed spectacularly. It's not that the story is unappealing or lacks interest. There's plenty of that. Who wouldn't be intrigued about a girl sending evil wrong-doers to hell? The problem arises when each episode's format becomes obviously and unbearably identical. Upon watching the second episode, warning bells were sent ringing through my head when I realized that the mechanics were the same each time.

Basically: A person is abused or wronged by someone else who is unapologetic and is unable to see their own acts as unjustified. The victim seeks a solution and calls upon Ai for help. However, they hesitate when she reveals that they too would be dragged down into hell when they died. In the end though, the victims are driven to the point of desperation by their tormentors and give in. Jigoku shoujo then proceeds to carry out the revenge. Evil person is sent to hell. Former victim is emancipated, but each look at the scar that appears on their chest as a reminder of what will happen to them when they die.

There. Shoot me. I just spoiled at least 20 episodes for you.

This anime is episodic, but it's episodic to the extreme. Each episode presents a different set of characters and circumstances, but will almost always follow the storyline I presented above. So it wasn't until episode 22 that I saw a new type of plot as the season started to wind down to a close.

Needless to say, this sort of plot greatly disappointed me. I basically fell asleep on episode 4 and simply skipped 15 episodes. Now this is where I shoot myself in the foot. So, if I haven't watched the majority of the show, how can I really rate this as mediocre? ... True. I don't have complete authority on this matter, but it simply represents my opinion. I did end up taking the time to read the individual episode synopses on wikipedia, and it indicated that I didn't really miss much.

I realize there are those who will be completely enraptured by Jigoku Shoujo's plot. It's simply a matter of taste. I prefer a plot that progresses in great strides, while some love to watch a well formed plot system that simply changes its details while laughing sadistically at the misfortunes that befall the characters. But as always, it's up to you, the viewer, to choose.

I just hope I wasn't too forceful with my bitter commentary. o_o.

Its obviously a very sensitive subject. Personally i think nothing in RL could be any worse than hell, but that doesnt seem to be the case in this show. Considering how many users complete the contract, it almost gets out of hand . Getting cursed to hell because some lady kills your puppies? Thats a little extreme. But for the most part, most of the stories are pretty cruel and unusal "train wreck" stories that range anything from grade school bullies to betrayal to medical malpractice. Considering the main theme of the story being revenge, they could easily make 100 episodes out of thin air. ... That is also the problem of this show, the theme starts to get repetitive after about the 7th show. Its the same formula again and again: Tragic story --> Hell request --> Retribution. But just when you think its going to be the same formula over and over again, they throw in a curve ball of a plot twist and introduce 2 new main characters: Hajime and Tsugumi Shibata.

Thats when the show really starts to pick up, sortof. The story finally starts to pickup. No more spoilers here but if you lasted this long to reach this point in the series, then you shouldnt have any problem. The artwork is also a little mixed as well. At times its very artistic and beautiful and others it looks like your standard anime artwork. Even the art gets bitten by the repetative bug just like the story. Granted watching Enma Ai get out of the pool dripping wet in her white robe never gets old, but it hardly changes every episode. She even says the same lines over and over again every time as well, it wouldnt be a problem to me except hearing the same 20 sentences over and over and over again almost makes you think youre really in hell. There are plenty of characters drawn up for this show and they all look fine except for one trait... THE EYES. It takes a while to get used to the eyes...those damn eyes...

I managed to keep my self awake for every episode and not even once fell asleep from the boredom (only once out of necessity). I think its because i always thought because the eyes were watching me. But I think it really means they at least did a good job feeling something for the characters in each story. On one side, you want to know if they\'re going to get what they wished for, or you want to know why somone (i.e. tweenie) would want to pour so much hate agaisnt someone. And on the other side you want to know how the person whos being targeted is going to die. Kind of like the train wreck theory (ppl slowing down on the highway just to look at accidents). Aside from the ending, the episodes that interested me the most was EP6, 13, 15, 21, and 23<--very sad alert.

The sound effects are one thing that was constant, everything from screaming from terror to the enviromental sounds realy helped create tension and atmosphere. My favorite was in episode 5... you\'ll know what im talking about when you hear it. Things like that get stuck in you memory banks. All thought the music is always the same as in every anime, meaning they use the same chase music and the same action music in every episode. But the music doesnt intrude to the show, its hardly annoying and it defintitely keeps your atten to whats going on.

