Jigokuraku

Jigokuraku is the newest member of MAPPA’s line of adaptations of Shonen Jump titles, and just like the previous two, this one is garbage. What I had heard from Jigokuraku before made me afraid, after all, I hear it being compared to Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man which is an immediate red flag, but I know some people recommend some series over the most superficial reasons, so maybe, this one won’t be actually that similar to those, maybe this one will be good right? Well, the answer is sadly no, I cannot even say I’m disappointed because I’m not, it turned out to be exactly ... as to what came to my mind the second I hear it was compared to those series.

The very first episode is already dumb, when the MCs changes his character abruptly by something he should have obviously known before, as you see Gabimaru started completely willing to die but no one could kill them because their methods were obviously bad, suddenly when the girl Sagiri talks a little to him he remembers that he has a wife and now wants to live. I don’t know if Gabimaru is dumb or simply has dreadful memory because the instant he remembered she existed he turned very differently from how he was introduced as if his wife suddenly materialized instead of her existing beforehand. And with that said, everything from Gabimaru is terrible he is the most OP character, so there is no tension when he fights, he won’t get stronger or develop because he is already the strongest and already has a clear goal in mind and his “development” was remembering his wife on the first episode. There some shinobi rules as well that he has to follow, but some of them are broken as much as they are said, stuff like “never get into a fight with an unknown enemy” is broken every single time, because he is in a completely unknown island. Sagiri is a person a girl executioner with a great fear of killing people and wants to achieve the same painless killing method her father could pull off, which is so painless that can cut the head of someone and that head would continue talking because the person didn’t realize they died or something, she gets subjected to people looking down on her for being a girl d that she clearly isn’t fit for the role of executioner, and while that is true, she tries to prove she has some worth, she is probably the only character that I can barely care what her development may be even if it will be pretty obvious and her personality is extremely uninteresting, sadly, she gets easily sidelined by the amount of characters introduced later so we are far off of seeing her actually achieving anything.

This suffers the same syndrome these edgy series have always suffered, it kills character left and right without giving me a reason to care about them, this series killed so many of its characters in so many dumb ways and so quickly that I cannot remember their names. And sometimes when it wants me to care about them it gives them flashbacks the very second they are dying as if I was watching Kimetsu no Yaiba or something to tell me their whole story to feel bad for their deaths, but I don’t, because they are cardboard cutouts without much if any character whatsoever that talk like robots, I could only laugh after the death of a certain character because it came out exactly as I’m describing it. Characters not named Sagiri and Gabimaru are even more empty, Yuzuriha is literally just there doing nothing, deciding to not go into most of the fights and her ability which covers her in definitely-not-cum is made as if I’m watching some ecchi anime where it is trying to make me think the slimy white liquid she is covered in is cum. There are two edgy brothers, one more edgy than the other and when more edgy they have less character. I honestly cannot care to mention some of them, I remember more this character that was hyped in episode 2 just to die stupidly by the next episode, he didn’t get a flashback at least.

There is this energy called Tao that some people within the island aled Tensen can use t and that makes them extremely powerful and unkillable and these unkillable person that can use it, they are what you can call the main villains, due to their Taos they are stronger than everyone and no one can face them in a battle, except Gabimaru, of course. And when the time comes where a little group of selected characters survive the dumb killings from the first part, they discover the way to fight the unkillable enemies they were facing because they just bullshited their way to their new powers unlocking Tao, and lacks a basic consistent power system that most action shonen series have. And I’m not impressed, what should I be impressed here anyways? I mean, I guess the body horror where people are turned into flowers is not so commonly seen? But I guess that’s the best things I can give credit for.

I hope I can see MAPPA doing a good looking or even well animated show again, because I haven’t seen them doing it in years. Jigokuraku looks unsurprisingly ugly, it has the absolutely dreadful and soulless MAPPA’s filter just like Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man which immediately makes it visually appalling, it is also subjected to obviously bad animation having no impact on any of their actions outside of fights, janky movements, bad compositing, ugly backgrounds, even fights don’t look that good either, they are extremely lackluster even for MAPPA standards, it is just my usual MAPPA’s animation complain that they haven’t managed to get over.

What was I expecting? Probably a series that is entertaining to watch, sadly Jigokuraku is as uninteresting as they come, it is just another ugly edgy schlock that MAPPA vomited out just like Chainsaw Man was and just like the next season of Jujutsu Kaisen will surely be.

Thank you for reading.

If I had to describe Jigokuraku with one word, it would be "hollow."

