Hell Girl: Three Vessels ~ review

Animax Asia had just recently finished airing the third season of Hell Girl anime series called Hell Girl: Three Vessels (known in Japan as Jigoku Shōjo Mitsuganae). The anime is about a girl named Enma Ai and her assistants who run a supernatural system that allows people to send other people to Hell through Hell Correspondence website. As with previous two seasons, this season also see each episode follows different people who are having difficult time with other people that eventually lead them to use the Hell Correspondence website. This season also introduces a new main character named Yuzuki Mikage who has a strong connection with Enma Ai due to being possessed by her.

Before I start reviewing the anime series, let me start by saying that this season had long been overdue. I remember the channel aired season 1 and season 2 years ago, and only now they decided to air the third season. I'm not sure what are the problems they are having that made it delayed but I am glad that they decided to air it anyway eventhough it had originally aired in Japan back in 2008 (that's almost 5 years apart). As one of the anime series fan, Hell Girl: Three Vessels is certainly on my watch list.

Let's start with the plot. Basically this season also follows what the past two seasons had established where each episode is like a short story featuring characters that are involved with the Hell Correspondence website. So usually you would have the predator who would usually ended up being sent to Hell, and the victim who is the person who use the Hell Correspondence website (it can be the other way around where the victim is the one sent to Hell). Although I did missed a few episodes, but those that I've watched definitely have good stories. The stories are deep and give you something to think about, and that's what I like about the anime series where it raised discussions among the viewers. Although I didn't quite like some of the punishment scenes (where the characters were tortured before being sent to Hell) that have comedic elements in it as I think it was a bit unfitting for the serious tone of the dilemma that the characters faced, overall the story of each episode are really well done. My favourite episode is the second-to-last episode of the season (episode 25) that featured the backstory of the new main character, Yuzuki Mikage. It was a sad and emotional episode that answers a lot of questions that had been raised about the character's involvement with Enma Ai.

Now let's move on to the characters. Enma Ai as the Hell Girl is creepy and amazing at the same time, as always. Her assistants from the past seasons were also back; Ren Ichimoku, Hone Onna and Wanyudo, as well as the mysterious little girl Kikuri. A fourth assistant was also introduced in the form of Yamawaro, a yokai. I feel that a fourth assistant was unnecessary, but at least the studio behind this anime did try to give Yamawaro a good background story to make his character more relatable to viewers. Another important character for this season, Yuzuki Mikage, is a great addition to the original cast. Her role is almost like the viewers of the anime; a helpless spectator of the tragedy that involves those who are connected to the Hell Correspondence website. Her empathy towards the other characters in turn makes her sympathized by the viewers, especially towards the end of the series where her background story were finally revealed. There's also a special appearance by a character from past seasons, Tsugumi Shibata, who was one of the main character in season one. Although she give usefull insight about the Hell Correspondence website to Yuzuki, she's only a minor character and viewers doesn't have to watch previous seasons to make sense of her character.

As each episode have different short story, you will have a lot of minor characters thoughout the season. Although their introduction and story were brief, each character (and their stories) have been designed well to make them relatable to the viewers. Some characters do look the same, but it doesn't really detracted you from jumping into their life and try to understand their dilemma. This is where the voice casts play an important role, to bring to life all these characters, and I'm glad to say that they did a great job.

Two other things that I would like to touch about are the visuals and the opening and ending songs. The visuals for this anime look great and retain much of what we have seen in past seasons with its colourful colour palletes and blurry / foggy settings. The light effects were great too and it brings a mysterious element to the tone of the anime. The opening song of the anime is called Tsukihana sung by Nana Kitade while the ending song is titled Ichinuke sung by Mamiko Noto. Both songs sound pretty good (eventhough it takes quite a few listen for me to actually like them) and suit with the dark theme of the anime.

I really like the past two seasons of Hell Girl and truly this anime never disappoints me as Hell Girl: Three Vessels is another great season from the series. For those who are already a fan of the anime, this season is certainly a must watch for them. While others who are new to the anime, you can enjoy this season even without watching the previous seasons. It is truly a great anime with great stories and characters that give viewers not just something good to watch, but also something to think about as the story deals with a lot of heavy themes that society faced nowadays.

Images from Animax Asia.