[Rewatch] Jigokuraku • Hell's Paradise Episode 13 Discussion

**Hell’s Rewatch Host, subbed**

[Welcome back, everyone!](#michaelwink)

I hope to see you back tomorrow for the overall discussion thread. If not, see you in season 2’s thread! [](#cooresto)

Oh yeah and there are multiple wallpapers today because I wanted to do the dead Asaemon too just to round them out. I was not similarly motivated to do weapon guy, the corrupt priest, or the cannibal woman, though. [](#cantbehelped) There’ll be one more wallpaper in tomorrow’s thread.

[Here were my original reactions to episode 13](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/14nxziw/jigokuraku_hells_paradise_episode_13_discussion/jq9vf8l/), if anyone wants to read those.

---

- [Makes sense that Shion picked up the quickest on how to use tao the most effectively.](https://i.imgur.com/4WSRUvl.png) He’s already been using it (even if he didn’t know it was *called* that).

- [Damn, Shion.](https://i.imgur.com/Qh7PD2i.png) [](#jawdrop)

- [Pretty handy that Nurugai can… I guess share tao with people?](https://i.imgur.com/LiCMvZ7.png)

- [Sasuga, Yuzuriha.](https://i.imgur.com/NiYE36F.png) [](#kotohoops)

- [Good on Shion for realizing it wouldn’t be the humanoid torsos](https://i.imgur.com/lwBPG0z.png) and [good on Senta for pulling off one last W for the team.](https://i.imgur.com/2cs4I9x.png) [](#takaradasalute)

- [Now why did this Tensen *thank* Shion for killing them…](https://i.imgur.com/vTBg7KN.png) [](#bigthink)

- [Unfortunately, taking the practical route instead of the emotional one makes sense in this situation.](https://i.imgur.com/v7dhvR0.png) [](#mug1)

- [At least Senta died happy.](https://i.imgur.com/wrpFHwX.png) [](#toradorasalute)

- [Gabimaru has amnesia now.](https://i.imgur.com/kqBOTyp.png) [](#emiliaohdear)

- [Yuzuriha raises](https://i.imgur.com/fqEDq6n.png) an [absolutely *interesting* point.](https://i.imgur.com/uUVXmBE.png) But still, the idea that Gabimaru’s wife doesn’t actually exist after all of this… [](#forgotkeys)

- [*Terrifying* visual of Gabimaru’s weakened tao…](https://i.imgur.com/7uyEumB.png) [](#spooked)

- Oh yeah just FYI, there was a brief post-credits scene in case anyone missed it. Obvious teaser for season 2 since it shows off two new characters.

**Rewatcher**

Oh man they really stepped it up for the final fight despite the production issues. Not much I can say thematically about it since it's really just a nice spectacle.

We learn just as there are antagonistic Tao waves, there are also compatible Tao waves. I already touched on this yesterday saying imo it should be possible to move between types even if one comes natural to the individual. Just a bit of an addition. While checking the original episode threads Sky's been sharing I came across an interesting theory that the compatibilities could be defined by the five elements of Wuxing: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Sometimes Yin-Yang is added.

"Is it necessary to lick it?"

"No 😜."

Let the shipping begin! (If it hadn't already)

Easily my favorite cut of the fight is when Shion was observing Sagiri fight. The way she does the rising cut while spinning and at it's end is already positioned for a downwards cut against the flower that was previously approaching her back is so beautiful I had to rewind it like five times. She was in complete flow state, sensible to everything around her, navigating the waves of the fight with swift adaptability and deadly precision. Omg she's awesome, I'm gonna fangirl!

Rough for Senta that they ripped him out of his personal Heaven, but it allowed him to come in with one last clutch for the real location of Fukū's Tanden.

Interesting that Fukū isn't really mad at being defeated. Shit they seem even happy. I think this is definitive proof that the Tensen are actually unbalanced themselves. They can switch freely between Yin or Yang, but are never both at once. They can't be the Middle Way. Added to this, their invulnerability definitely stifled their personal growth, or at least it did for this specific Tensen. That's why being finally overwhelmed and defeated was such a fresh experience they could only be at peace with it. Truly death balances life.

