Hells

The story is about Linne, a regular old schoolgirl who’s late for school and running with a piece of toast in her mouth. Then she’s hit by a truck and ends up in hell. Not exactly the best start to her day. She has to attend the Hell School for Prim and Proper Ladies, a variety of demon ladies with various gothic dresses or alternatively lavishly decorated pubic hair. Oh, and the principal is Elvis-sorry, I mean Helvis.

The style of hell is very much that cartoony gothic you see in Tim Burton or, to bring a more anime example to the table, Soul Eater, and ... it’s a style I’m rather fond of. It works well in Hells because they know full well how ridiculous the story is and so ham it up to eleven. Unlike the very crisp and clean animation style of Soul Eater though, Hells goes for a very pencil sketchy look. It’s not something I’m normally a fan of, but Hells pulls it off perfectly. The style goes well with its bonkers hyperactivity and over-indulgence in exaggeration. Its boundless energy is catching, and the art style brings that across perfectly. If you’re watching this anime, you’re watching it for the art style, because that’s where the fun lies. Because you’re probably not going to watch it for the story…

After 45 minutes of this nearly 2 hour movie, I was all ready to call it my anime of the year. The pacing is frantic but coherent and action scene blends in well with calmer scenes. The introduction to the new character’s in Linne’s classroom is hyper and crazy, but you then get a downer scene of her trying to cope with where she has ended up. This is followed by the fight scene with the literally heartless Stealer and the gatekeepers, which flows into plot development and character interaction scenes with the classmates and student council and so on. Each scene has a purpose and moves the relatively simple plot forward.

Then I’m not quite sure what happened, but my guess is the lead writer was eaten by alligators and replaced by some hobo who had gotten through the first few pages of the bible. I don’t really want to spoil events, but suddenly in pops Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel, 3 of which are characters we’ve already been introduced to. There were no hints given earlier on in the story that they were supposed to be these biblical figures. It just randomly decided to attribute these characteristics to each person. Adam is a totally new character who randomly shows up halfway through the movie with absolutely no warning and becomes an important character. Then there’s Mario, whose purpose in the movie I don’t get at all. He’s just some dude who yells a lot. I’m not kidding when I say he probably gets the most screentime out of anyone in the second half of the movie, despite his actions having limited to no effect on the events of the story. If you removed him completely, it wouldn’t really change, except perhaps less shouting and an overall improvement of the quality of the movie.

I’m not necessarily against the plot points in the second half of the movie, and part of me appreciates the audacity of the set pieces and dramatics. I even genuinely liked the ending, in all its cheesy sentimentalism. But a good hour of that movie could be cut down to about 10 minutes. It’s especially exasperating when the plot doesn’t appear to be advancing through all this yelling and self-doubt. The main theme of the movie is meant to be self-doubt, but that doesn’t mean you’ve got to hammer it into our heads over and over again. It’s incredibly frustrating because you can see how this movie could be amazing if it was just an hour long. For as much as I love that Madhouse are willing to give directors such creative freedom with absolutely no prospect for making their money back, there’s a reason you need a strict editor sometimes.

I feel rather conflicted about writing negative stuff about Hells though, because it’s astonishing that it was even made in the first place. It bears many resemblances to Redline in this regard. Madhouse and their utter disregard for making a profit just so they can give directors free reign to experiment. Hells is certainly no Redline, but it’s born from the same kind of production environment. It’s the same place that saw directors like Satoshi Kon and Mamoru Hosada rise up. It will eventually drive Madhouse into the dirt, but for the sake of art I’d love to see them keep trying. Hells may not have worked, but there are flashes of genius here. I was about to say that I’d love to see what this director works on next, but we’ve already seen that. He was brought under the creative branches at JC Staff. That anime in question was Kill Me Baby.

It’s hard to properly describe just how absurd Hells is. Much like feelings themselves, this movie is inexplicable, irrational, and borderline unpredictable at times. By that same token, given that it embodies feelings so well, it does an admirable job at being a delightfully earnest film. It’s honestly a shame this eye-catcher didn’t receive that much attention until now.

