Why was hell heaven so unpleasant?

Key conclusions

• The Hell's Paradise anime didn't live up to high expectations due to lackluster animation.
• Mappa's reputation for stunning animation hasn't carried over to Hell's Paradise.
• Despite its strong premise, the anime didn't live up to fans' expectations in terms of spectacle.

An infernal paradise was a new shonen anime with a lot of potential and hype, and yet, for some reason, it fell short of fan expectations and went largely unnoticed in terms of general conversation and praise. It is one of what fans refer to as Shonen Jump's “Dark Trio”, consisting of Chainsaw Man, Kaisen Jujutsuand Hell's Paradise. But fans saw the story of the manga and the author.

When they found out that the anime adaptation would be made by Studio Mappa, the same people were behind it A man with a chainsaw, attack on titan, and Jujutsu Kaisen, the excitement was overwhelming. However, fans were disappointed with the adaptation after the anime's premiere and progress. Why was the anime for Hell's Paradise so disliked and underrated by fans?

The infernal paradise has fallen behind

Great expectations were not fulfilled

Hell's Paradise tells the story of Gabimaru Lachchina, a young ninja who seemingly cannot die. After being captured during an assassination mission, he is sentenced to death, but every attempt at execution fails due to his superhuman body. Gabimaru meets the executioner Yamada Asaemon Sagiri, who offers him a shogunate pardon for his crimes if he completes a special task.

Gabimaru must find the elixir of life in the legendary kingdom of Shinsenkyo. But he is not the only one who is sent to the Island. A large group of condemned men are accompanied by executioners like Sagiri, and whoever finds the elixir and brings it with the executioner alive will be pardoned for their crimes.

The premise of the anime is a fresh and darker idea that immediately grabs the audience, Shōnen Jump has experienced a resurgence of much darker manga serialized in magazines, with Hell's Paradise, Chainsaw Man, and Jujutsu Kaisen being prime examples of this. With the rise of dark anime Attack on Titandark anime are often widely accepted and even preferred by fans, but simply having a cool concept isn't enough to guarantee the success of a series.

My own life takes top priority and I'm not going to die. My whole goal is to survive and get home. Home to my wife. I'm not going to give my life away. But otherwise, I'll sacrifice anything. My ideals, my mind, my meaning, even my humanity.

There are many other series that have less or just not as exciting premises, but have been hugely successful in the anime realm over the past decade. Shows how Demon Slayer or Jujutsu Kaisen have often been accused of going overboard with their animation, suggesting that their stories are nothing special, but the incredible animation produced by their respective studios has done wonders for the success and appeal of the stories to viewers.

Nowadays, with the success of Attack on Titan, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Chainsaw Man, whenever fans think of Mappa Studios, they think of spectacular and exciting animation, so when it was announced that Hell's Paradise would be animated by the same studio, there were very high expectations already for the series. And when the time came, Hell's Paradise just didn't live up to the task that Mapp's previous works had. In today's anime industry, a good story is not enough to guarantee the success of a series.

Now more than ever, audiences prefer good animation and art over everything else, for better or for worse. While Hell's Paradise had a good plot and a good story, the lackluster animation compared to its predecessors just made it fall short of what fans expected from it. ​​​​​​While Hell's Paradise was still revered and had a large following, it simply didn't live up to the promises made by Studio Mappa. Most of the conversation just relied on extraneous aspects, such as Yuzuriha's character, who became incredibly popular due to her attractive design and personality.

And while a second season of Hell's Paradise has already been announced, it's safe to say that the first season went largely unnoticed and failed to impress most anime fans who were expecting a visual spectacle similar to Studio Mappa's other modern anime shows. The second season of the story will have to live up to the expectations of manga fans and new fans of the anime.