HELL GIRL: PINWHEEL (VOLUME 6)
December 14th 2008 23:24
Category: Videos
Originally planned by: Hiroshi Watanabe.
Director: Takahiro Oomori.
Screenplay by: Kenichi Kanemaki.
Producers: Ai Abe & Norihiro Hayashida.
Starring: Brina Palencia (Ai Enma/Hell Girl), Todd Haberkorn (Ichimokuren), Jennifer Seman (Honne Onna), R Bruce Elliot (Wanyuudou) & Juli Erickson (Ai’s Grandmother).
Produced by: Aniplex, Wellthink & Jigoku Shoujo Project.
English version by: FUNimation Productions Ltd.
Released by: Madman Entertainment.
Running Time: 100 minutes. Rating: M.
Recently there was a book and DVD launch at my local library, imagine my surprise when I discovered this particular title sitting their on display amongst all the newly purchased DVDs. Naturally it took a flash for me to snatch it forth from the table before it fell into the hands of the uninitiated – I also managed to scoop up a few other anime features along with Jigoku Shoujo amongst the cluster of newly arrived DVDs, it truly was a fortuitous day for the Green Lantern. And I have recently discovered that there are few more such treasures to be found amidst the catalogue which have been placed on request for me, almost as if all my Christmases and birthdays have come at once in the last few days. Good fortune aside let me return you to the world of Hell Girl….
Now somewhere out there in the ether of what is commonly known as the Internet or World Wide Web exists a website that can only ever be accessed at the stroke of midnight by those in dire need. This particular site is known to all and sundry as Hell Correspondent; and it only ever appears at midnight, you cannot even use a search engine to find its location at any other time during the day. A fusion of modern technology with occult nuances, the witching hour and web browsing fused into an esoteric partnership. Just goes to show that the denizens of the otherworld are out their on the pointy end of technological advances probably even more so than most government departments in a large range of countries. So the stroke of midnight tolls, the website appears and then what? Well this is when the seeker types in the name of someone they have a grievance against, usually someone who has caused them or someone they know some harm or woe in the recent past. From the moment the submit button is pressed the person then finds themselves entering into a contract with the Hell Girl.
This is the sixth volume in this series and unlike the previous volume, Butterfly, that I had previously reviewed there is a change in the format of events which unfold. It’s not a drastic move away from the general feel and mood of the series but rather a shift in presentation and storytelling. In Butterfly the focus was on five episodes that were for all intents and purposes stand alone tales whose only common element was the fact that the protagonist in each of the tales contacts Hell Girl to right some grievance at the price of their souls. So the common thread was the title character and her role in things, naturally this is all done to give us the audience a sense of the feel and mood of the series as a whole. In Pinwheel though we get four episodes that are all sequentially linked and focus around the efforts of a journalist and his young daughter who have become involved in investigating Hell Girl.
Hajime is trying to somehow stop Hell Girl from doing what she does and somehow his young daughter, who appears to be of a similar age to Ai/Hell Girl frequently has strange and fragmentary visions in regards to the enigmatic young girl from beyond the vale of midnight. Precisely why she has these visions is not completely explained initially although as events unfold a possible explanation does come to light. In fact if I had to say precisely what this particular volume is covering I’d have to say that there is the distinct feel of a Japanese ghost story in this volume, this is not so much about various grievances being righted as it is also peeling back the layers of the myth behind Hell Girl as well as revealing certain facets about Hajime and his young daughter that they themselves did not realise.
As usual the makers of this show have created a truly lush anime piece; it isn’t the latest in CGI or some other cutting edge technology (as far as I can make out) but just your normal animation taking to such a superb level of skill and artistry. There are times when I saw certain landscape shots, or water shots and felt that it was real life such was the quality in the backdrops, and of course there are the characters themselves who just as expressive as any live action character. It makes the mind boggle at the effort to put together just an episode of a production like this let alone an entire season, you can imagine the various animators all concentrating over sketches and illustrations along with scanners and computers tinkering around through the day and night to get it all just right. In fact if you look at the credits at the end of each anime episode the people who produce the thing run on for quite some time before you ever actually get to the list of the voice actors who are only just a small cog in the greater whole.