On that note, let’s start at what drew me in. The art style in this movie is insane! Far removed from the blander or softer art styles present in most anime, this movie showcases rough outlines and keeps the sketching and coloring lines on its characters. This ... unique style allows for the designers and animators to go all out in constructing the craziest and loveliest character designs, craft a wonderfully vibrant world in Hell, and play around with the rugged linework and imagery in a way that Mob Psycho 100 would gain notoriety for mastering 8 years later. That being said, the anime still decides to use mediocre CG at times and the animation generally feels tamer than the art style. The film’s probably not as visually explosive as the team at Studio Madhouse could have made. However, it’s still one of the most eye-catching anime I’ve witnessed to date.

The other major draw is the dub. Purists may chant for blood at this, but the fact that several members of the abridging juggernaut brand: TeamFourStar, were contacted by Discotek Media to participate in the dub was explosive. The performances in this film were generally good, and some of the adlibs were as priceless as hearing the likes of LittleKuriboh and KaiserNeko as side characters. All in all, the performances were good enough for this risk to be worthwhile and potentially replicated in the future. After all, given how painfully obscure this film is, they had nothing to lose when taking this chance. The performances eclipse most of the soundtrack, with the only exception being the banger of an end credits theme: “Breathe Again" by Jamosa feat. Sphere.

It feels rather fitting that they decided to take this risk with such an obscure, dumb, loveable anime. This movie’s infectious charm is rivaled by its own absurdity, constantly turning its own rules and world on their heads in a way that’s almost impossible to accept. Its messages of love, self-worth, forgiveness, etc. are deeply intertwined to this mess of a narrative. Nothing makes sense, all rules exist to be broken, and believing is what causes the setting to be created and altered constantly. Caution is thrown to the wind by the characters and the script as things simply happen for aforementioned reasons, and sometimes no known reason at all. It’s all hard to buy. Another reason why it’s so messy is that the film is not just blatant about how it utilizes its themes, but as preachy about them as its characters are violent.

Said characters are generally lacking in any real depth beyond blatantly spelling out their deep-rooted sorrows. Their personalities often range from infectious to grating, and they constantly either stand around for no reason or beat the living shit out of each other. If a film less loveable as this had these qualities, it would be much harder to stomach most of this. However, this is Hells, a brazen, funny, beautiful mess of a film. That means these characters interactions often make up for how weak and shallow they may be upon analysis.

It's rather fitting that Hells was given this chance. Abandoned by history, this dumb, rambunctious upstart was given a loving license and dub by people who wanted to take a risk and share this with the world. If you like the unique and rough art style, like the kind of humor and writing that the best anime abridgers craft, or like the works of TeamFourStar and would like to see more eventful risks like this in our industry, then please, give this film a shot. It may be a hell of a mess, but it’s one I can’t help but promote. A film as earnest as this deserves all the promotion it can get.

Written and edited by: CodeBlazeFate
Proofread by: Peregrine

Hells... wow that art is really unique. Beyond the art however, you find that the story at times is special within its own right, yet lacking in its bipolar plot. Personally, I enjoyed the few aspects of the story. The story I guess you could say... is a form of art: making you think of literature and such (it gets quite metaphoric in the second half, although that's not entirely a good thing because it's so different from the first half). And if you're interested in Cain/Abel references, then that's a cool bonus for you.

The art seems pretty retro and possibly low budget, ... also reminding me of Kill La Kill. I wouldn't say that the art is a weak point in this anime however, because its drawing really fits the theme of this anime superbly, being flexible towards its dark moments as well as its comical moments.

The sound is fair and mediocre. Pretty much nothing bad nor good, just average so you wouldn't be bothered but neither does it stand out in any way.
The characters are all really interesting when they are first introduced; but as the story moves forward you can feel the lack of significant bonding between characters... a fully fledged TV series would've done character development justice. But with what we're presented here, I rate the characters below average.

My enjoyment personally was really good; the first half of this movie just CAUGHT ME. I was hooked and I loved the interesting concept of a girl who ran into hell unknowingly. The atmosphere was great and the anime kept me thinking about what would happen to our protagonist and would she ever find her way back to her world. However after the first half of the movie, it suddenly becomes very cliche as if the producers gave up half way through. The whole theme flip flops into biblical allusions that seems to have rose from nowhere. This makes it stray away from the ominous tone that the movie initially had going for it. And rather than going for that ominous tone of "Hells", the movie suddenly starts producing random plot and random character backgrounds for the story and characters.

