Caught Up With JuJutsu Kaisen? Stream This Anime For More Excellence
Fans of JuJutsu Kaisen may find themselves in desperate need of a new series to fill the Yuji Itadori-sized hole in their lives this Fall. Luckily, the first season of the critically acclaimed anime Hell’s Paradise has finally concluded as of July, with all 13 episodes currently available to stream on Crunchyroll. Like many popular shows within the genre, the series is based on a manga titled Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku, which is written and illustrated by Yuji Kaku.
Hell’s Paradise, available to stream on Crunchyroll, adopts the hit Shonen Jump manga.
The Hell’s Paradise manga series was originally serialized for free through the Shonen Jump+ application, running weekly chapters from 2018 until 2021. The series was then licensed by Viz Media for release in North America with both an English dubbed and English subtitled version produced by MAPPA. The series premiered 13 episodes from April to July this year, with news of a second season arriving shortly after the final episode’s conclusion.
Like the series, the Hell’s Paradise manga centers on Gabimaru the Hollow, the strongest ninja to emerge from Iwagakure, who is sentenced to be executed after attempting to quit his career as an emotionless, bloodthirsty killer in order to settle down with his peace-loving wife.
The executioner assigned to end Gabimaru’s life, Yamada Asaemon Sagiri, offers Gabimaru an accord to be pardoned of all his crimes, on the condition that the ninja locates the legendary elixir of life in a distant land known as Shinsenkyo. Over five expedition teams have been lost to the island on previous attempts, leaving the Shogunate to turn to a group of death row convicts to give it one last try.
The story arcs for Hell’s Paradise were planned over 10 chapters in advance, with series creator Yuji Kaku painstakingly calibrating exactly how the series would play out over the course of a number of volumes. The anime series is written by Akira Kindaichi and directed by Kaori Makita, with additional support from character artist Koji Hisaki and music composer Yoshiaki Dewa.
The series’ opening theme song, “Work” is performed by Ringo Sheena and Millennium Parade, providing the exact high-intensity energy necessary to prepare fans of the franchise for the upcoming episode and inspiring fans to keep their hands far away from the “skip intro” option.
The amazing animation team at MAPPA brings Hell’s Paradise to life, so if nothing else, it’s beautiful to look at.
Crunchyroll managed to secure the streaming rights to Hell’s Paradise for a number of regions, including the United States, Europe, Africa, and most of the Middle East, while Netflix has licensed the series in a number of Asian Pacific markets. With the series’ massive success and epic cliffhanger finale, many fans are already clamoring for the second season of Hell’s Paradise. Fans were even treated to a post-credit promotional video following the premiere of the thirteenth and final episode of Season 1, which confirms the appearance of fan-favorite character Shugen in the upcoming season.
Hell’s Paradise is also largely considered the third installment of the so-called ‘dark trio’ of anime series, alongside Chainsaw Man and JuJutsu Kaisen, resonating with fans of both anime series due to its dark subject matter and gruesome imagery.
While no word has been announced yet regarding the progress of the upcoming second season of Hell’s Paradise, most fans are expecting to see a release date sometime in the first quarter of 2024, based on the progress of MAPPA’s many other projects. Despite only being around for half a decade now, MAPPA has managed to become one of the most prolific anime production houses in the world, with many critically acclaimed active projects under their belt. MAPPA has been responsible for some of the best anime series and manga adaptations of recent years, including Chainsaw Man, JuJutsu Kaisen, and later seasons of Attack On Titan.
Hell’s Paradise is also largely considered the third installment of the so-called ‘dark trio’ of anime series, alongside Chainsaw Man and JuJutsu Kaisen, resonating with fans of both anime series due to its dark subject matter and gruesome imagery. This trio has been compared to previous hits in the anime pantheon, such as Death Note, for the series’ ability to garner a wide audience seemingly in spite of its lack of traditional presentation.
Back when the manga first began, Yuji Kaku was even given full creative freedom with the art direction, resulting in a number of iconic images that are significantly more disturbing than some manga fans are used to.
Of course, this distinct style only meant more fanfare for Hell’s Paradise, which rapidly garnered a massive following for its unique visuals. If you’re a fan of the other two acclaimed anime series that make up the dark trio, be sure to give this series a spin. Hell’s Paradise is available to stream on Crunchyroll now.
