Hell Girl

Hell Girl (Japanese: 地獄少女, Hepburn: Jigoku Shōjo), also known as Jigoku Shōjo: Girl from Hell, is a Japanese anime series conceptualized by Hiroshi Watanabe and produced by SKY Perfect Well Think, Tokyo MX, Wakasa Seikatsu, Fujishoji, Aniplex and Studio Deen. It is directed by Watanabe and Takahiro Omori, with Kenichi Kanemaki handling series composition, Mariko Oka designing the characters and Yasuharu Takanashi, Hiromi Mizutani and Kenji Fujisawa composing the music. The series focuses on the existence of a supernatural system that allows people to take revenge by having other people sent to Hell via the services of the mysterious title character and her assistants who implement this system. Revenge, injustice, hatred, and the nature of human emotions are common themes throughout the series.

Hell Girl
Eighth Japanese DVD cover, featuring (from left to right) Enma Ai, Wanyudo, Hone Onna and Ren Ichimoku
地獄少女 (Jigoku Shōjo)
Genre	Dark fantasy[1] Supernatural thriller[2]
Created by	Hell Girl Project Hiroshi Watanabe
Anime television series
Directed by	Takahiro Omori
Produced by	Ai Abe Norihiro Hayashida
Written by	Kenichi Kanemaki
Music by	Yasuharu Takanashi Hiromi Mizutani
Studio	Studio Deen
Licensed by	AUS: Madman Entertainment BI: Revelation Films NA: Funimation (expired)
Original network	Animax, MBS, Tokyo MX, Kids Station
English network	SEA: Animax Asia SG: Okto US: IFC ZA: Animax South Africa
Original run	October 4, 2005 – April 4, 2006
Episodes	26 (List of episodes)
Further information Manga Written by Miyuki Etō Published by Kodansha English publisher NA: Del Rey Manga Magazine Nakayoshi Demographic Shōjo Original run November 2005 – September 2008 Volumes 9 Anime television series Hell Girl: Two Mirrors Directed by Takahiro Omori Produced by Ai Abe Norihiro Hayashida Written by Kenichi Kanemaki Music by Yasuharu Takanashi Hiromi Mizutani Studio Studio Deen Licensed by NA: Sentai Filmworks (expired) Original network Animax, MBS, Tokyo MX, Kids Station English network SEA: Animax Asia Original run October 7, 2006 – April 6, 2007 Episodes 26 (List of episodes) Television drama Directed by Makoto Naganuma Hideaki Takahashi Yoshikazu Kaneko Produced by Hideaki Takahashi Sadayoshi Satō Yoshikazu Kaneko Written by Akemi Moriyama Tomoko Yamakawa Noboru Moai Kumiko Satō Music by Tomoki Hasegawa Studio Izumi TV Production Original network Nippon TV Original run November 4, 2006 – January 27, 2007 Episodes 12 (List of episodes) Video game Jigoku Shoujo Akekazura / Mioyosuga Developer Compile Heart Platform Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2 Released September 27, 2007 (DS), September 19, 2009 (PS2) Anime television series Hell Girl: Three Vessels Directed by Hiroshi Watanabe Produced by Ai Abe Ai Matsuki Written by Kenichi Kanemaki Music by Yasuharu Takanashi Hiromi Mizutani Kenji Fujisawa Studio Studio Deen Licensed by NA: Sentai Filmworks (expired) Original network Animax, MBS, Tokyo MX English network SEA: Animax Asia Original run October 4, 2008 – April 4, 2009 Episodes 26 (List of episodes) Manga New Hell Girl Written by Miyuki Etō Published by Kodansha Magazine Nakayoshi Demographic Shōjo Original run March 19, 2009 – November 6, 2009 Volumes 3 Manga Hell Girl R Written by Miyuki Etō Published by Kodansha Magazine Nakayoshi Demographic Shōjo Original run March 19, 2010 – July 15, 2013 Volumes 11 Manga Hell Girl: Enma Ai Selection, Super Scary Story Written by Miyuki Etō Published by Kodansha Magazine Nakayoshi Demographic Shōjo Original run July 20, 2007 – April 27, 2012 Volumes 13 Anime television series Hell Girl: The Fourth Twilight Directed by Takahiro Omori Produced by Kazunori Adachi Takanori Yamayoshi Yoshiyuki Shioya Written by Kenichi Kanemaki Music by Yasuharu Takanashi Studio Studio Deen Licensed by NA: Aniplex of America Original network Tokyo MX, GTV, GYT, MBS, BS11 English network SEA: Animax Asia Original run July 14, 2017 – September 29, 2017 Episodes 12 (List of episodes) Live-action film Hell Girl (2019)