Despite MAPPA's impressive animation* and decent soundtrack, Jigokuraku feels soulless. Even as a manga, it did not bring much novelty to the table. However, I was hoping for at least a bingeable run-of-the-mill shounen. I was even willing to overlook glaring plot holes that required turning off any reasoning modules in my brain, but the anime still fell short.

What baffles me the most is how the direction managed to mess up the pacing. The first six episodes might have been tolerable if they didn't consist mainly of meaningless dialogues and endless exposition. At ... this point I should note that I turned off the subtitles after episode 4. I was able to understand everything just fine, not thanks to my limited Japanese of course, but due to the dialogue either describing unimaginatively what is being shown or because it is repeated over and over. After watching Jigokuraku, I couldn't help but wonder: what is the attention span of MAPPA's target audience?

Lastly, I want to close the review with a sidenote about the animation direction, which I distinguish from the quality of animation*. While inner monologues and repetitive dialogues are common tropes of the genre, this anime illustrates precisely how much of a drag they can become. Every action sequence HAS to be interrupted by at least 20 seconds of thinking and planning, like a poorly-designed turn-based RPG. Sometimes, the interruption is even longer when a flashback from seven minutes ago is involved. Truly distasteful.

First episode was really good. Sadly it goes downhill after that. The animation is perfect sure but everything else is not.
What this anime does is simply intruducing new characters and 1-2 episodes later just killing them. 8 episodes in and the pacing has been horible. From the 20 mins of each episode 5 mins is the combat and the rest 15 is just showing the some random characters backstory just so that he ends up dead. The whole mystery of the island is pretty good but it gets really boring and annoying after couple episodes. Honestly the manga is propably better since you ... can skip all these useless things that are being shown. I dont recomend watching this unless you want it on the backround while you doing things.

Each character is a surface-level cardboard cutout of an archetype, and none receive any meaningful development. Gabimaru the so-called hollow’s greatest feat as a shinobi is convincing fans that he is a deep and complex character by cramming down his love for his wife down the audience’s throat. He is a broken record of a character that knows two sayings, “I love my wife” and “I am hollow” (coping). Besides this master of illusions, the rest of the cast is blatantly one-sided in terms of characterization and development, no character really worth mentioning has emerged from the entire show. With how bad the main cast ... is, its pretty surprising that the show managed to churn out even worse antagonists; they are terribly uninteresting in everything they do, they aren’t charismatic, they aren’t compelling, they aren’t complex, and the greatest offense is that all of them have terrible designs.

The story is similarly uninteresting, from its bland plot to its lazily crafted mystery, not one bit of it is good. The premise is fairly simple and not too complex, and already unoriginal as it and the characters are loosely based on pre-existing historical and mythological figures and narratives. It doesn’t try to say anything new with these concepts unlike other series that incorporate these aspects better. In Hell’s Paradise, these aspects are simply just there, and not expanded on in any meaningful way. This is also done with the incorporation of Asian schools of thoughts like Daoism, as well as other concepts like reincarnation, these aspects are also not fleshed out or expanded on in any meaningful way, yet their presence gives off the illusion of depth. Their presence instead of adding anything of import to the series really just detracts from it, because it all comes off as pretentious and shallow.

The production value of the show is mediocre, not much to critique but I don’t think that there is terribly much to praise, either. The art style is pleasant, the animation is decent, but those positives are slightly detracted from because of the directing. A lot of potential in action scenes are squandered by misplaced flashbacks and exposition, or just cutting the action sequence entirely. While being passable in this regard, it sadly cannot boast the title of “carried by animation” like demon slayer, which actually somewhat makes up for its lackluster story with good visuals.

To make matters worse, Hell’s Paradise also falls into the typical shounen pitfall of sexism. Each female character in the cast is almost constantly being sexualized, seduced, or saved by a male character. Despite its blatant sexism, the series attempts to include a character arc of Sagiri breaking gender norms. The reason I say attempt is because nothing really resulted from it. The sexist character literally had to die to admit he may have been wrong about women not being able to fight, and after that scene, nothing changed. Sagiri went back to being the same character she was before, the lasting impact of it wasn’t that great, and it didn’t have any impact on other characters or their perceptions, so it feels pointless and ham-fisted.

The lazy writing, bad characters, pretentious nature, and sexism of Hell’s Paradise are all perfectly packaged together with its exceedingly overhyped protagonist, Gabimaru the Shallow, to create the ultimate 2/10 anime.

