Spring 2023 is the time when one of the most popular shounen anime, Demon Slayer, is set to make its comeback. So we can expect it to sweep the attention away from other action-based anime this season. However, there’s actually one anime that can give Demon Slayer a run for its money. It’s called Jigokuraku (Hell’s Paradise).
Similar to Demon Slayer, Hell’s Paradise is also an anime adaptation of a manga that has already completed its story. That means the anime team can focus solely on creating a mind-blowing animation without having to worry about making any filler episodes. If you’re still on the fence about whether you should follow Hell’s Paradise or not, well, these are some of the things that you can expect from this new series.
Simple Premise, Clear Objectives
One of the things that makes Demon Slayer such a great anime to watch is that, at its core, the story is actually quite simple. It’s about a brother who wishes to turn his sister back into a human and also kills the devil that massacres his family if he gets the chance. That sentence contains the main premise and also the objective of the entire series. That is also the basis of every decision that the main characters will take throughout the journey. And as a viewer, we know that the story will end once he achieves those objectives.
The same thing also applies to Hell’s Paradise. In this story, ten powerful death row convicts and ten samurai who are tasked to guard and execute them are told to go to a mysterious island in order to look for an immortality elixir. If any of those convicts manage to find the elixir, all of their crimes will be absolved, and they will be free men. But if they try to escape, those samurai will kill them. Just like Demon Slayer, here we also have a simple premise with clear objectives. We know what the story is all about, and we also know that the story will end once the objectives are completed.
Thrilling Fight Scenes
Every criminal that is sent to the mysterious island has their own unique power. There’s a fearsome samurai that can cleave a boulder with one hand, there’s a giant that can pull a big tree out of the soil with his bare hand, there’s a seductress who also happens to be a poison expert, and then there’s the man character, a legendary ninja that can’t be killed but can easily massacre an entire army in a matter of minutes. Those are just some of the unique abilities that you can see in this series.
On top of that, there’s also the samurai that accompanied them. While all of them can be considered master swordsmen, each also has their own unique way of fighting. From a blind swordsman that can easily spot and cut through anything, to a samurai that is obsessed with human anatomy and loves to dissect his enemy, there are all sorts of people in this group. Add to that the fact that there will be lots of strange monsters with bizarre powers on this island, then you can expect to see lots of thrilling fight scenes in this series.
Gory Battle
Although Hell’s Paradise is a shounen anime, it doesn’t shy away from showing gory and bloody fights. After all, every convict in the story is a brute criminal that always leaves a pool of blood in their wake. So you can expect some messy fights from them all.
As for the samurai, while most of them fight in a graceful way, they are actually part of a clan that specializes in executing criminals. This means they are trained to behead people as cleanly as possible. So you can expect to see heads flying in all directions whenever they fight.
When you combine the fact that both of these groups fight in a rather brutal way with the fact about the inevitable battles against bizarre monsters, then the result is one gory battle after another. So you can expect to see quite a few bloodbaths in Hell’s Paradise.
Enchanting World
The mysterious island in this story is unlike any other place that you have seen before. It is the perfect definition of having a deceptive appearance. From the surface, all you can see is a mesmerizing place filled with beautiful flowers and breathtaking scenery. It is truly the beauty of untouched nature that can only be described as paradise.
But once you hang around the island for a little bit, you will slowly realize that everything is just a façade. Everything on this island can, and will, kill you. As a matter of fact, humans are basically foreign entity that needs to be dissolved and ejected from the island. Therefore, from massive inhuman creatures to beautiful yet deadly flowers, this island has tons of tricks up its sleeve that it can use to kill any intruders. In this regard, this island is no different than hell.
Great Character Development
From bizarre monsters to strange environments, there will be countless life-threatening dangers happening in the story. Because as mentioned earlier, the mysterious island can kill the characters in this series in all kinds of ways. Staying alive is already so hard, but then they also have to complete their mission by finding the mythical elixir. Because if they failed this mission, what awaits them back home is death as well.
All of those hardships, challenges, and obstacles mentioned above are actually the perfect ingredients for developing a character. After all, what better way to develop a character than to put them against insurmountable conflict? And both the convicts and the samurai have no shortage of conflict in this series.
Just like any other series, the main characters will have the most development, but the supporting cast will also get their chance to shine. The people who enter the island won’t be the same people that get out of the island. Their body, heart, and mind will be forced to undergo drastic changes that they practically become different persons altogether.
Final Thoughts
We try to tell as much as we can about what makes Hell’s Paradise so interesting, without giving out any major spoilers of the story. So if you like what you read, then be sure to watch and follow Hell’s Paradise.
Will you add Hell’s Paradise to your watch list for this spring? What other anime do you plan to watch this season? Let us know in the comment section below.