Hell's Paradise Season 2

Episode 1

It was a little disorienting to get just thrown right back into the show because not only had it been a while since I reviewed season one, but I had also forgotten the number of things that were going on simultaneously. This premiere starts with Gabimaru and Chobei fighting each other, Gabimaru has lost his memories and is slowly piecing things back together, our main cast finally all reunite with each other since originally getting separated all the way back at the beginning of the show, our main villains finally start confirming that something else is going on on the island, it's implied that more people are going to be sent to the island to investigate, etc. That's all, without even getting into the different ways that Tao can be manifested in all the different characters. I'm glad I went back to refresh myself, because it is impressive how many moving parts this show can juggle. It's one of the show's strengths because it genuinely feels like anything can happen.

The fight between Gabimaru and Chobei was visceral and well-choreographed. It felt like the perfect balance of being very clean and very messy, with both characters dishing out unorthodox moves to get the upper hand on the other. There's also a distinct style here with calligraphy and brushstrokes to emphasize darkness or Gabimaru's fire. It's a good thing that our main cast is starting to really understand the fundamentals of what Tao is, because if the action keeps escalating, it's going to be harder for our characters to survive or recover. While Tao acts as the main power system for the island, I can also see it as a good way of making sure that our characters don't die right away, which is funny considering how many characters have died before we got to this point.

I'm not sure how I feel about the main emotional beat of these two episodes revolving around Gabimaru having amnesia. I understand the explanation is that it's a side effect of him overusing and damaging his Tao, which is basically his life force. I like the fact that the show cleverly explains that Tao is something that a lot of the characters already have experience using; it just manifests itself in different ways, like ninjutsu. The more you use it, the more damaged and corrupt you are both spiritually and physically. However, I can also see this as an excuse to just re-tread familiar ground with Gabimaru's main character arc that the show started on. I don't know if this was intentional, but this season starts with him coming to the same conclusion about living for his wife the way that the first season did.

It's not the exact same, and maybe the focus is supposed to be on the difference in how he comes to that conclusion. Before, Sagiri basically needed to beat it into him that he needs to live for the sake of going back home to his wife. Here, it's a lot more playful and intimate. Tao can get strengthened through forms of physical intimacy, as we see with our villains basically having violent orgies all the time, so it is a nice contrast to see that Sagiri teasing Gabimaru is what helps heal him. It's really nice because it's also clearly not supposed to be romantic, given the fact that there's no way that Gabimaru would have romantic feelings for anybody but his wife. While I was a bit mixed on it for most of this premiere, it did win me over a little bit at the end, and thankfully, it looks like that has been resolved, so we can jump right back into the action.

As for what happens next, it's really anybody's guess. This is one of the few shows where it's actually hard for me to predict anything because it feels like all bets are off. It looks like Chobei survived his confrontation with Gabimaru at the end of episode two, but I could've easily seen that as being a moment where he died and never came back. Although maybe he'll die now that he is confronted by one of the main villains of the island. Maybe the rest of the cast meet up with him in the nick of time? What about the other people who are coming to the island? It's really anyone's guess at this point for those who haven't already read the source material, and I really like that.

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