Overall this show wasnt half bad, given the train wreck sadness theme of the story and a very small dose of lolicon, i would say this show isnt half bad. But it isnt half good either with the overuse of catch lines and and animations. It also kept me at the edge of my seat 80% of the time, and it was good enough to garner a new season (Futakomori). So the goods outwigh the bads in my opinion.
6/10

If you have not tried Jigoku Shoujo or as it is known in America, UK and Australia "Hell Girl", then all I can say is that you're missing out. Hell Girl is a very unique anime , each episode of the series focuses on another character going through a tough time before they turn to the legendary girl everyone is whispering about. Of course there's a price and even that doesn't stop the protagonist. The story's weakness is that it's very repetitve which doesn't rock everyone's boat as most of the time the protagonist will pull the string off the doll. However, the story gets ... more intense when a detective and his daughter is involved to try to stop people contacting Hell Girl. There are surprises in this series, times when the audience is fooled that the ending might be a happy one. The art is brilliant. The character designs are amazing, especially of Ai and her assistants. The scenes of the Eternal Twilight world are beautiful. The sound is addictive, it's very hard not to resist the soundtrack after hearing some of the music from this series especially Snow's Opening Theme "Sakasama No Chou".The characters were very well thought out, even though the main character send people to Hell you can't help loving them. Most of the time you enjoy it unless again it's not your thing. Hell Girl is also a good series for discussing and bringing up the issues of bullying, stalking, murder, blackmail, slander, adultery, lying etc... The ending of the series was brilliant and I really can't say anything as to why because you have to watch it. Overall, an unmissable series.

Title: Jigoku Shoujo

Manga, Live-Action Drama, Anime: Jigoku Shoujo was adapted into a manga after it finished its original TV run, with art and story done by Miyuki Eto. It began running in Kodansha's Nakayoshi magazine in the October 2005 issue, is still running, and has, for the most part, had an original story line and plot changes, though some episodes from the anime do get their own manga chapters. Del Rey has licensed it Stateside, and the third volume is due on August 5th, while it stand at six collected volumes in Japan currently.

A live-action spinoff consisting of twelve half-hour episodes began running ... on TV on November 4th, 2006, and finished its run on January 27th, 2007. There's not a lot about it, so I don't know how similar or dissimilar it is to the original anime. It will also not be covered in this review.

Speaking of which, Jigoku Shoujo was originally a twenty-six episode anime, and ran on Japanese TV from October 4th, 2005 to April 4th, 2006. It was produced by Studio Deen (famous for their work on Fruits Basket and Fate/Stay Night) and directed by Takahiro Omori (famous for his work on Baccano! and Gakuen Alice). It has been licensed Stateside by Funimation, and the sixth and final volume was released on May 20th.

Story: There is a rumor that if there's someone giving you absolute hell and you want to get revenge on them, there's a website that you can access only at midnight, known as Hell Correspondence. Once the name is submitted, Ai Enma (aka Jigoku Shoujo/Hell Girl) will appear to the client and give them a straw doll with a red string wrapped around its neck. If the client wishes to take revenge, then all they have to do is pull the string and Ai and her helpers will ferry the person to hell. However, there is a small catch to all this: Once the compact is made with Ai, the person who took revenge will go to hell once they've died as well.

Jigoku Shoujo is, at it's heart, a Revenge of the Week episode. Once you've seen two or three episodes, you have the basic outline of every episode: Introduction to person being tormented and torment, tormented accesses Hell Correspondence, Ai and tormented meet up and she tells them the conditions and such, tormented ends up debating/angsting over whether or not the deal is worth it, things are escalated in some way, and the tormented pulls the string, sending the tormentor to hell. Rinse and repeat for twenty-three or so episodes.

I'm really kind of disappointed, because there's almost no background about Ai until the last three or so episodes of the show, and even that is minimal, not to mention that the background of her helpers doesn't even get mentioned.

The fact that the set up doesn't change one bit throughout the entire show, even when the show introduces two people who try and thwart Ai (the reporter Hajime and his daughter, Tsugumi, who has a psychic connection to Ai) does not help the show at all. Hajime and Tsugumi were only really vital to the plot of five episodes total; with the others, they could've not been around, and the same thing still would have happened, which makes their existence kind of useless. Also, the fact that Hajime has a tendency to come off as an incredible bastard at times, not to mention a bit of a hypocrite, doesn't help things. I understand what the creators might've been trying to do, here, but they missed the mark with these two.

The quality for the Revenge of the Week stories average out to about half and half; half are excellent and have incredible writing and twists, and the other half are kind of... eh. The characters are always memorable, though.

Admittedly, there is a second season, Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori, that can hopefully rectify these mistakes.

Art: The art that has to do with the world that Ai occupies when she's not working, the revenges that they take on the tormentors, and to do with her helpers' and her own character design are absolutely stunning. The colors for these are incredibly rich, and the designs in general are beautifully done.