At this point, I've grown tired of the statement "Jigokuraku is part of the dark shounen trio alongside Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen." just because it so happened to be animated by MAPPA. What else? People die in their respective stories, so it should add more to the stakes and make an intense action story, right? By this logic, let's look at Jigokuraku, the next addition to the shounen table. Before I start, I believe it is important to take note of the five core elements of good action for a better understanding of Jigokuraku as an action anime.

1. Clearly defined characters
2. Short-term and long-term ... goals
3. Committed plan
4. Tangible and immediate obstacles
5. High stakes

Unlike the other products made by MAPPA, this anime sets in the Edo period of Japan for historical insight, when no one wears dark uniforms or men in black suits to deal with dangerous threats. Jigokuraku starts off with a generic introduction to the fabled main character of the anime, Gabimaru, stoic and apathetic as many assumed, was given a second chance to go back to his McGuff- I mean cute wife by searching for the legendary Elixir, accompanied by their bodyguards or better said Executioners to accomplish the said mission. The first to complete their objective is rewarded with a full pardon for their crimes. Try to look at this out of context and let me describe to you this. It is a sick suicide plan attended by the most despicable criminals alive to journey to a mythical island. The classic by-the-book start for the story, but it does establish the character's motives effectively and create a long-term objective for our character since anything without a purpose is just torturously boring. However, it clearly lacks a coherent and committed plan, all the while facing ominous adversities never seen before, so we have no idea how bad shit can get to our characters. This is just one of the many blunders of Jigokuraku.

If it does sound boring otherwise, don't worry, I also feel the same. While the historical approach is nice for a breath fresh of air other than your usual isekai fantasy world with generic RPG rules and cliche events, the story struggles to find the perfect balance between quality exposition to expand the creative lore of what the author had in mind and consistent character development throughout the series. After finishing every single episode, I have found none of that character development after the first few episodes. The story has an undying desire to spout lore knowledge as much as possible without any intention of slowing down or letting us being able to digest the information. To put it into context, it's like having your teacher fill the blackboard with the information, stressing the fact it might come out in the finals, only to erase it 5 seconds later. This is how they ensure you keep watching the story, making some of the events lack any emotional impact on the characters and instead utilize them as tools to explore the world of Jigokuraku, it's not watching a story, it's more like the plan told by the writer through its plot devices. In the end, it's exhausting to watch and it does this even during action sequences, which shouldn't be a problem, but because it happens during calm moments too, it sticks out like a sore thumb and becomes painful to watch. You begin to wonder if these characters actually do have a standpoint or not just some creatures equipped with the fight-or-flight response like animals.

Speaking of characters, this is most definitely Jigokuraku's weakest aspect as a story overall. Did you know they keep showing flashbacks and long-ass monologues while the character is trying to perform some action? It's almost hilarious how often they resort to this formula knowing the anime has a lot of action scenes. While the animators knew it would be unthinkable to try and animate every single one of them without schedule and production issues, making not only the pacing of most of their fights terrible but even the visuals look like your average mediocre action anime, only with little spices of outstanding animation bits. Got to give them credit for salvaging what they could to deliver some delicious scenes but knowing MAPPA's previous works, I was quite disappointed with the anime. The second half is when it starts to pick up traction since we have received some sort of insight from all of the characters involved in this anime, other than unnecessary deaths just to prove it has gore. Albeit, by the time we reached the second half, the characters still seem to be 2nd-dimensional and boring to watch at times. All you see is their immediate reaction to the bizarre events that take place and pretty much moves on as the same person as before. It makes some of the actions they perform and the motivations behind them feel hollow and vacuous. You expect me to believe an executioner would put themselves on the line to protect a criminal without having any kind of conversations that may subtly change their perspective? Even if there is proof they understood each other, the progress required to reach that point of the story would take an entire cour to reach, so it becomes difficult to believe.

So, what have we learned? Because the story is too busy with its exposition through the characters, it leads to a lack of character definition, which results in bad pacing and boring action. Whilst the 2nd half improved for having none to almost-nonexistent flashbacks; It later came at the cost of characters lacking any sort of development after reacting to bad consequences after another. It goes without saying, even if the lore is creative and outstanding or has some cool action, it is not a good action story. Jigokuraku would be better if it reduced the bombarding of exposition and exchange them for more character development. The same could be said for the action sequences, despite being an action anime. Without these kinds of changes, Jigokuraku is nothing more than an unimpressive run-of-the-mill anime plastered with MAPPA's name on it.

Hence, thank you for reading.

Mappa, the studio behind highly-anticipated shows such as Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man, now bring us... a boring series that relies on talk-no-jutsu and as much subtlety as a brick to the face. Oh, and Mappa worked on Vinland Saga season 2, the sequel to the 2019/2020 hit! People, what is going on here?

