Thus falls Season 1, with 2 announced to zero surprise – when it comes, I’ll likely cover it as a bonus.
The main set piece for the week is round 2 against the Tensen. Shion proves exceptionally adept at fighting it, using the same sort of Tao as Sagiri, in which he’s trained himself without realizing it. Yuzuriha helps from the sidelines, as she prefers to do, and even the mortally wounded Senta manages to provide one last kernel of knowledge, identifying that in flower beast form its weak point will be in a different place than in the meridian of its human-shaped bits.
With the fight taking the meat of the episode – as well it should – there’s little to cover. I suppose it’s about the best season end that could be expected, bringing final death to a Tensen in a shower of flowery effects, but it’s still more concerned with setting up what comes after. On one side, Gabimaru’s overuse of Tan fighting them miniboss squad has damaged his memory, causing him to revert his character growth to a point before the show. On the other, Yuzuriha suspects that the “immortality” of the village chief that Gabimaru witnessed, which led him to believe absolutely in the existence of the elixir, was actually an illusion – smoke and mirrors to gain influence over impressionable minds.
She further speculates that Gabimaru’s wife, who he now can’t remember, was also an illusion, fake memories implanted to maintain control of a ninja and push him to great deeds, motivating through more than just fear. It’s interesting as a guess, but I don’t think that’s going to be true. They’ll probably run with the bluff for a while, but if Gabimaru’s wife were nothing more than an illusion you’d think that the chief able to implant it could mess with those fake thoughts and memories in order to not have his best killer go rogue. Similarly, some of the details about her, like her burn scar and how she got it, aren’t consistent with a fiction intended to inspire loyalty and devotion. I’m sure you could come up with a solid reasoning as to why things are the way they are with an illusion, but I don’t think it’s the most sensible solution.
In any case, that’s where we stand for Season 2: Yuzuriha, Sagiri, Shion, and Nurugai invade the Hourai area further, searching for their best ticket out of the hell that is the island. Gabimaru and company are on their way, but an amnesiac Gabimaru is not nearly as safe and whole as he was before.
If I had to say “Cut!” here and give this a grade as a final and finished product, I think Hell’s Paradise would currently earn an A-, but that’s taking into account that it would have an unsatisfying open ending at the moment, along with a pace that’s too much build-up for a contained material. If it continues with the same quality level to a fuller story, it’s all set to drop the minus and settle at a flat A. Even the best shows, though, have to work to maintain themselves through seasons, so when the time comes we’ll see just how well Hell’s Paradise does it.