Hell's Paradise has been praised for the depiction of Sagiri, its female co-protagonist, who forges her own way during a hostile time for female fighters without resorting to stereotypes.
Overall, Jigokuraku avoids certain pitfalls and features female characters we love to root for. But how progressive is it really, when it comes to gender?
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Is Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku a Feminist Anime?
Hell's Paradise is a dark fantasy and adventure anime with horror elements. It does touch upon the Edo period's patriarchal structures but, despite Sagiri's arc, feminist values and social commentary aren't its main focus.
The majority of Hell's Paradise's characters are male. To an extent, this makes sense due to the time period.
Sagiri, an executioner of the Yamada clan, is considered to be an exception, with her career being questioned even by her clan members.
The gender ratio in and of itself doesn't make the anime more or less feminist, especially since the show still features engaging female characters.
With an ensemble cast such as Jigokuraku's, it's hard to develop all characters equally.
That being said, each of these characters has at least a few recognizable traits and personal goals, even if these are sometimes situational.
Let's break this down with a study of the show's main female characters:
Sagiri
Yamada Asaemon Sagiri is a great female co-lead. In an industry that often exaggerates or infantilizes female voices, Sagiri is given a great, realistic portrayal by VA Yumiri Hanamori.
In terms of narrative importance, Sagiri is only second to Gabimaru, the shounen anime's protagonist.
Given the number of shounen that feature a male character and his (also male) foil going on an adventure, it's nice to see a female deuteragonist that develops a non-romantic friendship with the main protagonist.
Already, many fans have loved Denji's platonic, sibling-like relationship with Power in Chainsaw Man, and it's cool to see another member of the dark trio of shounen anime do something similar.
Despite being an executioner, Sagiri is an empathetic person who doesn't take joy in killing.
That being said, she went into her role consciously, both because she didn't wish to be a wife and mother and due to her realization that she could never escape violence even if she didn't wield the blade herself.
Throughout the anime's first few episodes, Sagiri's male superiors question her suitability for the role of Asaemon, solely because of her gender.
Sagiri consistently forges her own way despite these comments. While she's sometimes discouraged, she doesn't hesitate to combine traits traditionally attributed to both genders.
Overall, Sagiri is both a good foil for Gabimaru and an interesting character in her own right.
Both grew up in hyperviolent family units and got exposed to death early on.
Interestingly, it's Gabimaru, rather than Sagiri, who wishes to completely escape and live an ordinary life, adding further nuance.
Yuzuriha
While not as developed as Sagiri, Yuzuriha is a fun supporting character who often steals the show.
Like Chainsaw Man's Power, she has a big personality and she's largely self-serving while managing to remain endearing to the audience.
In her introduction, Yuzuriha comes close to certain tropes but ends up avoiding them.
For example, she initially fabricates a sob story about an ill little sister she's trying to save.
When this persuades nobody, Yuzuriha admits that she wants to survive simply because she enjoys life and would rather keep living.
This is not exactly enough of a goal to make her a three-dimensional character, as her desire to live is more of a reaction to her situation (that is, her imprisonment and quest to the island), rather than a solid character want.
But it's a start, and in some ways, it's refreshing to see a female character who is not angelically sacrificing everything for somebody else.
Additionally, despite her mischievous and fun-loving demeanor, Yuzuriha is more aware of the dangers around her than initially suspected.
When Gabimaru points out that they can't trust each other, she insists on allying with him not because she disagrees, but because she knows that they're stronger as a group, while also understanding that betrayal is inevitable.
Yui
Since we don't see Gabimaru's wife in any scenes other than a few flashbacks, we can't analyze her as thoroughly as the characters we meet in the present narrative.
Overall, Yui seems like a wholesome character, and her flashback scenes with Gabimaru are cute.
Since Gabimaru is so smitten with her, the harem elements we encounter in other anime are avoided, but Yui's personality isn't elaborated upon at all.
We do know that she's sweet and desires a peaceful life, to the point that she convinces Gabimaru to fight for the same.
She's also quite resilient as she manages to stick to her ideals despite her father's abuse.
Yui narrowly escapes complete delegation to the manic pixie dream girl trope because her goal for an ordinary family life is entirely her own, and she strives for it in a community that keeps choosing violence and urges her to accept it.
That being said, her only role in the plot is to act as an emotional tether that keeps Gabimaru in touch with his humanity.
We do understand why Yui doesn't appear in the narrative present, as sticking to the convicts' viewpoints means that we, like them, experience the island as inescapable.