As for the part that has to do with our world... eh. The backgrounds are done well, and the character designs for the people of the week start to blur together after a certain point and become incredibly generic, but they manage to remain slightly distinct.

There is some stock footage, but it isn't all that bad.

Music: The music for this is absolutely amazing, in my opinion, and one of the first things I really noticed about the series. There are several recurring themes throughout the show, and they are extremely memorable. The music is a mix of Western orchestration, rock numbers, and traditional Japanese instruments that always seems to catch my ear.

The OP's a pretty standard J-Pop female upbeat number, but is still pretty catchy, all things considered. The ED is absolutely amazing, though; a typical J-Pop female ballad that uses cello and traditional Japanese instruments for instrumentation, and has lyrics that very directly relate to the show.

Seiyuu: The seiyuu for this show did a good job, as always; no voices that seemed out of place or painful. Though I do kind of pity the seiyuu who had to play Ai, as her lines were mostly the same throughout all twenty-six episodes; hopefully, they'll vary up the dialogue for her next season.

Length: If they cut out the crappy half of the show, we have a show that could easily have fit within thirteen-ish episodes, and still been a pretty good show. That cut probably should have been made, as most of the good part of the show doesn't really start to happen until the halfway or so mark.

Overall: A really good concept that ended up lacking a bit in its execution, and in the long run, would've benefited from cutting the actual amount of episodes in half, so that the best parts of the show stayed intact, with beautiful art and music, and seiyuu that could have used more varied lines, really. But maybe its issues can be rectified in the second season, Futakomori.

Story: 7
Art: 9
Music: 9
Seiyuu: 8
Length: 7

Overall: 40/50; 80% (B )

Having filled Japan with rumors that aren't taken seriously at first Jigoku Shoujo is an avenger.
Sometimes reality hits you in the face when you thought it was sweet, and you end up in tears.
Fear, Hatred, Anger and revenge, this is an unbreakable chain that represents the dark side of humanity and it is Jigoku Shoujo who weilds that chain.

This anime has a great story augmented by the episodic chain that reveals smaller stories evolving around the suffering or others. I have enjoyed it from the start because of its supernatural elements that aren't just thrown up your eyes but instead they slowly come into play. ...

Each time a new character is revealed along with it's sad story it proves that good people are suffering and that will make you say to your screen while watching this anime:"Pull the string!"

How about you... would you like to know more about this mysterious girl and her secrets, well if you do access the website and start viewing.
Thank you for the time taken to read this review, I hope it has been helpful, if not well, bummer.

Fleeting thrills, occasional chills, definite cringes. That's what I would succinctly wrap up Hell Girl as. The main crux of the issue is this; Hell Girl is a morally and intellectually lazy at best, disingenuous at worst, show, that manages to stay partially afloat with a couple good lead characters and some occasionally deviously twisted stories.

Let me get out of the way that the art, voice acting, and sounds are all wonderful. Distinct and atmospheric, they often times accentuate the best parts of the show.

However, Hell Girl suffers perhaps most greatly from being very formulaic and repetitive. Most episodes boil down thusly: we have, ... "Persona A" and "Person B."

Person A is wronged by person B.

Person A gets Hell Girl and her cronies to kill and send Person B to hell immediately.

Person A, as a result of this, goes to hell when he/she dies.

The first half of this show is setup just like that; episodic in nature, new stories each time. At first, this manages to be a fairly convincing and exciting setup, because the stories seem fresh and relatable. After a while though, the show wears out its welcome. The structure gets too repetitive, the people, too unsympathetic, the stories, too hard to swallow.

Firstly, I am not entirely sure what this show is trying to say, if anything. For Hell Girl to take on such a serious and close topic to many people (afterlife), it damn well better to a good job of broaching the subject. I don't think it really does. Most characters in the show are comfortable with the idea of not only sending another person to hell for eternity, but going themselves. This is tough to swallow, especially when, as is the case in Episode 10, there isn't much wrongdoing between the two people involved!

Is this a show a twisted look at karma? Do wrong, and you'll have wrong done to you? If so, it's over the top. Sure, some of these characters are cruel, but an eternity in hell? That's harsh! And what does it say about the character who sends them to hell? They're being even more cruel if you ask me!

So, maybe the whole show is about trying to get us viewers to think on the old Gandhi quote "an eye for the eye makes the whole world blind." Well, that doesn't work either, because just about every character is perfectly willing to not only trade an eye for an eye, but enjoy it too. Not only that, they usually get a huge short term benefit! Blind my ass!

