(CR) Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku

[Alchemist007]

Good production values, hopefully the story keeps up, not super impressed by ep 1 on that front through.

[HandofFate]

Originally Posted by Frontier

Not that it's ever stopped shippers before .

nothing wrong with having a second wife

[grecefar]

first wife looks open minded.

[shmaster]

Ep.1 not too bad, but says nothing though.
This is a shounen battle series,gave to wait and see if they can keep up the quality when the flashy fights come in.

[zztop]

Given the source manga's immense popularity, it's interesting to see how the mangaka was unable to replicate Jigokuraku's success for his latest manga title, Ayashimon, which got cancelled after 3 volumes.
https://mangaplus.shueisha.co.jp/titles/100180

I recall seeing multiple complaints about that series on Reddit; that it failed to hook the readers from the start due to bland pacing, boring MC, fights not exciting enough, etc. https://www.reddit.com/r/manga/comme...on_chapter_25/

Which makes me wonder why for some mangaka, success is like catching lighting in a bottle. Some mangaka like Shiibashi Hiroshi and Kishimoto Masashi were never quite able to find success with their later titles (ex. the failure of Kishimoto's Samurai 8.)

While for some others, any title they make is a success or decent enough to not get cancelled (ex. anything by Arakawa Hiromu, Mashima Hiro or Urasawa Naoki).

[frubam]

Good first episode. Action parts were great, but I didn't like the personality shift of the male MC at the end. Him loving his wife and wanting to live for that reason was pretty obvious from the get-go once he started talking about her and not knowing why he didn't want to die. I hope its better than Revenger, which I liked for the most part, just hope they give us a reason to get invested into the characters.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by zztop

Given the source manga's immense popularity, it's interesting to see how the mangaka was unable to replicate Jigokuraku's success for his latest manga title, Ayashimon, which got cancelled after 3 volumes.
https://mangaplus.shueisha.co.jp/titles/100180

I recall seeing multiple complaints about that series on Reddit; that it failed to hook the readers from the start due to bland pacing, boring MC, fights not exciting enough, etc. https://www.reddit.com/r/manga/comme...on_chapter_25/

Which makes me wonder why for some mangaka, success is like catching lighting in a bottle. Some mangaka like Shiibashi Hiroshi and Kishimoto Masashi were never quite able to find success with their later titles (ex. the failure of Kishimoto's Samurai 8.)

While for some others, any title they make is a success or decent enough to not get cancelled (ex. anything by Arakawa Hiromu, Mashima Hiro or Urasawa Naoki).

I don't know about the others but I can tell you why Kishimoto succeeded the first time and utterly failed the second: he had a great first editor he actually listened to. A lot of his early ideas for Naruto were absolutely terrible, and if his editor hadn't vetoed them and brought in his own ideas, he would have never found success.

I think a strong factor in whether a mangaka can make multiple hits is if they have managed to build a strong fanbase with their first work. For that, they need to stand out in at least one area. Strong storytelling, unique and/or appealing artstyle, recurring themes... stuff like that. Kishimoto lost the faith of a lot of his readers during the last stretch of Naruto (way before that, really), so they finished Naruto but didn't come back for his next series. Urusawa's works have a unique flair, with solid art and storytelling. Fukumoto is a master of suspense, and the fact he can't draw for shit (by his own admission) resulting in a super distinctive artstyle ended up being a charm point.

[FlareKnight]

Solid episode. Hope his wife will be safe until the can get through this wild adventure. Not that he has much choice but to put faith in that. Since right now it's all about surviving the journey to that crazy island and to get the prize.

[scififan]

So, it is one of two anime/manga out there about bishojo-ponytail-samurai-executioner. The ninja's ninjatsu can deflect blade cut, but it does not work against her blade skill. Due to her profession, she is fear and hated by others. It is probably her entire character building. They are heading for an adventure and suicide mission.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by scififan

So, it is one of two anime/manga out there about bishojo-ponytail-samurai-executioner. The ninja's ninjatsu can deflect blade cut, but it does not work against her blade skill. Due to her profession, she is fear and hated by others. It is probably her entire character building. They are heading for an adventure and suicide mission.

What's the other?

[scififan]

Originally Posted by anh_minh

what's the other?

Spoiler for the other:

首を斬らねば分かるまい

[Frontier]

Smol!Sagiri is adorable! Even as she's watching in awe as her father cleanly beheads people! But, honestly, slicing that storyteller's head off and letting him bow as the end of his story? Pure artistry

So Sagiri's deal is she's been trying to live up to the ideal of the Yamada Asaemon and behead people as effectively as her father does, but she can't seem to overcome her fear of killing people. So she's invested in this journey as a means of finding someone she can truly cut perfectly...which might be Gabimaru .