Unfortunately it's wraps for Senta. There is actually a chance to save him for now but he's still heavily maimed and would be a burden on the group, so Yuzuriha makes the call. Shinobi are realists, they make a distinction between suffering for a clear and achievable goal and desperate struggle. Well, as Buddhists say: "Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional." (Though a Buddhist would also say Yuzuriha is the one who's soul will suffer for not doing the right thing.)

At least, even if Senta will die here, he can be free of mind and spirit in his last moments.

Sagiri makes a vow to make sure everyone escapes from the island alive. Uh huh, girl, I love you, but, yeah, we'll see about that lol. According to manga readers this marks around one third of the story done. Ain't no way this is the last protagonist corpse we see.

We close out the season with some rather disturbing reveals. It's possible everything that gave Gabimaru hope was an illusion... Just manipulations of the Iwagakure village Chief to keep everyone in check, and Gabimaru loyal. Though at least this does confirm the Chief has extensive knowledge about Tao, not just the crumbs everyone outside the island got through cultural osmosis, if he is able to manipulate memory and create illusions like that. That mf knows shit. Looking increasingly likely that he'll be the Final Boss.

As fro Gabimaru... look at "I am now on the Tensen's level" over here. Man went too hard on his newly unlocked ability and got himself some severe amnesia. Looks like he still has much to learn about not brute forcing every problem... after he relearns _everything_ else of course. According to Taoism this _should_ be perfectly reversible at least. Tao is in everything, and energy isn't created nor destroyed, only ever transformed. Even if, as Shion says, Tao is life itself, it wouldn't make sense, according to the irl philosophy, that you _consume_ it by using it. Gabimaru's memories are still "out there". Some more training in control and flow will simply be necessary. For everyone.

But man, look at him ending in this state after fighting "mere" Doshi, while Shion and Sagiri took on a Tensen. They also got the aftereffects but nothing this bad. Holy shit is this... _Gabimaru slander?_ How the turntables lol. Sagiri was nearly got by the Sakura-expy allegations at the start of the expedition and now she's elevated to GOAT status when Shion noted her Tao control is even better than his', _who had to learn it from necessity for years because of his physical blindness_.

In any case, we do have an interesting dilemma for next season. Sagiri believes deep down Gabimaru is a good person. We started the whole journey on that premise. Now we'll see how much this is really the case now that Gabimaru's memories are rid from his most significant empathetic incentive.

There's an after credits scene btw. Man at this point you'd be forgiven for thinking the Shōgun is trying to roundaboutly assassinate the Yamada Asaemon clan. They are sending a second expedition. Sure didn't wait long, more or less exactly as how long the rations they gave them were supposed to last. These reeks to me of some "if they aren't back by the third day they won't be back at all" thinking. Which would mean someone planning the expedition knows exactly what's on the island and how big it is. This whole thing gets curiouser and curiouser.

And finally, for the last philosophy documentary that I'm sharing on this subject. This is the one you've been waiting for: [Taoism!](https://youtu.be/_3FHc4Vzds4?si=9x5n-aMmWOEGB0Np)

Rewatcher

Dub

So a ton happens this episode. The arguably biggest thing is that the Tensen are indeed fully plants and are just 'immortal'. The second big thing is Yuzuriha suggests that Gabimaru might be an unreliable narrator, which causes a great many issues. Third, Gabi himself just developed amnesia, the fiercest of my foes.

But ok, we learn that Shion can continue to use the Tao even as the hatred flows through him. Senta decides to spend his last bit making sure Shion realizes how to kill this Tensen. Yuzu comes off a bit cold afterwards but once you walk on the yandere way, death is a foregone conclusion and Senta still has his parts so well done. The...palace or whatever Sagiri and company set up in probably means something but I can't quite divine it. It should be Chinese by era but let's not get caught on that detail.

And yeah, Gabi's Tao is incomplete because he is missing his memories. We get to see where that goes soon.

QotD:1 Nope, not a botany guy

2 [NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIAYtHiCjN8).

**First timer who may ~~or may not~~ rush that comment because he would be away on a week-end long trip by the time the thread goes up, French Subs**


*For our season's Finale:* Our characters pilfers a monk's closet, Gabimaru goes back to square one and the obligatory post-credit scene.


