4 stars

This is such an interesting concept. Between the background story of the beheaders and the prisoners, it’s so different. It makes me more curious what will happen in later volumes. Plus the whole island is so cool as well.

I started this manga off thinking that it really wasn't for me and I wouldn't enjoy it. The main character seemed pretty one dimensional to begin with, and the only thing that kept me going was the bad ass executioner lady character. This manga is kind of a mix of criminal heist, adult Naruto mixed in with battle royale.

Gabimaru the Hollow is an extremely feared ninja from a prominent clan, after meeting and falling in love with his wife, he tries to leave the clan with her to live in peace. His village however set him up on his last mission, leading him to being captured by the shogunate.
Gabimaru and several other criminal ninja are told that they can earn back their freedom and a full pardon if they travel to "the other side", a heaven/hell location on a remote island, and bring back the elixir of life. They are free to murder their fellow ninja as required. Each criminal is assigned a keeper from a ninja clan specialising in executions, the ability to behead someone with a single strike, the keepers are neither friend nor foe but are there to ensure that the criminals follow the terms of their agreement. One of these terms also includes their hands being bound at all times, which is especially troubling when the entire island seems out to kill them. Gabimaru's keeper is one of, if not the only, female executioner in the clan. Sagiri struggles with not being able to kill without remorse as if expected of her position. At the same time Gabimaru struggles against the upbringing that drilled into him to be emotionless and hollow.

All in all I was more drawn in than I thought I would be, and whilst I wouldn't necessarily continue to series, I can see this being very popular with it's target demographic.
It's also worth mentioning that this a mature manga (17+) as there is a lot of death and gore. Also a trigger warning for parental abuse.

Thanks to Netgalley and Viz Media for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Brilliant, dark and bloody. I really enjoy violent manga and this was brilliant. Enough to keep me interested without muddying the plot with over complicated story and characters. I enjoyed the character development and look forward to the next installment!

An impossible to kill ninja sent on a task to a magical island with a bunch of other prisoners and their wardens. I like the concept and the art is really good. Love the action scenes, feel like some of the characters have died a bit too soon.... This gives me sort of a Battle Royale feel.

*Thank you to Netgalley and VIZ Media for giving me a digital ARC of this manga in exchange for an honest review*

This was a wild ride! I was expecting a light hearted manga from the cover, but this was a fun gory read. The artwork is beautiful, the main characters really mattered to me, and the story intrigued me. The story follows a supposedly emotionless killer named Gabimaru who’s chosen along with a group of criminals to find an elixir of immortality on a mythical island in order to earn his freedom. There were some pages that shocked me in the best way, and some pages that moved me with emotion. I just really loved this one. I’m rating this four stars, however, because there were certain panels where I was unsure as to what was happening due to the artwork.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this one and look forward to reading the second volume when it’s released in English. I recommend this to any fans of manga; specifically horror and fantasy.

I liked this one.

The first 60+ pages is just the government trying to kill Gabimaru the Hollow after his ninja clan betrayed him, leaving him to die because he asked to be retired from service in order to spend more time with his wife. However, Gabimaru seems to unconsciously be resisting them at every turn. He claims he wants to die, but the act cannot be completed until an expert sword executioner comes to observe him, identifies his problem and offers him absolution from his actions if he can just bring back the elixir of life.

Things start to heat up from there as the competition arrives, each paired up with their own executioner to keep them from bailing. Action sequences are quick and to the point with some gaps in the movement, probably to convey just how quick and efficient these killers are to the reader.

The art is fairly detailed and well drawn. Lots of gore for those who love it, dark and bold. Action words do eat up a fair chunk of the art space on occasion however. Some people might not like that.

For me personally, I enjoyed the balance of gore, background history, and talk. Gabimaru the Hollow's reason for wanting to live makes him seem...sweet, deep down. More like an actual person than just a killing machine, which I think was the point of it.

Definitely look forward to getting my hands on the next volume and continuing the series!

This is so weird and so different and SO dark!
Gabimaru is an infamous ninja. Known as "the hollow" he is thought to be impossible to kill. In fact, he has been sentenced to death but the emperor's men are finding it REALLY hard to kill him. So instead they give him a task: find and bring back the elixir of life. The problem is, the elixir is supposed to be hidden on a fantastical island paradise - from which men keep coming back either in pieces, or appearing to be turning into plants. Also, the emperor is sending a bunch of other condemned criminals to find the elixir and compete to be the only one left standing (thus getting a pardon).
The island is SUPER creepy too.. but I won't say more. Just that I REALLY liked this one

I really liked the plot of Hell's Paradise: Jigojuraku. The characters are likable, if a little cliche at times. The artwork is momotly good but it sometimes gets busy and hard to discern what the image is. The plot more than made up for it and I look forward to seeing what happens to the characters next.

