Anime Review of Jigoku Shojo Aka Hell Girl

"Jigoku Shojo" aka "Hell Girl" is a fifty-two episode Japanese anime series. It has the same feel as the popular Japanese anime series known as "Death Note." At the same time, this has a very different feel from Death Note. The story behind Jigoku Shojo revolves around a young girl that looks to be twelve years old named Enma Ai. Enma Ai is also known as the Hell Girl that grants your wish to send your antagonist to Hell. There's a very solid storyline behind Jigoku Shojo as the main characters are tasked with bringing the named antagonists all the way to Hell.

Exactly at midnight, the website known as the "Jigoku Tsushin" or "Hell Correspondence" can be accessed. It has to be accessed exactly at midnight. If you're a minute early, the website won't appear. If you're a minute late, the website will go away and you have to wait until the next midnight. Once you type in the name of your antagonist, Enma Ai appears and gives you a straw doll which is either: red, blue, or black with a red string wound around the neck.

Once you pull the string, Enma Ai will ferry the recipient of the revenge straight to Hell. Enma Ai tends to be the ferryman or ferrygirl in the series. The protagonist of each episode details the situations they're in and why they're in it. Of course sending your antagonists to Hell seems to be wrong. But Jigoku Shojo tends to show viewers that nothing is really black and white. Life and death is one gray area as the series tends to reveal.

Enma Ai says that once you pull the string, you're in a contract with her. In the contract, your soul gets carried to Hell at the end of your natural life. She says that two graves are dug instead of one which signifies the contract. It details that one must pay a hefty cost to send his/her antagonist to Hell. Once the transaction takes place, the people that enter into a contract with Enma Ai have some sort of black symbol on their chests that stays permanently.