*As I said, I'm currently travelling. As such, I've watched that episode and written my comment before the discussion on the previous episode. I may not be able to interact as much as I'm used to be.*


No way, Senta will actually lives ?


[](#drunkhisone)


…


[Oh](#sadholo)


I was actually right. At least he was useful to takes down that Tensen for good.


I actually liked how the scene following Senta's death takes place in a rainy fog to accompany the mood of the survivors. And for the fog to clear up as soon as Sagiri get a hold of herself and stand up with the resolve to not let anyone else die. (Go on girl, makes my ''You're all going to die'' theory jossed!)


But I have mixed feelings about Gabimaru's sudden amnesia. I fell like it happens way too conveniently to artificially creates tension and give more credit to the whole Memento twist of Gabimaru's past.


I mean, at this point you could already believe Gabimaru's wife (who still isn't named) is but a mere figment of his mind. An inner Jiminy Cricket that prevent him to be sucked entirely into his inner void.


So let's see. I'm actually interested to see the rest of the story. But I'll wait the end of the second season broadcasting to decide if I continue with the anime or switch into the manga. Yes, I'm being careful after that infamous second season of The Promised Neverland.


**Questions of the day**

> Would I have figured out how to kill the Tensen ?

Of course not.

> Gabimaru's amnesia

[](#hardthink)

**First-timer, subbed** 

Whoa! Gabimaru's wife may not exist at all?! That's crazy. But what Yuzuriha says does make sense. Why would the chief give his daughter in marriage to someone so young? 

Of course Gabi is the strongest shinobi of their village and the chief'd want a strong hold on him. But in the flashbacks it seemed like the chief didn't think too well of his daughter. So he wouldn't have considered her a prize. And it is a little suspicious that Gabi never uses her name.

But then again, his memories are rather specific. The scar she has and how much that continues to affect him (they way it makes him treat Mei with care). All the things she taught him that he still follows. Like saying thank you to anyone who saves him. Who did he learn that from if there was no wife? Can't imagine the chief's genjutsu would include teaching Gabi good manners. 

On the flip side, there's the OP that shows his wife across from him in one shot and she turns into Sagiri when the camera pans around. And there were all those moments when things Sagiri said "reminded" him of his wife. Is he retrofitting things she says into his "memory" of his wife? 

And meanwhile, to make matters worse, he's now gone and lost his memory from applying his Tao too recklessly in that fight with the Doshi. **First-timer, subbed** 

Whoa! Gabimaru's wife may not exist at all?! That's crazy. But what Yuzuriha says does make sense. Why would the chief give his daughter in marriage to someone so young? 

Of course Gabi is the strongest shinobi of their village and the chief'd want a strong hold on him. But in the flashbacks it seemed like the chief didn't think too well of his daughter. So he wouldn't have considered her a prize. And it is a little suspicious that Gabi never uses her name.

But then again, his memories are rather specific. The scar she has and how much that continues to affect him (they way it makes him treat Mei with care). All the things she taught him that he still follows. Like saying thank you to anyone who saves him. Who did he learn that from if there was no wife? Can't imagine the chief's genjutsu would include teaching Gabi good manners. 

On the flip side, there's the OP that shows his wife across from him in one shot and she turns into Sagiri when the camera pans around. And there were all those moments when things Sagiri said "reminded" him of his wife. Is he retrofitting things she says into his "memory" of his wife? 

And, meanwhile, to make matters worse, he's gone and lost his memory from applying his Tao too recklessly in that fight with the Doshi. Including his memory of his wife from the looks of it. What will happen now? Will his entire personality change?

So many possibilities. Very excited to see what comes next. Looks like another band of Asaemon are on the way. Things are complicated enough. What role will these newcomers play? There were supposed to be Iwagakure shinobi on the way too.

The beginning of this episode was quite amazing. Shion was so hardcore. He's still so tortured by what happened to Tenzen, the poor man, even though there was nothing he could've done then. And Senta coming back from the brink of death to give them that vital tip on the Tensen's weakness in its flower form! And Sagiri and Nurugai pitching in. But most of all Yuzuriha being so damn funny (her VA is so good!)...


"do you need to lick?" 


"Nope" 


lolol, bet she'd been wanting to do that for some time and took the chance when she saw it. 

Excellent episode to end the season on. Can't wait for Season 2!

