3 out of 5

Directed by: Kaori Makita

covers season 1

Confident attitude and absolutely jaw-dropping design and animation – it is MAPPA, of course – help paper over Hell’s Paradise’s wonkier elements: a Bleach-esque sense of rewriting mythology and powers as one deems fit; semi-typical fight-manga thin characterizations; and a general lack of stakes. But there are beats that give it more than enough personality to be entertaining (and provide some quality moments for its actors), and a sense that the mythology is there, maybe just overworked or presented without enough breathing room for it to land. None of these detractions take away from being able to call Hell’s Paradise one of the more unique animes of 2023.

The concepts are intriguing from the get-go: a seemingly invincible assassin, Gabimaru (Chiaki Kobayashi); a guild of executioners; an island – said to be heaven – which is rumored to contain an elixir granting immortality… though this heaven also sends back visitors as mindless creatures: human forms sprouting gorgeous flowers from their skin and orifices. As presented via MAPPA’s rich style, and a bloody, somber tone, the mix of the historical Edo Period setting and a relatively human core cast juxtaposes the supernatural elements pleasingly. Gabimaru is captured, and, alongside other criminals, is tasked to go to the island and retrieve the elixir, which will grant the victor of that pursuit a pardon; the criminals are each accompanied by one of the executioners to keep them in line, with the lone female of that guild, Sagiri (Yumiri Hanamori), tasked to Gabimaru.

Some of the story criticisms are apparent even from this setup, as having an invincible lead makes it hard to worry he won’t make it through, and while it’s clear that the criminals should have chaperones… as no one’s survived the island, it feels odd to assume that this pairing up will change that formula. That said, I do think the general throughline is strong, and the acting and pacing – juggling action with story momentum and character beats – is very strong. And once you get to the island, and experience its increasing weirdness, it’s easy to move past the way the story kind of keeps setting up and then brushing aside conflicts (a very Bleach-y thing), and just go with the flow of the story.

Both Gabimaru and Sagiri have some interesting wrinkles to their backstories, but the show (and perhaps the source manga) is required to move so quickly to either avoid us questioning its plot too much, and/or in order to have screen time for a large ensemble, that these wrinkles inevitably come across as typical protag-with-a-sad-background flashes. The island’s ever-evolving mythology is the same: it is ever-evolving, and in truly fascinating ways, but no single step of that evolution is allowed to sit and stew, undermining some of the impact.

But I circle back around to just how damn good everything looks (the creature design, brought to life by our animators, is a variant of the Jujutsu Kaisen weirdness of other-worldly stuff blended with folklore) and that the actors all make their roles very memorable; there’s no doubt that there‘s backstory informing much of this, it’s just perhaps compressed in its translation to the screen.

Fight anime can be tough. Giving viewers the goods of constantly interesting scuffles can be a challenge, and Hell’s Paradise manages that thanks to being able to leverage the supernatural sides of its setup, and having some puzzle-box elements to its story generate a general WTF buzz. Unfortunately, there’s always a tinge of shallowness to events; a looming question of Why? But: I loved being distracted from asking that too loudly, week by week, and will maintain that love for a followup season as well.