Jigokuren: Death Life
Love in Hell: Death Life

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

tl;dr: A manga with a premise that's still very much interesting despite not having advanced at all beyond the previous series, but marred by an execution that ends before really getting anywhere. 

This manga is a sequel to Jigokuren: Love in Hell, which takes place in the same place as its predecessor with some characters from the previous series popping in at times but being concerned mainly with new characters. Hence all the old interesting aspects, such the strange relationship between sinners and their demon partners that torture them but also take care of them or the economy where pain and suffering is the foundation for their currency, carry over. There are some new mechanics, ... but they're pretty minor. Still, this set up was far from exhausted in the previous manga, so revisiting what is pretty much exactly the same thing with a new set of characters sounds like something that could work perfectly well. And as far as it got, it seemed fine. The new cast of characters were reasonably different from the old cast and seemed like they could carry a solid story. The thing is, that the manga ends far too quickly, wherein it ends before we get to the meat of the story and we come to understand the characters, their background, and motivations, like what happened during the last half of the previous series. One wouldn't think that a single volume difference could make such a difference, but it felt a lot like this series was being paced the same way as the previous and would do the same thing with the last volume but was simply was unable to. There's somewhat of a rushed attempt at some minor development at the end, but it doesn't have anywhere near as much impact as the ending of the previous series did. Hence, it just sort of feels like the series fell flat and there wasn't enough to it in the end. The setting and dark humor that accompany it are still on point though, but as with the previous series it'll vary widely from person to person depending on their tolerance of such themes and topics. Similarly, the art I thought worked well with good character designs for the demon helpers that contrast with the horrific aspects. 

As a fan as the original series, this sequel was not bad.

Story: So the story is the same as the first series, a sinner starts his atonement in hell with his sexy (?) demon supervisor. It's pretty interesting with all new characters, but this sequel is a bit less dramatic than the original. It's more appropriate to call this a spin-off. Because it's not a real "sequel". Same world, but different characters from the original.

Art: The art is seriously amazing in my opinion. Disgusting gore, creepy smiles and beautiful girls, it's all so damn perfectly drawn that it's sad the series is so short.

Characters: ... Compared to the first series, the characters here are definitely weaker. But the cute lil' demon girl is likable and the sinner is a good enough protagonist to make it interesting. You might be a bit disappointed that it's a new set of characters, but the world itself brings the same kind of feeling.

Enjoyment: I love the story and art so obviously I enjoyed this manga. But the lack of depth from the original, and a fairly open ending made me feel a bit conflicted. It's a nice journey, but you never reached the destination, I guess? Just one more chapter would've made it so much more enjoyable, because it feels like it ended just before reaching goal.

Overall it's a good manga, if you liked the original you should definitely give this a read. You might not like it as much, but you will at least find it good enough.

+ Good Art
+ Stays true to the original
+- Characters are nothing special
- One chapter away from having an actual ending

After really liking Jigokuren I looked forward to this sequel. I'm not disappointed per se, but I expected more. Death Life feels like step down from Love in the Hell.
The world is same, solid, interesting and brutal place that we know from original. Story is less dramatic and instead has some feels and better pacing, but overall it's still just a gory comedy - maybe even a little more gory than previously. One very strong point are cameos of old cast - like an epilogue that we all missed after first manga.
Where the sequel starts falling are characters. Most of them are weaker than ... pevious cast and even without such comparison they aren't that great characters on their own. It's especially noticable on protagonist, who, unlike Rintaro, isn't good source of comedy and rather feels like just a guy around whom the comedy happens.
Art is great as always. One of the best points of this manga. Author's good taste when it comes to body proportions (for ecchi purposes) only makes it better.

In the end, if you read previous title, you will like this one too, and even if I said otherwise, I doubt I'd discourage anyone. It's still a solid sequel, even if not as good as I hoped for.