First timer here. Interesting episode, including the epilogue. I'm curious about what those two new Asaemon are going to bring to things. Are they going to be new enemies for the survivors to fight? Are they stronger than the other Asaemon?

Q1) I don't know, but I like to think I would have thought of the ovule as the weakspot, but probably not. Already knowing that in their human form their weakness was in the cores, I might have just gone for the two humanoid parts and tried to cut their bellies.

Q2) Not sure yet. I wonder what brought it on, or how long he's been prone to amnesia.

**First Timer in Hell’s Subbed Paradise**

Every time I hear 殺して or the conjugations, I cannot believe the only reason I understand what it means is because of perverted tentacle monster teacher who wants his students to assassinate him.

We all learn differently, I suppose.

Daddyyyyy 🙌🏾💃🏾

If Daddy dies, I’m gonna be so upset 😭

Hoko is alive?! This feels like the most Rafiki learns Simba is alive shit right now, oh my goodness.

He’s not horrifying; he is daddy!

Shion’s biceps can end me 😩

Oh we get even up close, this is wonderful!

So the Tensen have cat claws.

>Is it necessary to lick it?

>No.

Gay is okay 🫶🏾🏳️‍🌈😭

I can’t explain it but this whacko looks like a Madoka witch, but without the trippy dimension-defying stuff.

Oho. So are the Tensen fighting like this because they *have* to, but some are ready for it to be over?

🤧

I needed that giggle from the girls fighting but aaaaah Senta 🤧

Wait waaaaaaaaat

*Waaaaaaaaat*

📢You looked like bloody, slutty, and daddy typa mess, Shion📢

His blush ^(ruin me please) 😩

***

**A Criminal’s Additional Thoughts**

I’m surprised that the female assassin was very kind, even if someone would think her cruel. She was showing that when Death smiles, you can only smile back. She’s a curious one. But that painting of her and Senta made my heartbreak.

I heard the word “imprint” and my mind went straight to omegaverse,m and guideverse, so I know what I’m been engaging with way too much. But that’s still heckin’ scary. Like it’s scary in those ‘verses, but that’s such a terrifying art.

I don’t think Yui isn’t real. But with Gabi’s memories being all fucked up, I wonder how he’ll react to Sagirin asking him about his wife.

I am trying to think serious thoughts and my cat is trying to groom me, what is this.

Honestly, that would be such a sick ass villain move to make someone be deluded into thinking they had a wonderful partner or family waiting for them. I’d definitely read about that, no question.

Was Hell’s Paradise always *intended* to have more seasons? If so, then it ending the way it did makes sense. If there was no intention, then wow, what a fucking ad roll for the manga.

It’s still a curious thing that that Tensen fellow said he had waited a thousand ~~miles~~ years (Goddammit Apple 😭) to die. So I’m wondering if any of the others feel that way. They’ll do their jobs, of course. But there’s the hope that someone will be strong enough to end their life.

***

**QotD**

1. Oh hell no. I still get frazzled with my simple air fryer and parking backwards with a rearview camera. I am a lost cause.
2. It helps build a case of Yui being real; he has simply forgot her. He forgor 💀 as the kids say.

### Second-time watcher, subs

Watching this episode was the last worthy to mentionable thing I have done back in 2025 (plus this rewatch episode 4 discussion post). When it ended, in my timezone it was around 23:30.

Shion is one warrior who is facing death every single time, as he is prepared for it, even though he won't give up on living so easily, even if he is bleeding so much. He has the power, speed and Tao to neutralize this threat somehow. As for the rest, they should support him as a distrcation and dealing some extra damage. Senta still proves to be useful in his final moments, as his last advice came in handy. Since he always wanted to be an artist, who made and analyzed lots of drawings, he found huge wisdom there, such as how does flowers work. This well-found deduction allowed to found the real weak point, and that is the ovule. The ovule is the "core" of every flower and this applies for the Tensen as well. And this is a huge very fatal flaw, which shakes the conception of the Tensen being an immortal and perfect godlike lifeforms. As expected, the flower monster form is much more flawed and imperfect than being humanoid. They are no gods at all. Senta gave his life for that and died happily, that would have been a perfect drawing which would proudly to make, in the hands of Yuzuriha.

