You might ask yourself, “Hell Girl, is it worth it?” You might not have seen the series but you need to see the art in this book. You need to OWN the art in this book. Akadot is selling it basically at the cost of shipping it over and each page, or double page spread is a vivid display of color, focusing on the deep red, black, purple, yellow, and orange. I would put this up there with Tinkle/Tinkerbell in terms of beauty, though in a different theme. The backgrounds and settings are so detailed and can be examined again and again. The book starts with the thick paper of a washi textured cover, stiff but delightful to the touch, the inside folds making a red hued butterfly. Even the copyright and title page is colored, and we are hit right off with the delicate kimono’s and backgrounds of Hell Girl. Some pictures like the double page spreads of the Kimono Girl at the trunk of the spread Sakura blossom cherry tree and the one of her, head back taking in the falling snow on the school rooftop are already famous. The details of the different flowers add to the theme of each picture; along with kimono’s and butterflies. Just as you think the book has show its best, at half way, it gets better, with her hidden in a field of white and red chrysanthemums, a pink butterfly resting below her sleeping form. Or the double page of her making a horse in shadow play from a paper lantern while her red eyes gaze directly into yours. You can know nothing of this series, and never know anything of this series and still you will fall in love with the beauty of this book. The book finishes with two of the pictures released in Japan as a four set of special edition postcards. The end is an interview and a sourcing of the pictures including the DVD and CD covers, previously unavailable to us here in North America. This book is aching beautiful.