Hell's Angels is a manga
by cult comic artist Shin'ichi Hiromoto, known in Japan (and Italy) for very violent, raunchy and subversive works such as Fortified School. This one retains the crude, sketchy style of his previous manga but is far tamer than those, despite being set in a literally Hellish high school with assorted ghouls and monsters for students.
Young Rinne Amagane is running late for school! Suddenly she notices a cat that has been mistreated and about to be run over by a car; she saves it, but is promptly run over by a truck herself. She is late for class... but she finds herself in an academy populated by all sorts of creatures. Apparently she died and went to Hell, but when her classmates discover that she still has her living body, it appears that something strange is going on. So, Rinne not only has to understand how to make friends in this crazy new world and how to go back home to Mom alive, but also to uncover what's going on with human souls and bodies... a mystery that goes right to the beginning of human history, and involves nobody other than Adam and Eve and their sons Cain and Abel. Oh, and a not-quite-almighty God makes his appearance too.
Among the other characters, there's the loud and boisterous principal Hellvis (no guesses as who he is inspired by), handsome student council president Ryu Kutou and Steela, a taciturn and gloomy girl in Rinne's class who seems to be equally feared and despised by everybody.
The manga was originally serialized in 3 tankoubon by Shueisha in 2002, and six years later Mad House adapted it into an anime film simply titled "Hells"note .
Discotek Media licensed the movie with the dub handled by Team Four Star (of Dragon Ball Z Abridged and Hellsing Ultimate Abridged fame)—both have made sure to note that it is not a Gag Dub.
Not to be confused with the infamous motorcycle gang. Or with the 1930 movie.
The manga and resulting anime provide the following tropes:
- All There in the Manual: The students in Linne's class are taken from an obscure 1990s toyline, which reveals their full names (and their monster types, for some of the less obvious girls):
- All-Ghouls School: It's Hell, what do you expect?
- Amazonian Beauty: The East Witches volleyball team is comprised solely of huge, muscular, but still feminine and curvy monster girls who wear tight short shorts and midriff baring gym shirts.
- Anime Hair: Several characters, but especially "Who" AKA Adam, the first man, whose incredibly tall blond hairdo puts both Benimaru and Johnny Bravo to shame.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Steela protects Rinne and goes out of her way for her multiple times because Rinne was, likely, the first person to show her kindness—this extends to Kiki nervously befriending and helping Rinne because she knows Steela's power and that she'll protect Rinne if anything bad happens to her.
- Big Bad: Ryu Kutou, who is also the biblical Abel.
- Big Eater: The only thing that characterizes the Mummy girl (that, and being 4-armed with an eyepatch).
- Big Red Devil: Headmaster Hellvis.
- Bittersweet Ending: Rinne "graduates" from Hell and manages to return home—sadly, without any memories of her time in the afterlife. Hellvis mentions that Rinne will still keep the "feelings" of hell in her heart, which is evidenced by her accidentally calling a young girl who she saved "Steela". Rinne ultimately presses onward in her life, and it's implied that Steela is watching over her as thanks for becoming her friend.
- Brought to You by the Letter "S": God has a giant capital "G" on His large forehead.
- Cats Are Magic: How can one with a yin/yang-shaped face and a clock hanging on its neck not be? The fact that it is also God helps.
- Cessation of Existence: Apparently, this is Steela's real and hidden power: she can reduce the souls in Hell to nothingness. Negated by Rinne by means of the wish granted by her after the volleyball tournament, The Power of Friendship and the power of believing really really hard in herself.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The student council volleyball team utterly owns the Panda team. We only see the aftermath.
- Cute Monster Girl: Rinne's classmates. Well, some of them are cute, others have a quite aggressive appearance...
- Determinator: Rinne is a huge one, she never ever ever gives up. Possibly it has something to do with the fact that she is the reincarnation of Eve. Mario, a member of the school council, is also one.
- Disappeared Dad: Rinne's is never even mentioned.
- Emotionless Girl: Steela.
- Flat Character: Except for Phantoma and Kiki, Rinne's classmates have little to no characterization and some of them are not even named in-story. Steela can be considered one, but she becomes an important part of the plot later. The other two members of the Student Council are similarly flat.
- God Is Inept: God did create the world, but in the story, He is a weird midget who does nothing save for a bit of exposition. However, He did set the plan to overthrow Abel and destroy Hell in motion by letting Rinne go to Hell in the first place He was the cat, so...
- Holy Halo: Principal Hellvis has one over his head, and is the only character in the story to have one.
- Inevitable Tournament: The volleyball tournament promoted by Headmaster Hellvis. The winners will be granted a single wish.
- Japanese Delinquents: Rinne's classmates fit the stereotypes of the trope.
- Make My Monster Grow: Ryu Kutou turns Rinne's classmates into huge creatures to stop all other characters to escape Hell.
- Meaningful Name: Headmaster Hellvis AKA Cain is a mix between Satan and a certain American musician.
- Monster Mash: Rinne's class and, by extension, Destiny Land Academy and Hell. Rinne's classmates are a witch, a werewolf girl, a vampire girl, a four-armed Mummy girl, a scaly girl (a gorgon or possibly a mermaid), and two nondescript demon/ghoul girls.
- Motifs: The yin/yang is a recurring one. It's tied to the concepts of reincarnation, evil/good balance and duality that recur throughout the manga.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: In the Italian edition of the manga, Destiny Land academy was rendered as Deathtiny Land.
- The Noseless: Steela.
- Perpetual Frowner: Steela (except for the end).
- Self-Inflicted Hell: A fairly interesting variation. It is mentioned that the ultimate fate of souls is Reincarnation, thus Hell (and apparently Heaven too) exists solely because of Abel's grudge against all humanity for being killed by his brother Cain; he created it and forced people to believe in it by means of art and philosophy, so that whenever they die feeling guilty they inflict Hell upon themselves.
- Seven Deadly Sins: Apparently, Rinne's classmates are physical avatars of these. It's never really explained how and why, and it bears no real relevance to the plot.
- Shout-Out: Lots and lots. Here are some:
- The story begins with a girl saving a purple cat from some kids throwing rocks at it, just like Sailor Moon. Additionally, the main character was ran over by a vehicle after a good deed and sent to the afterlife even if the death wasn't scheduled. Can you say YuYu Hakusho?
- Steela is basically the lovechild of Sally and the Bride of Frankenstein.
- Phantoma is visually inspired by the Phantom in Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise, hence the name. Since this is manga, she also resembles a female Femto. (Fem!Femto, if you will.)
- One of Rinne's classmates is a witch named Kiki.
- A volleyball team named "East Witches". One of the teammates looks like the stereotyped appearance of Frankenstein's Monster, but female.
- The Dorm Mother is a Homage to Minnie Mouse's old design circa 1930.
- Verbal Tic: Hellvis ends often his sentences with "BABY!". The volleyball tournament referee ends all sentences with "ball".
- Werewolf Theme Naming: Wolfy, the werewolf girl.