It was broadcast across Japan on numerous television stations, including Animax, Tokyo MX, MBS and others, between October 2005 and April 2006. A second season, titled Hell Girl: Two Mirrors, was broadcast from October 2006 to April 2007. A third season, titled Hell Girl: Three Vessels, was broadcast from October 2008 to April 2009. A fourth season, Hell Girl: The Fourth Twilight, was broadcast from July to September 2017.

Plot

See also: List of Hell Girl characters

Each episode typically follows the format of a self-contained short story where a person has been suffering torment from an acquaintance to the point that he or she accesses the Hell Correspondence website and submits a request to get rid of the person. Ai Enma, the Hell Girl, appears, and presents a doll with a red string on its neck that can send the named antagonist to Hell. When the string is pulled, Ai and her companions then torment the antagonist, offering a last chance to repent (which is usually refused), and ferry them to Hell. The price of the contract is that the person making the request will also have to go to Hell after his or her life is over.

Starting with the eighth episode, Hajime Shibata, a former journalist who has resorted to taking scandal photos to blackmail people, begins investigating the rumors surrounding the Hell Correspondence website, and discovers that people are literally being dragged to Hell. His daughter, Tsugumi, is somehow able to see Enma. As the series progresses, they become conflicted on whether they should intervene to save the people involved. In the second season, a mysterious young girl from Hell, named Kikuri, is introduced. Kikuri is able to travel freely between Earth and the Twilight realm where Enma resides. Later, the plot centers around Takuma Kurebayashi, a boy who is blamed by his townsfolk for causing disappearances around the town that are, in reality, caused by the townsfolk using the "Hell Correspondence" website. In the third season, Kikuri returns to recruit Enma's assistants along with a yōkai named Yamawaro, who accepts an old offer from Enma to become her fourth assistant. The story follows Enma's mysterious possession of a young schoolgirl, Yuzuki Mikage. In the fourth season, the story introduces a new character named Michiru, whom Ai helps realize her fate as a successor to the Hell Girl title.

Hell Correspondence

The medium through which a client contacts Ai Enma has changed over the centuries, however nowadays a website is used. Initially clients would write the names of whom they hated on an ema, which later changed to sending a letter to the address appearing in a three-column newspaper advertisement only visible to those with enough hatred. Once the Internet became available, people could access the "Hell Correspondence" website, otherwise known as the "Hotline to Hell". Soon after, the site was adapted into a mobile version that could be accessed from cell phones.^[3]

Each medium can only be used at midnight by one who harbors a desire for revenge against their object of hatred. Should someone submit the name of someone against whom they bear a grudge or immense hatred, and their request is accepted, Ai Enma will take them to a realm of perpetual twilight where she offers them a straw doll, which is one of her companions, with a red string wound around its neck and describe to the client the details of their contract. Should the client pull the string tied around the doll's neck, Ai Enma will ferry the target of the revenge straightaway to Hell. However, once the client's life has ended, they will also go to Hell, and a black crest-shaped mark appears on the client's chest to serve as a permanent reminder of their decision to send someone to Hell. However, this mark is no guarantee that the person themselves will not be sent to Hell by another client.

