Hell’s Paradise Anime Review

Gruesome killing after gruesome killing, Gabimaru the hollow just wants to die. But there’s one problem: he can’t. After being sentenced to death Gabimaru the runaway shinobi, who has had multiple sentencing a but just won’t die! Beheaded, it’s still there. Burned alive, only his clothes were the casualties. After many more attempts, he comes to the realization of why he actually wants to live. A swordswoman tells him he loves his wife and chooses to live because of her. Once he realizes that’s his reason, we see a shift in him.

To earn his freedom he must now take part in a search for the elixir of life for the shogun ruler. Along with other criminals and swordsmen as their guards the set off to the underworld’s paradise to find the elixir.

With the plot description, I thought it would be like most shonen anime. Which it is, but I felt the gruesome deaths shown were a little over top. Maybe I’m becoming soft, but the beheading nature of the show was a little much for me.

However, the concept of the plot and how it thickened with the people having blossoming flowers come out of their bodies was creepy and foreboding. What did it mean, what was the islands purpose, and was it really the elixir of life within its clutches? It reminded me a lot that movie with Natalie Portman, Annihilation.

The conviction of our anti-hero was admirable. He didn’t want a life of killing but was forced into it and found love along the way with someone who could empathize with thei strange way of life. He didn’t know he truly loved her until he understood his meaning of living which for most was on the brink of death. But for our guy it had to happen a few more times.

The one who made him realize this was his executioner. She is a woman sword wielder who has her own emotions to sort through as she plunges into the man’s world of killing and bearing the burdens of killings on her shoulder. The two murderers, either justified or not, are now on a path moving forward feeling new emotions to help them move on to the futures they want.

I felt this show had a really message. It is a story of redemption and moving past your sins. The irony of their mission and their inner turmoil is one parallel I really enjoy while watching anime’s. It’s like they make the story full circle when the end comes.

For our female swordsman, it’s also about the role of a woman and the way she should be living her life. She wants to become more than she is and prove that she is just more than the woman’s roles men put her in. Which as a mother and in a traditional household I respect and admire. I chose this life because I wanted my own little family unit, but there are those who have different paths whether they choose them or not and it’s just how life moves. The ebbs and flows of a man’s life can also be said for women. I appreciate messages like this in shows because it shows women can be more than the box we are put in.

Our anti-hero is also going through a catharsis. He is realizing things about himself that have been hidden. I really liked this part of the show because of the parallels of him, the island, the counterparts of the other criminals and the others on the island.

My only problem with the show is the excessive violence, and sexual content. I know those are pretty hand-in-hand with anime shows, but it’s definitely gotten a bit excessive. Otherwise 8/10 show.

Streaming on: Netflix and Crunchyroll