Hell’s Paradise – 01 (First Impressions) – Do It for Her

The ninja Gabimaru, known as “Gabimaru the Hollow”, is ready to die. He’s killed countless people and claims to have no attachments to life. Leaving his home village of Iwagakure (which is forbidden), he finds himself condemned to death by a magistrate. But for whatever reason, he’s just…not able to die. No matter the method—swords, fire, bulls, oil—he endures.

A young and extremely focused inspector records events as they unfold and interviews Gabimaru nightly after the failed execution attempts. She gets the distinct feeling that all this “hollow” stuff may just be branding, and that Gabimaru is actually resisting death rather than wishing it would come and not being able to die.

Turns out Gabimaru has a wife back in Iwagakure. She alone treated him not like a tool for killing or a monster to be feared, but as her darling husband. She taught him how to act like a proper, normal spouse, and wanted nothing more than to live a simple life with him as his wife.

One day, Gabimaru is taken to a dark cellar where the inspector is waiting for him with katana in hand. Turns out she’s the Yamada Asaemon Sagiri, an elite executioner who answers only to the shogun. Unlike the previous methods of his demise that failed, Sagiri is fully capable of killing Gabimaru…if he let her. Instead, he simply proves her theory right by dodging her killing strikes.

He can vehemently insist he’s hollow and has no attachments to life, but words are wind, and his actions say otherwise. Once Gabimaru has stolen a guard’s katana and he and Sagiri have crossed blades for a while, she presents him with a full pardon from the Shogunate. Her mission here wasn’t to kill him, but to test and recruit him.

An island that once only existed in myth and legend has been found far to the southwest, and the Shogun believes the Elixir of Life can be found there. Sagiri was tasked with recruiting capable individuals on death row who have a strong will to live. And despite Gabimaru once leaving his wife, perhaps out of fear his line of work would endanger her, he most definitely still wants to live to see her again.

Sagiri knows this now, and formally invites Gabimaru to join her on this expedition. He’ll be competing against other criminals—the worst of the worst—as the pardon will only go to the one who finds the elixir.

The magistrate objects to surrendering his prisoner and has his guards threaten Sagiri, so Gabimaru grants her previous request to see some of his ninjutsu, and in the blink of an eye the guards are nothing but a pile of smoldering bodies. Knowing the gig is up, Gabimaru relents, and he and Sagiri have a deal.

It took a bit, and I have another episode to watch, but I finally got around to watching Hell’s Paradise, and I’m very glad I did. Just about everything about it works: the dialogue and direction, the animation and character designs, the music, and the dark humor.

Hanamori Yumiri excels as the sardonic, deadpan Sagiri, while Gabimaru is an instantly sympathetic character despite his bloody past. I know it won’t be easy by any means, as it entails going to paradise and back and not turning into flowers…but I want him to come home to his love.

Skip and Loafer – 02 – Hitting It Off

On the train to school, Mitsumi tells Nao-chan about self-intros, which explains her sleepless eyes. Nao-chan squishes her niece’s face and tells her to smile. She get the attention of other passengers, who notice her height, wrist and Adam’s apple.

Mitsumi’s aunt is a trans woman, but it’s clear that doesn’t matter in the slightest to Mitsumi. You get the feeling Nao-chan can feel the eyes of others—probably nothing new—but Mitsumi takes her hand and re-centers her attention where it belongs: on her adorable niece.

Mitsumi’s self-intro goes well until she tries to tell a joke about being a natural born leader, the reaction to which is colder than Wisconsin in February. Sousuke has her back, saying in his intro that he’d like to work for her one day, which gets the laughs she was going for. When the two are picked to be the class reps, the girls see the instant easy chemistry they have and wonder whether they might’ve made a huge mistake.

Among them is Egashira Mika, whom we saw only became friends with Mitsumi when she learned she and Sousuke were close. She takes Mitsumi aside and tells her not to take everything Sousuke tells her at face value. She explains that due to his looks he’s nice to everyone so it doesn’t cause any trouble. Mitsumi thanks Mika for the “advice” but wishes she never heard it, because it has her suddenly questioning what everyone is saying.

Mitsumi’s country upbringing can’t prepare her for the sheer chaos and din of after-school karaoke, but when she heads to the bathroom, she’s stopped by the cool beauty Murashige Yuzuki, who tells her Mika is using her to get to Shima, and if she wants to bounce, she’ll accompany her. When Mitsumi peeks into the booth, she sees Mika chatting and laughing with Sousuke.

This is all a lot more complicated and confusing than Mitsumi had hoped, and she hesitates going back in when she gets a call from her best friend Fumi, who may as well be a serene Buddha on that grassy beach. Despite Mitsumi saying otherwise, Fumi can tell Mitsumi is down, simply because they’ve known each other so long. She urges Mitsumi not to overthink things. After all, in Kindergarten Fumi thought Mitsumi was scary, but in time realized she was actually sweet.

Mitsumi gets back in the booth, heartily sings a childhood song everyone knows and is charmed by, and basically stops overanalyzing everyone. Before everyone splits, Yuzuki exchanges her contact info with Mitsumi, while Mika keeps chatting with Sousuke, not-so-subtly asking if he has a girlfriend. Sousuke shuts her down rather bluntly before joining Mitsumi on her walk home.

Mitsumi accidentally called him “Sou-chan” since he’s similar in name and appearance to her family dog. But the next morning Sousuke runs with it, calling her Mitsumi-chan where everyone can hear. Mitsumi is courted by all of the brainy clubs, culminating in the second-year president of the drama club personally inviting her to watch a play and giving her roses in hopes that she’ll join.

Mitsumi remains undecided about clubs all day, and asks Sousuke how he usually makes such choices. Looking a bit distant and distracted ever since the drama club prez showed up, he tells her that he tries to consider that anything he’s undecided on was “never that important”.

For what it’s worth, he’s very much not undecided on wanting to be friends with Mitsumi, but when the drama club prez flags him down and tells him he recognizes him as “Kanade-kun” from television, Sousuke is even more blunt with him as he was with Mika: he does not want to talk about it.

Mitsumi accepts that she can’t tell what anyone is thinking (only Fumi can), but she’ll try harder to understand her complicated new friends little by little. She is also perceptive enough to know that while Sousuke is so bright and cheerful and kind to everyone, he also seems to be masking a sadness.

That night, Mitsumi tells Nao-chan that she’s decided to join the student council. In addition to helping prepare her for a future as a government official and leader, it will allow her the opportunity to interact with a wide variety of her peers, which helps her overall mission to understand others better. Going from a class of eight to a school of hundreds is a hell of a change, but Mitsumi is determined to handle it in stride.