Overall, if you're hesitant on watching this movie, I say: don't try it. This is one movie that I do not recommend. But I will give the movie props for making people hesitant in watching it in the first place. The anime is funny in some areas, but also somewhat inspiring in some others.
Because of Hells' comical and witty nature, my enjoyment is higher than the (bad) story-design itself. Initially, I was intrigued by the unique art and atmosphere of Hells. However, if it doesn't intrigue you, then I doubt you're going to find something worth your time in this film.

Thanks for reading ~

I think Scamp's review sums it up nicely, but I just wanted to add a couple things.

He compared it to Redline, but I think a better comparison would be either Mindgame or Kaiba. Both stylistically and thematically. However, both Mindgame and Kaiba ease you into what they are trying to say, and draw from their references subtly. Especially Mindgame, which could also be seen in a biblical context (Jonah and the whale...), but it never comes out and beats you over the head with this.

So Hells does a good job of introducing the characters and getting you to emotionally invest in them. But then the ... focus shifts from their personal stories, to some larger biblical story. I feel like this shift was really unnecessary, and they could have made all the same points within their personal dramas. But instead they chose to come right out and tell you exactly what they wanted you to know. There's no mystery here.

This is why I don't think it is near as good as Mindgame or Kaiba. The beginnings of all these are similar, but Mindgame and Kaiba choose to stay in that character driven drama, subtly referencing the themes they are dealing with. They make their points through the natural evolution of the characters, rather than spelling it out for you. So you stay emotionally invested in those characters the entire time. You aren't trying to intellectually pieced together all this dialogue. You understand it on an emotional level, and afterwards you can go back and intellectualize it, but it's really unnecessary.

But I'm still glad I watched it, ultimately I do feel like it said something interesting, and there was an emotional payoff at the end.

And comparing anything to Mindgame or Kaiba, even if it seems like I'm doing so in a negative light, is high praise, because I feel those anime are incredible works of art. I'll watch anything that even scratches the surface of what those accomplished.

Now a lot of people have reviewed this classic and it's both heavily slept on and underrated. Almost every negative review of this gives a lot of credit for the unique art style and wild trigger-like fights and general unhinged storyline. Bottom line is the majority of negative reviews here actually missed primary plot lines (confusion, more like skill issue, try again next time). The show has a certain skill hill for compreshesion and while some people who watch this may hate the idea of, what is now known as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, the final fight scene being a biblical condensed evangelion scale experience of ... positive self thought and indominable human spirit based on the writings of occult magic study.

This movie is in a way just Gurren Laggan mixed with Evangelion, and like both is great if you're actually able to see the value in the themes and the overall depth of the ironic humor. and terrible if you are watching the show to distract you from your sad life.

Rinne Amagame is an average schoolgirl ready to start the new year, but on her way to her first class is struck by a semi-truck while trying to save a cat. Naturally, she goes straight to Hell and is enrolled at an academy for demonic delinquents whose goal is graduation and ascension to Heaven. But Rinne quickly learns her death is a mistake, and looks for a way to return to the real world and her mother. Rinne and the rest of Hell will even be dragged into a plot that goes as far back as the story of Adam and Eve.

It's surprising to see ... anime with such distinctive art and stunning animation be such a well-kept secret, and a modern anime at that. This one could have gone under my radar for a long time but I fortunately learned about it, and a look at some screenshots instantly convinced me it'd be a worthwhile watch. Whenever people encounter such a work so heavily focused on its stylization, they assume the plot and characters will fail to have some kind of "maturity". I don't like to use the word "substance" because it's so loaded. But when it comes to storyline standards, plots with heavy dialogue, complex relationships, and emotional grace tends to be considered linearly better. I've gone on and on about how visuals play just as much of a part of getting across a strong story as any choice of words, so I won't go off on another one of those tangents here. My point is that the movie Redline often suffers the same criticisms, and yet I love its story and characters that are delivered in such a refreshing blow that they overcome a variety of dramatic pretensions for emotional impact. Besides, after a certain point both the simplest save-the-day stories and complex character dramas have both equally been done to death before. So, style is often the distinctive factor.

