Hell’s Paradise Episode 13

Nurugai’s Teenage Girl Energy

Hell’s Paradise Episode 13 continues the trend of not actually explaining Tao. And for the person who tried to tell me that last week’s episode explained things, it didn’t. Saying that there are Tao strengths and weaknesses isn’t actually explaining anything.

How do the different types of Tao interact? What are the different types of Tao? As far as we know, Tao type is determined on an individual, case-by-case basis. So we have no idea how someone’s Tao will interact with other characters’ Tao until we’re told. And that’s precisely what happened in Episode 13.

Previously, we knew that Sagiri’s Tao was super effective against Mu Dan’s Tao. And I believe Mu Dan mentioned that Yuzuriha’s Tao wasn’t very effective against his own. In Episode 13, we also learned how Shion’s and Nurugai’s Tao types interact with some of these others, as well.

Shion’s Tao, like Sagiri’s, is supper effective against Mu Dan’s. So, does that mean they have the same Tao type? We don’t know because Mu Dan didn’t say that was the case. All he said was that Shion’s Tao was also effective against his own. It could be the same as Sagiri’s or it could be different.

But, one hint that they have the same Tao type is how their Tao interacts with Nurugai’s. Nurugai’s Tao compliments Shion’s and Sagiri’s and restores theirs. But, Nurugai’s Tao also has no effect on Yuzuriha’s. And, why does Nurugai’s Tao have the ability to restore Tao, anyway?

Does Nurugai have the same Tao type as Shion and Sagiri? If Shion hugged Sagiri, would it restore Sagiri’s Tao? Or is that just a trait of Nurugai’s specific Tao? We have no idea. And this is the major issue with Hell’s Paradise’s power system.

Godslayer Shion

In the final episode of the season, we witnessed the first of the seven Tensen die. Shion, Sagiri, and Nurugai fought and killed Mu Dan (with some support from Yuzuriha and Senta). And now that one’s down, the others don’t seem all that dangerous.

Well, I should say that the others don’t seem all that dangerous if our heroes fight them one by one. If the remaining Tensen all fought together, the humans may have a hard time. But, we should also keep in mind that humanity’s strongest didn’t go up against Mu Dan.

Shion and Sagiri are definitely strong. But, from what we’ve seen, Gabimaru and Choubei are the true monsters of humanity. So, if those two were also fighting alongside the other humans, the battle might not be so difficult. At this point, it seems like Gabimaru could defeat a Tensen solo.

But, are we really going to see the Tensen all work together? I doubt it. That’s not typically how shounen battle series work. There are usually one or two villains who are stronger than the heroes on an individual basis. And to defeat them, we see the heroes work together (or surpass their limits).

Even when there are groups of villains, they don’t fight as a group. Think about how the Akatsuki members fought in Naruto: Shippūden. They came at the heroes pretty much one by one and got defeated in turn. If they all worked together, they would have won.

And even when villains do work together, the fights often get broken up into groups. For example, if two of the Tensen fought “together,” we’d probably see them each take on a different group of humans. That turns what would be a team fight into two separate fights.

Everything Gabimaru Knows Is a Lie

Yuzuriha brought up a good point toward the end of Episode 13. It was in response to Sagiri saying that the Elixer of Life must be real because Gabimaru believes in it. As you’ll remember, Gabimaru told Sagiri that the leader of Iwagakure is immortal.

Since he’s immortal, the Elixer of Life must exist, even if it’s not on this island. Right? Well, Yuzuriha isn’t so sure. Her interpretation of that story is that Gabimaru was tricked. He witnessed the village leader’s immortality as a child. And what are children? Gullible.

By making the villagers believe he’s immortal, the leader can control them. They’ll never even consider rebelling because there’s no point — they can’t kill him. So, this is what Gabimaru believed for his entire life. But, there’s no proof that it’s true. It could all be an illusion meant to control.

And, I think Yuzuriha has a point here. Apparently, Iwagakure’s leader is coming to the island in search of the Elixer. Why would he do that if he was already immortal? To stop others from becoming immortal? That’s possible. But the more likely answer is that he’s not immortal and wants to be.

However, while I agree with that part of Yuzuriha’s theory, I don’t agree with the rest. She also says that Gabimaru’s wife might not exist. His wife might be a false memory used to control him. And, to her credit, Yuzuriha has some good points about that, too.

But, I don’t believe that’s the case. The main flaw with this theory is that Gabimaru’s wife did the exact opposite. Her existence didn’t make Gabimaru a more loyal shinobi. It made him rebel against Iwagakure and renounce his shinobi ways. She showed Gabimaru that there’s more to life.

Conclusion

What do you think of the final episode of Hell’s Paradise (Season 1)? Would a hug from a cute teenage girl give you more energy? Do you see the Tensen as threats still? And how much of Gabimaru’s memory do you think is correct? Let me know in the comments.

I’ve also heard that Hell’s Paradise Season 2 was confirmed. However, I haven’t actually seen this confirmation myself. The only evidence I’ve seen news organizations pointing to is the teaser at the end of this episode. That’s not a confirmation. It didn’t explicitly state a new season was on the way. And there haven’t been any announcements on social media.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t think a second season will happen. All I’m saying is that there’s no confirmation yet.

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