To summarize the manga, there's a ninja called Gabimaru - a criminal - who goes on island to find the 'Elixir of Life' and return to his wife in one piece. Seems interesting however pretty normal for the average Shonen right? The part where Jigokuraku delivers is in the characters and events in this story, specifically the fear it created subconsciously within the readers (those who read with their eyes open ofc).
Upon landing, the convicts admire the island, calling it 'gokuraku' which means heaven, however, as they delve into the secrets of this island, they are cruelly exposed to the truth of this deceitful island; 'jigoku' meaning hell. The name Hell's Paradise therefore comes together when the mangaka combined these two ideas into Jigokuraku. Just from finding this information my expectations exponentially rose - you see we have a smart writer in our hands :D
The despair Jigokuraku creates is impeccable and is delivered perfectly. The reality of the convicts was portrayed to us vividly with no sugarcoating or any ray of hope to even let us cheer for the main characters. The villains were indomitable, unbeatable. The "Lord Tensens" were deities with otherwordly powers who absolutely curb-stomped our main characters without even breaking a sweat in some cases, and called forth a power system completely foreign to us and the main characters. Aaaand of course when any normal human sees their own fellow species getting curb stomped even a criminal knows to run. Their reactions aren't chivalrous or like any of the brave determined main characters you see in Shonen, those with goals give proportionate effort towards conquering this island, which of course involves killing these deities. It was completely realistic and honest in the way characters acted towards the abyss of depair they were thrown in and that is where Hell's Paradise triumphs over other Shonens. Specifically the main two characters, Gabimaru and Sagiri. Gabimaru had a clear goal - to get back ASAP to his wife - while Sagiri wanted to make it alive and witness Gabimaru the "Hollow"'s fate. Gabimaru didn't fear nor fret against these powerful characters, his goal was clear and it wasn't his first time in a near-death situation. Sagiri, however, is the only female character ever I can say was never irresponsible. She felt fear, she felt uncertainty, but through all that she used her fear as a weapon to conquer this abyss and crawl if she needed to, in order to escape. Her development over the course of this manga felt as if we spent years watching her change, and looking back, the reality of this happening over the course of a couple of days and seeing her overcome her trauma was revolutionary. I'm not quite sure if you could call Sagiri the 'deuteragonist' however, if she were to be one, she'd undoubtedly make top 10 without a hassle. And of course, it wasn't those two only that changed, almost all the characters changed, those dead and alive.
Speaking of death, the mangaka has NO filter on who kills. If you have a favourite character it's important to keep in mind that even if their chances of death are low, it's most definitely not zero. There were very few moments of plot armour displayed and even then the consequences of it were devastating. Unlike in the average Shonen manga, the indomitable strongest characters aren't infinitely preserved until the end no matter if they're bad or good. It's literally a blood bath on that island, hell incarnate I daresay. And this act of sticking to their word and keeping it real is what the mangaka fantastically nails. (fyi I claimed the strongest character even though there was no way they could die,, and yes I was left humbled by the end D:)
Do I recommend it? 110% I do. If I could wipe my memory and read this for the first time, I would! There were hype moments, sad moments, happy moments, and by the end of all that when I had closed my laptop and reflected on what I had binged until 7am, I felt a shiver go down my spine. Had I been in any of the characters' shoes I would've hid in a corner and waited for my inevitable death. You realise that you watched humans just go against Dieties that surpassed them in every league and some of them came home alive. Would I have been able to do it with all my knowledge of the plot, absolutely not. The mangaka does a good job of instilling fear in the readers and brings despair to life while simultaneously keeping our imaginations in check. I love that about Jigokuraku and I don't think anything will replace my favourite manga!
My last comment: Revenge is a dish best served cold, and our main characters served it freezing :)