As that creature perished for good, it made a blooming flower field, which is indeed beautiful. If it was a magic spell, a certain somebody and their apprentice would consider as their favorite.

The main team actually managed to infiltrate Horai Palace. Maybe it is holds many secrets of this island.

It is now obvious that that the Elixir of Life is a fake, and there is no chance to return alive from Shinsenkyo, nor having any realistic hopes for an pardon. It was a one-way ticket from the beginning.

Tao is actually not just a benefit, but rather a huge demerit at the same time. More Tao and oversuage might leads to many undesired side effects, worst case death. Like Chobei getting more and more insane, Gabimaru forgetting his own wife or even anything around him. He knows who he is, but don't know why ended up in that cave (because this was offscreen) or who are these people around him. Speaking of this "wife", at this point, one might asks, is she was real, a fictional thing that was just made up (due to some Iwagakure ninjutsu) or just a simple amnesia? If she was fictional, then her made-up existence was just a perfect excuse, a motivating reason for live and returning from this hellish island. Whether it is real or not, there must be an attachment this life, in order to return to the earlier episodes. Damn, that missing energy in his brain is so scary, maybe it is manifested as some form of brain damage? Whatever the thing is, the Iwagakure chief is really dangerous who wanted impose order and obedience via fear and mind trickery.

As of what will happen, good question. Looks like the bakufu is not sitting idly, they are not satisfied with the previous expedition, as they launching another one after a few days to monitor their progress. Disposing them is one choice. Another batch of Asaemon sent to the meat grinder, which led by Shugen, who is the current highest ranked now. They are still are keeping a huge secret as well. They will be surprised how the previous expedition actually did some huge progress. Maybe the potential Iwagakure intervention might be real as well. But that is for season 2 then.

At this point, can agree that there is no difference between convict and executioner.

> 1) Would you have been able to figure out the trick to killing that Tensen?

Not really.

> 2) So… how do you feel about Gabimaru having amnesia now?

It's Tao.

**Rewatcher (Dub)**

Overall, I'd say this was a good way to end the season. The first half was basically one giant final boss fight (or at least an epic mid-game boss), which finally allows them a decisive victory over one of the Tensen. And as usual, it's really good. All three of the protagonist fighters here hold their own, with Shion proving to especially be a badass. And Senta gets one last helpful moment by telling Shion the true weak point.

But man, they really gave him a fitting emotional send-off here. I love how tender Yuzuriha was to him in his final moments, giving him his greatest desire in his final moments. And Sagiri's reactions were great as well. I like how it strengthens her resolve to put aside the divide between prisoners and their guardians in order to ensure nobody else dies.

And among the exposition in the second half, we get a couple juicy bits of set-up for the second half. The first big one is a strong hint that Gabimaru's wife was possibly a false memory implanted in him to make him loyal to the village chief. TBH, I'm not sure how I'll feel about that if it turns out to be true, since one of the more interesting and unique things about him was how dedicated he was to his wife, not being tempted by anyone else because of that fact. But I'll be honest, I'm not sure I entirely buy it. For one thing, it was questioned how much he really remembered her in detail, but we've seen his memories, and they actually *were* quite detailed in terms of her face and everything. And for another thing, the second half of the hint, when he himself forgot her face and seemed to wake up to the fact that she wasn't actually there just happened to coincide with him also losing his memories of the others on the island. Though I suppose you could say he woke up to the base Gabimaru, without his memories of her, and the erasure of the memories on the island was also part of that reawakening, so we'll see how it plays out in season 2.

And the second big reveal for season 2 is that there's going to be another set of guardians sent to the island to oversee everything. And I'm sure that will lead to an interesting dynamic shift, now that everyone presently on the island (minus Gabimaru with his amnesia) has finally settled into an understanding with each other, and know a lot more than the people coming to the island.