Oh hey, Takuya Eguchi! Playing what seems like the main Yamada Asaemon guy Eizen! He seems like kind of a mentor or older brother figure for Sagiri, someone who cares for her but still seems to underestimate her because of her sex and disposition. He seems cool enough otherwise, but I'm also suspicious of him .

I was surprised there were two female convicts, one of them a sexy kunoichi showing a lot of skin voiced by Rie Takahashi of all people! She seemed to hold Gabimaru's legend in well-regard before she met him, though it's not like she can say she didn't get caught like he did, though his show at the end probably impressed her again. I think the Yamada Asaemon who gets paired with Yuzuriha is a lucky guy .

Also, there's a killer courtesan with big boobs, and you can't beat that !

So will be focusing on the convicts on the Suicide Squad and the executioners assigned to monitor them and slice their heads off if they get out of line. Probably a lot of different relationships will unfold as a result as we get to know all of them and their dynamics with each other .

Time to separate that cattle from the main characters as they just have the convicts kill each other. The Red Seals seem like the ones you really need to watch out for (and were all the convicts alive at the end Red Seals?). Nice to hear Ryohei Kimura as Chobei though .

Why was Sagiri bullied as a child? Her family were literally just doing their jobs. Is it because of what they did with the bodies afterwards ?

That a killer has to lecture you about how wrong it is to make people kill and treat it like a sport...though it also just goes to show how far Gabimaru has come from an emotionless killing machine after his experience with his wife. He's not just going to kill people because they tell him to anymore, and if he is going to kill, it'll be in self-defense and because he can't die right here, and he'll do it spectacularly. Are you not entertained ?

Sagiri realizing that if you're going to kill you need to bear the weight of that kill and taking a life, and not treat it like a game. Though she still seems certain she'll kill Gabimaru .

Considering the show is titled "Hell's Paradise," I'm guessing the Paradise they refer to Shinsenkyo as is very deceiving .

[Tenzen12]

Not exactly sure what point Gamimaru was trying to make. He doesn't want kill, but he is fine with killing ones that are targeting his life. That's understandable, but why he then decimated half of other prisoners aftewards?

Originally Posted by Kanon

This might be the very first anime out of the thousands I've watched which acknowledges that it's impossible to behead someone with a katana in one stroke. In fact, it goes against everything anime taught me, what was the point of having a second ready to behead you to spare you the pain of seppuku if it doesn't actually work?
Of course the show wasted no time introducing the famous Asaemon who can totally cleanly behead people with a katana.

Difficult? Yes. Impossible? Never was. I don't know how consistent can executioners can get, but japanese blades are very good at cutting stuff. I think, pendulum swung little too much since times when katanas could cut through rocks and long swords were glorified clubs.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Tenzen12

Not exactly sure what point Gamimaru was trying to make. He doesn't want kill, but he is fine with killing ones that are targeting his life. That's understandable, but why he then decimated half of other prisoners aftewards?

I guess because he read them as part of a group that was trying to kill him? They all followed that one guy to come after him.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

I like episode 2. It's like the criminal version of Magnificent Seven. Or to be more fitting, it's like if you take the notorious Juppongatana members from Rurouni Kenshin on a mission and you made an anime out of it (and Sagiri almost feels like the early stage of Battousai the Manslayer). One of the chosen convicts is even a giant, just like the Juppongatana 😏:

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Can't wait to see what they do next on the island.

[Tenzen12]

Inspiration can be anything, but concept is much more similiar to Suicide Squad, then Ruorni Kenshin.

[grecefar]

If they had a list with the red seals on who were the best and the most powerful of the bunch then why make them kill each other?, just for the sick pleasure of the shogun?

[serenade_beta]

So how did they capture these superhuman criminals? Are the samurai that strong? All of them? And these samurais are at risk of getting turned into flowers too, right?

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by grecefar

If they had a list with the red seals on who were the best and the most powerful of the bunch then why make them kill each other?, just for the sick pleasure of the shogun?

You saw the shogun enjoying it so, yeah, I think part of it was just to watch them slaughter each other.

[Tenzen12]

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

So how did they capture these superhuman criminals? Are the samurai that strong? All of them? And these samurais are at risk of getting turned into flowers too, right?

If you mean these handlers of Yamada clan, then answer is probably yes. I would also say that their status may not be exactly priviliged. Executing people and dealing with corpses will not make you star at any feudal gala party, even if you are otherwise super cool guy, who can cut through mountain with single slash.