I have already noticed the show Jigoku Shoujo long before I decided to watch it. I knew about Enma Ai already, but only the fact that she was the main character. Because the ongoing animes were so disappointing, I decided to take a break from it and watch an entirely different show. After seeing that there was full episodes of Jigoku Shoujo on Youtube, I decided to watch that and give it a go. Jigoku Shoujo is about different people who wants to take revenge on someone they hate; whether it be a bully, an annoying coworker or even a murderer. They can take revenge andsend that person to Hell, via the Internet (how amazing is that?). The site is called Hell Correspondence, and it rumoured to be only available to access at midnight and to those who want revenge. It is then Enma Ai's job as the Hell Girl to fulfill her client's request with the help of Hone Onna, Wanyuudo and Ren Ichimoku.
Jigoku Shoujo's plot is pretty much straight forward - short stories that lasted around one episode usually containing a person they would focus on and an antagonist. The person would ask help from Enma Ai, and throughout the episode would reveal the backstory of that individual and why they want to send someone to hell. By the end of the episode, the antagonist usually dies and sent to hell. This worked quite well for a few episodes, but then started getting a little bit repetitive. It was the same thing over and over again, and in some cases even had the same sort of plot as an earlier episode. However, I do commend them for their creativity in being able to portray different scenarios per episode and except for the few occasions where it was kind of the same, it was generally very well done. At a later stage of the anime there became a distinct plot of Enma's background and why she became the Hell Girl. Another recurring plot was that of Hajime and Tsugumi's and why Hajime tries to do the opposite of Enma and to stop the people from committing revenge. Plot wise, I think Jigoku Shoujo does what it is supposed to, and the finale of the first season was definitely excellent and opened up the possibilities of further seasons.
Now the characters of Jigoku Shoujo were quite diverse. There are new characters introduced each episode, but of course, they don't really appear again. However, there are recurring characters such as Enma Ai, who appear every episode. Now, it is really not possible to develop the main characters since pretty much all the episodes were focused on the minor characters each episode. The last 5-10 episodes were the only ones used to really develop them and to provide history on the main characters. Of course, the most interesting character out of the bunch is no other than Enma Ai herself. I asked a lot of questions involving her character and towards the end, I feel like some were answered in great detail, but some were still left a little fuzzy. The other one that struck me the most is Hajime. he is really a love or hate character, and for me, I really hate him. It might not be him and his actual background, but his role as the stereotypical type who wants to "save" the people around him. Moreover, he utterly terrible at saving people so I thought, why bother with it? But towards the end, I guess I did start to like him a little bit. Just a little.
Now, Jigoku Shoujo's art is amazing in some parts, but not all the time. Now, I don't know why this is the case though (*cough* Studio DEEN *cough*) but overall it was pretty mediocre. Nothing really stood out for me, but nothing was really horrible about it. I gotta say that the character designs of Hone, Ren and Enma were superb and loved it whenever they were on the scene, especially Hone. The animation as well was pretty mediocre - except Enma's nagajuban. I mean, how can one not like moving flowers on her dress? The musical score of Jigoku Shoujo was impressive too, ranging from the soothing calm nature to the action scenes towards the end of each episode. The opening song wasn't terrible exciting, and really gives off a different feeling to the anime and portrays it so differently, one might think it came from a different anime. As for the ending, I thought it was really entertaining to listen to and loved the transition between the final scene of each episode into the ending song.
Overall, I think that Jigoku Shoujo was an interesting anime to watch. Although it is a little repetitive at the beginning, the ending is truly worth it. The art and animation is mediocre, but doesn't really disturb you from enjoying the show. The musical score is very wonderful and was a pleasure to listen to. Watch it if you like bad guys going to hell :D
Rating: A
(81/100)
mamatheus_pikalolo
August 6, 2019
Not Recommended
Jigoku Shoujo is an anime who since the first episodes made me restless. Only in the last nine episodes the history is really good and show off all potential. The first part of the anime (ep1~7) tell us closed histories, who honestly,are totally disposable and repetitives. Is only in the second part of the anime (ep8~16) who he show us a plot but he continues repetitive. Only in our third and last part the anime become nice, and finally develops our plot, even though this is a little confusing. In my opinion you can start the anime in the 8º episode and after seeing him jump forthe 17º episode.
How I already said the first part of the anime is very disappointing. The anime tells us seven different histories without any plot. The second and the third part (ep8~26) compansate this. In this part the anime show us all the plot, discussing about the valor of the life, selfishness and regrets. Beside it the anime show us news characters who made the history more interesting
In my opinion the 14º and 21º episodes are better than all others episodes of this anime. If all episodes were equal these two, and the plot start from the first episode, of course this anime would be better.
If you watched the anime until the end you saw a giant development of the plot and characters, even if the last part of the story is a little confusing.
Now let's talk about the situations of the characters. This is really absurd and unrealistic. The world of the history is like our world, but a lot of situations never can be see here.
