Gabimaru the Hollow is the strongest shinobi of the Iwagakure clan, who has been arrested and set to be executed for his crimes after being betrayed by his clan. Gabimaru is resigned to his fate, but his body refuses to die—from being burned at the stake to decapitation, he survived all attempts made by his executioners to end his life.
His last hope surfaces when his latest executioner offers him his one and only shot at exoneration: find the elixir of life and deliver it to the shogun. Doing so will grant him an official full pardon from all his past crimes and wrongdoings, offering a new fresh start in life. However, he will not be alone in his journey; he will need to compete against a number of other convicts who are vying for the same chance for a pardon. He is also accompanied by the Yamada Asaemon, Sagiri, who is tasked to carry out his original sentence should he fail to also adhere to the set of conditions tied to this mission.
Thus begins an expedition to the deadly island of Kotaku, home to numerous nightmare-inducing Eldritch Abominations, which forces the renowned assassin to dance with death and fight for his life and his love.
An anime television series adaptation by MAPPA aired in April 2023. It was simulcast on Crunchyroll under the Officially Shortened Title Hell's Paradise.
Here
is a link to Chinese pronunciations of various concepts and names used throughout the series. Please beware of unmarked spoilers.
This work contains examples of:
- And the Adventure Continues:
- Nurugai and Shion wander north in search of Nurugai's clan in the epilogue, having adventures along the way.
- The Bandit Brothers also survive their battles and move to Hong Kong to seek their fortunes there.
- Sagiri decides to travel around the provinces of Japan in hopes of improving her blade-testing skills with Yuzuriha as her travel companion. The two decide to visit Gabimaru and Yui during their journey. Supplementary material would reveal that Sagiri would one day return to her clan and challenge Jikka to a duel in order to determine who would be the Yamada clan's leader.
- Also, in a short one pager the Tensen survive in the future, with what looks like Mei as well.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: Jikka's criminal charge is killed before they make landfall on an island that is almost definitely cursed, allowing him to end his ill-fated mission early.
- Anti-Hero: The main cast of criminals is full of these. In fact, only Nurugai can be considered almost a subversion, since she was convicted solely out of racism from the government regarding remote tribes. The rest of them? Yeah, if you see one of these guys on the street, run.
- Anyone Can Die: Zigzagged in kind of a bottleneck fashion. At the start of the series, characters are rapidly killed off one after another. The characters who survive the first few nights on the island, however, all receive a good chunk of screentime without being killed off at a moment's notice. A few characters still do die from that point onwards, but deaths are far less frequent than at the start of the story.
- Barbie Doll Anatomy: The anime gets around the manga's love of bare breasts by just not drawing nipples.
- Bittersweet Ending: A good chunk of named characters do not live to see the end, however, Gabimaru does reunite with his wife, and the prisoners that do survive end up having fulfilling lives.
- Body Horror: The island and its inhabitants are a freakish mishmash of human/animal/plant creatures. Centipedes and butterflies with human faces, multi-armed fish monsters, trees with mouths that chant old sutras...
- Boxed Crook: The premise lies in this, with a group of death row convicts offered to be pardoned by the Shogun if they find the elixir of life on Shinsenkyo, with each of them accompanied by a Yamada Asaemon executioner who will kill them if they step out of line.
- Brother–Sister Incest: The Tensens regard themselves as a family unit, and refer to each other as siblings. However, two of them, Tao Fa and Ju Fa, are specifically created to train their Tao through sexual intercourse.
- Combination Attack: Sagiri and Shion work together to perform their clan's ultimate technique, the Dual Wheel Moon, in order to hopefully defeat Rien, as their Wood Tao hinders Rien's earth.
- Crapsack World: Oh, boy... where should we start? Corrupt, ineffective, greedy, cruel government and sect leaders; ruthless, heartless, insane criminals; self-righteous, megalomaniac, murderous inhuman monsters; monstrous, human-eating, mix-and-match abominations... The list goes on and on...
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- Gabimaru vs The other criminals during the battle royale/culling before the voyage.
- Gabimaru vs Warped Keuin. Keuin gets kebab'd with a bunch of his own weapons offscreen while Gabimaru walks without a scratch and his hands tied up.