First Timer - Subbed

Good fight and action again from the combined forces, mostly. I still have qualms with their opponent gentlemanly letting them take time to have entire conversations without attacking them, but I can't keep harping on that forever and I guess I'll just let it slide again. The way they're dealing with Shion's blindness is... eh, not the biggest fan, there's nothing that really marks him as being blind outside of him having his eyes shut and constantly reminding people. He still turns his head to perceive things as though he can see when he really should be turning his head to the *side* so his ears can "see" better, and it hasn't been a hinderance at all to him so far. Compared with, say, Toph from ATLA who has very clear strengths and weaknesses coming from her blindness, it doesn't seem all that impactful. Also, final battle comment, but... uh... Shion's absolutely consumed by suicidal rage here and knows it doesn't have inner peace and his tan doesn't weaken at all for it? This undermines a lot of what was said 2 episodes ago, even the "he has balance cuz he's willing to die" doesn't cover it because that's Gabimaru's usual stance and *that* wasn't enough...

The "Deciding who lives and who dies after the fight with only one dose of medicine left" is almost definitely ripped from [Meta]>!AoT!< except it's really obvious it's just a copy and doesn't understand what made that one of the best episodes in an already phenomenal anime. [Same anime as before]>!It wasn't a simple calculus of "who's more valuable" or "whose wounds could be healable," but came down to visceral and passionate emotions. They were supposed to be on the same side, but they were willing to fight each other not because they hated their opponent, but because they loved their friend and they were willing to do almost anything to get that syringe in their possession. To say nothing of Levi's own friendship with Erwin, his own torn heart as he had to make this crucial decision not just as a person but as the person who in some ways had to decide the fate of future leadership on this decision...!< but it just doesn't work here and it'd have been better to have it left out. The emotions and attachment aren't nearly high enough or believable enough if they were that high, and Yuzuriha would be the one advocating for Senta in this comparison but she doesn't care nearly enough, and Sagari cares for both of them and wouldn't be willing to fight for one's survival over the other so the entire moment just falls flat. Pity, because I love the idea, but compressing everything into 3 days and so few episodes makes it *really* difficult for scenes that requires extremely high emotions to work well. Not enough time for the emotional bonds to strengthen to the necessary levels.

Haaaaaa well, I've been calling that the chief's thing might be ninjitsu related and not elixir of life related... But seriously, this is why I demanded that ninjitsu be better defined earlier cuz, what, illusion ninjitsu's now a thing? Since when? We're close to getting into the territory of "~~a wizard~~ ninjitsu did it" and that's almost never a good thing for writing. And introducing the possibility Gabimaru's wife isn't real at this juncture is... Ehhhhh then what is any of his character development for? I'll assume she's real until proven otherwise, or almost nothing that involved Gabimaru and his character development (for what it was...) was worth any time.

I. Hate. Memory. Loss. I'm sure Sky's been snickering about this moment cuz I was one of the more vocal ones during the rewatch of [Rewatch meta]>!Darling in the Franxx!< about how much I absolutely hate it. It almost never does anything interesting. I can see it now, it's just going to end with "and he falls back in love with her anyways, surpassing everything including memory loss because they were simply fated to be so." Either that or she was entirely fake and the illusion he was given by his own chieftain weakened him for some bizarre reason and this is setup to be a Gabimaru/Sagari ship in which case *what even is any of this.*

1) The whole stomach thing? Probably not, I'm not a botanist of any type. I have a black thumb though, I might just accidentally kill it if I tried nurturing it instead...

2)[Take a wild guess](#restrainedanger)

Ooh, I missed that there was a rewatch going on. Should’ve figured there would be. Well I rewatched it over the course of a few days during my Christmas break, so it’s still fresh in my mind, so:

Rewatcher, first time watching dubbed:

God, I knew I loved this series. Action isn’t my favorite genre, but when it’s done this well and animated like this it’s hard not to love it. More importantly, what stuck out to me the most is it’s my first time seeing eldritch/cosmic horror flavored with Taoism. Can’t wait for season two. Also, this is a solid dub, though I’ll likely watch the new season subbed as it comes out.

Don’t know how to feel about the Gabi memory loss and possibility his wife doesn’t exist. It’s actually the only thing I think I didn’t like this season, but I’m willing to be sold on it in the coming episodes.

Rewatcher, subs, I missed most of the discussion threads but just wanted to shout out my GOAT Yamada Asaemon Shion, he's gotta be up there with Gintoki and Fukuzawa on my S-tier white haired daddy list.

The Tensen are the most beautiful antagonists to me, I can't wait to meet the rest of them properly this season. I'm so excited, we waited a long time didn't we?