Review: Hell Girl – Two Mirrors, Collection 2 (Sub)

Medium: TV Anime (26 episodes)
Genres: Drama, Horror, Psychological, Supernatural
Sequel to: Hell Girl
Director: Takahiro Omori
Studio: Aniplex/Studio DEEN
Release Date: Oct. 7, 2006 – Apr. 6, 2007 (Japan), May 25, 2010 (Sentai Filmworks – N.America)
Rated: Not Rated

Collection 2 of Hell Girl: Two Mirrors (HGTM C2) continues the second season’s attempt to make Ai Enma’s sidekicks — Wanyuudo, Hone Onna, and Ren Ichimoku — into well-rounded characters, but succeeds in doing so much more. These 13 episodes, in fact, completely make up for the seemingly unfocused meandering of Collection 1. Specifically, these episodes regain some of the series’ iconic condemnation sequences, give the Hell Correspondents’ some convincing emotional back-stories and bait with which to justify the betrayal of their duties, as well as develop and leverage a strong story structure that parallels first season while making its own point.

All of the Hell Correspondents, Ai Enma included, are getting tired of frivolous and unwarranted requests for vengeance, which they have had no choice but to carry out for the past 400 years now in hopes of achieving their own salvation. Instead of flippantly throwing out lines to the effect of “I can’t believe so-and-so is doing this,” the Hell Correspondents are directly involved in stories that touch each of them so deeply — due to likenesses to either themselves or their past lives — that each correspondent is moved to direct and active intervention. This introduces (mild) tension betwixt the group’s members. Everyone gets to point a finger, however, so fallibility pretty much evens out.

Instead of being some randomly instituted loli ratings booster, Kikuri turns out to be a poignant addition to the Hell Correspondents. More or less the embodiment of the will of their master, Kikuri's antics grow from passive-aggressive playfulness into full-blown antagonism. While there seems to be no reason to her actions in the first collection, her actions in HGTM C2 serve to spur on the vengeful to supply Ai with more work and hell with more souls. This makes Kikuri the foil to Ai’s wavering commitment to consigning souls to hell.

Speaking of which, damnation starts to get its Dante back in episode 15 but abandons it until regaining those progressive tracks of surrealistic comeuppances in episodes 19 and 21. When ironic tortures are not applied, the very ferry to hell is used to illustrate the nature of the damned. It is the return of these sequences as well as the return of stories that concern people who actually have serious problems that give more meat to these episodes than those of the first collection, but the morality and circumstantial twists lend to something greater.

Just as the strength of season one lies in the threaded plot that develops from reporter Hajime Shibata’s investigation into Hell Girl’s consignments, HGTM C2 uses Detective Meshiai’s investigation into the rash of disappearances attributed to “devil’s child” Takuma (episodes 14 and 22–26) to define its purpose. These episodes, so well done that they bring to mind The Twilight Zone’s “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street,” make HGTM C2 about Ai Enma bucking the proverbial system by standing up for one person undeservingly sentenced to hell, just as she had been sentenced to death. This parallels the first season, where Ai breaks the rules to release her pent-up fury and avenge herself through the direct descendants of the same traitorous bloodline responsible for her unwilling sacrifice and accursed death.

HGTM C2 succeeds in tying the previous collection’s seemingly flippant content into a story both poignant and well orchestrated. While its skill at enhancing supporting characters is questionable, the collection further rounds out Ai Enma and more importantly restores faith in the series’ signature bite while using it to accomplish something new. Instead of being pushed to the breaking point by hate as in the first season, the Hell Correspondents are broken by the conflict between mercy and their cursed duty. Taken by itself, HGTM C2 is a change of course for the series that seems to be tackled with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. However, this collection shows its strength by knowing how to effectively leverage similar and contrasting content from pasts both distant and recent.

[Highly Recommended]

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This review is based on a Sentai Filmworks DVD set purchased by the reviewer.