And what about Ai (Hell Girl) and her gang? They swoop along to enact revenge by torturing their victim in their final moments, before killing them and sending them to hell. We never really learn anything about them until the very end of the show. It's too bad, because it makes them out to be much worse villains than I think the show creators intend.

A lot of the conflicts in each episode could also be healed with some communication and time. Physical abuse is one thing, and certainly bad, but a lot of the conflicts in the shows are monetary in nature, which, while potentially crippling, is not permanent for a lot of these people considering how young they are. If Person A thought about their predicament for a few days, they probably wouldn't be so quick to pull the proverbial trigger. Unless the show is trying to completely slam immediate emotions for being irrational or some such, in which case, whoopdee do. Not particularly riveting nor well displayed.

And that's the problem with this show. I don't know what it's trying to do. Maybe it's not trying to say anything, which seems really bad, especially considering the nature of what the show deals with; revenge, death, afterlife. Not stuff to be scoffed at, in this case. If you're going to present a show with people lining up left and right to send a rival to hell forever and themselves too, you better have a pretty good thematic core. There isn't any here. It feels almost like some dude just wants to piss all over people and take revenge on people through an anime he is creating. Haha, enjoy hell, characters!

Maybe I am reading too much into this. Maybe I need to look at this simply and try to enjoy it. In that case, it fares a little better. When the show finally gets some continuity going, we are introduced to Hajime, a disheveled, freelance journalist who learns of Hell Girl and seeks to stop her. He is a wonderful character; flawed but likeable, morally strong but conflicted. His struggle with his young daughter, who begins to feel sympathy for the people choosing to send their enemy to hell, becomes a well-done, central conflict. Their bonding and relationship is an excellent display of subtleties that the rest of the show seems to lack.

Certain episodes are generally thrilling. Others are generally boring. It's indicative of the show as a whole having an inconsistent pace. Some episodes are allowed to naturally develop, showing a gradual buildup of a characters wrongdoings. Others take 20 minutes to set up a scenario, then instantly drop a bunch of cruelty on a character in a matter of seconds.

Still, some of the stores are cynically enjoyable, certifiably twisted in a thrilling manner. It's just too bad that the show falls short elsewhere, and can never get a consistent level of thrills going. It's a watchable show, but also, ultimately, a forgettable one.

5/10

Bring out your inner sadist with the new and improved, Hell Girl! Available in three designer colors: red, blood-of-your-enemies red, and YOUR-blood red!

...

Anyways, I was serious: This series will probably bring out your inner sadist. Read below and find out.

Story: 8. The premise is quite interesting and different. However, I don't appreciate the episodic nature used for 90% of the episodes. The only REAL story occurs in the last 3, where you actually learn about Ai herself. Until then, the episodes are predictable and formulaic: Person gets wronged, person goes to Internet to contact the Hell Correspondence, ... person receives doll, person angsts over whether or not to pull the thread, eventually does, then the evildoer is sent to hell. They switch it up a bit in between, but for the most part, this is pretty much what you can expect. (Until Hajime, the reporter, starts trying to meddle; not like he can stop the inevitable.)

Art: 7. Very hit-and-miss. The animation in the "real world" (where most events take place) is mediocre; it's quite disappointing when you compare it to other anime of the time. A lot of it is sheer laziness, specifically in the areas of generic, bland, repetitive character design, poor facial expressions, and inconsistent proportions. However, the visuals when we get to visit Ai's "world" (or whatever you want to call it), or see someone on their trip to hell, or just anytime Ai is present on the screen at all, you can expect to be dazzled. Also part of said formulaic-ness of the series is the overuse of stock footage--specifically in the sequence where the thread has been pulled and Ai is on her way to "fetch them."

Sound: 8. The music as a whole is pretty good. The OP is a generic J-pop piece that doesn't really fit the series at all; the ED, on the other hand, is a great, solemn piece called "Basting" with lyrics and tone that perfectly match the mood. Even its NAME is suiting. The soundtrack has some memorable gems, too. The sound effect synchronization with actions occuring on screen is kind of off at times, though, and they could be better. The voice actors (English) are pretty decent, but Brina Palencia as Ai DEFINITELY steals the show.

Character: 7. Like I mentioned, most of the character designs are pretty bland. By FAR the most attention was obviously given to Ai (which I'm totally fine with, but it DOES make looking at the supporting cast pretty boring). Some characters are easier to sympathize with than others. They do a pretty good job painting the picture so you end up wanting them to pull the string too. The characters generally can provoke a decent emotional reaction from you and, in spite of generic character design, are somehow able to remain memorable in their own ways--in spite of said generic-ness. (Not like I really care to remember most of them.)

