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Perhaps it is time to die.

Hell Girl stands out as one of the best anime out there right now. Held in my esteem with titles like Death Note, the story of Hell Girl, or Ai, is beautifully told with dark, macabre stories that can make you laugh or chill you to the bone. Highly episodic, the show is easy to get into, and for the most part, a person could watch any random episode and easily follow along. That said, volume six is the payoff for fans of the show. It answers questions, it ties up plots, and by the time episode twenty-six is over, it has blown your mind.

The story is simple: if you need vengeance, log onto Hellcorrespondence.com and enter in the name of your tormentor. Hell Girl will come to you with a straw doll, a red string around its throat. Pull the string, and you enter a binding contract – Hell Girl will kill your tormentor and ferry them straight to hell. The payment? When you die, your soul will also be bound for hell.

The first of the four episodes on this disc sticks to the formula. “The Light of the Hospital Ward” follows the journalist Hajime and his daughter Tsugumi as they try to save those who have fallen under Ai’s influence. What they know is this: a young woman, seemingly perfect in her disposition, will be taken to hell unless they can stop whoever has a grudge against her. Though it could be seen as frustrating, this episode proves that the show has no problem with taking risks.

The other three episodes are almost a movie together. “Home in the Twilight”, “Hell Girl”, and “The Ephemeral” explain the connection between Tsugumi and Ai. They unlock her past, revealing how Ai came to be the Hell Girl and why she is the perfect vessel for vengeance. It is a harsh story, heartbreakingly told, and it unleashes the full wrath of the Hell Girl. I watched all three episodes almost desperately, utterly lost in the show. By the end I felt damn near spent. This set, which acts as an end for season one, is utterly magnificent, proving Hell Girl’s place amongst the best of Anime.

There are trailers and there are textless songs, which one would expect. But something that Hell Girl does that I always appreciate is throwing in a little featurette for the fans. This disc brings us “Office Kitchenette of Hell”, where some of the main forces on the show get together in their kitchenette and talk about the making of season one. It’s fun, and informational – a great bonus.

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