All I can guess at is that a) the source material lacked depth, and/or b) the team adapting the source material were burned out/not the regular A-team who gets handed all the big projects. I don't think the show is particularly bad, but it somehow manages to try and be as dark ... as JJK while embracing Naruto's worst aspects. Characters spend 5 minutes having a monologue about their emotions, a thing I'm normally not opposed to when done sparingly. The issue is, unlike CSM and JJK, the characters do this throughout multiple episodes. Yuiji and Denji talked about things that affected them, yes. They also learned to come to terms with those things because it was a fact of their chosen positions in life. Gabimaru hesitates more often than he should for a man whose singular goal is only achievable if he doesn't hesitate. You can't call it "character development" if in the first 5 episodes your protagonist steels his resolve, regresses, rinse and repeat.

Neither the op nor ost really do much, either. They sound as bland as heck and almost like an afterthought. I feel bad for *checks notes*

Oh, for the love of-

MILLENNIUM PARADE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?

Next, you'll be telling me they tossed Koari Makita onto this. Man, imagine going from Banana Fish and AoT Season 4 to this tire fire.

Yeah, there is some big talent behind this just to make it as good as it possibly could be. The problem is, despite the immense effort already put into this, the show comes out feeling rather bland and uninspired, to the point you can't even say anything about it beyond it exists. I want to give it some credit in the body horror department, but even that feels incredibly dull. The visuals should be popping in a show like this that solely relies on its visual flair to sell what the characters and dialogue cannot, but that falls flatter than a pancake, too.

The story itself isn't particularly interesting, either. All I could think was Hunter X Hunter's Dark Continent arc where a bunch of main cast and side characters go to an island to get a thing and meanwhile the new region is full of things that outclass our hopeful cast. We're given the impression that this place is going to push our main characters beyond their limits, only to then have our main players walk through everything threat without much effort. It's disappointing to have a threat be hyped only to then see the main cast shrug it off. Gabimaru is strong, yes, and an overpowered character is not a particularly offensive trope. The problem is when something like "Shinobi rule 4: never get into a fight with an unknown enemy" is presented as a key detail, only for it to then prove pointless within that same five minute action scene.

Hell's Paradise isn't particularly bad, but it isn't good, either. It fails to make its characters anything aside walking tropes, reduces the threat of its setting to "mild inconvenience," and presents a narrative that has coherence, certainly, but is also as entertaining as having someone read a dictionary to you.

Is Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku ("HPJ") one of the more entertaining shows of the Spring 2023 season? Yes, it sure can be quite entertaining, as long as you do not take its idiocy and complete absurdity into consideration. No joking. I am quite entertained when viewing each episode, as long as I do not think about the realities of what is going on because if I do, then I realize that so many things just do not make sense.

The most basic overarching story is clearly defined—send criminals on a dangerous mission to retrieve a rumored elixir of immortality. After that, the plot is just a jumbled ... downhill mess of confusion with heavy doses of stupidity. Conceptually, there is potential for something deep, alluring, or intriging, but inevitably it ends up being a failure on almost all accounts, and here is why (not in any particular order):

The Shogunate
The Shogunate are dumb, as in undeniably dumb. Who sends the most dangerous group of criminals to the mysterious Shinsenkyou island, to retrieve an Elixir of Life (immortality), and then completely expect them to bring it back like good little boys and girls so that they can be pardoned for their crimes? Moreover, who in the Shogunate is even going to catch some of these criminals? Some are so overpowered ("OP") that it is inconceivable to think that they would be captured so easily or without the Shogunate sustaining severe loses.

Lastly, Nariyoshi Tokugawa is the pompous, foolish dumbass leading the Shogunate. Clearly, he is the wrong person for the job and has no real-world experience in anything other than sitting on his ballooned ass barking orders. The look on his face after he sees Gabimaru in action is the perfect indicator of just how clueless he really is.

The Shinobi Clans
Both the Iwagakure and the Kai shinobi clans should be the ruling orders of the land. Why? Well, they are both extremely dangerous in terms of espionage, skills and abilities, and raw talent and power, especially the Iwagakure. Instead they would rather concede power to the Shogunate and betray their best shinobi in both Gabimaru (Iwagakure) and Yuzuriha (Kai), who are ridiculously skilled and OP'd.