Still, not seeing Yui more feels like a missed opportunity. It'd be great to see a very gentle character who doesn't compromise her ideals but still does something.
We'd love to see Yui trying to stand up to her abusive father, for instance, or even see her in her own subplot.
Are There Any Other Female Characters in Hell's Paradise?
Hell's Paradise also features Nurugai, a 12-year-old child who is part of the Sanka, a people living in the mountains without allegiance to the shogun.
Later, we meet Mei, a Tensen who ends up joining the human characters.
We don't see Nurugai as much as other convicts, but she seems like a cool character, and her existence adds to the historical aspects of Jigokuraku.
Her survivor's guilt for being the last surviving member of her people is quite realistic, and so are her relationships with Tenza and Shion.
On the other hand, Mei is an interesting case. While she's over 1000 years old, she takes the form of a little girl, and she's the only non-gender-bending Tensen.
This doesn't necessarily reflect negatively on her. But she is the only Tensen who helps the main characters to the point of sacrificing herself for them.
Because all the other Tensens are genderfluid and antagonists, the show might be perceived as (hopefully unintentionally) villainizing characters who don't conform to the gender binary.
This isn't to say that writing queer villains is inherently problematic, but it would be nice if Mei, the only deity who isn't a villain, could also shapeshift that way.
How Does Hell's Paradise Treat Sexuality and Fanservice?
Many anime shows, even ones with solid plots and characters, rely a bit too much on fanservice, usually at the expense of female characters.
Hell's Paradise isn't groundbreaking in its avoidance of fanservice, but at least, it does better than many shounen works.
Overall, Hell's Paradise doesn't feature too many fanservice moments as we typically don't see characters in compromising shots.
When nudity does occur, it's treated normally. For instance, when Nurugai and Tenza wash after a gory battle, it's revealed that Nurugai is a girl rather than a boy as Tenza thought.
Moreover, Nurugai seems to have a bit of a crush on Tenza, suggesting that they get married when they return to Japan.
Tenza seems uncomfortable by the proposition. Her precocious crush simply confuses him, and it's clear that he'd never take advantage of her.
Of course, not sexualizing a child character is literally the bare minimum an anime can do, and the show doesn't get feminist points for that.
But unfortunately, we could think of many anime that would make something uncomfortable out of such a scene, so the fact that Hell's Paradise doesn't do that is a relief if nothing else.
That being said, female characters in Hell's Paradise are still put in a disadvantageous position.
For instance, many of Sagiri's anxious dreams depict her naked, while this isn't the case for Gabimaru.
Moreover, Yuzuriha, while perfectly likable in other ways, tries to seduce male characters more than once during her introduction.
To make matters worse, another female convict also tried to seduce her Asaemon, Shion, with the latter killing her when she made an attempt against his life.
This touches upon tired tropes of women relying on their sexuality as the first possible course of action to get what they want.
And since these two are the only adult female characters other than Sagiri and Yui, and no male character attempts the same, this inevitably reads as a gendered trope.
So, How Does Jigokuraku Treat Its Female Characters?
Overall, Hell's Paradise does a good job of engaging with its chosen era's gender politics and challenging them through Sagiri.
While the majority of characters are male, we still get more than one female character we can root for, and most of the grossest fanservice bits we've learned to dread, are avoided.
Some female characters other than Sagiri could have been more fleshed out, and it'd be great to see more diversity in goals and attitudes when it comes to gender-fluid nonhuman characters.
Moreover, the anime doesn't entirely avoid certain clichés such as portraying not one but two female characters for whom seduction is the first go-to tactic and involving them in more nude scenes than male characters.
That being said, the anime isn't overtly anti-feminist. Its female characters are distinct and most of them have their own goals independent of male characters. Also, any fanservice and/or tropes aren't that excessive.
If you want an anime that challenges preconceived notions about gender in groundbreaking ways, you are probably not going to get much out of it in Hell's Paradise.
But if you like dark fantasy anime and you are just tired of the pitfalls many anime fall into, such as fanservice and the total objectification of women, Hell's Paradise is relatively inoffensive.
Hell's Paradise does have a good cast and, other than Gabimaru's pre-existing relationship with his wife, it focuses more on platonic relationships regardless of gender, so no character is delegated to the role of love interest only.
Hopefully, more shounen anime will follow in the future; depicting diverse casts and normalizing adventures for everyone, regardless of their identity.
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