Hell's Paradise Season 2

Episode 12

That was definitely an exciting finale for season two! I love how this episode doesn't resolve anything, as it sets up seven different things happening simultaneously, as if the show is trying to one-up itself from the fights it just resolved. Am I frustrated that this all built up to a giant cliffhanger? Absolutely. But there's something about the energy of everything coming together that has been built up throughout the entire season that gets me really invested, especially since this episode still dropped a lot of hints for some of the moral and personal dilemmas that are going to arise.

This genuinely felt like an event, because as soon as the ninjas and extra Asaemon's showed up, they efficiently went after everybody they were supposed to. Some of these pairings were a little obvious. I knew that Sagiri would butt heads with the rest of the Asaemon because she's working with the criminals. It's a little forced because they do bring up a very good point that, from their perspective, a lot of these people are dangerous criminals, and you could still argue that a lot of these alliances are still born out of convenience, even if there was a genuine bond that was built up over time. These newcomers have no way of knowing that, and considering how chaotic everything is, it makes sense that there's not a lot of time to explain the situation. Sagiri could've made more effort to explain that working together could ensure their survival, but the anime also makes it clear that almost everybody who shows up just wanted an excuse to kill other people.

Some of the other pairings are interesting, like Fuchi and Tamiya going up against Shugen, whereas I thought Shugen would be more paired up against Rien. But having Rien go up against the ninja clan was an interesting choice. I like the efficiency that the ninja clan is operating under, heading for the docks because that's where the elixir is, and that is the best route to escape. If I had to make a prediction, I would assume that is where the climax would take place. I also like the fact that all of this chaos is very indicative of how the series first started, where anything goes, and I'm genuinely unsure who is going to survive. Or at least, for most of the cast, I'm unsure who is going to survive because there are still some really forced plot points crammed into this finale as well.

Firstly, why is Yuzuriha still alive? What was the point of having a fakeout death at the end of the last episode, which was ironically one of my only problems with last week's episode? From the framing to the dramatic music, everything made it seem like she had sacrificed herself, but now it just feels like blatant emotional manipulation. This makes me really feel like she's not going to die in the future, which also makes it feel like the show was wasting my time. Speaking of wasting time, wow, Shion, bet you wish you killed Zhu Jin when you had the chance now, right? I called that outcome immediately when the show just sort of blatantly didn't give a really solid reason for why they needed to be kept alive. Now we have arguably an unnecessary chaos factor with them turning into a giant plant monster. That just feels really unnecessary because there's already so much stuff going on. I didn't really think it was needed, but while definitely not perfect, I am looking forward to what all of this chaos actually leads to.

I still want Gabimaru to return to his wife, but now I also want to figure out more about the ninja clan that raised him. I want to know how all of the fighting matchups will go, especially since there are some characters like Gui Fa whose abilities haven't been made super clear. I want to know what's going to happen with Rien, who was built up as this final villain, but now everything is literally falling apart around them. This climax is way better than last season, and from the looks of it, there's enough material for about one more season of the anime. I will very much be looking forward to seeing if the series can stick the landing when it returns.

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