A Chilling Beauty: Hell Girl Season 1

Synopsis

When the clock strikes midnight, those who are in seek of revenge against a person are able to access what is called the Hell Correspondence website. Ith this site, they are able to send the person whose name they type to Hell. By doing this they summon Enma Ai and are given a straw doll with a red string around their neck. Should they pull the string, they send the person to Hell, but in return their souls will be marked for Hell on the day they die.

The Good

The art is gorgeous, there is way around that. From the general scenes to the supernatural works, almost every scene looks almost like a type of painting come to life. It’s not often that you see this type of art, and added with the smooth animation just makes everything flow well Just everything about it was a visual wonder and made things pop out more than a classic styled anime would.

An anime is more than its art however, as the story of this work truly brings a chill to the spine. At the same time however, it brings quite few thought provoking moments. The creativity over the different characters and their stories truly stand out and leave their own mark. And the way that it is able to blend in with the main plot involving Ai and her past is structured very well. It’s morbidly fascinating on how twisted the characters end up getting and for those who favor antagonistic characters getting their due, this is the series for them.

The Bad

The problem however, as you look at the series as a whole, it seems like this endless cycle with the episode plots. Sure enough, people get their due but at the same time, none of them showed remorse, something that would have shown a little more humanity with certain characters. While it certainly drives home that Ai is no human who can be emotionally pulled by them, but still, the episodes, barring their stories seem to just follow a pattern.

Then there are the side characters, sure enough there was stories to them an exploration to them, but a little more dynamics given to them would have worked as well. Other than that it is mostly nitpicking but the pattern thing could have been changed at least.

Conclusion

The art alone is something worth checking out the series for but it is the stories that will make you want to stay. While there is a certain pattern to the characters in each episode and their comeuppance, the story that each one brings are worth looking past most of it. If you’re looking for a truly chilling story with a good mystery slipped in and gorgeous art to help with the horror factors of the work, this is the series for you.

Rating: 7/10