Immortality
The search for immortality should be null and void. Just use the eye test to confirm its existence already. Gabimaru is not immortal but yet nothing can kill him. The Iwagakure chief gets impaled in such a way that almost any other superhuman character would suffer death, yet he still lives (unless he is the feudal Japanese version of Harry Houdini, of course). Either way, immortality clearly does not exist outside of Shinsenkyou island, if it even exists at all since the Elixir of Life is just rumored to be a real thing. (Saracasm)

Ideology and Symbolism
Gender politics, gender fluidity, copulation, and the individual roles they each play in the ideology and symbolism of HPJ are very important, or at least that is the message the creative minds behind this want to convey. However, so much of it does not make any sense or is so inconsistent in the writing that any "potential" thought-provoking concept is lost in translation, except for Sagiri's unnecessary paradoxical dilemma—her proper place as a woman in human society during the time period, which should be in the home with children and husband, and not wielding a lethal katana as an Asaemon samurai executioner, at least according to her executing colleague, Genji. Apparently, he does not care about her deciding what is best for her, nor has he actually paid attention to her sword skills, which are incredibly precise and deadly. I like her as a samurai, so just leave her be.

Oh wait, I almost forgot another important piece of important context regarding some important stuff—ultimate power and inevitable immortality is only achievable if you can physically transform from male to female or vice versa, or have the doushi penially douching the failed Tensen, whose name I will not mention for spoiler purposes. If you make it that far in the anime, then you will understand what the creators are trying to convey [apparently].

Flowers
Flower power is supposed to be very important and symbolic in HPJ. OK. Cool. Still, the only flower power I have seen that has ever meant anything truly siginificant is in the Super Mario Bros. video game franchise, at least in comparison to what is displayed in HPJ.

Really quickly, I suggest not getting too involved with most of the characters in HPJ since their development, while usually detailed, is too convoluted and like the symbolism, gets lost in translation. That does not mean there are not interesting characters, or characters with interesting moments or backstories, minimally speaking. It just is not worth investing your emotional time and brain power into such overly complicated and unnecessarily melodramatic details due to the adaptation mishaps.

The only characters who are complete sh*tbags are the doshi—they can all die, followed by the Tensen. A couple of the latter do have a miniscule amount of tolerability (See Tao Fa and Zhu Jin). Although, they can get obliterated along with the rest of the lot and I would not care.

Animation & Sound

The production values that MAPPA brings are mostly superb in both the animation and art. There is little to no repeat animation slides, nor is there any real noticeable still scenes. The animation flows nicely and most, but not all, aspects of the characters and backgrounds are colorful and detail oriented.

The same level of quality is represented in the audio, both in the music and sound effects. The environmental sounds of the island are excellent, while the OP has a nice edgy sound to it that I enjoy, personally. The ED is amicable at best.

Overall, both the animation and sound set the atmospheric setting and tone much better than the creative writing does.

Final Thought

Lastly, I have not read the original source material, but I have read throughout various open online forums that it is considerably better than its adapation thus far (with a second season coming).

Keeping the above in mind, overthinking while attempting to be mature and "cutting-edge" idealistically and symbolically, and often failing at it, is the biggest detriment that plagues a potentially top-notch anime. With that being said, I would find myself quite entertained throughout as long as I turned my brain off from the falacies of the anime. I do not know if I would watch it a second time, or at least watch it again any time in the near future due to its confused writing, poor execution, some distasteful concepts, and its unfortunate shortcomings; it is potential at its finest that gets wasted at its finest.

I might end up reading the manga rather than continuing on with the sequel/continuation.

Entertainment Score: 9/10

Achievement Score: -1 to OVERALL

My expectations were High, and it delivered Slightly Below those expectations.

Age Rating: TV-A (explicitly violent, nudity, physically underaged copulation, and gender "stuff")

The dialogues in this show consist of:
More than a dozen times, Gabimaru mentioning his wife as his sole reason moving forward.
More than a dozen times, Sagiri battles with her own dilemma, while saying that "she thinks Gabimaru is dangerous".
And more than a dozen times, Gabimaru acknowledges that he is hollow and shouldn't feel anything, but he does.
And if that doesn't convince you, that Jigokuraku is somehow even more narcissistic and edgy than Eminence In Shadows, I don't know what will.

And before you think that those are good qualities, because you too do enjoy show like Eminence in Shadows, let me break it down for you, ... this anime has 0% self awareness!. I imagine the scenario where the author keeps coming back with drafts of incompetent stories, and the tired old editor just chooses the one that somehow has the most unique premises, and basically gives up trying to fix the structure. Because this story has one of the worst examples in anime on how to do: Tell don't Show.

All the characters basically have to explain again and again about their motivations and goals, as if we audience are so dumb, that we forget how to distinguish all of them. Expositions are everywhere, to the point that I can't help but laughing my ass off at how obnoxious this anime is.

