Hell's Paradise

Episode 6

Thank goodness we finally got some payoff for Sagiri's character. In the first episode of the series, Sagiri was presented as an insightful and analytical badass who could see right through Gabimaru's facade while also showing combat abilities that were virtually on par with his. However, since that first episode, they seem to have dialed back her character tremendously in a way that didn't feel very graceful. If she had started the series like she did in episode two, it wouldn't have been much of an issue. It felt strange, considering the contrast between how she was in the past couple of episodes to the first one. I gave the show credit for addressing this inconsistency in the last episode, but I was caught off guard because they seemed to be tying her hesitancy to foreign elements like the nation's views towards women, which hadn't been a major talking point before. This episode ties those new elements together to help Sagiri come to a conclusion that best fits her character.

It's still not the most graceful, as it feels like it's doing extra work to fill in blanks that could've been foreshadowed earlier. However, it's overall a solid conclusion that highlights Sagiri's strengths without downplaying anybody else. If anything, I like how Gabimaru was handled in this episode, as we've always seen him as this unstoppable badass. But here, we see that there are limits to his abilities, and I genuinely believed that he couldn't finish this fight on his own. Most of this episode was a big fight scene with Rokurōta whose backstory we get pieces of throughout. It had great choreography, fun teamwork coordination, and a rather clever way of taking the giant out. I know I didn't mention this before, but I love how the animation highlights Gabimaru's fire techniques as they make the flames feel ethereal with a life of their own.

Going back to Sagiri, the theme surrounding her seems to be the idea of living in a world that constantly pulls her in different directions. She is a woman, so some people think she needs to stay at home; and because she's an executioner, some people think she has no business being on the battlefield. She's incredibly skilled and well-trained, but she lacks experience in actual combat, causing many people to look down on her. There's also this idea that she seems to care a bit too much about the well-being of other people to the point where it can get her heated and distracted.

I liked the metaphor of the rapid tides representing her state of mind and how she's constantly trying to calm them. Up until this point, she thought it took a strictly level head without emotion to do things perfectly. However, she's taking her path and walking down the middle of passion and tranquility. I guess the idea is that if she combines the skill of her technique with the anger and dedication she has for the things she cares about, you end up with a unique warrior in this setting. It's all a bit too spelled out by the end of the episode, but overall I give it a thumbs up for execution.

Now that that's been settled, we can get back to the actual plot of the story, which involves finding the elusive elixir of life. As it turns out, there's a village on this island filled with people, but what role do they play in this island's ecosystem? How have these villagers survived up until this point, and are they just as deranged as the distorted religious giants that walk around without much purpose? The vibes given off at the end of this episode genuinely creeped me out, and I can't wait to see the show lean more into that moving forward.

Rating:

Hell's Paradise is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.