Hell's Paradise - A Future Demon Slayer Rival

As of a couple months ago, I've been more dedicated to anime and blogging so a good way for me to finish and watch more anime was to watch all seasonal anime as they come out so I can finish 20 anime passively to boost my stats. Which is my crazy enjoyment, and a new anime that stood out to me last season was Hell’s Paradise. This anime was so original and hype that I must share it with za world. This anime could in fact rival Demon Slayer if it had enough seasons.

Hell’s Paradise is super interesting and a cool concept, so there'll be a few spoilers later in the blog but firstly the recommendation part. Hell’s paradise is about a criminal named Gabimaru who is basically unkillable no matter what execution is done to him he survives, but this swordswoman is the only person that can actually execute him. The worst criminals in the land are brought together to travel to an island to retrieve an elixir of life and whoever does will be spared. From the get go the story is amazing and well done, the characters are introduced and even monologue about Gabimaru’s story about how he changed. We see the two characters more as humans because it's done greatly at showing their motives and psyche.

Gabimaru is a character that is supposed to be a bad killer but actually see how he’s changed and might still be bad but in the circumstances of being against of other killers for the goal that doesn’t matter. Therefore, you see the real him and have empathy for him which makes you root for him. The criminals must go to this island which is I’m assuming hell’s paradise, and fitting for the name as it is literally hell… well not literally it's just an extremely dangerous island. The island is filled with danger on every corner and anything can kill you, if you get infected with the plants or bugs you will grow flowers on you and die. Which is a gruesome and cruel way to go as the flowers have a bigger part in the story as well later on. There’s also no way to escape the island as the currents go only in towards the island destroying any ship.

The anime is very entertaining too because one reason it has action in the anime, like sword fights and the criminals have secret abilities like Gabimaru can do fire; or a girl makes her skin slimy, yeahhh that actually becomes useful even though I know the mangaka did it to be suggestive. So, it became something new and interesting with all the creative premises going which made me not feel bored at all when I was watching the anime and needed more of it when it ended.

The island has creepy creatures too that have a combination of animals and human parts that should be something out of a Junji Ito manga, some of them actually creeped me out and triggered my fear of bugs but it’s cool in a way as well because there’s super creative enemies on this island and they’re only the low level ones. Gabimaru seems like a chill guy but when he gets into on the blink of death is when his killer instinct and brutal strength comes in that he causes a lot of damage just to survive but it can be also risky for him as he could die or get head trauma. Which is when you can tell that’s how he is the most dangerous criminal out there, his character is like the saying don't judge a book by its cover; that's truly him because he has a deep character within just a couple episodes and you know the only thing close to him (his wife) and a lot about him.

Hell’s paradise does an amazing job at making all its characters on the same level of depth and importance because they are going for the same goal as they’re introduced. You get to know a lot about them even if they go off and die, which few anime out there do. This anime has like a dozen characters that you can dislike or like and know about where they came from and stuff personal to them which can give you empathy for them. For an example, the giant when he died was shown a backstory of him as a child being a killer and a cool backstory and even this nobody enemy gave effort to have some depth to them which is how I can tell there is something special about this anime.

Sagiri is a character that I really like as they battle the morality of being an executioner and as being a woman in fighting, and shows the hardships of dealing with inequality but also show this strong development of a character which you can really get attached to. In the anime, they are very well written and do a good job of being one of the main characters that plays a significant part, even the side characters do as well which is impressive for only one cour.

Later on in the anime, it gets really interesting as you learn more about the secrets held within the island that make the anime even more great. Soon enough our characters find who runs the island, and it’s some gender bending immortal beings that can’t be killed by just anyone, the dangers that were previously here seem like child’s play compared to these guys.

The bizarre plot of these false gods and how the truth about the serum they need may cause some uncertainty in completing the mission, which is what makes the anime realistic and enjoyable as you want them to achieve the impossible and find the method of destroying the enemies. The last episodes of this anime were nothing short of amazing and a range of emotions from some spoilers, that made a great segway to continue the story in the next; while some anime something will end badly or with nothing worthy, Hell’s Paradise makes you wanting to know what’s next so I’m very excited for season 2, probably 2024 ;-;

Thanks for Reading!