Too bad, my rating system on MAL is leaning more into the technical qualities as a whole. So a story as generic and hilariously bad as this is, still won't drop from 5, because the animation department are doing such a great job keeping the vibe and the aesthetic afloat. But i feel bad thinking about the fact that they have to be overworked for this.

This plot was initially interesting, but the ecchi themes ultimately turned me off especially during the final moments of episode 6. Additionally, Sagiri and Gabimaru are such bland, unlikable characters that they really didn't offer much in terms of relatability. I think the plot and art style was decent and the ending song was great, but I don't really support ecchi or harem anime in general, so for that reason I'm dropping this show! If you like ecchi or harem anime then you'll enjoy this show since it does have a decent plot, but if you're like me and do not like heavy amounts of ... fan service each episode then you should probably pass on this one!

This show was overhyped because it's produced by Mappa, but apart from the normally decent animation, story is bland and characters blander. It's starts out like a documentary on medieval execution methods and continues into at least a couple disenbowelments per episode. With all this bloodshed one would expect some emotion, and yet. The beginning with Gabimaru's "mistery" and backstory was interesting but then they had to throw in all these forgettable characters. I swear all of them could die right this instant (and they do) and I wouldn't bat an eye. The only scene I liked was the wild young girl eating snakes with ... his granpa, go figure. Many times I have the feeling some scenes of the manga have been cut out or dealt with sloppily. And I haven't even read the manga. The plot is too slow, the characters are just uttering commonplace, and there's not a definite vibe that the show wants to set on or flesh out properly. Is it battle royale? nah, too plain. Is it action? Eh. Is it romance? Sure not. Is it horror? Please. Is it.. just gore? Probably.
So many elements thrown in the bucket, that in the end nothing prevails. Truly reflecting of the mc's personality, Gabimaru the Hollow.

It's the yearly cool anime which is shallower than a puddle of piss on a Monday night.

Pros:
- cool animation and visuals
- cool world concept

Cons:
- two dimensional characters incapable of any growth [the MC was raised as a killer but got a wife who doesn't want him to kill also dad is evil, this is the whole story]
- dumb combat without any rules: [MC is immortal... except when he is not - the rule is completely arbitrary]
- dialoges are immensely dumb: [the characters don't speak like humans would and a lot of worldbuilding is told through character dialogue in a pushy way]
...
A boringly mediocre anime which I could most aptly compare to McDonalds'. You will be satisfied and it won't taste bad, but you've eaten this shit a million times and it's high time you tried something new.
Don't waste your time with this one it ain't worth it.

Jigokuraku, the anime that was hyped at the same rate as Chainsaw Man and unfortunately didn't come close as an adaptation.

I am sad with the way this adaptation has come, because the story is very good and has a lot of richness to be explored in anime media.

It is possible to see right away in the second episode that there is something wrong with the production of this anime, as it "melts" over the course of the series.

In short, the anime is practically a Control C + Control V of the manga, without adding content that adds to the elements explored by the story.

Unfortunately an ... anime that had a lot of potential that suffered from a very tight production. I hope that next season the animators will be able to have more time to deliver something with great quality and with a schedule that preserves the health of the entire team involved

--------------------

Pt/Br

Jigokuraku, o anime que foi hypado na mesma proporção de Chainsaw Man e infelizmente não chegou nem perto como adaptação.

Fico triste com o rumo que essa adaptação chegou, pois a história é muito boa e possui muita riqueza para ser explorada na mídia anime.

É possível ver logo no segundo episódio que tem algo de errado na produção desse anime, pois ele "derrete" com o decorrer da série.

Em suma, o anime está praticamente um control C + Control V do manga, sem adicionar conteúdos que agregam os elementos explorados pela história.

Infelizmente um anime que tinha muito potencial que sofreu com uma produção bem apertada. Espero que na próxima temporada os animadores consigam ter mais tempo para entregar algo com uma ótima qualidade e com um cronograma que preserve a saúde de toda a equipe envolvida

The issue with Hell Paradise isn't the animation or lack of originality. It actually has a pretty good premise, but the execution falls short.

Just imagine being deemed so dangerous that they send you to an island of monsters to meet your end. From a storytelling perspective, it's hard to think of a better starting point.

The most notorious criminals from the entire country are carefully chosen and dispatched to an island inhabited by monsters and gods in pursuit of the coveted Elixir of immortality. In return, whoever manages to claim Elixir will have all their sins forgiven.