Basically, what I’m trying to say here is that if there's a target audience for Hells, I'd figure I'm part of it. Hells’ underworld is designed in a darkly comic manner most people will be able to draw a comparison with somewhere. The likely candidate is the stop-motion characters Tim Burton has designed, with Hells’ art being at once colorful and childishly simple but rendered in abrasive ways, with harsh jagged lines that accentuate their inhuman features. Even Rinne, a human, looks lanky and doll-like. Similarly, when this nightmarish distortion is applied to even the most basic of scenery and curved buildings it begins to look like a German expressionist work. Combining the innocent with the disgusting may be a worn-out trend, but anime unusually touches influences such as these which makes Hells feel exciting in context.

But all of that is how Hells looks when it’s static. As for how it moves, another comfortable point of comparison is the works of studio Trigger. The movement in Hells is every bit as breakneck and attention-deficit as the pacing of its storyline, bouncing and bolting from scene to scene with a fittingly childish enthusiasm. It’s fluid, colorful, and even unpredictable with short and sudden style shifts. The result feels light and juvenile, but in a way that’s rebelliously punky. Hells’ base simplicity and simple sense of wonder truly pays off in a final act about challenging reality with conviction and making the impossible possible with a loud, straightforward optimism reminiscent of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann’s messages. Not surprisingly, that series was composed by current members of studio Trigger.

The sheer speed at which Hells moves isn’t very beneficial to deep character development. The movie is clearly trying to capture a story larger than its runtime, but style is once again the great compromiser here, making characters likable and understandable simply through their boundless expressions. You don’t fully understand the logic of, say, Rinne and Steeler’s relationship because it feels like they barely interact, but what’s important is that whenever that relationship is relevant it’s so exuberantly captured that you can simply feel its significance to the characters. The emotions in Hells all feel genuine despite their lack of set-up, and takes little explanation to cheer for a cast that’s so innately enjoyable and fun. Hells doesn’t offer contemplative looks at morality, but those kinds of conversations have been handled by media so much already. Instead of beating around the same old concepts in your head, movies like Hells come along and aren’t discouraged to try their hardest to make the ride something you’d have to remember rather than something you feel like you should.

READ THE MANGA! The movie's only watchable.

Good points:
The art style stays true to the manga's, very "hellish". If the movie stands alone, I would say it's an impressionistic piece of crazy artsy shit.

Not-so-good points:
This is a very concise adaptation of the manga. It's like an animated version with a lot of essential factors taken away. The plot rushes through character development and important relationships, making everyone seems rather flat. Although the manga only has three volumes, the story and the characters are so complex and interesting that a TV series would do more justice than a movie. Cramming all the drama and plot twists ... in just two hours doesn't seem like a good idea.

Overall, meh. Try the manga.

Besides the art, this is a solid mess. The movie starts off being pretty decent but the plot is just all over the place. The characters are constantly jumping from one end to the other over and over again. It would have been better if this was a show instead but even then, the final result of the unfolding of this story would have still been an absolute mess if the destination was the same. The only redeemable aspect of this show is the art. It's aesthetically pleasing to look at but even then I know for a fact some people wouldn’t like it. Just ... watch something else honestly. Some people recommend the manga more than the movie. I haven't read the manga but maybe give that a shot instead. The ratings on MAL for both are pretty much the same.

I really like the idea of a high school in Hell and I can think of a lot of other great movies with similar premises like Pixar's Coco and Tim Burnton's Corpse Bride, but what ruins this movie is its execution.

About at the 30 minute mark, it's like the writers just completely abandoned their original premise of a high school in Hell and the whole movie falls apart. There's all this talk about the madness of Able, God appears but doesn't really add anything to the story, and the movie's ending doesn't even make sense.

On top of that, the movie is full of anime ... cliches like how Rinne is constantly late for school, the student council being the antagonists, and Rinne having this genki girl personality where she's so happy go lucky and optimistic all the time.

Also, a lot of the conflicts in the movie are resolved through deus ex machina. For example, a character loses his arm, but Rinne just tells him to believe in himself and magically the arm reappears because all you have to do is believe you can do something and it'll come true.