The animation is like the script, don't help the anime be great. The sound don't help too, is little impactant.
The end of the anime don't answers a lot of quests about the history and let a mention for the nexts seasons.
For finish, if you don't like histories who make you angry and are repetitive don't watch this anime. The anime would be better but, the script don't help him. Because that I give 4 for Jigoku Shoujo.
DrDragon_Empress
February 22, 2007
Recommended
Jigoku Shoujo takes place in modern Japan where the internet has filled the lives of many people in this bustling world of technology and sins. This anime portrays the cruelty of the human race, and shows that there are many people in this world that suffer terribly and that, indefinitely, most people wish those that are making their lives miserable would just die and go to hell. And, of course, Jigoku Shoujo, or Hell Girl, is there to exact their revenge. The storyline is wonderful. The anime itself is mainly episodic, and each episode focuses mainly on one person, and the suffering they're experiencing due toone person. As you read more into the character's lives, and just how badly they're treated, you, yourself, will want to see that red string pulled, just so that person can suffer what he/she's had coming to them, and you'll be anxious to see their horrifying experience before they're ferried off to Hell by Enma Ai, the Jigoku Shoujo.
You won't always see the the person's experience in hell, nor will you always see the person being carried off by the Jigoku Shoujo. The main experience of this anime is coming to know and feel sorry for the characters that are desperate enough to call forth the Jigoku Shoujo to end their suffering. If you're looking for humor, this isn't a series to watch. Though it does have it's moments, it's more for the people that enjoy supernatural and paranormal related anime, such as Ghost Hunt and XXXHolic. In fact, if you enjoyed either of these, though the two of them are more humorous than anything else, I recommend putting Jigoku Shoujo, and Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori on your plan-to-watch list.
Anyway, this anime is one of those where you'll either love it or hate it. This is a series that got me hooked on the first episode, but if you aren't enjoying it by the third or fourth, then you most likely won't get into it. I hope this review has helped you and convinced you to look into this wonderful anime. Have fun and enjoy.
Mixed Feelings
Its obviously a very sensitive subject. Personally i think nothing in RL could be any worse than hell, but that doesnt seem to be the case in this show. Considering how many users complete the contract, it almost gets out of hand . Getting cursed to hell because some lady kills your puppies? Thats a little extreme. But for the most part, most of the stories are pretty cruel and unusal "train wreck" stories that range anything from grade school bullies to betrayal to medical malpractice. Considering the main theme of the story being revenge, they could easily make 100 episodes out of thin air.That is also the problem of this show, the theme starts to get repetitive after about the 7th show. Its the same formula again and again: Tragic story --> Hell request --> Retribution. But just when you think its going to be the same formula over and over again, they throw in a curve ball of a plot twist and introduce 2 new main characters: Hajime and Tsugumi Shibata.
Thats when the show really starts to pick up, sortof. The story finally starts to pickup. No more spoilers here but if you lasted this long to reach this point in the series, then you shouldnt have any problem. The artwork is also a little mixed as well. At times its very artistic and beautiful and others it looks like your standard anime artwork. Even the art gets bitten by the repetative bug just like the story. Granted watching Enma Ai get out of the pool dripping wet in her white robe never gets old, but it hardly changes every episode. She even says the same lines over and over again every time as well, it wouldnt be a problem to me except hearing the same 20 sentences over and over and over again almost makes you think youre really in hell. There are plenty of characters drawn up for this show and they all look fine except for one trait... THE EYES. It takes a while to get used to the eyes...those damn eyes...
I managed to keep my self awake for every episode and not even once fell asleep from the boredom (only once out of necessity). I think its because i always thought because the eyes were watching me. But I think it really means they at least did a good job feeling something for the characters in each story. On one side, you want to know if they\'re going to get what they wished for, or you want to know why somone (i.e. tweenie) would want to pour so much hate agaisnt someone. And on the other side you want to know how the person whos being targeted is going to die. Kind of like the train wreck theory (ppl slowing down on the highway just to look at accidents). Aside from the ending, the episodes that interested me the most was EP6, 13, 15, 21, and 23<--very sad alert.
The sound effects are one thing that was constant, everything from screaming from terror to the enviromental sounds realy helped create tension and atmosphere. My favorite was in episode 5... you\'ll know what im talking about when you hear it. Things like that get stuck in you memory banks. All thought the music is always the same as in every anime, meaning they use the same chase music and the same action music in every episode. But the music doesnt intrude to the show, its hardly annoying and it defintitely keeps your atten to whats going on.
Overall this show wasnt half bad, given the train wreck sadness theme of the story and a very small dose of lolicon, i would say this show isnt half bad. But it isnt half good either with the overuse of catch lines and and animations. It also kept me at the edge of my seat 80% of the time, and it was good enough to garner a new season (Futakomori). So the goods outwigh the bads in my opinion.
6/10