Media

Anime

Main article: List of Hell Girl episodes

Part of a painting by Kawanabe Kyōsai, featured in the opening theme of Hell Girl

The Hell Girl anime series is produced by Aniplex and Studio Deen. The series was created by Hiroshi Watanabe and directed by Takahiro Omori, with scripts by Kenichi Kanemaki. The first season spanned 26 episodes and premiered across Japan on Animax between October 4, 2005, and April 4, 2006. The second season, Hell Girl: Two Mirrors (地獄少女 二籠, Jigoku Shōjo Futakomori), also spanned 26 episodes and aired from October 7, 2006, to April 6, 2007, across Japan on Animax. The third season, Hell Girl: Three Vessels (地獄少女 三鼎, Jigoku Shōjo Mitsuganae), spanning 26 episodes aired from October 4, 2008,^[4] to April 4, 2009, on Animax, MBS and Tokyo MX. A fourth season, Hell Girl: The Fourth Twilight (地獄少女 宵伽, Jigoku Shōjo: Yoi no Togi), spanning 12 episodes, of which the later 6 are rebroadcasts of episodes from previous seasons, aired from July 14 to September 29, 2017, on MBS and Tokyo MX, with the main cast reprising their roles.^[5]

The first season was also licensed for North American distribution by Funimation. The U.S. cable/satellite channel IFC announced in September 2007^[6] that it acquired "Hell Girl" from FUNimation, which then premiered on July 9, 2008.^[7] Section23 Films announced that Sentai Filmworks has licensed the second season, with the first DVD set shipping on May 25, 2010, and the second set on July 27.^[8] On June 24, 2010, Section23 Films announced that Sentai has also the third season of "Hell Girl," under the subtitle "Three Vessels". The first set was released on September 28, 2010,^[9] followed by the second set released on November 30, 2010. Funimation later dropped the series from internet streaming and home media distribution after reaching the end of the license term in early 2013. The fourth season is licensed by Aniplex of America and is set to be streamed on Amazon Prime Video^[10] and Crunchyroll.^[11]

Music

Main article: List of Hell Girl soundtracks

A total of six soundtracks were released by Sony Music Entertainment. Two original soundtrack albums were released for "Hell Girl". The first album contains twenty-four tracks and was released on January 25, 2006.^[12] The second album contains twenty-six tracks and was released on April 19, 2006.^[13] Two original soundtrack albums were released for Jigoku Shōjo Futakomori. The first album contains twenty-three tracks and was released on January 24, 2007.^[14] The second album contains twenty-three tracks and was released on March 21, 2007.^[15] Two original soundtrack albums were released for Jigoku Shōjo: Mitsuganae. The first album contained twenty-eight tracks and was released on December 17, 2008.^[16] The second album contained twenty-seven tracks and was released on March 4, 2009.^[17]

Manga

A manga adaptation has featured art by Miyuki Etō (永遠 幸, Etō Miyuki). It has been serialized in Kodansha's Nakayoshi shōjo manga magazine since October 2005. The manga was published into three different titles. The first shares the same name of the anime and a total of three volumes were released from January 25, 2006, to October 6, 2008.^[18][19] The manga was originally licensed by Del Rey Manga, and the first volume was released January 2008. The last three volumes have been released as an omnibus in October 2010.

The second manga, titled Shin Jigoku Shōjo (新・地獄少女, "New Hell Girl"), released a total of three volumes from March 19, 2009, to November 6, 2009.^[20][21] The third, titled Jigoku Shōjo R (地獄少女R, "Hell Girl R"), released a total of eleven volumes from March 19, 2010, to July 15, 2013.^[22][23] A single manga volume, titled Jigoku Shōjo Enma Ai Serekushon Geki Kowa Sutourii (地獄少女　閻魔あいセレクション　激こわストーリー, Hell Girl: Enma Ai Selection, Super Scary Story) was released on April 30, 2014.^[24]

Live-action

Television

Hell Girl was adapted into a single live-action television drama series that premiered on Nippon Television from November 4, 2006, spanning 12 half-hour episodes.^[25] The series was directed by Makoto Naganuma. The theme song for the series is "Dream Catcher".^[26] The live action adaptation features Sayuri Iwata as Enma Ai, Kazuki Kato as Ichimoku Ren, Aya Sugimoto as Onna Hone, Saaya Irie as Shibata Tsugumi, and Kazuhiko Nishimura as Shibata Hajime.

Film

Main article: Hell Girl (film)

A live-action film adaptation, directed by Kōji Shiraishi and distributed by GAGA Pictures and Constantin Film was released on November 15, 2019.