The only good thing about this movie is the art. I really like the design of the school and the demon students that attend it. It's interesting how each demon is designed after a different monster like a mummy, a witch, a werewolf, and Frankenstein's monster. However, while the designs are good, the animation is another matter. It's painfully obvious that this movie was made on a small budget; there's one scene that lasts for over 10 minutes where all we see is a clip show of still images.

Overall, I'd recommend do not watch this movie. It seems like some talented people worked on it, but it's so disorganized and poorly executed that I recommend avoiding it.

I just finally watched this after having wanted to check out the "TFS official dub" for a while. Honestly I found this a rather difficult movie to follow or to evaluate; the art style is very unique and enjoyable, and the characters and scenes FEEL like they have a lot of personality, but the story, atmosphere and direction seem to unpredictably jump around a lot, and not always in a good way. It feels like this never establishes enough of a status quo for the twists and upheavals to it to really land. That may be partly due to them compressing 21 manga chapters into ... a 2-hour movie when usually you'd want around 10 minutes per chapter, and partly due to the manga itself probably changing direction as it was being written and not being sure exactly where it was going from the beginning (and I suspect this adaptation stuck to a little over-literally to the manga rather than making enough changes to suit the condensed telling). All that being said, I THINK it raises a few interesting philosophical points, although they're hard to pull out from the general insanity of the story, and it's memorable for its sheer boldness and novelty if nothing else. This is hardly what I'd call a must-see, but I suppose I'd say that if a look at the trailer really piques your interest, then you probably won't regret watching this one.

The first half is pretty good, but the last half has many issues. They may have been able to pull off what they were going for if this had been a full 26 episode anime. However, the amount of things that happens in this movie, most of which are supposed to be very deep character moments are insane. There is just no room for the proper build up, or to even breath between events.

I enjoyed most of the main cast, but there's just so many of them and we really needed more time with them if the emotional moments were going to have a chance ... at hitting. Also, there is AT LEAST a dozen other characters that we are supposed to care about that have so little screen time, that they could have been removed entirely. We get a nice amount of time with some characters early on, but once the plot picks up, it's just too packed to get to know anyone anyone deeper.

This movie aims to be quirky, spontaneous, funny, high-impact action with deep themes and biblical references, however it fails to do so in almost every way. Its completely lacking in any form of enjoyment and is painful to the eyes especially with its 2 hour length. This movie fails to accomplish what Studio Trigger has achieved; of course I do realize this movie came out in 2008, several years before much of Trigger's works, however, whether they drew inspiration from this movie or not, Trigger very much improves upon what they attempted with this movie in every way and more. I would not recommend this ... movie to anyone and instead watch something like Kill La Kill or Gurren Lagann, ultimately this movie feels, at best, like an imitation of Trigger that fails to accomplish what they did.

I had an extremely fun time with this one. So much so that I started watching at 1 a.m. and ended staying up until 3 because I just couldn't stop.

I don't want to spoil too much about the plot, but the gist of it is basically Dead Leaves + Kill la Kill with just a tiny pinch of Devilman. In other words, the perfect popcorn anime.

Animation was a special high point along with the absolute bonkers plot.

My only regret is that I didn't stumble across it sooner. Highly recommended.

*********

Umm, it looks like I haven't reached the character limit yet. What to ... write? Um, I thought the character designs were pretty good. Except for Helvis, he's just totally awesome. I don't remember much of the soundtrack. MC was adorable but kind of forgettable. I liked the girl who looked like Griffith from Berserk. That was fun.

One trope I majorly dislike is Author Tract. The reason I dislike said trope comes down to the fact the viewer won't notice the tropes utilization unless they're doing either a full blown analysis of the work or the message the author is putting in becomes too obvious for the work's own good. The movie Hells falls into the latter. This isn't to say the message isn't a good message - though in this case I think it is, but when the narrative pummels it into the viewer in the degree and ferocity Hells does it's hard for said viewer not to become sick of ... the whole thing.

On top of the Author Tract trope the series also falls into the Black and White morality problem and over simplifies the concepts of hope and despair with rhetoric which can't even begin to understand human nature. In fact, by the end I felt the narrative openly mocked those with depression without actually bringing the subject up, yet doing so is no easy feat. In addition to this I felt all the negative things anybodies gone through in life mocked. While this isn't true to the message the Author Tract wishes to get across, said message is still there BECAUSE the narrative falls into the symptoms of telling rather than showing.

