Hell’s Paradise Episode 10

Hell’s Paradise Episode 10

A New Alliance Is Formed

Hell’s Paradise Episode 10 starts off with the formation of a new alliance. Gabimaru, Gantetsusai, and Fuchi are going to work together to bring down the Tensen. And in a lot of ways, this alliance is better for Gabimaru than his alliance with Yuzuriha.

The big problem with Gabimaru’s alliance with Yuzuriha is that only one of them can come out on top. They both want to get their hands on the Elixer of Life so they can receive a pardon from the shogun. But, only one person can receive that pardon.

So, while they’re working together, for now, things can’t go on that way forever. At some point, one of them is going to have to betray the other and take the Elixer for themselves. Though, I don’t actually think that’s going to happen. I believe they’ll continue working together the whole time.

Gantetsusai Tamiya from the anime series Hell's Paradise Episode 10
Gantetsusai Tamiya

With Gantetsusai and Fuchi, Gabimaru doesn’t have to worry about a possible betrayal. All three of them can get what they want without stepping on each other. And, by helping each other, they’ll also each be working toward their own goal. In that sense, it’s a perfect alliance.

As we know, Gabimaru wants to get the Elixer of Life, receive a pardon, and save his wife from her father. Gantetsusai’s goal is to become immortal, but not in the literal sense. He wants people to talk about him and his exploits for generations. And Fuchi just wants to learn things because he’s a nerd.

How do these goals align, though? Well, in order to get his hands on the Elixer of Life, Gabimaru needs to go through the Tensen. If Gantetsusai can kill an immortal Tensen, that would add to his mythos. And Fuchi wants to dissect a Tensen to learn how they work.

Master of the Island

Episode 10 dumped a lot of information on us. I’ll go over most of that information in the next section. But, for now, I want to focus on the info dump we got from Senta, the worst character. Senta determined that the island they find themselves on isn’t Shinsenkyo.

Shinsenkyo is a legendary paradise on Earth. But, the island our main characters are on isn’t some legendary paradise. It’s a real place with a lot of man-made structures. Even the beings that live on the island come from man-made religions.

And, sure, you could argue that if a religion is real, it’s not man-made. A religion could believe in a specific god or afterlife that actually exists. But, that’s not what we’re seeing here. Instead, we’re seeing parts of a variety of religions mixed together. And since these parts of religions are incompatible, the island must be man-made.

Eyes overlooking the island from the anime series Hell's Paradise Episode 10
Eyes overlooking the island

Senta’s revelation makes sense based on other information we have. For example, we know that people lived peacefully on the island until around 1,000 years ago. This information comes from Hoko, a native of the island. So, we know that 1,000 years ago, this wasn’t “Shinsenkyo.”

1,000 years ago is when the Tensen appeared. And rumor has it that the Tensen actually split off from a single original being. So, when Senta says that there must be a master of the island, that’s likely who he means. Whoever this person is, they turned the island into what we see today.

Interestingly, Moro Makiya’s name also popped up during this part of the episode. Moro Makiya was the criminal Yuzuriha tortured to death to gain information. But, apparently, he led a religion with a lot of mixed beliefs that match what we see on the island.

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Info Dump After Info Dump

After Senta’s rambling, Episode 10 just kept dumping more and more info on us. And, to be honest, not much of it made that much sense. It felt like the author was trying to explain things they didn’t understand themself. Tao, not to be confused with Tao Fa, is the big one.

According to Hoko, “Tao is the power that flows through all things.” So, you can think of it like chakra from Naruto. And just like chakra, Tao seems to have many uses. Basically, Tao is the power system of this series.

Hoko mentions that you can use Tao to strengthen your body. It may also be how the Tensen alter their bodies. And, Mei and the Tensen seem to use Tao in their attacks. So, if Gabimaru — or anyone else — is going to defeat a Tensen, they’ll likely have to use Tao to do it.

Tao Fa from the anime series Hell's Paradise Episode 10
Tao Fa

Of course, Tao isn’t only for offense and defense. Shion uses Tao to see his surroundings despite being blind. He doesn’t know that what he’s using is Tao. Instead, he says that he can sense the “waves” coming off objects around him. But, the implication is that he’s using Tao.

Now, something that’s a bit unclear to me is the difference between Tao and Tan. Tan is the local name for the Elixer of Life. It’s what the Tensen produce by sacrificing humans who land on the island. And until now, I assumed the Tensen’s powers came from their consumption of Tan.

However, that doesn’t make as much sense now that we know about Tao. Tao seems to be what gives the Tensen their superhuman abilities. To me, it kind of sounds like drinking Tan gives a person more Tao. Tan might be Tao in liquid form.

Conclusion

What do you think of Hell’s Paradise Episode 10? Will the Gantetsusai be able to kill a Tensen? Is the island the legendary Shinsenkyo or not? And how do you feel about the introduction of Tao as a power system? Let me know in the comments.

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Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 11 is available now.

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