Hell Girl
(Vol.1)
(dr. Takahiro Amori 2005)
published in Empire No.77, Sydney, 2008
Japanese girls might appear innocuously cute, but you really don’t want to mess with them. The country’s folklore abounds with erotic succubi and avenging angels of all types, and Hell Girl riffs on the ‘dead doll’ figure of vengeful spirit tales. Appearing no older than 10, Ai lives in a netherworld until summoned to execute people whose cruelty defines the negative perimeters of human existence. Told in stylistic omnibus fashion, Hell Girl chronicles the intensity of maliciousness in a clutch of tales of injustice which make you thankful that someone like Ai might exist.
