"Do you want to see what death is like?" are the iconic words Ai Enma says before sending the person who is getting "vigilante'd" (yes, it's a word I made up) to hell. I was looking for an anime and I came across this live-action one, and I decided to watch that instead since I couldn't find the anime for free. I watched this on the Internet archive website but I just found out that it was on YouTube, and it was released 12 years ago.
I have never read the manga and, obviously, if I stayed before, I'd never seen the anime, but I thought Sayuri Iwata did a good job as Ai Enma. She had this eerie, calm, ethereal vibe to her. Especially her voice. I love her voice. Her voice is so soft and sweet before she whisks you away to hell. Speaking of voices, the ending theme song is sung by Olivia Lufkin, who does the singing for the pretty but problematic (cuz pedo) character Reira (a halfu character like Olivia irl) in the anime "Nana". Olivia sang the song here around the same time as she did Nana, but she sounds so different in both shows! It has been months since I last saw the show and the ending song is still stuck in my head... OK, that is THE true definition of iconic. The soundtrack for this show is amazing. I also love that haunting vocalizing done by a female singer I am not sure if that was Olivia's vocals...
OK, now back to the show! Not much you can find on this show. It came around the same time as the anime. I read that it came at midnight, and you could tell it did. I'm not an expert on what midnight shows are like in Japan. But the show feels and appears somewhat low budget. I feel like if it had more of a primetime spot it would've had a higher budget. But somehow they're low budget side to it gives it a sort of eerie and quiet and sleepy feel. When the chaotic moments are there it is a lot of fun (chaotic meaning when Ai is ready to drag someone to hell). And the acting is pretty good! What I didn't like about the show was the story of the detective and his daughter. They were OK characters, it's just that they came out of nowhere in the middle of the show and later on the show was mainly about them. It would've been much better if they had been introduced from the beginning.
Whenever I watch an episode of the show, I keep asking myself "will I use the website to take revenge on a person?". I am all about revenge. I am all about an eye for an eye. Eff around and find out. You bite me, I will bite back twice as hard. But I have mixed feelings. If I were to live in a world where Hell Girl exists, I wouldn't think it would be worth it to take revenge if I had to go to hell and suffer for all eternity after I was marked. Just do the vigilante business the human way! HOWEVER, if hell was me spending time with Ai Enma and her grandma(?) and wearing Kimonos with that gorgeous dreamy traditional Japanese scenery, then yes, I'd let Hell Girl do my bidding and would gladly embrace her mark after she is done.