Enjoyment: 9. Like I said at the beginning, this show may bring out the inner sadist you never knew you were. It's very easy to hate the evildoer, and when the time finally comes, you *may* find yourself yelling, "YOU DESERVE IT, MO' F**KA!" I always looked forward to the bastards that abused/wronged the character in focus to get what they deserved and couldn't wait for that string to be pulled. By far the most enjoyable part for me was the torment/torture sequence the offender was usually subjected to before actually being ferried to hell.

Overall: 8. Hell Girl was on the fast track to being a 7, but saved itself at the end with the 3 episodes at the end about Ai's back story. It does some things really well (premise, enjoyment, and Ai herself), but severely lacks in others (animation, a lot of the characters). I wouldn't have minded the episodic nature if it had only taken up ~6 of the episodes and the rest was focused on Ai, Hajime, and Tsugumi. It would also have been nice to actually get more in-depth back stories on Ai's helpers (all we get to hear is "she saved us from eternal damnation" or whatever, and is never mentioned again). Maybe this will be fixed in season two. We'll see though.

Also, they seemed to have tried to cram some aesop about vengeance not being worth it in at the end, but honestly, the majority of the series was indicative of the exact opposite (bar a couple cases).

So all in all: Definitely watch this if you like seeing justice being served--evil people getting what they deserve. Just don't expect an amazing overarching plot.

Oh Hell Girl, you have disappointed me. I somehow managed to sit through 20 episodes, which was an absolutely dreadful experience because every episode might as well have been the same thing.

The main problem with the series comes from the fact that the story uses its basic structure as a crutch for damn near every episode. Every time it gets anywhere near leaving its crutch behind, it suddenly gets scared and races back to the crutch and clings on to it with dear life. This might not be a problem if the stories themselves were well written with interesting characters, but half of the ... time I was just yelling at the unbearable stupidity of the characters for maybe not trying to go to the authorities with their problems because half of the time that would have worked just fine. For the times where I could understand why the use of the Hell Girl was necessary, it was still laziness on the part of the writing because every single episode ended the same way anyway. Even after going to the authorities, one girl still pulled the string to summon Hell Girl even though by the time she did it it was too late to change anything and the person she pulled it against was already going to jail for life. Most of the villains are only moderately evil and not a single twist occurs where someone admits they were wrong. The story introduces a father and his daughter (who oddly enough refers to her father by first name) as they try to discover who Hell Girl is, but it basically amounts to them watching the episodes occur around them because nothing they seem to do prevents the Hell Girl from being summoned. After having nothing but the same thing happen for 20 episode, it's really hard to want to continue. I expected to care about the character of the episode and look forward to him or her (mostly her and they're pretty much all young adults or high schoolers) pulling the string, but I was just looking forward to the end credits because the series failed to convince me his or her reasons for pulling the string was completely necessary. As a result of not writing the characters in a way to make me care, every episode made me wish I'd gotten a nice calming tooth filling instead.

To top it off, the stories themselves as individual episodes just aren't very interesting. I'm assuming it wants to be a horror genre show, but it comes off as more cheesy than anything else and as a drama, it's just too rushed to be properly dramatic. There's really no other genre it could fall into, it's not just "average" in its genre, it's pretty damn bad.

Ridiculous amounts of footage are reused, and it's not particularly interesting footage, it's ritualistic footage and once you've seen it once, it's boring. Brina Palencia is a voice actress I normally like, but either she was terrible as the Hell Girl herself or Hell Girl really was written to sound as boring and wooden as humanly possible in which case Palencia nails it. Nothing else in the dub stands out, but the Japanese seemed just as uninteresting, it's not very good at engaging the audience either way.

There is no good reason to watch this show, it wants to be so much more than it is and it's nothing shy of painful to watch instead. Avoid this at all costs or watch a few episodes online first to see for yourself why this is a title to be avoided.

5 WORDS OR LESS REVIEW : Not really scary but nice

I was expecting something more dark and creepy, sort of like xxxHOLiC or maybe even Death Note, but that wasn’t the case. I can’t say it’s better than I expected, but it was enough to entertain me.

For the first episodes, I thought it was too formulaic. The episode would start presenting the background of that episode’s petitioner (the one who seeks revenge), who are usually teenage girls, by the way. We see what’s making that person ask for revenge from the Hell Girl, or Enma Ai. Finally, that person finally asks for help from Enma ... Ai through the Jigoku Tsushin (Hell Correspondence) site, and shortly after, Enma Ai appears, hands the straw doll over to the petitioner and explains her deal. At first the petitioner hesitates, but he or she pulls it anyway at a moment of desperation. Enma Ai and her posse “delivers vengeance” and everyone’s happy at the end.