- Harubo's attempt on Chobe's life doesn't end well for him.
- Tenza, Shion and Nurugai vs Zhu Jin. Tragically, none of them have the means to kill Zhu Jin and both Asaemon suffer severe injuries within moments of fighting, forcing Shion and Nurugai to run.
- Toma's assumption that Tamiya missing an arm would make him easy to beat goes wrong quick. Tamiya even makes a point of this by not using his sword and beating the crap out of Toma with only the arm he still has.
- Tao Fa spends the first half of their fight against Tamiya and Fuchi beating the crap out of them because of their difficulty with Tao.
- Curse Escape Clause: A prophecy from the I-Ching stated that only two men and one woman will make it to the boat to the mainland... so Jikka sets it up in a way that has every other survivor except Gantetsusai leave the boat with the surviving Asaemon declaring that they've been beheaded by him.
- Determinator: Right or wrong, protagonists or antagonists, you can be sure every single major character won't go down without a fight. Even after that, they will still get up.
- Despair Event Horizon: Sagiri and Yuzuriha, Senta is struck by the blooming affliction and when Mu Dan shifts into their Kishikai form, after the group already went through so much trouble to defeat them. Sagiri is even on the brink of tears.
- Eldritch Abomination: The most common dangers in Kotaku, giant monsters that appear to be mythological combinations of humans and various animals. The manga quickly phases them out to Mook level once Lord Tensen is introduced.
- Lord Tensen's Kishikai forms are this; giant plant/human hybrid monstrosities that are just barely shaped like humans or animals. The human parts are a conjoined amalgam of their male and female forms.
- Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: The series uses the Chinese 5 element philosophy of overcoming and generating interaction for Tao attributes. This means that metal hinders (or defeats) wood, wood defeats earth, earth defeats water, water defeats fire, and fire defeats metal.
- Elite Mooks: The Tensen's Doshi servitors are a cut above the mindless monsters that roam the island, since they combine high intelligence with many of the esoteric taoist powers of their masters, like a Healing Factor. They're a huge roadblock for any of the main cast who haven't fully mastered the power of Tao yet, but pose significantly less of a threat to those who have.
- Enemy Mine: There is only one pardon to be granted to the criminal who finds the Elixir of Life, meaning they’re all expected to compete against each other. The Asaemon assigned to each criminal are meant to execute them should they fall out of line. The dangers of the island force what’s left of them all to band together on equal terms.
- Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting: Yes, even that seemingly helpless little brat is a badass in this world. So far, all of the main and recurring characters are capable martial artist and/or deadly fighters, each with their own unique powers.
- Fusion Dance: While fighting the Aza brothers, Tao Fa and Ju Fa fuse themselves into one gruesome creature. Tellingly, this technique isn't them making a new being, but them being a freakish patchwork of both beings.
- General Failure: Eizen, despite holding the 1st rank of the Yamada Asaemon clan, ends up being the first non-convict to die on the island. And his death is not even impressive, being one-shotted by the convict he was supposed to keep an eye on without giving much of a fight, while many of the supposedly weaker members of the clan manage to survive blows from arguably more powerful enemies.
- Genre Shift: The manga starts off as a supernatural mystery with a few action scenes. After most of the questions are answered and Lord Tensen is fully introduced, the manga shifts to a battle manga. With that said, what the main villain is trying to do and who made the island remains a mystery until the very end.
- Handicapped Badass: Par of the course for a supernatural shounen manga. Shion's skill as both an executioner and mastery of the blade is unimpeded by his blindness; instead, he sees by sensing waves.
- Gantetsusai lost an arm to a butterfly creature early on during the expedition (not that it slows him down much), and then deliberately wounded one of his eyes to sense Tao better in a fight against Tao Fa.
- Mu Dan invokes this when Senta cuts off their head to keep them blinded. Mu Dan proceeds to entertain the idea of that giving their opponents an advantage, regenerates their head without their eyes and casually avoids attacks from Senta and Yuzuriha.
- Hope Spot: Sagiri, Yuzuriha, and Senta seemingly defeat Mu Dan, cutting him in half and taking a brief rest. Then Yuzuriha notices Mu Dan's "corpse" growing flowers before a plant launches at her, forcing Senta into Taking the Bullet and growing plants from his body. Then Mu Dan shifts into their Kishikai form.
