Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku volume 2, by Yuji Kaku, has been a joy to read. This volume continues to follow Gabimaru and Sagiri as they search for the elixir of life. Instead of focusing mainly on Gabimaru this volume fleshes out other characters, with the first half largely focusing on Sagiri. The subsequent chapters give a lot of depth to the mystery of the island.

The art continues to be very good. One thing that I liked about the art style last volume and continue to enjoy is how dark the shading is compared to a lot of other manga. The characters are very well designed and distinct. I really liked the mini style evaluations at the end of some of the chapters. They made me appreciate how much effort Kaku put into the character designs, as well as how much research was done more. I also enjoy how diverse the creatures they encounter in the forest are. Their designs convey horror excellently. The double pages continue to be very well done; I really like the one near the end of the volume where they discover the hidden village particularly.

From a story and character perspective I enjoyed this volume a lot more than the last one. I found that it was paced very well. The patient drip feeding of information indicating how unnatural the island is was well done. I found myself gripped by this aspect and it has quickly become one of the most interesting parts of the story for me.

Character wise, I found that Gabimaru showed his development from last volume well here, but I especially enjoyed the greater focus on Sagiri this volume. Her development was done very well, and I enjoyed seeing her character arc progress. The introduction of characters such as Nurugai was very good. Their backstories were well integrated into the plot. Even the development of characters like Aza Chobe was done well. I liked that despite him being in a potential antagonistic role, a lot of his positive traits were highlighted. He has become one of my favourite characters in the story.

Overall, this volume was better than the first. My issue with the scene transitions was not present here. The character progress was done well, and I found myself liking the characters more as the volume went on. The greater focus on mystery was well executed as well. The art remains excellent, and the design of the characters and creatures is very good.

This was a very good volume; I’d give it a 4.6/5

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