In my previous experience casting the Lantern’s emerald gaze on the first volume of Hell Girl I had pondered on whether the title character had been the victim of drowning due to the water motif prevalent in the opening credits, such is not the case. My suspicion of a tragic affair of the heart was somewhat on the money though as events in this volume are revealed, tragedy is one of two key aspects that have created Hell Girl making her into the eldritch entity that she is, the other aspect is naturally revenge. It seems that from an early age the bitterness of revenge has tainted Ai Enma and resulted in her becoming what she is, unfortunately it seems she like those she punishes is unable to break this cycle of despair, grief and remorse without paying a price – that price being her continued servitude as Hell Girl, meting out justice and revenge on the wicked and unrepentant. Filled with melancholy, despair, sadness as well as spookiness and a bit of humour Hell Girl: Pinwheel is well worth taking the time out to watch if you can get hold of a copy; either to rent, buy or if you’re as lucky as me, borrow from your local library.
Director: Takahiro Oomori.
Screenplay by: Kenichi Kanemaki.
Producers: Ai Abe & Norihiro Hayashida.
Starring: Brina Palencia (Ai Enma/Hell Girl), Todd Haberkorn (Ichimokuren), Jennifer Seman (Honne Onna), R Bruce Elliot (Wanyuudou) & Juli Erickson (Ai’s Grandmother).
Produced by: Aniplex, Wellthink & Jigoku Shoujo Project.
English version by: FUNimation Productions Ltd.
Released by: Madman Entertainment.
Running Time: 100 minutes. Rating: M.
Recently there was a book and DVD launch at my local library, imagine my surprise when I discovered this particular title sitting their on display amongst all the newly purchased DVDs. Naturally it took a flash for me to snatch it forth from the table before it fell into the hands of the uninitiated – I also managed to scoop up a few other anime features along with Jigoku Shoujo amongst the cluster of newly arrived DVDs, it truly was a fortuitous day for the Green Lantern. And I have recently discovered that there are few more such treasures to be found amidst the catalogue which have been placed on request for me, almost as if all my Christmases and birthdays have come at once in the last few days. Good fortune aside let me return you to the world of Hell Girl….
Hajime is trying to somehow stop Hell Girl from doing what she does and somehow his young daughter, who appears to be of a similar age to Ai/Hell Girl frequently has strange and fragmentary visions in regards to the enigmatic young girl from beyond the vale of midnight. Precisely why she has these visions is not completely explained initially although as events unfold a possible explanation does come to light. In fact if I had to say precisely what this particular volume is covering I’d have to say that there is the distinct feel of a Japanese ghost story in this volume, this is not so much about various grievances being righted as it is also peeling back the layers of the myth behind Hell Girl as well as revealing certain facets about Hajime and his young daughter that they themselves did not realise.
As usual the makers of this show have created a truly lush anime piece; it isn’t the latest in CGI or some other cutting edge technology (as far as I can make out) but just your normal animation taking to such a superb level of skill and artistry. There are times when I saw certain landscape shots, or water shots and felt that it was real life such was the quality in the backdrops, and of course there are the characters themselves who just as expressive as any live action character. It makes the mind boggle at the effort to put together just an episode of a production like this let alone an entire season, you can imagine the various animators all concentrating over sketches and illustrations along with scanners and computers tinkering around through the day and night to get it all just right. In fact if you look at the credits at the end of each anime episode the people who produce the thing run on for quite some time before you ever actually get to the list of the voice actors who are only just a small cog in the greater whole.
In my previous experience casting the Lantern’s emerald gaze on the first volume of Hell Girl I had pondered on whether the title character had been the victim of drowning due to the water motif prevalent in the opening credits, such is not the case. My suspicion of a tragic affair of the heart was somewhat on the money though as events in this volume are revealed, tragedy is one of two key aspects that have created Hell Girl making her into the eldritch entity that she is, the other aspect is naturally revenge. It seems that from an early age the bitterness of revenge has tainted Ai Enma and resulted in her becoming what she is, unfortunately it seems she like those she punishes is unable to break this cycle of despair, grief and remorse without paying a price – that price being her continued servitude as Hell Girl, meting out justice and revenge on the wicked and unrepentant. Filled with melancholy, despair, sadness as well as spookiness and a bit of humour Hell Girl: Pinwheel is well worth taking the time out to watch if you can get hold of a copy; either to rent, buy or if you’re as lucky as me, borrow from your local library.
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