- I Ate WHAT?!: Yuzuriha thinks Gabimaru gave their party food made from aborrified humans and throws some in his face.
- Incredibly Lame Pun: Blind Weaponmaster Shion is fond of making eye/sight-related puns, to the distaste of his fellow clan members besides Sagiri.
- Instant Expert: Played With when it comes to Tao, at least most the cast of fighters still alive by time the manga explains it were already using it either unconsciously or under a different name (both Gabimaru and Yuzuhira's ninjutsu techniques are thought to derive from a form of Tao). Only Chōbe plays the trope completely straight going from having no idea what it is to mastery in a single fight. On the otherside Tamiya is the only one who really struggles how to use it after learning of it.
- Island of Mystery: Kotaku, a fairytale-like island that has been recently discovered that, on its surface, appears to be wholly divine. However, underlying its surreal appearance, it is rife with strange phenomena happening onshore.
- It Amused Me: The only reason the mission to the Island took place was for the Shogun's pleasure. Shugen points out that if the Shogun had really wanted the elixir of immortality he'd have sent legitimate samurai, and not dispatched convicts/executioners to their deaths.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: The Chief of Iwagukure has done thoroughly horrible things to Gabimaru and Yui, and he is justly rewarded in the ending where he is made to drink an Elixir of Life, which causes a tree to burst forth from his body after his beheading.
- Kids Are Cruel: When Sagiri was still a child, she used to be attacked by a bunch of kids who threw rocks at her until her head bled, all because she was the daughter of the head of the Yamada Asaemon executioner clan.
- Ki Manipulation: Combined with Battle Aura, Tao is the term used in-story for this trope. As per the course, it's generated from one's own life force, meaning the user can easily die if they overuse it. It follows the Chinese classical five elements, with all the elemental advantage and disadvantage which comes with it.
- Like Brother and Sister: A possible interpretation on Sagiri and Gabimaru's relationship, given their non-romantic nature. Sagiri admires Gabimaru's resolve and dedication to his wife and is quite inspired by him, while Gabimaru looks out for Sagiri while also admiring her determination to be stronger and taking notice of her growth. When the journey is over, Sagiri goes to meet Gabimaru and his wife, Yui, and gets sentimental and even cries Tears of Joy when Yui describes Sagiri as like a "sister who hasn't met for a very long time".
- Mauve Shirt: Eizen, the ranked one member of the Asaemon, is the most prominent member aside from Sagiri in the opening chapters. He is seen beside her in a flashback and constantly belittles her during the selection of the criminals to be taken to the island. He also has a rather distinctive and badass look about him, particularly with his eye-patch. He is unceremoniously (and graphically) killed shortly upon reaching the island by his charge.
- Mirror Character: Gabimaru and Rien (who is revealed to be the wife of Xu Fu) are both driven by their love and devotion for their spouses, and their primary motivation is to reunite with their loved one. This connection is what saves the heroes when a defeated Rien is about to use her last remaining powers to completely annihilate the remaining survivors, but after learning about Gabimaru's wife and their similar circumstances, she decides to use that last shot to heal them instead.Gabimaru: Right then... my wife's face showed up in my head... I thought that just maybe... you could relate...
- Non-Malicious Monster: Despite being a human, the Giant of Bizen Rokurota qualifies. A hulking giant with Super-Strength, he's killed many people and is sentenced to death as a result. But in actuality, he has the mental capacity of a baby who Does Not Know His Own Strength, and he commits Accidental Murder when he tries to play with other people and/or when he throws tantrums due to being hungry.
- The Not-Love Interest:
- Over the course of their journey, Sagiri and Gabimaru grow very close, and their mutual devotion to ensure one another's well-being is reminiscent of a Battle Couple dynamic. This is reinforced by the fact that Sagiri's Tao (wood) is of an element that supports Gabimaru's (fire), and at one point, her attempt to use this connection to restore Gabimaru's depleted Tao is compared to sexual intercourse. However, Gabimaru is Happily Married to someone else, and Sagiri denies that her connection to Gabimaru is romantic in nature.
