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Hell's Paradise (TV series)
Japanese anime television series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Hell's Paradise (Japanese: 地獄楽, Hepburn: Jigokuraku) is a Japanese anime television series based on the Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku manga series by Yuji Kaku. The anime was directed by Kaori Makita, animated by MAPPA and produced by Twin Engine. The story follows ninja Gabimaru and executioner Yamada Asaemon Sagiri as they search for the elixir of life.
The first season consisted of 13 episodes and ran from April to July 2023, on the TX Network of TV Tokyo. A second season was announced after the airing of the thirteenth episode. It is set to premiere in January 2026, with the cast and staff returning to their roles. Crunchyroll streamed the series internationally outside of Asia, while Netflix broadcast it in the Asia-Pacific.
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Plot
The story follows ninja Gabimaru being sentenced to execution, but nothing seems to kill him due to his superhuman body. Believing his love for his wife to be subconsciously keeping him alive, executioner Yamada Asaemon Sagiri offers him the chance to be pardoned of all crimes by the Shogunate if he finds the elixir of life on Shinsenkyo, a legendary realm recently discovered southwest of the Ryukyu Kingdom. After losing five expedition teams sent to the island, this time the Shogunate sends a group of death row convicts. The convicts are each given a Yamada Asaemon executioner, who they must return with in order to obtain the pardon.
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Series overview
Cast and characters
Release
Season 1
The first season had aired on the TV Tokyo station's TX Network (TXN) from April 1 to July 1, 2023. It was produced by Twin Engine and MAPPA and directed by Kaori Makita. With Akira Kindaichi writing the scripts, Koji Hisaki designing the characters, and Yoshiaki Dewa composing the music.[12] The season ran for 13 episodes. Crunchyroll had streamed the series internationally outside of Asia, while Netflix streamed the series in Asia Pacific.[3][13]
Season 2
After the first season's finale, a sequel adapting the manga's "Lord Tensen" and "Hōrai" story arcs was announced.[14][15] Later the sequel would be revealed as a second season, set to premiere in January 2026.[16][17] Kaori Makita is set to direct the season, with Yoshiaki Dewa returning as the composer.[18]
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International release and distribution
The anime series was announced in late 2022. Crunchyroll had streamed the series internationally outside of Asia, while Netflix broadcast the series in Asia Pacific, excluding Mainland China and New Zealand.[9][13]
The first season consisted of 13 episodes and ran from April to July 2023, having aired on the TX Network of TV Tokyo.[9] A second season was announced after the airing of the thirteenth episode.[19][20] It is set to premiere in January 2026, with the cast and staff returning to their roles.[9][21]
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Music
The music for the series was composed by Yoshiaki Dewa and the first original soundtrack album was released digitally on July 19, 2023.[22] The opening theme song is "Work", performed by Ringo Sheena and Millennium Parade, while the ending theme song is "Kamihitoe" (紙一重), performed by Uru.[23][24]
Reception
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Critical reception
Digital Spy's Ali Griffiths described in his review of the series' premiere that the series makes up a group affectionately known as the "dark trio of shōnen" by anime fans along with Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man due to their similar tone and themes, especially compared with their peppier peers. Ali praised the show's character-building, action, animation, visuals, humor, and the handling of Gabimaru's versions of his story which tells about "how he's feeling and what he wishes he'd done differently". He felt that some fans might found that the opening episode of the series was a little slow, but stating that "the way it centers the backstory of its protagonist and immediately emphasises the relationship between Gabimaru and Sagiri is emblematic of the kind of character-first action show they're hoping it will be."[25]
MrAJCosplay of Anime News Network reviewed the first three episodes of the series. While praising the anime for its colors, sound design and animation, he considered Sagiri's character as "strong" and endeared on how she can see right through Gabimaru's façade. He felt that "her decision regarding walking down the path of an executioner and characterization as a stickler for the rules wasn't the direction he expected the show to go." Her introduction in episodes two and three was considered to be a "little inconsistent", although he needs more time to root her. He also noting that Gabimaru was one of his favorite characters, while he found the character's backstory as "sweet" due to the subversion of his mentality.[26]
Adi Tantimedh of Bleeding Cool in his review of the first two episodes had felt that Hell's Paradise had a "stylish opening chapter to a brutal, bloody journey of death and redemption as a ninja is forced to take a suicide mission to find the elixir of eternal life, melding the samurai saga with a supernatural thriller drawing from Japanese folklore."[27] While Den of Geek's Daniel Kurland would rate the first episode of 4 out 5, wrting "quite the bloody affair and is absolutely obsessed with death. That being said, this is far from a callous series. If anything Hell’s Paradise doesn’t criticize this brutal behavior, but rather emphasizes how there’s a right and wrong way to slice off a head and bathe in blood."[28]
Accolades
The series ranked third in the anime category of Yahoo! Japan Search Awards, based on the number of searches for a particular term compared to the year before.[29] The series was nominated at the 8th Crunchyroll Anime Awards in eight categories: Best New Series, Best Fantasy, Best Art Direction (e-caesar), Best Character Design (Kouji Hisaki), Best Opening Sequence and Best Anime Song ("Work" by Ringo Sheena and Millennium Parade), Best Voice Artist Performance – English (Marisa Duran as Sagiri Yamada Asaemon), and Best Voice Artist Performance – French (Yoan Sover as Gabimaru).[30] It would also rank number 17 in the Anime of The Year category at the 10th Anime Trending Awards.[31]
Awards and nominations
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References
External links
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