That was the standard formula throughout the whole series, but when Hajime Shibata and his daughter, Tsugumi Shibata came into the picure, things became more interesting. These two try to stop Enma Ai and her killing spree, and in the process, we find more about them. They’re a good pair to add to the mix of already fascinating characters. Enma Ai, of course, is very mysterious and captivating. You can’t help but observe her every move to find more about her. Her three companions are just as intriguing. My favorite is Ren, but I also like Hone Onna and Wanyuudo. I just wish that more background on them was given throughout the series.

The “antagonists” were great as villains too. They really were evil, that you would think that they deserved to be punished and sent to hell. It makes you want to become a better person and hope that no one thinks of cursing you.

A fine cast of voice actors for this one. Mamiko Noto isn’t really one of my favorite VAs, mostly because most of the characters she plays are kind of boring or dull (at least for me – I didn’t like Yakumo from School Rumble and Hecate from Shakugan no Shana). I did like her work as Shimako in Marimite, because her soft voice fit that role perfectly. I guess that soft voice worked for Enma Ai as well, because when Enma Ai’s not sending anyone to hell, she does seem like a delicate and soft spoken girl. I also liked Masaya Matsukaze’s work. Ren Ichimoku has to be my second favorite character that he played, next to Kyouya Ootori of Ouran High School Host Club.

The animation was a bit inconsistent. Enma Ai’s face would change at least three times each episode, and towards the end, the same thing happened to Tsugumi. Although I have to say, I love the character design. No weird hairdos or hair colors for this one. The character design is also current and fresh. As for the colors, mostly dark colors, as well as colors that would go well with black (such as red and purple) were used a lot. It really fits the feel and mood of the anime.

As for the music, I like the opening song a lot. It’s also very current and trendy, but I can’t say the same for the ending song. Truth be told, whenever I get to the ending sequence, I take a little nap and wake up just in time for the preview. I just don’t like sad and mellow songs. The BGM was good, and it does intensify the scenes (specially the one that’s played whenever they get on when the vengeance) but sometimes the BGM is too much, as if it’s over the top. Good job with the SFX too – the bells and the chimes coupled with creepy humming is very eerie.

All in all I would say I liked it, but I would’ve liked it more if it didn’t stick so closely to the formula I was talking about in the beginning of my review. I plan to watch the second season soon, and I hope it’s better than the first season.

The most stupid I've ever watched. Basically, it's all about a damn insolent girl with her subordinates going around and scare people by creating hallucinations, trying to get them to concede their faults.
The whole series is awfully repetitive. And the arrogant appearance of that pathetic hell girl makes me sick. That pipsqueak acts so pretentiously as if she's absolute right to do anything to anyone as she pleases and to judge or set moral standards. She's blatantly domineering, and sadistic. None of these characteristics would turn me off so much without the combination with the arrogance and pretension.

Before we get to my actual review, I would like the viewers to understand that I AM NOT A SUMMARIZER. If you want to know what's the plot, read the SUMMARY, and don't mark me down for not saying anything about the story. I tell you what elements are impacting in the story and what my opinion is. ANYWAYS...

Jigoku Shoujo, or Hell Girl, is an anime that gets the viewers into thinking about their morals, an idea similar to Death Note, but not like the concept of controlling fate. Rather, this anime has you searching for why one would wish ill-will against another, and whether ... or not you would send somebody to hell if you were in their position. Basically this anime embellishes on it's supernatural feel and does that very well. I had chills in some scenes were glimpses of Hell were portrayed. The plot idea was fantastic and characters were very interesting. However, there was room for improvement. The beginning was somewhat slow and really didn't have anything going, until maybe the 9th or 10th episode. Plus revenge plots began to look the same.

Overall 9/10, don't get me wrong, this anime was pure gold and should be in the check-off list for all otakus!

Okay, so i reeeaally wanted to like this anime.. i really did.
it made it hard to do so when i couldnt' make it past episode 4.
why couldn't i make it further you ask?

every episode followed the same skeletal structure of the prior. namely the summoning of the "hell girl" (reminiscent of some power ranger suit-up cut scene) herself and the expectant gossip one would hear about the "hell girl website" or whatever. the characters were far too unreal (extreme) to relate to or even believe for that matter--everything was terribly predictable in my opinion.

i believe if i watched the anime thru the entire ... way a main plotline may have revealed itself, but i feel the minor plotlines diluted the main story way too much (was there even a main plot? i could almost see the beginning of one)

i give them credit for the idea. and i actually liked the first episodes (1,2).. but that was it.

good luck with this one

Nothing was making me to expect much from Jigoku Shoujo as there is not so many good horror anime, being relatively old, like 11 years (now it is 2016)
I had a thought that there is no point in reviewing this anime as all the ideas were mentioned like hundred times,
but after checking a bunch of reviews I found out the lack of some important ideas featured in this anime.

