Jigoku Shojo

         

Jigoku Shojo or Hell Girl is an extremely compelling horror anime that never fails to send a chill down the viewer's spine. This horror thriller seems very docile and slow paced at first, but always gets you in the end because of its vivid dark imagery and portrayal of twisted human minds. The story is broken into many seemingly unrelated arcs that are all individually and suspensefully brought to culmination in a repetitive yet intriguing manner. I'll explain this plot device more below.

The story follows an urban legend of a cursed website. According to rumors, if someone holds a real grudge against another person, they can visit this website at midnight and request the 'Hell Girl', Enma Ai to kill their enemies. Here's where it gets interesting- if Enma and her associates from hell believe the grudge is strong enough, they will appear in front of the website user and hand them a black doll with a red string around its neck. If the string is removed, the grudge will be realized and any person the doll's owner chooses will be tortured and instantly dragged down to hell. The consequence is that the doll owner will also give up their soul and be sent to hell when they naturally die. The choice of using this double edged sword is what makes most of the show juicy. Hell Girl will explore the dark depths of human psyche and show what it takes to push a person to their limit. Each story arc is short and will get you ambivalent about the respective doll owners who range from petty and selfish individuals to helpless and victimized ones. This eerie plot bolstered by its creepy art style and sound track makes for a great pick if you love horror as a genre. 

Hell Girl does have a main overarching plot, but spends a lot of time on individual stories of people's grudges. Now because each story is unique, story progression can get a little disjointed. Think of this as a horror novel with many creepy chapters and a big finale, but you can only appreciate the finale if you put up with all the precursory chapters, some of which can be dry or monotonous. I for one, recommend sticking till the end.  



My personal ratings are: 

Story: 3/5
Character Development: 2/5
Dialogue: 3/5
Music: 3/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall Recommendation: When One Soul is Cursed, Two Graves Are Dug