Emily Zhao's Bookshelf

As everyone knows, artstyle is incredibly important to me, and Hell's Paradise truly has one of the most eye-pleasing. Based in a fictional historical past, Gabimaru the Hollow is sentenced to death for his many assassinations, but is unable to die due to his superhuman body. He claims to have nothing to live for and is deeply haunted by his past, but we soon find out that he truly loves his wife and wants to come back to her. So, his executioner, Yamada Asaemon Sagiri offers him a chance along with other death-row criminals; find the elixir of life on the fantastical and legendary Shinsenkyo and be pardoned by the Shogunate. These convicts must return with their Yamada Asaemon executioner to claim their freedom.

The cast of this story are uniquely refreshing, as personally, I've observed a recent uprising in the manga environment of bland characters put into a decently interesting plot and environment that has seen success before - hoping to cash in on whatever is popular at the moment. I am very glad to see that not only is the characters varied and have intense personalitie. The intriguing death-row criminals and their matching executioners creats a hilarious contrast that can't really be found anywhere else, and the relationships that develop and break from the crazy environment they are thrown into renders your heart into shreds.

It's the worldbuilding that stands out the most in this series, as Shinsenkyo is deeply rooted in mystery and has never seen any human return alive.

The body horror within this is so chilling, and I especially love gothic media like this. Though gory, it's never gross for the sake of shock value, rather it always is purposeful to show the brutality of the setting they are trying to survive in and the disparity between what the death-row convicts think their skill level is and what they actually can achieve.