It’s almost the end of Hell’s Paradise. After these three episodes, only one will remain. I can only hope there will be a season two soon, because this isn’t enough time to establish an acceptable conclusion. Here are my reviews for episodes 10, 11, and 12.

Note: Episode 11 has kind of a long ramble attached to it, sorry~

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Episode 10: Yin and Yang

Tamiya and Fuchi decide to work together with Gabimaru in exchange for information. Fuchi is eager to fight – or rather dissect – the Tensen. For some reason, Mei has grown into a young woman and can now talk – well, a little. She tells Gabimaru that the power she and the Tensen use is called Tao. But she’s unable to communicate more. Meanwhile, Houko the tree-man explains Tao to Sagiri, Senta, and Yuzuriha. It’s the metaphysical energy that runs through all things, and to use it directly is an amazing power that can make one superhuman.

Elsewhere, Shion explains to Nurugai how he can “see” despite being blind. He can sense the Tao energy of other people. It can be visualized as waves surrounding the body. By reading those waves, Shion can fight astoundingly well. Nurugai wants to Shion to train her in swordsmanship, but Shion won’t take another apprentice after what happened to his other two. However, despite stating that he is not her master, Shion still gives training tips and advice. He says Nurugai is welcome to learn by watching him.

The unintelligent monsters called Soshin begin attacking the groups of humans as they are trying to learn. Meanwhile, Chobei and his brother Toma climb out of the flower pit. They are greeted by a powerful enemy called a Doshin, who are the right hand servants of the Tensen. Unlike Soshin, Doshin can use reason and human speech. The brothers fight the new enemy, but Chobei is quickly struck down by the fearsome Doshin. A second Doshin approaches Gabimaru’s group. To be continued.

As for my thoughts, I enjoyed this episode, but perhaps not as much as the last one or two before it. There was less Tensen interaction, so maybe that’s why. But it’s fine – I still had a good time watching. It’s great that Nurugai is going to learn some swords skills. A part of me does wish Shion would teach her directly, but it’s perfectly understandable how he doesn’t want another official apprentice. Learning about Tao was interesting. I also really like Fuchi and his preoccupation with dissections and organs. In other notes, I hope Chobei isn’t dead.

I don’t know why Mei grew up so fast, but if she’s the same kind of being as a Tensen, it makes sense that she can manipulate her form. I enjoyed Senta’s excited rambling. He’s cute and it’s always good to have a smart, knowledgeable character around. Additionally, what he said in this episode was extremely interesting. The creator of the island is somehow linked to the human religious leader, Makiya Moro. How he came to have Tao powers or the ability to create monsters, I have no idea. There’s a lot left to learn.

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Episode 11: Weak and Strong

Chobei was struck through the back and throat by the Doshin enemy. Much to Touma’s shock, however, his brother is not dead. His wounds regenerate, replaced with swirly scars that resemble vines. While he was in the pit, Chobei partly merged with the magic flowers, essentially gaining the same power as the Tensen. He can also see and understand Tao. It isn’t long before the Doshin is defeated by Chobei. Although Touma is happy that his brother is alive, he also wonders if Chobei is still human.

Meanwhile, two other Doshin males attack Gabimaru’s group. Nobody in the group has been able to understand Tao yet. The Doshins explain they are here for Mei, who is a defective Tensen that Rien cast out of Horai. The Doshins need Mei in order to train their Tao powers. One of the most important ways in which people train their Tao is through sexual intercourse, which strengthens the yin/yang energy of both partners. Gabimaru and Tamiya are absolutely enraged when they understand that the Doshins want to use Mei for sex. They immediately decide to fight to protect her.

Fuchi quickly explains to Gabimaru what he understands about Tao, which he was able to decipher from Mei’s vague words. Tao requires being of two minds: strong and weak. Gabimaru suddenly comprehends that he needs to embrace “weakness” in order to find true strength. Now able to see and use Tao, he defeats the two Doshins. Elsewhere, Sagiri’s group enters Horai through the gates. There, they see a Tensen, who immediately kills Houko the tree-man with just a flick of the finger.

That’s where the episode leaves off, so let’s get into my thoughts and responses. Overall, I was fairly impressed with the visuals, the music, and the character interactions. It was interesting to learn about Mei’s past. One issue is that Gabimaru’s power-up felt a little too quick to me. Maybe it shouldn’t have been so easy for him to learn Tao. On the other hand, it also makes sense for his character that he already understands the concept of the middle way from recent experiences with Sagiri.

There are a few aspects of this anime’s lore and narrative style that I don’t like. For instance, there are assumptions about the nature of women or femininity that are never challenged. The narrative also seems to consider weakness a female trait and strength a male trait. Even if both are viewed as important, that binary is problematic and misogynistic. To be clear, this isn’t something that I’m going to throw a fit over. I don’t plan to give up this anime. It’s just something I noticed that could theoretically be improved. It’s interesting stuff to think about.

Another aspect I don’t like is that, based on what we know so far, AFAB always people have “yin energy” and AMAB people always have “yang energy.” In other words, this anime’s idea of sex and gender is strongly binary and leaves no room for nonbinary gender identities. The Tensen seem to be exceptions, but “ordinary creatures” have only one kind of energy, which is decided by assigned sex at birth.

I guess it’s sort of nice to have the Tensen as potentially nonbinary/genderfluid characters. But on the other hand, it’s annoying that only non-human creatures can have LGBT+ identities in this universe. This was clearly written by an cis/het author with a very limited and simplistic understanding of sex and gender. Again, that’s not a deal-breaker for me. I’ll still enjoy the anime. It’s just something that’s not ideal.

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Episode 12: Umbrella and Ink

The Tensen, Mu Dan, tells the humans that there’s no elixir of life, and if normal people drink Tan, they become cursed tree-people like Houko. Additionally, he says that the island is not heaven or hell, but a place used for human life experiments,. Yuzuriha, Sagiri, and Senta all use impressive fighting skills to do battle with Mu Dan. Elsewhere, Tamiya debates whether or not they should ask Mei to take them into Horai. Suddenly, Gabimaru collapses from overusing his Tao.

Back to Sagiri’s group, the fight continues. By working together and using Tao, they defeat the Tensen, cutting open his navel area. At that point, they believe the battle is over. However, Mu Dan returns as a gigantic flower-like monster. He infects Senta with the cursed flowers, eliminating him as a threat and destroying his mind. Just when Yuzuriha and Sagiri are about to be wiped out, Shion joins the battle. To be continued.

Senta may not have died, exactly, but his sudden defeat was devastating. I really liked him, and it’s unlikely there’s a way to get him back from those damn flowers. It’s slightly frustrating that we only got some backstory for Senta on the episode where he gets eliminated. That feels like bad writing. However, Hell’s Paradise has been great overall, so it’s an easy thing to overlook. In other notes, I like Mu Dan as villain. He has the whole cruel, mad scientist vibe, but is also physically beautiful. It’s an unusual combination.

Going back to Senta for a moment, I enjoyed the animation sequence that played as his life flashed before his eyes. I love the imagery of Yuzuriha dancing with an umbrella, kicking aside decapitated heads while Senta uses ink to draw her. That also explains the episode title. Anyway, that’s all for today!

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Thank you for reading~