In this review I am not urging everyone to watch it saying "it is a must watch series", however this anime really impressed me. It is a sad story and it may remind you of the worst ... time in your life, but it is teaching very important moral "revenging you dig two graves, one for your enemy and another for yourself"

So the main idea of this anime in most episodes is hate driving people mad, mad enough to agree on a contract that in their afterlife they go to hell, as a result the object of their hate is immediately send to hell. To do so just untie the red thread on this straw doll. Unfortunately being filled with hate people cannot think clearly and understand the consequences of this contract. So these people hate someone enough to kill at cost of own life. Fortunately there is Hell Correspondence at your service and you do not have to get your own hands dirty. You can get rid of a person you hate and leave a happy life (may be). On the other hand you keep that knowledge that after you die Jigoku Shoujo is going to send you to hell. In my opinion bearing this tough thoughts cannot become a happy life.

Before taking the decision to untie the red thread people have very perplexed thoughts for a moment understanding that being send to hell is like the worst thing happening to them. Some try to resolve the problem on their own and at some points you can see a shine of hope, faint, but visible way to salvation is just not to untie this cursed red thread...

Art. For me in this anime art looks like one of the strongest sides of this anime. Enma Ai in here kimono is so beautiful that you do not get bored of seeing her again and again for many episodes. Keep in mind that this anime has rather dark atmosphere and a lot of dark scenes are set pretty impressive. Effects illustrating supernatural phenomena for me looked splendid despite that it is more than 10 years old anime.

Usually I do not say much about music, music is just fine here, it creates the right atmosphere and almost perfectly fits the situations. Some people might say that it is not so good and soundtrack variation is not rich, but I assure you while watching all the series the idea that music is bad never got to my mind. OP, ED soundtracks are superb and fitting this anime conceptions. Also various characters are voiced by famous seiyuu like Fukuyama Jun, Sawashiro Miyuki and more.

Jigoku Shoujo is one of those animes where you have to wait for the wonderful treat at the end. As many people have stated and I'm sure any viewer will notice after a few episodes is that this series is VERY repetitive. I would say that there is a reason for it in giving viewers a small taste of the hell Ai has endured for many years.

The music is wonderful, animation is stunning, and the characters are a real treat. Some of Ai's team it was easy to guess where in Japanese mythology they came from and one of them was a ... really tough one. Don't worry you'll get your answers... by watching ^_^

So if you have the patience this is a very good anime.

Ok....To start of my first review, i'll be brief and frank. I expected much more from Jigoku Shoujo. Sure, the series was ok but it could have been better.

Let's go into more detail...

The concept of the story was unique, i'll admit that. My only problem was HALF the series was VERY repetative. Half of the total number of episodes focused ONLY on random people asking Ai Enma for their vengance to be granted. Half the series went something like this: a.) Random person wants someone sent to hell. b.) They ask Ai Enma for help. c.) Random person gets their revenge. It wasn't until someone ... actually tried to stop Ai Enma did the story get more interesting.

The series was also suppossed to be scary or frightening to some degree. Personally, I didn't find it to be any of these. It lacked the impact to terrify me for more than 1 milisecond. Although, I found Ai Enma's way of sending people to hell very amusing.....not scary......amusing.

The animation was ok. It wasn't eye candy like Kanon or Clannad. It was just average.

The songs were well done and deserve praise. I loved the opening and the ending song. The bgms of the series also go well with the situations they're played at.

The character development could have been improved. While Ai Enma and the recurring characters in the story were presented very well, the series failed to focus on the three dolls/spirits who assist Ai. I expected to know exactly who they were and exactly what kind of spirits they were by the end of the series but I ended up consulting wikipedia in the end.

All in all, Jigoku Shoujo is average. It's postive points equal its negative points. It is enjoyable but there is room for impovement. The second season is a lot better.

The rest is up to you.

This anime was one I happened to stumble upon when I was looking for something to watch. I was looking for a horror-ish anime, and then I remembered reading a review for Jigoku Shoujo. So I figured that it couldn't hurt to check it out.

I was captivated by the simple plot that grew and progressed as the story developed. But it moved to slowly sometimes and then forced a lot on you as you moved towards the end. I also though that the side characters leading the story were a little weak or sometimes down right obnoxious.

There are sound ... cues in it that remind you of the event or begin to symbolize events all together.