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Review: Hell Girl – Two Mirrors, Collection 1 (Sub)

Medium: TV Anime (26 episodes)
Genres: Drama, Horror, Supernatural
Sequel to: Hell Girl
Director: Takahiro Omori
Studio: Aniplex/Studio DEEN
Release Date: Oct. 7, 2006 – Apr. 6, 2007 (Japan), May 25, 2010 (Sentai Filmworks – N.America)
Rated: Not Rated

It is widely acknowledged that the death knell for a sitcom produced in the USA is the adoption of a new child character into the cast’s fold. Whatever season he/she pops into — reason be damned — is destined to be one of the show’s last. Although the tasty moral crimes committed consistently throughout Hell Girl in season one (and happily expected of season two) only served to make my inner beast spread its depraved smile, I cannot describe the surprise of absolute and gripping horror which arrested the very palpitations of my heart when I saw a new hell correspondent child, Kikuri, debut in Hell Girl: Two Mirrors (HGTM). But Hell Girl is not an American sitcom, and, let’s face it, little children are creepy. So I continued to chapter skip through the 13-episode offering despite hearing bells in the distant background.

Ignoring the ambiguity of said child’s presence, HGTM rolls along with the same premise instituted in the first season: people want revenge, go to a rumored website, and summon the hell correspondents to get rid of the antagonist. Unfortunately, the latter happens all too hastily and almost entirely without the surrealist imagination of the first series. Then the protagonists get a nifty tattoo to show that they are damned to hell for their decisive actions over which they’ve anguished. My main issue with season one was that the formula used in episode after episode — people pushed to the brink of sanity, upon which ledge they damn their tormentors and selves to hell — only began to be played with in terms of sequence and morality towards the very end of the series. HGTM definitely continues to play with sequencing and morality, but most of the time the attempts are gratuitous or superfluous.

This time-trickery also does something far more detrimental to the series — it takes away the building of truly tormented characters that made the first season so much fun to watch and justified viewer sympathy. Of course the reason behind not getting to know many of the episodic characters in the first 13 stories of HGTM is to showcase their unjust or frivolous use of the hell correspondents. Such are the protagonists' motivations that, in the end, most feel totally unidentifiable or unsympathetic (sometimes more sympathy is felt for the hell correspondents for having to put up with such summoners, which is more the point). Maybe this is karmic retribution for their taking more active roles in season two (CSI: Hell on Earth) versus their behind-the-scenes role as divine sword of justice from season one, but either way the hell correspondents remain flat despite their foray into the spotlight, which only serves to make their attempted breakthrough naught but arduous viewing that detracts from the vignettes which make the series.

FUNimation picked up the original Hell Girl, and its failure to pick up the second season might be saying something. It definitely says there’s no dub support — a shame given the great dub of the first season. The Japanese voice cast is fantastic though, so there are no real audio drawbacks, and the background music is as divinely chosen as ever. Also, the original season one DVD releases came with a bunch of cool extras, including some live-action Hell Girl re-imaginings, but Sentai Filmworks’ Two Mirrors discs offer only the standard trailers and opening/closing credit options, an unfortunate choice given the new direction this season is obviously taking. Would director interviews or commentary really be too much to ask?

Overall, I’d have to say this is worth checking out from Netflix or streaming. If nothing else, it highlights the merits of the original series by comparison and just might have something good going for itself somewhere further down the line.

[Recommended]

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This review is based on the Sentai Filmworks DVD release of the series, purchased by the reviewer.

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Review: Hidamari Sketch, Season 1 (Sub)

Medium: TV Anime/Original Animated Video (OAV) (12 episodes, 2 OAVs)
Genres: Comedy, Slice of Life
Director: Akiyuki Shinbo, Ryouki Kamitsubo
Studio: SHAFT
Release Dates: Jan. 11, 2007 – Mar. 29, 2007 (Japanese TV), Jan. 12, 2010 (Sentai Filmworks, N.America)
Rated: PG

“Wait a second!” I can hear you cry. “A review of Hidamari Sketch? Since when has this site been called 'Moe-Gamers', huh?” Well, shaddup, stop crying “moe trash!” at everything you see, and give the show a chance.