As for the art work, while it is true the art style's sketch like nature helps feed the Gothic style ad gives it a rough edge I'm honestly not sure if this sketchy style was done for that purpose or because such style can actually hide flaws in the art from those who don't know what to look for. There is a lack of consistency in the art work proportion wise nor is there constancy in the proportion size variant either. In other words the style is in reality all over the place.

As for the characters, normally in afterlife stories I find the characters learn a valuable lesson by the end, yet in this case the lesson learned isn't really a moral lesson, yet the message which comes across in the end - well, that's what makes me feel the entire work is pretty much mocking those with troubles currently in their life and those falling into depression for pretty much not looking on the bright side of things.

Hells uses a visually interesting artstyle and great animation to tell a fun story. About halfway through the film, the story and characters become a lot weightier, which reinvigorated my interest right when I was getting a little bored of the quirky Hell antics. Overall, the mix of biblical mythology and anime sensibilities made for a touching, universally inspiring story.

Also, I watched the English dub, which I thought was pretty good. So, shout out to Team Four Star on the good work. A smile was brought to my face everytime I heard Nick Landis deliver a line as Helvis.

Interesting is a fuzzy word, but that's the easiest way to describe the experience of watching this anime. I liked the idea behind the story, and I loved all the Dante's Inferno vibes, but the story wasn't particularly to my fancy.
"Hells" had the idea where "hell" is a place where you study before being reincarnated and that's a brilliant idea [that bit is defiantly my style].
Also, I liked interpreting the story as a battle between being unflappable/pollyannaish [unfailingly cheerful] versus being gloom-ridden. The whole symbolism whatnot, appealed to my logomaniac [being obsessed with words] nature because it gave me a story where I could easily ... attach some of my English vocabularies too.But besides this story appealing to the logomaniac psychographic and having a cool concept. I have to mention that you likely won't find solace in this anime. I cannot say this anime is "proper escapism", but it could be said that you'll be temporarily be distracted from your life thanks to this anime.

My first impressions from this movie is that it should have been split up into a short OVA miniseries rather than one 2-hour movie, as the pacing made it hard to hold my attention. However, Hells still had aspects about it that made it enjoyable.

The first thing you'll notice is the striking art style. I loved the gothic flair, sketchy outlines, and very over-the-top exaggerated animation. It captures the style of the manga well, and each colour choice is exceptional. Rinne's brighter palette really stood out against the dark, moody atmosphere and more muted tones on the other character designs. I appreciated the subtle ... visual cues, such as stitching appearing to be wherever Steela was.

Another aspect I enjoyed about this film was that it felt very hopeful. Rinne is a very likable protagonist, while also eventually learning to stand up for herself and what she believes in. Her friendship with Steela was so sweet, and the way she gradually won over the others was enjoyable. She very much is a "power of friendship" type protagonist and even reminds me a little of Suzuki Iruma, but that's exactly what I liked so much about her.

This film is free on retrocrush if you want to try and give it a chance.

Good lord. This movie is what I can only describe as one good fever dream. Kind of like a dream that you had while running a high fever enough to make you delirious, but also taking some sort of hallucinogenic drug to make you imagine some creative stuff.

For instance, I personally enjoy that the Hell's Academy's Principal, a red demonic figure named "Helvis" who has the iconic white outfit and pompadour of Elvis Presley, has mini pompadours coming out of his nipples.

This anime is seriously fast paced. People's alliances with other characters are flimsy at best and after a while the whole plot descends ... into chaos. It is a blink-and-you-miss-it kind of plot.

The artwork is very stylized and not for everyone, but it grew on me. Especially because the animation itself is really well done. In the fight scenes, you can feel the excitement.

Don't come for good pacing or relatable character development. Come for the party.

What a trip.

It's always interesting to see how Japan takes and adapts Christian folklore into the surreal world of anime. Hell is a concept almost ubiquitous in religions around the world, but nobody seems to be able to agree on it's exact nature. While a strictly Biblical depiction would show it to be a place of only suffering, eastern ideas about the afterlife paint it as being basically a continuation of our society as we have it already here on earth. So of course Hell is going to be a Japanese high school, where they play volleyball and talk about which boys they like.