Wow. I cannot wait for volume 2 to be out. The story has me completely intrigued. An assassin is finally caught. He is Gabimaru the Empty and he just wants to die. Or does he? The first part of the book is his captors trying to execute him and I love it. No matter what they do he won't die. So, they bring in a special beheader who makes him a deal. Go on a quest and they will let him go live a peaceful life. It has everything you want in a good quest story. There are high stakes and the art is beautiful. Such a good book.

Decent new manga with a dark tinge and a wickedly good story that pulls you in and hold your attention from start to finish. Really loved that art/illustrations, characters and how dark the story is with bits of humor. An interestingly unique story with familiar troupes.

I really enjoyed this. It was fast paced and clear. The world building was interesting and the characters are dynamic. The art was cool. I'm super curious to see where the plot is going. Definitely want to read the next one.

Good introduction of main and supporting characters. Artwork was great, story flow was good, and English translation was well done. I enjoy Gabimaru's personality. Look forward to the next volume!

<em>Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku</em> wasn't what I expected, and every time I thought I had a handle on what it was going to be it changed again. The initial premise gave me hope for "Suicide Squad, but in the forest from Annihilation"; the emperor has assembled a group of prisoners who have a choice between being executed or searching for the elixir of life on a mysterious island that will either kill them or turn them into living flower beds. Cool, sure, that could be interesting. Except that they also need to kill each other because only one person can win a royal pardon (and the emperor likes watching people die!). Cool, so it's gonna be the fantasy version of Battle Royale then? No, because all but maybe five characters get killed off-screen.

What I'm saying is that it feels a little disjointed. Each individual part of the set-up could lead to something cool, whether it's the ninja whose wife is slowly convincing him to be a human being, or the executioner who wants to learn how to kill without regrets, or the body horror island! They just didn't seem to gel together into a coherent whole for me. A lot of the dramatic moments that I would have expected to take a volume on their own – alliances being made and broken, for example – happen off-page. It's <em>weird</em>. The art is mostly fine, although there are some panels that I had to squint at to parse – yes, that butterfly does have a human face, and yes it's <em>exactly</em> as nope as that sounds! – and I have Questions about the choice to manifest the executioner's guilt as skeletons latching onto her naked body. I assume it's an ero-guro thing, which would make sense with the amount of body horror and gore here, but it still pings weirdly.

I might keep reading this, but honestly all of my emotional investment is in the two female characters, and I'm pretty sure that this isn't going to end well for either of them.

[Caution warning: gore, murder, abuse, mutilation, body horror] [This review is based on an ARC from Netgalley]

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this beautiful work!

First of all? This artist has absurd talent. The style and the paneling makes the story flow so well, I couldn’t stop once I started. My only qualm was how it ended, abruptly and leaving me hanging on for more!

The story is of a ninja, betrayed by his clan and caught by the shogunate because he wanted to leave the life to live with his pacifist wife. He is the best of the best, nearly immortal with his inability to be killed by fire, quartering, drowning.. his bloodlust is unmeasured, or so it’s said. However, there’s something underneath his hollow exterior and we get to see that bloom when he’s given the chance to be pardoned— if he can find the elixir of life on an island where every person who has ever tried to go has turned into flowers. The shogun enlists a smattering of criminals to try to complete this task.

I’m so hyped for the rest of this series.

A beautiful and artistically-styled story, sure to grip readers. I’m glad I had the chance to read this creative story and would gladly share it with others.

I love reading manga so I had to read this one too more because of the title. The beginning was a bit slow but after the first chapter, it got really interesting. The story was interesting and I need more. I wanna find out who will survive. The illustrations are well drawing and I bit horror (which I love).
Thank you NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for a review.

the art style was nice and the story concept was okay. overall, I just didnt care for it. it probably just isnt for me, but it felt a bit like the movie suicide squad? with tons of info dumps on character intros that basically amounted to nothing cuz a bunch of them died pretty quick. the action scenes were nicely put together, but it still felt like a lot of nothing happened. I know their setting up for the rest of the series, but I was mostly bored. itll probably be good for someone else, but I wont be continuing, myself.

thanks to netgalley for an ebook copy!

<i>arc provided by the publisher and netgalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

I didn’t really know much about this manga, just that it looked like it might wield some creepy elements and it definitely did. But the plot was confusing as were the characters. I wish things would’ve been explained more clearly and that we got to understand the characters a little bit better before the bigger part of the plot began.

Overall, this was alright, not my favourite and I’m unsure if I’ll continue on with the series.

2/5 ⭐️

I could not read this file. The pages do not turn on Adobe Editions. I tried this on my two ipads and on my phone but it was not turning the pages. I enjoy manga and so I really wanted to read this. Unfortunately I wont be able to review this.

This didn't work for me and I didn't end up finishing the volume, but there's a ton of potential here and all the makings of a start to a great series. I'd definitely still suggest it to others who may enjoy the direction more than I did.