The Playboy Billionaire's Extraordinary Secretary

There's a website you can access at midnight. It acts as a gateway to the underworld. Inside, there is only one input field where you can write someone's name to have them swiftly dragged to hell. The entity responsible for carrying out this task is Enma Ai, a high school girl who wears stunning kimono outfits. This is the premise of the story. Each tale follows a different revenge plot where someone is bullied or subjected to something terrible, driving them to seek Hell Girl's assistance.

Hell Girl has an unusual aspect about it. The supposedly main character is actually just a minor figure who receives no development until the very end. Throughout the manga, Enma is featured as the main character in only 2 or 3 stories. In all the others, she merely makes brief appearances to do the same thing repeatedly—drag people into hell. This can be quite frustrating, given that she is the only character connecting all these stories together, and someone reading Hell Girl might want to learn more about the titular character. We do get some development and resolution for her, but it's not enough in my opinion.

Additionally, many of the stories themselves can become very formulaic. A student is bullied, contacts Hell Girl, and the bully is sent to hell. This scenario probably accounts for half of the stories here. A few stand out as interesting, but you really need to be patient to find them all. Hell Girl's friends also receive almost no exposition, even though they should be important characters as well.

I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I'll revisit this title anytime soon, nor did it inspire me to pick up the sequels. The art has its own unique style and may not appeal to everyone, but it certainly has a particular charm. I just wish Hell Girl was more focused on Hell Girl herself.

As someone who hasn't watched the anime yet, you might want to consider watching it instead of reading this adaptation. It's also worth taking a look at the reviews on Hell Girl's manga page for further insight.

So, is this manga horror or comedy?

The presentation of the manga feels very juvenile, despite having serious undertones in every chapter. The theme of Hell Girl is meant to be dark, but the artwork doesn't convey that effectively. There are panels that don't transition smoothly, and sometimes it's unclear what just happened. Additionally, 90% of the chapters begin with a character making the same face expression =[]=, seemingly to relieve tension that doesn't even exist in the manga. The exaggerated expressions make it feel like a comedic manga. People have complained in forums about the artwork being "too shoujo," which indeed doesn't align well with the context of this manga. The art is overly cheesy, especially during scenes where characters are sent to hell. It's hard to take this manga seriously. Perhaps someone like Junji Ito should have taken on this project, or any artist experienced in horror manga. If there are complaints about the manga being "too shoujo," would it fare better without that aspect?

Each chapter features the same type of female character with repetitive plots and outcomes, showing little diversity in scenarios or male characters, except for the last arc of the manga. If this repetition is intentional in the anime, that's fine, but as someone who hasn't watched the show, it's a criticism I have. It makes me wonder if this repetition works better in an anime format.

Another oddity was the numerous comical panels at the end of each volume. Their purpose seems to mock the "seriousness" of the series, but they didn't quite fit, given how everything else is portrayed in the manga. The artwork is already comedic enough that adding these panels felt out of place.

This isn't an adaptation I'd recommend, particularly to avid horror fans. It was challenging to get through the first half of the series; it starts to improve around volume 7, becoming more interesting to read, and the artwork becomes tolerable to a degree.

Overall, this manga isn't worth the time and effort. The artwork and context don't mesh well in manga form. Again, I highly recommend checking out the reviews on Hell Girl's page to understand why this may not be a good adaptation. Please watch the anime instead.

Jigoku Shoujo (Hell Girl) presents a rather unique narrative centered around the theme of revenge.  
Story: 7  
The series doesn't follow a conventional plot structure; each chapter (with the exception of those near the end) introduces a new, standalone story. At times, these chapters are predictable, while others deliver a small, unexpected twist.  

Art: 7  
The characters' eyes are disproportionately large, which adds a certain charm but can also make some minor characters difficult to distinguish from one another.  

Character: 5  
Due to the brevity of the series, it's challenging to develop a deep connection with the characters, especially the less prominent ones.  

Enjoyment: 7  
I found the series enjoyable, though it felt like something was missing—likely due to its short length.  

Overall: 7  
This is a solid manga worth checking out if you have free time, but it's not necessarily a must-read or priority series.  

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I'll say, the novel is pretty good
any info on the side story tho?
I'm curious about it

Finally, new chapters

Yeah sure, give it a try.

I think it’s better to just ignore the epilogue

Why not make the emperor a lot younger, it is giving me pedophile vibe.