The philosophies ... aside, what really stands out in this movie is the unique art style and animation. It's the kind of thing you can really only get from anime, and is hard to describe in just words. Even if the plot is utterly nonsensical it ultimately doesn't matter if it still looks cool, and it does. Honestly that's really all it had going for it for me, though. Looking cool isn't really enough to elevate it's score much past a 6/10, so that's what I gave it. Kind of dumb movie otherwise.

Continuing our look into horror anime, we have Hells. A Madhouse film from 2008 based off of a manga. For a long time I've posited that Madhouse has two teams. One that's putting out quality work, another that puts out utter rubbish. So, which one are we getting?

Story:

We open with our main heroine, Amagane Rinne, running late for school. On her way there, she rescues a strange looking cat that's being harassed by some horrible children. Does she think she's Tsukino Usagi? This results in her being hit by a truck. Afterwards, she wakes up in hell where she can start at a new ... school and leave hell if she graduates. There's just one catch, she may not be quite dead.

The biggest problem with the film is that the pacing is very awkward. Hells likes to pause the action for long, rambling speeches about hope vs skill and other topics. And when they do wax philosophical in these moments it's very simplistic. Like, one side will say you have to have hope. The other will say hope is nothing without the ability to act on it. Then the original side will say that taking those steps to get results all start with hope and that's why it's so important. It also has this weird habit of dragging out some scenes and rushing through others. A perfect example is the Volleyball tournament. The first match they have takes up more time than every other match combined, including the final.

I will give the story-telling credit for staying compelling throughout. The pacing may be wonky, but there is always something interesting going on. The series also does do some creative things with the whole concept of hell and the afterlife. The film also possesses a lot of charming moments and scenes that just work very well.

Characters:

The cast is largely very bland. This film does have a lot of characters, so most of them aren't used that much. The big exceptions are Rinne, Steela & Kutou. Rinne and Steela actually have a very strong dynamic and it helps bring out different facets for them both. Kutou seems boring at first, but becomes an interesting character midway through the film.

Art:

The art is a bit different in that it looks more like a Western cartoon than an anime with its general style and hyperactive animation. The whole aesthetic of hell and the various demon characters is pretty interesting. The bizarre spiky nipple thing they do with various characters, like Headmaster Helvis is just weird. That being said, I don't dislike the whole design. I actually think basing Rinne's classmates off of classic monsters is pretty well done. Especially since they don't do the usual sexy monster girl thing.

Sound:

The man issue with the acting in this anime is that a lot of it is pretty over the top. It's one of those where a lot of the comedy is based around big, vibrant moments with lines being delivered very flamboyantly. Which isn't to say that Sawashiro Miyuki, Fukuen Misato, Kishio Daisuke and the others are bad. They actually do very well with switching from the over the top comedic moments to the more subdued talkative or emotional moments. The music is okay. It was done by Edison, the same composer who worked on Black Lagoon. The music in this isn't as good as Black Lagoon's, but it's decent enough.

Ho-yay:

There's a bit. Once Steela and Rinne's relationship starts to develop it comes across as a little les-yayish. It's sort of like a more toned down version of the dynamic betwixt Mai and Mikoto in Mai-Hime.

Areas of Improvement:

1: If your "philosophy" is at a very basic level, you don't need to have very long, slow scenes about it. I'm sorry, but the whole argument about hope, talent and wishing versus doing is not complex enough to need the time they spend on it.

2: Less talking in general during the more action-oriented sequences would be welcome. I get it, you have information to impart and you want to make the characters slightly more complex but that would work better with less action sequences and more character scenes rather than by having your characters pause in the middle of an actiony moment to just have a long, rambling talk.

3: The film could benefit from having more developed characters. There are characters like Mario, Kiki and Phantoma who have important moments but those moments don't work as well as they could because Mario, Kiki & Phantoma are all tired archetypes.

Final Thoughts:

This film isn't great. It probably shouldn't be defined as horror since it's one of those where the horror genre is based on having monsters and being set in Hell rather than on the actual aesthetic. That being said, I kind of liked it. It has charm, intrigue and some heart. So, I'm going to give it a 7/10. Not the best, but worth watching.