Discussion: Hell's Paradise episode 1

 “I’ll make it back alive. For you.”

Have you ever watched something that made you want to cheer and cry at the same time? That’s how I felt as this final line was spoken and the credits began to roll. To put it simply: Hell’s Paradise is off to a hell of a good start. 

This opening episode focused on establishing the durability and power of our leading man, Gabimaru, mostly without him needing to lift a finger. 

They try to execute him by beheading. His neck breaks the sword.

They try to tear him apart with bulls. The bulls give up.

They try to burn him at the stake but the fire does nothing to him.

They try to boil him alive and it has no effect.

All the while he is being questioned by our other lead, the executioner Yamada Asaemon Sagiri. What was his life like? How did he get here? And if he really wants to die, as he claims, why does he keep resisting?

He thinks she’s just wasting his time. But no… She’s trying to figure out if he’s the man she needs to go on a dangerous quest for the Shogun. And she has a full pardon for his crimes if he can help her get what she’s looking for. The elixir of life.

What Sagiri is trying to get to the heart of is: what it is that Gabimaru is holding on to deep within that keeps preventing his death. Is it something strong enough to see him through the perilous mission she has for him? Does he actually have something worth living for?

I think that he does, and I think that the way this whole thing is set up is freaking brilliant. It’s a simple thing, really: despite all he says, Gabimaru loves his wife. 

Enter the character that people online will be arguing is either our third key character, or a weak and pathetic macguffin. Gabimaru’s wife is not in the story with us at present, but we get flashbacks of their time together and I sincerely hope they keep that up as if we’re watching the show “Lost”. Because if Gabimaru is going to be badass and nearly indestructible, then we need to know just what he has at stake if we do start seeing him placed in situations where he is in true peril.  

I love the fact that his wife clearly spent time working on ensuring that he would retain some form of humanity, and the fact that it clearly effected Gabimaru, at least within her presence. I also admire his determination to try and give her a better life. The last thing I feel that I need to say about her is that I find it interesting and sad how she devalues herself for her appearance when she is clearly the most decent person we have met from their village. (Oh! And I hope Gabimaru’s humanity can be put on pause long enough to end the village chief who both burnt his own daughter’s face and ultimately betrayed Gabimaru. Fuck you, grandpa ghastly!) 

One other thing that did stand out to me, at least at this point in the story, is that in contrast to Gabimaru and his connection to his wife, we do not really know whether Sagiri has connections to others and, if so, what they are. I wonder exactly how these two will play off each other as the story progresses. He is the condemned Shinobi and she is the shogun backed Executioner. But in her ability to see that Gabimaru has the will to live; to see that he is not heartless or hollow, will we find someone who is similar to him or can she see this because she is the things that he thinks he is? That would be one heck of a twist.

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode and it definitely has me hyped for episode two. The things I want mot from this series are epic fights and a solid balance between the horrors of the island and reminders of what Gabimaru is fighting for. The thing I do not want to see is any kinda love triangle because Sagiri is badass and hardened, while Gabimaru’s wife is more sweet and innocent. 

It can be very easy for characters in the present to end up presenting chemistry while a character of memory is not present, and if that happens I fear it would cheapen what has been established here. To be clear: I’m not predicting we’ll go this route. I just point it out as something that would be a ‘nope’ for me.

A lot of people feel that this is going to be one of THE anime of the season, and I count myself among them. If you haven’t watched the first episode of Hell’s Paradise yet, it is available on Crunchyroll.