Hidamari Sketch is an honest-to-goodness slice-of-life show that actually deserves the designation. The series follows the exploits of a group of perfectly ordinary girls who live in a dorm opposite the Art School that they attend, each story showing a day or two out of their lives. The show sticks closely to its original manga, even while it takes liberties of its own with how it presents events.

There is no overarching storyline to complicate things, and indeed the series seems to spurn such an idea by showing stories out of chronological order. This helps you get know the characters quickly by showing selected scenes to assist in this manner, a smart idea in such a character-driven show. This also backfires badly with an excruciating moment in the very first episode when two characters make blunt references to events that have happened previously in the timeline but that you have yet to see. This scene feels particularly absurd because the things being referenced are tiny mundane events, such as “Hey, remember that time the chrysalis you were keeping hatched?'

This tomfoolery with time is used to good effect at other times — half an episode may end with characters referencing an earlier event and the second half will show the event itself.

In the absence of a larger plot, the cast becomes a key factor in whether you will enjoy the show or not. While each member can be neatly summed up in a single phrase, they all have their own motivations and foibles to set them apart and are developed over the course of the series. Sadly, most of the developments are very limited, and the most impact felt by one is a quickly resolved argument. While this lack of conflict can feel rather stifling, it helps to make the series a relaxing watching experience when paired with its general presentation.

The art present in the show is my favorite element, as it never stops surprising you with new ways to enhance the action, or lack thereof. Tricks made easy by digital techniques, such as pasting flat textures as the background layer, including photographic elements or switching colors in an object, abound in Hidamari. Such things are used in a subtle and infrequent manner, never getting in the way of the already sparse narrative, and making you take notice when they do occur. In one particular episode the main character is unwell and is running a high fever, and so is highlighted with a searing red glow that neatly illustrates her condition without being superfluous.

The show itself is quite clearly constrained by a low budget and you can spot a multitude of money-saving tricks if you keep an eye out for them, although this sucks the fun out the series very quickly.

Hidamari Sketch succeeds as a comedy series because it works in multiple ways. In particular, it preys upon two things in anime that have me laughing every single time: Silly faces and absurd sound effects. I dare you to find someone who is not amused by the idea of a girl pulling a funny face and making convincing horse neighs. Even without the absurd moments, the show maintains an overall air of absurdity in the art and story that leaves you unconsciously smiling while you watch.

I want to talk about the release Hidamari Sketch has received, because it was a key factor in my purchasing decision. The entire first series run, including 12 TV and 2 OVA episodes, come packed into a single volume on two discs with no dub track. There are no extras inside the case, and sparse extras on the disc. You boot up a disc and you get a static main menu slapped right into your face, the screen glaring back at you and defiantly yelling “What, you wanted an animated menu? Language options? Hell no, shut up and choose an episode to watch!” Some people I talked to mentioned that they were worried that the high amount of episodes per disc may have impacted the quality of the video image, but I personally have not noticed anything of the sort.

One gripe is that the subtitles are sometimes subject to rather clunky and literal translation, which can kill a joke stone-dead, especially as there is no dub track to turn to when subtitles fail. There are also a noticeable number of spelling mistakes in the translation, something I am usually forgiving of.

Hidamari is never going to be a breakout hit, and Sentai Filmwork’s decision to release it in this way ensures that costs are kept low for the consumer. It is also a lot more convenient as the entire series is a single item to buy for a reduced price. Hidamari Sketch can be easily summed up as "charming": a nice little show to watch when you are relaxing that will cheer up even the most cynical and crusty of anime fans.

NOTE: Your personal viewing experience may vary — due to DVD region locking I had to watch this show using VideoLan VLC player to bypass this idiotic practice and doing so may have skipped some DVD elements.

[Recommended]

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This review is based on a copy of the Sentai Filmworks DVD box set release of the series/OAV purchased by the reviewer.

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