Suprising the lead characters were well designed and had more personality then I would have expected. The dialogue was was either dark and humorless to sometimes being downright funny.

The art was fantastic, everything was well polished and time was spent on the details of the little things. The opening was amazing, it was really beautifully done, more to captivate though then to open it.

Altogether thought,
it was a really nice anime, clever for there is nothing like it.
I would suggest it, but get about half way though before you find out it isn't for you. For the plot doesn't get moving until then. :)

Suzune

Jigoku Shoujo is an anime who since the first episodes made me restless. Only in the last nine episodes the history is really good and show off all potential.
The first part of the anime (ep1~7) tell us closed histories, who honestly,are totally disposable and repetitives. Is only in the second part of the anime (ep8~16) who he show us a plot but he continues repetitive. Only in our third and last part the anime become nice, and finally develops our plot, even though this is a little confusing.
In my opinion you can start the anime in the 8º episode and after seeing him jump for ... the 17º episode.
How I already said the first part of the anime is very disappointing. The anime tells us seven different histories without any plot. The second and the third part (ep8~26) compansate this. In this part the anime show us all the plot, discussing about the valor of the life, selfishness and regrets. Beside it the anime show us news characters who made the history more interesting
In my opinion the 14º and 21º episodes are better than all others episodes of this anime. If all episodes were equal these two, and the plot start from the first episode, of course this anime would be better.
If you watched the anime until the end you saw a giant development of the plot and characters, even if the last part of the story is a little confusing.
Now let's talk about the situations of the characters. This is really absurd and unrealistic. The world of the history is like our world, but a lot of situations never can be see here.
The animation is like the script, don't help the anime be great. The sound don't help too, is little impactant.
The end of the anime don't answers a lot of quests about the history and let a mention for the nexts seasons.

For finish, if you don't like histories who make you angry and are repetitive don't watch this anime. The anime would be better but, the script don't help him. Because that I give 4 for Jigoku Shoujo.

Hell Girl is one of those animes that you want to keep watching over and over again. I love everything about this horror post-21st century anime, with its stunning animation style, fantastic storytelling, supernatural atmosphere.

Now it's time to rate:

Story- The story is basically where a person has been suffering from torment from an acquaintance and access a site called Hell Correspondence and submits a request to get his or her revenge. Ai Emma appears and gives the person a doll with a string around its neck. When you pulled the string, Ai and her companions appear and pull out a freaky illusion and sent ... the antagonist to Hell. I give the story a delicious 10/10.

Art- I love the animation. It captures the aspect of the series. 10/10.

Sound- The sound is tranquil and eerie--I love it. 10/10.

Characters- Ai and everyone else are interesting characters that have sad past events and tragedies. I love them all. 10/10.

Enjoyment- I had plenty of enjoyment. 9/10.

Overall- Jigoku Shoujo is one of best horror animes in the 21st century. It is a must-see series for all horror fans. You will not be disappointed once you watch this spectacular anime. 10/10.

Story (7.2) - The story is not bad, the problem is the first episodes are more like the same.. someone wants revenge, accessed a special site, placed the nome of the person to be sent to hell, then after that someone meets Enma ai, gets a black doll, and end up pulling the string that seals the contract between Enma and the someone who wants revenge (the someone who finishes the contract will also go to hell, but only when they die in rl.)
Basically, the story is like this for about 9-11 episodes, at that point i was about to drop this series bcz each ... episode was basically the same but with another different story.
That´s when two new characters appear, Hajime and Tsugumi, who will try to stop the revenges. I wont tell u more, i u want to know then watch it ;).
But if we take off the first episodes, i can say the story is great..so dont think this 7 means its bad.

Art(8.2): Very good, the design is good, the characters are fine..in overall i think this aspect is good.

Sound(7.8): Sound is neither great or bad..if fits well with this style of anime, so i give it an 8.

Character (7.3): Characters are not well develloped as they should. At the end of 15 episodes i knew almost nothing about the main characters, and thats bad. Thankfully, things chage with the introduction of 2 new characters, Hajime and Tsugumi, who makes the anime much more interesting than it was before. So in the final 11-10 episodes we get to know something about the characters, and that makes me give a 7 and not wors than that.

Enjoyment (8.4): The best aspect in my opinion. It has a lot of suspense, is a lot psychological and some action. I didn´t really got bored while watching, with the exception of the first one that were a little repetitive. So its a very high 8 for this aspect.

Overall (8.0): A fine anime to watch, could be better its true, but still i can recommend this one for someone who likes this kind of misterious and psychological anime. I am now curious and i will start soon with the sequel, wich i hope to be just a little better than this one :)