I started watching Jigoku Shoujo with very high expectations. My friend had praised this anime to heavens and the general idea about a girl who takes upon people's revenge and ferries the wrong-doers to hell is very intriguing.
Story: Jigoku Shoujo should be reviewed in two parts, because the second half of the show is just so much better than the first half. The first half of the show is episodic and specially the first episodes until about 10th episode or so, are quite repetitive in their plot.
About 2/3 of the anime is quite episodic, with each having their own plot and side characters. It is really interesting to see how much people are suffering and what they have to go through in order to contact Ai Enma (Jigoku Shoujo / Hell Girl) and send the person they hate to hell. It often feels even good when the suffering person pulls that thread off the straw doll's neck, sending the wrong-doers to hell. Despite this, the anime is sometimes even a bit dull with the ever-repeating plot line.
Towards the second half of the anime, the cases start to differ more from the basic formula and the cases get even quite bizarre. It isn't always necessarily the evil people who get sent to hell, and for good reasons. This brings up lots of questions about Ai Enma and her past, why is she doing the job of the Hell Girl?
By the middle of the season, two of the other main characters begin appear more often as well. The journalist Hajime, and her daughter Tsugumi, who has psychic abilities regarding Ai Enma. They are trying to find out the truths behind the Hell Girl's past and reasons for why she's taking people to hell. More and more questions about Ai Enma start to pop up. The story starts to build up in depth and intensity towards the last quarter of the season.
The episodes past 20 saved the anime for me. Ai Enma's past is revealed and the story loses any of the repetitive dullness it had until that point. After the slow start of the story, the ending wraps it up quite well. Many of the questions about the backgrounds of the characters are answered. Still, many questions remain even after the anime ends, which asks for watching the next two seasons as well.
Art: Art in Jigoku Shoujo is quite good, even if it's not something never seen before. The art fits the "dark" theme of the anime really well and creates the atmosphere the show deserves.
Characters: Sadly, Ai Enma and the people (the three magical dolls) surrounding her are pretty much the only interesting characters in Jigoku Shoujo. Because most of the show is episodic, there isn't much of a background created for the ever-changing side characters. The two other main characters, the journalist Hajime and her daughter Tsugumi, who are pursuing the Hell Girl have quite big role in the show, but personally I dislike them, specially Hajime. I despise him specially after his past is revealed.
More questions about Ai Enma start to arise as the story progresses. Why is she doing her job as the Hell Girl and why does she always take the people to hell, even if they are not bad people? Why is she so emotionless? The past and reasons behind the existence of Hell Girl are intriguing and towards the end of the show there's rapid development in her character and past.
Ai Enma is one of my favorite female characters of all time.
Her line "Care to give death a try?" gives me the shivers every single time.
Sound: The soundtrack (including OP & ED) of Jigoku shoujo is great. I can't say it's one of my favorites, but it fits the show perfectly. I can't really imagine how the music could be better for this show, it really brings the feeling of the anime up a notch.
Overall Jigoku Shoujo was a really good anime. Without the slow 2/3 of the story I could have scored this anime 10. The first half wasn't bad but it was a bit too slow for the show to be perfect. Ai Enma and the story surrounding her are really interesting, I just wish they had got deeper into the pasts of the other characters too.
I love all the mysterious and symbolic things in Jigoku Shoujo, the music and art are very good as well. The show wrapped up the end well, answering most of the biggest questions. Despite that, it left too many unanswered questions which I hope will be answered in the next two seasons.