- Also, Shion and Nurugai. Nurugai's introductory arc has her fall in love with Tenza, and Shion pretty much takes up Tenza's role as her guardian after he is killed. Like Gabimaru and Sagiri, their elements are also compatible with one another, with Nurugai's water reinforcing Shion's wood. But even though Shion is very protective of Nurugai, to the point that he promises to leave the Yamada Asaemon clan to help her find a new home, later chapters depict their relationship as more like a father and daughter than a couple.
- Off with His Head!: The Yamada Asaemon is a group of executioners who specialize in beheading. They are famed for their ability to cleanly behead a convict with a single stroke.
- Outside-Context Problem: The mission just entailed retrieving the Elixir from the island with mysterious ailments with the only real other danger being the other criminals and the executioners. The appearance of the supernatural creatures, especially Tensen, whose abilities are otherworldy even by the already borderline abnormal abilities of the cast, is something none of the cast expected, with even characters in-universe commenting on this bizarre turn of events to what was essentially a slightly dangerous mission.
- Ironically, to the Tensen themselves, the criminals and executioners are this, being humans who somehow capable of harming them and utilizing the same energy as they do. Justified as the Tensen while beings of very long life spans, have never left their home island and have little idea of the outside world outside of the random, non-combatant explorers who come to the island.
- Pummel Duel: Gabimaru powers through Zhu Jin's Tao barrage and engages in this. He wins, overwhelming the Tensen and beating them into a literal pulp. Then Zhu Jin transforms...
- The Power of Love: One of the central themes of the series. Gabimaru's love and devotion to his wife is said to be the greatest source of his strength, as is Chobe's love for his brother Toma.
- It even works in the Final Battle, as Gabimaru's strength is not what defeats the empowered Rien, but it was Gabimaru's remark that somehow the creature reminded him of his wife, which causes the being to simply remember the time it's spent with her lover and disintegrates right after. It even heals the team too.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Even discounting the eventual main cast, the Shogunate forced the criminals and the Asaemon family (a samurai clan closely associated with the government's police force) to work together in Kotaku to bring back the Elixir of Life from Kotaku. Then when the group started dropping like flies at the Island, the remaining criminals, and Asaeomon had to look beyond their differences and team up to stay alive and escape.
- Run or Die: Shion and Tenza are in unspoken agreement that they can't defeat Zhu Jin, and Shion is forced to escape with Nurgai with Tenza staying back to hold them off at the cost of his life.
- Screw the Rules, They're Not Real!: Sagiri rigidly expects the ten Boxed Crooks sent to the island to obediently follow the conditions of their release to earn a pardon from the Shogun, but her kinsman Kisho points out that they're criminals who were never exactly interested in following the rules to begin with. Conversely, despite the letter of the deal saying that breaking the Shogun's rules would invalidate it, the Shogun realistically isn't likely to be too picky about how they acquire the Elixir of Life for him as long as they succeed, and they'll be decapitated if they come back empty-handed so they don't exactly have much incentive to adhere to any rules.
- Sex Magic: Part of the Tensen's training involves Bochu Jutsu, meditation, and elevation of tao through sex. Part of the reason why they're often seen having sex with each other is not just because they're hedonists, but also because that is part of the process through which they work on and increase their tao.
- Two Doshi also want to engage in this with Mei, a former Tenshin. Given the current age appearance of Mei and the omission that it needs consent, both Gabimaru and Gantetsusai, both renowned killers in their own right, immediately realize the disgusting ramifications and thoroughly repulsed enough to decide from killing them due to being in the way of their task to wanting them dead for their vile intentions with Mei.
- Sex Shifter: As 'perfect' beings, Lord Tensen possesses both 'Yin' and 'Yang' energy and characteristics, meaning they can freely switch from 'male' to 'female'. Gui Fa is an interesting exception, since 'they' maintain a 'neutral state' at all times as part of 'their' preferred training.
- Shown Their Work: The manga explains in great detail how the culture in Kotaku was actually a mix/blend of various closely-related beliefs and religions, and painstakingly showcased the similarities between those seemingly-different traditions. This was true in Real Life as well, where ancient cultures have surprisingly similar events and storylines, only with different characters and details, describing those which impacted human culture greatly. They got most, if not all, of the Japanese and Chinese period-correct scenes quite accurately, too.
