Character Profile: Ai Enma

Ai Emma was originally a human girl that had became a ritual harvest sacrifice for her village over 400 years ago. As per tradition, she was to have been left out to die from exposure and starvation. However, her cousin and only friend Sentaro Shibata tried to save her. But just as the two were reunited, the villagers discovered the two. This time, it was decided that Ai was to be buried alive – with Sentaro forced to shovel earth on top of her! But not long after that, Ai broke out of her grave and destroyed the village, burning it to the ground.

It was the decision of the God of Hell, who took the form of a spider, had decided that Ai should atone for her deed. She was forced to numb her emotions and become an observer – or otherwise the souls of the ones she loved would be forced to wander in Hell forever.

As the Hell Girl, Ai lives in a world of eternal sunset, her only company is her unseen grandmother, and her assistants Wanyūdō, Ren Ichimoku, and Hone-Onna, all in their forms of straw dolls. Her access to the living world is an old Macintosh computer, where she operates her web site, 'Hell Correspondence', which can only be accessed after midnight.

As soon as someone with a grudge petitions her – and she feels their grudge is legitimate – Ai would appear to them and give them a straw doll with a scarlet thread tied around the neck. Usually, this doll would be Wanyūdō, who is the back doll, but sometimes it would be Ren, the blue doll, or Onna, the red doll. With it, Ai would tell the petitioner that, if they truly wish vengeance against their foe, to pull the string off the doll, which would bind them to a contract with Ai, and she and her associates would ferry that soul to Hell. But she also makes it clear that, should the petitioner wishes vengeance, that they too would be ferried to Hell following their deaths – the sign of the contract a black flame mark on their chests.

Ai's Age

Ai bears the same appearance she did when she died. Ai died when she was 13 years old. She was taken into hiding when she was 7 years old then after 6 years when they rediscover her and urge Sentaro to bury her one of the villagers states that he let the village suffer for six years, leading to her being 13 years old as of that point.

Ai Enma, or simply called as the Hell Girl or Jigoku Shoujo, may appear to you as a young innocent girl with red eyes, pale skin and black flowing hair. She lives in an unknown world that has an everlasting sunset. She also owns the Jigoku Tsushin Online, a mysterious website where you place the name of the person who you want to send to hell. She also has a strange computer inside her house, where she receives those wishes. After placing the name of that someone. Enma will appear and tell you that she is the Hell Girl and is here to give you this straw doll. A red string is tied around its neck, and if you try to pull and untie the string the person will instantly be sent to hell.

However, you must agree with the contract you're trying to make. Two graves are dug. If you really want to send that person to hell, after your body dies, you too, will go to hell and suffer for what you have done, never to see and to feel paradise. But its only going to happen after you die. After that you will have a fire mark on your chest reminding you that after you die, your soul will go to hell.

She also severs from a tragic past.

Ai Enma and her cousin Sentaro Shibata were close friends when they where young. But because of Enma's powers, she was feared in the whole village. When it was time to find a sacrifice for the mountain God, Enma was chosen, so her parents and Sentaro hid her for almost six years. But one day while she and Sentaro was playing, she was caught by the villagers and tied up, and her parents were knocked unconscious. Instead of Sentaro saving her, he end up running away in confusion. Because of Enma's thought of Sentaro's betrayal, the villagers quickly buried her. After some time, Sentaro woke up and walked out. Then he saw the whole village burning with Enma singing a song scarily that they used to sing while setting the village on fire. Out of his guilt, Sentaro ran away.

Enma started being a Hell Girl because her own act of vengeance on the villagers who sentenced her to a sacrificial death. She appears in black sailor's uniform but wears a traditional black and flowery kimono when she delivers on her client's behalf. She has also an ability to teleport herself as well, creating those illusions.