You might expect these hardened criminals to be more menacing ... in appearance, but you'd be mistaken. Most of them appear young teenagers. The biggest flaw of this anime/manga is that the island of gods and monsters fails to evoke any real sense of terror; instead, it feels more like a garden teeming with bugs. It's disappointingly uninspired. Even the main antagonists, in terms of strength, appearance, and behavior, come off as a complete joke. Honestly, the author of this manga should have drawn some inspiration from works like Attack on Titan or Terra Formars. Even now, I shudder when I think about those cockroaches or the entrance of the Colossal Titan.

Now, let's discuss the protagonist, Gabimaru the Hollow. Initially, he felt genuinely unique, but he quickly devolves into just another generic shonen hero. He's one of the deadliest killers in the world; his very name strikes fear into the hearts of people. Yet, his demeanor feels oddly approachable. Given his reputation, shouldn't his thoughts and actions be a bit more otherworldly? Even someone like Saitama, on a bad day, exudes more terror than this guy.

Furthermore, for the top Shinobi in the world, his fighting style and methods are disappointingly feeble. Prior to a fight, you'd expect a top shinobi to gather intel and assess their opponent's strength, then employ clever strategies or decoys to gain the upper hand. But Naa man, I see an immortal god in front of me, so I am going to engage in a bare-knuckle brawl until one of us gives out. I wonder who would come out on top.

As for the supporting characters, I'd rather not dwell on them; they're just too dull. However, there's one exception, or should I say two? The two brothers, Aza Chōbei and Aza Toma, are the ones keeping the show afloat for me.

There's plenty more that I found disappointing in this anime, such as the introduction of the power system towards the end of the season. Now, there's nothing inherently wrong with introducing a power system, but in this case, it felt unnecessary; it's akin to the Haki syndrome. "I hit harder with my new power, so I win." I mean, if you're just going to rely on brute force, do you really need a whole new power system for that?

Come on, find a more creative approach. In the case of One Piece, it could have been something like Sea Prison Stone. In the case of this anime, a strategic approach could have sufficed: devise a way to trap that immortal god and keep at it until he meets his end, as simple as that.

Alright, I'll stop here.

A generic show is generic. The only reason I bothered to watch this is because I was promised some never-before-seen action. Sadly, the action is nothing to write home about either. Dont get me wrong, it's good, but not demon slayer or jujutsu kaisen good. Either way, it doesn't really matter, since most of your time will be spent watching the barely existing story. The author clearly belongs to the Patrick Rothfuss school of writing, since many of the later plot points would be right at home in porn. Other than that, there is absolutely nothing noteworthy about this abortion of a plot. Now, there ... are many character-driven shows that can get away with a terrible plot, but let's say that poor man's akali, lidl bakugou and sword chick aren't exactly enough. In fact, I had just finished watching the show and the only character whose name I remember is the MC, who was OK (not great though, just OK). Because of this, the show has to heavily rely on shock value and 'epic moments' to keep you interested. Sadly, I don't find one cardboard cutout killing another shocking or cool. I just find it boring.

Yet another shonen anime.

In the same vein as Marvel's cinematic assembly line, shonen series are mass-produced in Japan. The result is a recognizable product with only slight modifications, falling short of being seen as art. Everything rings familiar and conventional, and as with any shonen, there's an attempt to inject a signature touch that lacks the distinctiveness needed to truly differentiate it from the rest.

It's not that the anime needs to shy away from standard tropes: the last speech before a character's demise, the use of flashbacks during conflict scenes, the ever-expanding limits in each ensuing battle, or dialogues that clash with the atmosphere just ... for the humorous edge. The problem arises when these elements overshadow the plot, leaving scant room for subtler storytelling. It seems the primary aim is to meet the lowest common denominator of audience expectations and to shy away from the craft that is needed to tell a compelling story.

While this anime isn't guilty of any glaring missteps, it merely reverberates the echoes of its predecessors.

This anime honestly had so much potential to be absolutely fantastic. I absolutely loved the plot concept and the way they portrayed the characters and showed us their personalities. But I slowly began to like the anime less and less as I progressed through the first season. I hated the exaggerated amount of gore that was exhibited throughout the episodes. I hated the unusual intimacy session that were just casually thrown in there that I felt like did not add anything to the story. Even though it was shared there was a purpose for it, it was just random and weird. It was truly unfortunate ... because I really liked the characters and wanted to see how this anime would continue to play out.

Obnoxious, boring, generic; that's how I'd succinctly summarise Hell's Paradise. But since there is a word count minimum limit, allow me to break it down for you.