- Slasher Smile: Tamiya, even when he’s getting the hell beaten out of him, flashes a bloodthirsty grin regularly.
- The Aza brothers have their own variations; Chobe has a beastly grin while Toma displays a tamer but sinister smirk.
- Stay in the Kitchen: Somewhat justified given the setting, but both the Iwagakure and Yamada Asaemon clans view women as nothing but wombs to produce off-springs. Sagiri faces a lot of opposition from her own family and clan members for desiring to be a sword-tester despite her gender, and the only female in the Iwagakure village we know of is the village chief's daughter / Gabimaru's wife, given to the latter to keep him under the chief's control.
- Stealth Insult: Jikka gives one in the ending, where he calls out the Shogunate on the futility of having an Elixir of Life that gives immortality at the cost of your humanity. It's implied that his words were effective, and the Shogunate won't be looking into that island ever again.
- Surprisingly Sudden Death: Particularly notable through the first ten or so chapters, where characters pretty much drop like flies. Many characters who seem important in the pilot chapter end up getting Killed Offscreen.
- Sympathy for the Devil: Unlike the Aza brothers, Gantesusai and Fuchi feel no joy in the rather tortuous method Chobe uses to hinder Ju fa on their last legs. Gantesusai even cuts down Ju Fa to end their suffering. He also remembered Tao Fa’s admitted displeasure from a thousand years on the island lays what’s left of her next to Ju Fa.
- Take Up My Sword: Gantetsusai takes up medicine in the epilogue, as a way of honoring Fuchi's sacrifice.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Gabimaru agrees to work with Yuzuriha out of necessity, but her fickle personality definitely grates on his nerves.
- Fuchi, Gantetsusai, and the Aza brothers get along like oil and water, but against Ju Fa and Tao Fa they have no choice.
- Took a Level in Badass: The criminals and the Asaemon are already considered monsters in their homeland. Their discovery of Tao and subsequent training make them even stronger, allowing them properly fight and kill Lord Tensen.
- Training from Hell: To say that the shinobi training of the Iwagakure clan is harsh would be an understatement. According to Shija, at some point, the trainees are forced to inhale poison called corpse tang (which causes the victim to feel excruciating pain, similar to being skewered alive) for three days and three nights, to make them numb to pain. Many don't survive this "training".
- Unbreakable Weapons: A nice aversion. Any and all weapons are realistically portrayed with damage after heavy use, including one's own body.
- Underestimating Badassery: Toma attacks Tamiya first out of Fuchi and Mei, believing the Blade Dragon's severed arm puts him at a disadvantage. Tamiya catches Toma's blade in his hands and makes it clear he made a mistake.
- Tamiya: Why'd you come after me first, kid? Huh? 'Cause I'm short a hand? You thinking I'll be the quickest to take down!? Huh!?
- Willfully Weak: Well more subconsciously weak, during their fight on the Island, Gabimaru and Sagiri both note that despite their want to kill each other they are subconsciously holding back, eventually Gabimaru is able to will himself as the victor, but still can't bring himself to kill Sagiri.
- We Have Reserves: The Iwagakure Shinobi are trained to be a Hive Mind with no regard for their own lives.
- Wooden Katanas Are Even Better: Subverted. Yamada-Asaemon's third rank Jikka wields a bamboo takemitsu because he's pawned off his actual blade to fund his lecherous lifestyle, but manages to hide this fact because he can still perform executions using the bamboo sword as though it was steel. Still, when he needs to get serious, he admits that the bamboo takemitsu won't work, and needs to borrow Gantetsusai's sword.
- The Worf Effect: The Asaemons of the Yamada clan are the biggest victims of this. Despite the Yamada Asaemon being hyped up as some of the best swordsmen of Japan and are among the few people that can actually kill Gabimaru, their numbers start to drop like flies as soon as they reach the island to highlight just how dangerous the search for the Elixir of Life is.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: After the journey to obtain the Elixir finally ends in chapter 126, the series wraps up in chapter 127 after showing what the rest of the characters are now up to.