Video games

Hell Girl has been adapted into a video game for the Nintendo DS entitled Jigoku Shōjo Akekazura (地獄少女 朱蘰), which was developed by Compile Heart and released in Japan on September 27, 2007.^[27][28] Compile Heart made a PlayStation 2 version entitled Jigoku Shōjo Mioyosuga (地獄少女 澪縁) released on September 17, 2009.^[29] A puzzle game has also been released on the Konami Net DX service for i-mode-compatible mobile phones.^[30]

References

1. Douresseaux, Leroy (January 23, 2008). "Hell Girl: Volume 1". ComicBookBin. Archived from the original on January 28, 2008. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
2. Loo, Egan (January 24, 2008). "Del Rey Posts Preview of Hell Girl Manga". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on August 6, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
3. Hiroshi Watanabe (February 21, 2009). "Hell Professor vs. Hell Girl". Jigoku Shōjo: Mitsuganae. Episode 20. 15 minutes in.
4. "Bandai Channel Official Jigoku Shōjo Page". Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
5. "Hell Girl Gets New 12-Episode TV Anime in July". Anime News Network. February 28, 2017. Archived from the original on July 22, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
6. "FC Boosts Anime, Acquires Three Series". Reed Business Information. September 12, 2007. Archived from the original on November 18, 2010. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
7. "Hell Girl Anime Debuts on IFC's Linear Channel Tonight". Anime News Network. September 30, 2008. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
8. "Sentai Adds Asu no Yoichi, Eyeshield 21, Hell Girl 2". Anime News Network. February 26, 2010. Archived from the original on March 31, 2014. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
9. "Sentai Acquires Xan'd, Hell Girl Season 3 Anime, Adds New Dubs". Mania.com. June 24, 2010. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
10. "Amazon Prime to Stream Animeism Shows Including Altair Worldwide". Anime News Network. July 1, 2017. Archived from the original on May 20, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
11. "Aniplex USA Announces Hell Girl 4, Owarimonogatari 2 Streaming on Crunchyroll". Anime News Network. July 2, 2017. Archived from the original on July 4, 2017. Retrieved July 2, 2017.
12. "Jigoku Shojo Original Soundtrack". CDJapan. Archived from the original on July 11, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
13. "Jigoku Shojo Original Soundtrack 2". CDJapan. Archived from the original on September 13, 2024. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
14. "Jigoku Shojo Futagomori Original Soundtrack". CDJapan. Archived from the original on July 11, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
15. "Jigoku Shojo Futagomori Original Soundtrack 2". CDJapan. Archived from the original on July 11, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
16. "Jigoku Shojo Mitsuganae Original Soundtrack". CDJapan. Archived from the original on July 11, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
17. "Jigoku Shojo Mitsuganae Original Sound Track -Soushoku-". CDJapan. Archived from the original on January 19, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
18. 地獄少女(1) (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 13, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
19. 地獄少女(9) (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 24, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
20. 新・地獄少女(1) (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 25, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
21. 新・地獄少女(3) (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 24, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
22. "地獄少女R(1)" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 25, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
23. "地獄少女R(11)" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 24, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
24. 地獄少女 閻魔あいセレクション 激こわストーリー (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 24, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
25. "Jigoku Shoujo Live Action" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 2, 2007. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
26. "Drama Detail Data: 地獄少女 JIGOKU-SHOUJO" (in Japanese). Furusaki Yasunari. Archived from the original on November 27, 2009. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
27. "地獄少女"にまつわる謎とは？ 『地獄少女 朱蘰（あけかづら）』 (in Japanese). June 28, 2007. Archived from the original on April 16, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2011.
28. 地獄少女 朱蘰 (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Archived from the original on June 11, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
29. "Hell Girl Hotline Opens On The PlayStation 2". June 30, 2009. Archived from the original on June 15, 2010. Retrieved July 8, 2011.
30. "アニメやマンガのヒットに続け iモードで『地獄少女ぱずるだま』配信" (in Japanese). Famitsu. April 18, 2007. Archived from the original on November 18, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2011.

External links

• Media related to Hell Girl at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website (in Japanese)
• Jigoku Shōjo (live action) at NTV (in Japanese)
• Hell Girl (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Jigoku Shoujo -Akekazura- at The Visual Novel Database
• Jigoku Shoujo -Mioyosuga- at The Visual Novel Database