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Is someone causing you pain? Would you or someone you know be better off if a certain individual were dead? Or perhaps you’re just jonesing for some good old fashioned revenge? Hell Girl can help you – and all it will cost is your soul.

Hell Girl is a story of vengeance, pure and simple. People who cannot handle their troubles log onto a website manned by none other than the cute little techno girl herself. Put in a name, and you’ll get a visitation from the somber, red-eyed Hell Girl, and a gift – a voodoo doll with a red string wrapped around the neck. Remove the string and your enemy will be killed in a manner that suits them best, then ferried into hell. But with every vengeance comes a price: when you die, your soul will also be bound for hell.

Split into four episodes (nineteen through twenty-two, continuity wise), volume five tells a different story for each episode. The first (and, in my mind, best) is “Bride Doll” the tale of a young woman who has married into a dream family, only to be tormented by her mother in law. The story is dark and wonderful, the twist Twilight Zone-esque. “Hell Boy vs. Hell Girl” tells of a young man who has died and come back to life with hellish powers, which he uses to taunt (and beat the tar out of) Hell Girl. He wears a Dracula cape and looks like a twit – mostly because he is a twit, and an annoying one at that. The only real point of interest in this episode (other than banishment to hell) is the Goth Loli outfit he momentarily dresses Hell Girl in.

Episode twenty-one, “The Kind Neighbor” is another good one. A little girl and her father are manipulated by a seemingly kind gentleman, who, because of a perceived wrong that happened long before their arrival, attempts to ruin father and daughter. This episode very much focuses around two characters that follow Hell Girl’s exploits and attempt to talk her potential clients out of the bargain, saving their souls in the process. The show is highly watchable without being involved in the ongoing plot, and this episode, more than any other, proves it. The characters and plot are sympathetic and understandable with the little back-story given – a mark of just how good the series is.

“Rain of Remorse,” the last episode on the disc, has the best title but that is the only thing it does better than the other episodes. Disjointed and odd, the plot feels empty and lacks the oomph that makes anime as addictive as a dark chocolate candy bar with a gooey smack center.

The music for Hell Girl is just okay, though the menu music, which is the theme for Hell Girl’s vengeance sequences, is just amazing. The music is an excellent simile for the show as a whole; there are extreme ups and downs, though it is the highs that stick most in my memory.

The extras on the DVD are pretty much what you’d expect, including a wealth of trailers (that make my wallet groan with impending debt) and a textless theme song. The best extra is “The Hell Girl Secret Conference.” It boils down to footage of the head honchos conferring about upcoming plot possibilities that is being watched by an unsuspecting Mamiko Noto who subsequently freaks out over the content. It’s hilarious to watch and very playful - much more fun than if they had simply put out a normal featurette.

As an added bonus, the DVD set comes with two cardboard art cards – one features the cover artwork. They are beautiful cards, sturdy and the size of the DVD case.

As I’ve already said, Hell Girl is a collection of highs and lows, but the highs make the lows well worth it. The show is excellent, the animation beautiful (especially the vengeance scenes). Hell Girl is absolutely worth watching, whether you’re familiar with the show or not. 

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