![]() It’s pretty obvious that “Garan” (Hollow) Gabimaru is deceiving himself. As Iwagakure ninja are not allowed to leave the clan under any circumstances, Gabimaru accepts his death sentence as just and proper. He marries the chief’s daughter (a married Jump protagonist is a rare thing to be sure) Yui ( Noto Mamiko) and claims that he tried to leave the village because he hated his life with her. Gabimaru’s life story unspools: his parents were killed by the village chief, he learned the secrets of the Iwa ninja and eventually became the strongest in the clan. The events of the episode are framed as an interview of Gabimaru by a chronicler named Asaemon Sagiri Yamada ( Hanamori Yumiri). One has to buy into the mythology of superhuman ninja here of course, but Jigokuraku is hardly the first manga to ask that of an audience. His body says otherwise, however – much to the frustration of the local magistrate – and resists and any all attempts to kill it. The one being beheaded is Gabimaru ( Kobayashi Chiaki), an Iwagakure ninja who claims to be tired of life and ready to die. There is a bit of explanation to it, but it was worth doing since most people don’t realize that beheadings by sword were typically gruesome and drawn-out (which is why the guillotine was intended as a merciful invention). Opening with a botched beheading is certainly a choice. I only have the anime to go on but I liked that there was a certain trust in the audience here, showing us instead of telling us what was happening for the most part. More importantly this is an interesting premise staged in an interesting way, with a premiere executed patiently and cleverly. While the look is pretty much standard MAPPA it suits the material well, and the production values seem fine so far at least. For a week at least, and there’s no reason to suspect it’s a mirage. The staff isn’t exceptional, MAPPA is as generically non-indicative of quality as studios get, and Kaku’s follow-up manga wasn’t especially well-loved. ![]() That said, despite having next to no familiarity with the manga or Kaku Yuuji, I had a tickle in my brain telling me this one was going to be good. Nevertheless for me it’s a bit of a middle-feeder, what with all the enormous competition from series I know in manga form and sequels to previous top 10 series. “The Death Row Convict and the Executioner”Įven this season I couldn’t bring myself to call Jigokuraku a sleeper – it’s too well-known for that.
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