Hell Girl

The medium through which a client contacts Ai Enma has changed over the centuries, however nowadays a website is used. Initially clients would write the names of whom they hated on an ema, which later changed to sending a letter to the address appearing in a three-column newspaper advertisement only visible to those with enough hatred. Once the internet became available, people could access the "Hell Correspondence" website, otherwise known as the "Hotline to Hell". Soon after, the site was adapted into a mobile version that could be accessed from cell phones.[4]

Each medium can only be used at midnight by one who harbors a desire for revenge against their object of hatred. Should someone submit the name of someone against whom they bear a grudge or immense hatred, and their request is accepted, Ai Enma will take them to a realm of perpetual twilight where she offers them a straw doll, which is one of her companions, with a red string wound around its neck and describe to the client the details of their contract. Should the client pull the string tied around the doll's neck, Ai Enma will ferry the target of the revenge straightaway to Hell. However, once the client's life has ended, they will also go to Hell, and a black crest-shaped mark appears on the client's chest to serve as a permanent reminder of their decision to send someone to Hell. However, this mark is no guarantee that the person themselves will not be sent to Hell by another client.

Part of a painting by Kawanabe Kyōsai, featured in the opening theme of Hell Girl

The Hell Girl anime series is produced by Aniplex and Studio Deen. The series was created by Hiroshi Watanabe and directed by Takahiro Omori, with scripts by Kenichi Kanemaki. The first season spanned 26 episodes and premiered across Japan on Animax between October 4, 2005, and April 4, 2006. The second season, Hell Girl: Two Mirrors (地獄少女 二籠, Jigoku Shōjo Futakomori), also spanned 26 episodes and aired from October 7, 2006, to April 6, 2007, across Japan on Animax. The third season, Hell Girl: Three Vessels (地獄少女 三鼎, Jigoku Shōjo Mitsuganae), spanning 26 episodes aired from October 4, 2008,[5] to April 4, 2009, on Animax, MBS and Tokyo MX. A fourth season, Hell Girl: The Fourth Twilight (地獄少女 宵伽, Jigoku Shōjo: Yoi no Togi), spanning 12 episodes, of which the later 6 are rebroadcasts of episodes from previous seasons, aired from July 14 to September 29, 2017, on MBS and Tokyo MX, with the main cast reprising their roles.[6]

The first season was also licensed for North American distribution by Funimation. The U.S. cable/satellite channel IFC announced in September 2007[7] that it acquired "Hell Girl" from FUNimation, which then premiered on July 9, 2008.[8] Section23 Films announced that Sentai Filmworks has licensed the second season, with the first DVD set shipping on May 25, 2010, and the second set on July 27.[9] On June 24, 2010, Section23 Films announced that Sentai has also the third season of "Hell Girl," under the subtitle "Three Vessels". The first set was released on September 28, 2010,[10] followed by the second set released on November 30, 2010. Funimation later dropped the series from internet streaming and home media distribution after reaching the end of the license term in early 2013. The fourth season is licensed by Aniplex of America and is set to be streamed on Amazon Prime Video[11] and Crunchyroll.[12]

A total of six soundtracks were released by Sony Music Entertainment. Two original soundtrack albums were released for "Hell Girl". The first album contains twenty-four tracks and was released on January 25, 2006.[13] The second album contains twenty-six tracks and was released on April 19, 2006.[14] Two original soundtrack albums were released for Jigoku Shōjo Futakomori. The first album contains twenty-three tracks and was released on January 24, 2007.[15] The second album contains twenty-three tracks and was released on March 21, 2007.[16] Two original soundtrack albums were released for Jigoku Shōjo: Mitsuganae. The first album contained twenty-eight tracks and was released on December 17, 2008.[17] The second album contained twenty-seven tracks and was released on March 4, 2009.[18]

A manga adaptation has featured art by Miyuki Etō (永遠 幸, Etō Miyuki). It has been serialized in Kodansha's Nakayoshi shōjo manga magazine since October 2005. The manga was published into three different titles. The first shares the same name of the anime and a total of three volumes were released from January 25, 2006, to October 6, 2008.[19][20] The manga was originally licensed by Del Rey Manga, and the first volume was released January 2008. The last three volumes have been released as an omnibus in October 2010.

The second manga, titled Shin Jigoku Shōjo (新・地獄少女, "New Hell Girl"), released a total of three volumes from March 19, 2009, to November 6, 2009.[21][22] The third, titled Jigoku Shōjo R (地獄少女R, "Hell Girl R"), released a total of eleven volumes from March 19, 2010, to July 15, 2013.[23][24] A single manga volume, titled Jigoku Shōjo Enma Ai Serekushon Geki Kowa Sutourii (地獄少女　閻魔あいセレクション　激こわストーリー, Hell Girl: Enma Ai Selection, Super Scary Story) was released on April 30, 2014.[25]

Hell Girl was adapted into a single live-action television drama series that premiered on Nippon Television from November 4, 2006, spanning 12 half-hour episodes.[26] The series was directed by Makoto Naganuma. The theme song for the series is "Dream Catcher".[27] The live action adaptation features Sayuri Iwata as Enma Ai, Kazuki Kato as Ichimoku Ren, Aya Sugimoto as Onna Hone, Saaya Irie as Shibata Tsugumi, and Kazuhiko Nishimura as Shibata Hajime.

A live-action film adaptation, directed by Kōji Shiraishi and distributed by GAGA Pictures and Constantin Film was released on November 15, 2019.

Hell Girl has been adapted into a video game for the Nintendo DS entitled Jigoku Shōjo Akekazura (地獄少女 朱蘰), which was developed by Compile Heart and released in Japan on September 27, 2007.[28][29] Compile Heart made a PlayStation 2 version entitled Jigoku Shōjo Mioyosuga (地獄少女 澪縁) released on September 17, 2009.[30] A puzzle game has also been released on the Konami Net DX service for i-mode-compatible mobile phones.[31]