Shinobi Gabimaru is on Death Row…only thanks to his
powerful Shinobi abilities, he’s practically immortal. That is until he meets a woman capable of
putting him down for good: Yamada Asaemon Sagiri. But she hasn’t come to kill him. Instead, Sagari recruits Gabimaru for a
special mission that, if completed, grants him his freedom and the opportunity
to return to his waiting wife. All he
needs to do is obtain the fabled “Elixir of Life”, which can only be found on
an island once thought to be Eden but has become a Hellish Nightmare. Up against other hardened with the same life
sparring offer, Gabimaru will have to prove he’s worthy of surviving this
Hell’s Paradise.
Studio Mappa has certainly become the IT studio of
late.
After all, it’s been behind some
of the most popular and successful Anime of the last few years: Jujutsu Kaisen,
Kakegurui and Attack on Titan: The Final Season.
Anything it has in the pipeline is gonna have
all eyes on it with much anticipation.
Which brings us to Hell’s Paradise.
Given their current workload with two of those three aforementioned
titles, you’d think this show might suffer a bit in visual quality but no.
Hell’s Paradise has become pretty high
profile thanks to Mappa’s name recognition.
I’ve gotta say, I was concerned about the first episode but by the end,
I might be ready for this journey.
The first episode is mostly about Gabimaru begging for
his own end, along with detailed descriptions of how the Japanese executed
criminals in various ways at this point in history.
Gabimaru’s continued harping about his
inability to die and desperately wanting to came off as pretty depressing and I
wanted to slap him constantly.
Thankfully, Sagari was there to point out the contradictions in
Gabimaru’s logic and once his wife came into the picture, things became a bit more
clear.
Why the hell Gabimaru would ever
think about giving up on life when such an amazing woman exists is beyond me
but at least he’s incentivized now to get back to her ASAP.
Sagari’s calm and analytical demeanor was a
perfect counterpoint to Gabimaru’s dourness, plus there’s nothing wrong with a
female swordsman who looks as good in battle as she does just standing there
with a sword to someones neck.
Now that
Gabimaru’s on board with his mission, I’m hoping these two will stay a team but
given the conditions of said mission, is Sagari aiding Gabimaru even
allowed?
Animation wise, yeah Hell’s Paradise looks just as good
as Mappa’s growing resume of mega hits.
The mist filled settings reminded me a bit of Studio Gonzo’s Basilisk or
Samurai 7 but I guess mist is something that goes hand in hand with
Shinobi.
Gabimaru and Sagari both stood
out with their character designs: Gabimaru apparently had the same wide eyed
expression at birth as he does now and, well I’ve already covered how gorgeous
Sagari is.
More importantly, the brief
teases we got of Shinsenkyo, where the Elixir is located were great.
As the Anime title implied, this is long
thought to be a paradise and from the glimpses of the first arrivals there, it
looks very colorful, vibrant and lovely.
Now, based on how their bodies came back to the mainland, I can only
imagine what kind of nightmarish visions lie beyond that initial greeting.
Given what kind of terrors Mappa’s brought to
life in Jujutsu Kaisen and Attack on Titan, this shouldn’t be a problem for
their artistic talents.
While I may not be onboard for either Attack on Titan or
Jujutsu Kaisen (JJK0 not withstanding), Hell’s Paradise definitely caught my
attention.
The tease of Shinenkyo is
great and the way Sagari outlines Gabimaru’s mission gives the Anime a vibe of
The Hunger Games meets Suicide Squad.
The action we did see shows promise, as do the ability for Mappa to
deliver on just how messed up Shinenkyo really is beyond its colorful shores.
Well, like I said, I think I’m already
signing up for more of this trip, and definitely more Sagari, wow she is
pretty.
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