<>Characters:
-The MC is Gabimaru, he has a wife and he is hallow, that's all you need to know.
-The female characters, for the first 10 episodes (aka the whole damn show practically) can be put in two categories: Fanserverice or damsel in distress. Sagiri and Yuzuriha manage to get their shit together in the last 2 episodes though.
-The male characters are very basic shonen tropes; you've got the man-child, the oresama, the sus brothers, the white haired teacher ... to name a few.

<>Plot:
It's just battle shonen, and a very boring one at that since Gabimaru is covered so tightly with plot armor, the outcome of a fight is decided before it even starts. The villains also possess negative IQ and ramble on and on about secret techniques and freely give out important information, making it even easier for the MC to power up. Side characters get their little bit of screen time and a flashback before they fuck off to the afterlife.

Animation is good just as you'd expect from MAPPA but even that wasn't enough to save this absolute shitshow.

It really stands to show how the anime industry is going to shit if the likes of Jigokuraku is dubbed as the cream of the crop of its season when it's so below average.
So if you are an experienced shonen fan or have a higher IQ than that of a teenager, don't waste your time on this cliche mess.

Overhyped and Bad

This is what the people on twitter and other social media platform are hyping up? The so called dark trio of the modern shonen? Give me a break. The story is good, the characters are serviceable, the premise is just a survival-slash-tournament-arc-slash-insert-plot-twist-for-the-modern-consumer. Don't get me wrong, the story IS good. I would've liked it more if I had just read it BUT this adaptation is borderline trash. Even worse than the newest mha adaptation, which is regretful because that series' story is even more trash.

So this adaptation hurts more because its actually good but without the great animation you expect from ... people singing praises about mappa. That studio dropped the ball on this one, VERY HARD. weak execution. I can't even imagine the reaction of people who really liked the manga and was very excited to see it be adapted into anime by "m4pPa $Tud10 d4 g0At" no less.

Very very disappointing show. I'm gonna go ahead and read the manga so as to not make my consuming experience get ruined by that abhorrent adaptation. I wasn't expecting a chainsaw man level of adaptation, let alone a jujutsu kaisen one, but for this show to not even be on the same level as the dororo adaptation just fucking sucks. Its a mindless entertainment ruined by the show's selling point: the action. This is the seven deadly sins of mappa studios. REALLY BAD.

What a major disappointment of adaptation from the manga. I honestly thought that the series will get a good animation considering the hype surrounding the manga. Yes, I already read the manga and it an okay series if you turn your brain off and enjoy the gore and the art. some of the flaw in the manga I thought the studio will correct it but guess not. let rate the series shall we.

PLOT (4)
The stories structure doesn't make sense. What I mean by that is the shogun want to gain immortality because there a rumor of an unknown charted island there is elixir of immortality ... that being told by people who turn into plant. The shogun send expedition to the island but fail and in second try one person alive but gradually turn into plant. So for the third expedition he send a criminal? and if they bought back the elixir the shogun will erase all their crime and be free. This not make sense because Why would the criminal give the elixir and not just drink it to gain immortality?. Oh there an executioner follow them you say, then why not just send them. There no reason to use the criminal when you have someone who are more loyal AKA the executioner.

CHARACTER (5)
The main character is a ninja that want to died at first but then suddenly remember he had a wife. The show really want you to think the character is deep but in reality they just one dimension personality that it would be better if the writer put more on thought on the plot instead. The best character is yuzuriha the ninja girl with a technique that will make me hard and also sagiri the main heroin for being a waifu material. Yes they the one who save this god damn show. I also like how the writer portray the villain and called the the island hell paradise, it really similar to our reality.

ANIMATION (3)
It not a berserk 2016 level of bad but it should have been better considering it create from studio mappa that create quality animation like jjk and chainsaw man. I guess they don't see the hype of the manga and give subpar animation. The only good thing is VA that really do a good job and the music are okay.

In conclusion, it got some nice idea but terrible execution, it not as great as people hype it up but I can see the appeal. Just turn your brain off, you will enjoy it if you think of it as gore shlock.

Ep1 was so good that made me excited to see how good the next eps would be. well, I wish I hadn't been so excited, cause the next eps were a complete FAILURE!!

The story wasn't unique at all, cuz there was no story tbh.

The art style ain't bad at all, yet I had a problem with the animation that made so confused at times :/

The characters development wasn't enough for me. I WANTED MORE
+how come their backstories were soooo boring???!!! i'm upset!!!

Do I think others will enjoy this anime? yes i do think that a lot of people will enjoy watching Jigokuraku, cuz my ... friend did enjoy it (even tho idk why)