Gods and People
After a week-long break, Hell’s Paradise is back with Episode 9. And this might have been the most action-packed episode of the series, so far. Sure, there’s been plenty of action before now. But, the fight between Gabimaru and Zhu Jin in this episode seemed to be the biggest.
But, I’ll get to that in a bit. First, I want to go over what we learned about the island’s inhabitants from Hoko. Apparently, Hoko and the others from his village were once human. However, they suffered from some sort of illness that slowly turned them into trees.
Hoko is the last of his people, with the rest of the villagers having died of the disease. When they near the end of their lives, the villagers make their way toward Horai and pray there until they die. These are the praying trees Gabimaru runs into.
Hoko also mentions that he’s nearing the end of his life. So, before the end of the series, I’m expecting him to meet the same fate as the others. But, what exactly is this disease that affected the people of the island? I believe it’s none other than the Elixer of Life.
The villagers turning into trees is pretty similar to what we’ve seen happen to others on the island. Now, the difference is that the others who have died there turn into flowers. But, that’s still plant life. And as Hoko says, his people lived long lives because of their devotion.
So, my prediction is that these people were actually having their life forces drained. It was a slow process because of their long lives. But, the end result is the same as those who get stung by the island’s insects. They become the Elixer of Life.
How to Kill a God
Something Gabimaru finds out in Episode 9 is that the Tensen are not gods. They’re technically not even immortal. He can kill them with the right plan. And he knows this because he almost killed one of them without a plan.
Zhu Jin is the orange-haired Tensen who Gabimaru fought. Simply by attacking fast enough, Gabimaru was able to overcome Zhu Jin’s regeneration. And this led to Zhu Jin having to use their trump card, which was the flower monster form they took on. So, if Gabimaru prepares, he should be able to kill a Tensen.
But, how could he prepare for this? Would the combined strength of him, Sagiri, Yuzuriha, and Senta be enough? What about if Fuchi and Gantetsusai joined in since we saw them at the end of the episode? Well, that still likely wouldn’t be enough.
Luckily, we did get a clue on how to defeat a Tensen. And that clue came from an unlikely source: Mei. You see, Mei isn’t a normal girl. We already knew this since Hoko mentioned she’s hundreds of years old. But, what also makes her strange is her ability to use powers.
Mei used the same kind of punch attack on Gabimaru that Zhu Jin used. And she was also able to create a forcefield to protect Gabimaru from Zhu Jin’s attack. It’s almost as if she’s one of the Tensen herself. Zhu Jin even knows Mei, which further implies this.
But, whether Mei is a Tensen or not isn’t what’s important. What’s important is that she could teach Gabimaru some of her techniques. Most notably, she could teach him that glowing punch attack. With that, Gabimaru might be able to kill a Tensen. And, he could kill his immortal father-in-law to save his wife.
The Seven Hermits of Shinsenkyo
As Hoko tells our protagonists, and as we ourselves saw, there are seven hermits of Shinsenkyo. The hermits are, as I predicted, the Tensen. But, these seven hermits are all part of the same one being, which is a bit weird.
The Tensen that appears to be in charge mentioned that they have a master. However, my guess is that their “master” is their combined entity. Hoko explains that there was originally only one hermit of Shinsenkyo. But, that hermit split their body into seven, creating the Tensen we see today.
And, I’m going to assume Mei is another body that split off from this original hermit. But, even if that’s the case, it’s possible that the other Tensen don’t realize that. Or, maybe they do, but they don’t acknowledge Mei as one of their own. They don’t kill her, but she’s not in their group.
There is one potential issue with all this, though. Think back to the legends of Shinsenkyo. The legends spoke of multiple hermits who all appeared as old men. You know, like the leader of Iwagakure. But, we’re being told that the seven Tensen split off from one original hermit.
So, was that original hermit one of many? Did he sacrifice the other hermits to acquire the Elixer of Life and then split into the Tensen? Or, was there always only one hermit? And how does this work into the Iwagakure leader’s story of how he gained immortality?
There is one thing we know. Hoko has repeatedly said that things changed 1,000 years ago. Before then, his village was lively. So, that seems to be when some event happened. That could be when someone — like this original hermit — obtained the Elixer of Life.
Conclusion
What do you think of Hell’s Paradise Episode 9? Do you think the villagers turned into trees because their life force was absorbed? Will Mei teach Gabimaru the secret technique for killing Tensen? And, do you think Mei is another body split off from the original hermit? Let me know in the comments.
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My review of Episode 10 is available now.
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