Hell’s Paradise: Does Sagiri Like Gabimaru? Relationship Explained!

Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku, sometimes referred to as simply Hell’s Paradise, is a manga series that was created by Yūji Kaku, who both wrote and illustrated it. The manga was first released on January 22, 2018, and it was freely serialized on the Shōnen Jump+ app and website. Hell’s Paradise is filled with some amazing and memorable characters, and in this article, we have decided to talk about the relationship between two of them, namely Yamada Asaemon Sagiri and Gabimaru. This article is going to explore the nature of their relationship and reveal whether Sagiri liked Gabimaru or not.

Sagiri likes Gabimaru only as a friend, and the relationship between the two is strictly platonic in nature. Sagiri said that her relationship with Gabimaru was “not such an easygoing relationship,” and that was true. She took some professional interest in him and found him intriguing, but even when he attacked her, she could not bring herself to kill him; on the other hand, Gabimaru had the same “issue.” She knew Gabimaru loved his wife, and while the two of them grew to care for each other, it was just a friendly relationship.

The remainder of this article will give you a detailed overview of Yamada Asaemon Sagiri’s relationship with Gabimaru, as it happened on the pages of the Hell’s Paradise manga. You already know the gist of the issue, so we will just bring you the details so you know the whole context. Be careful, though, as the article will contain many spoilers, so if you don’t know all the details, be careful how you approach the text.

Sagiri and Gabimaru met under strange circumstances

When we first meet Gabimaru, he is a young shinobi sentenced to death and awaiting execution. And while he says he does not care about living and that he wants to die, none of the execution methods work – the blade breaks on his neck, his skin does not burn, and so forth. While repeating to a female chronicler, Yamada Asaemon Sagiri, that he does not know why the executions keep failing and that he is not resisting them willingly, it becomes quite obvious that he is lying.

During the conversations between the two, we find some additional details about his history and life. It is revealed that Gabimaru was a very skilled shinobi with a high kill count and that he was feared around Japan; his life was struck by tragedy when the chief of his village murdered his parents and took him in.

He claims to be completely emotionless and that he has absolutely no attachment to life, i.e., that he wants to die, but he simply cannot die. From his point of view, he doesn’t really fight it – death just does not want to take it, but we see that his reactions don’t seem to be reflexes but rather manifestations of his will, regardless of how much he keeps denying it.

When it was revealed that Yamada Asaemon Sagiri was actually a royal executioner, Gabimaru was shocked. Sagiri revealed to him that she knew that he was willingly resisting being executed, using his superhuman traits to resist being killed. But, as a royal executioner, Saigiri was definitely able to pierce through his defenses, which she ultimately did, almost decapitating him with ease. She stopped and offered him to go with her in search of the Elixir of Life at the Shogun’s behest, promising him a royal pardon if he succeeded.

Knowing that it could take him back to his wife, Gabimaru accepted. The journey was strange, and the only condition, aside from finding the Elixir, was that the convicts bring their keepers back safe and sound. This means that Gabimaru had to take care of Sagiri on the way, as the original offer would not stand without her.

After almost killing each other, their relationship became better

When they arrived at their destination, Sagiri was very strict towards Gabimaru, demanding that he keep his hands tied all the time, even though they both knew that he could easily break the rope, as well as the danger that might come. So, when Gabimaru was attacked by another convict, who wanted to eliminate his competition, Gabimaru had to kill him while having his hands tied. When Yamada Asaemon Kishō, his keeper, explained that the situation was going to continue being similarly chaotic (which was true), Gabimaru realized that he had to watch out for himself and proceeded to kill Sagiri. However, he did state that he did not really want to do it but was, rather, forced to.

Saigir and Gabimaru fought as equals, and both had the same issue – they couldn’t bring themselves to kill each other one. Gabimaru stated that he had no emotions, and Sagiri claimed that she would do anything to fulfill her duty, yet both of them hesitated. Sagiri realized that Gabimaru helped her face her own fears and emotions, later confronting Gabimaru with the fact that he had a lot of emotions and that these emotions were the reason why he could not bring himself to kill her. And she was right. He loved his wife, and despite all the circumstances, he cared for Sagiri, although he wasn’t ready to admit it then.

Soon after, the two of them prepared to fight their opponents. Although they almost killed each other, ironically, this helped their relationship as it, somehow deepened the bonds between them. Sagiri was able to talk to Gabimaru in a more casual fashion, and they both were able to communicate normally while, at the same time, getting to know each other better. They fought closely together and worked to protect each other. Sagiri wanted to see a changed Gabimaru and a happy Gabimaru who would return to his wife, which is why she swore that she would to everything she could to protect him.

When they separated, Sagiri was genuinely worried for him, especially after discovering that the Elixir of Life did not exist (it did, actually, but it wasn’t really what the shogun and the executioners expected, but that is a wholly different story). While talking to Shion, she denied that what she felt for Gabimaru was love, claiming that it was only friendship and that she simply wanted to see him happy. This is why she would later restore his memories, telling him she is a dear friend of his. Gabimaru later worked to protect her while they were going back, and while he said it was only because he had to, which disappointed Sagiri a bit, it did not affect their relationship.

Knowing how much Gabimaru loved his wife, it wouldn’t really make any sense for Sagiri to try anything with Gabimaru. Gabimaru did care for her, regardless of what he said, but Sagiri knew from the start (unlike Yuzuriha) that Gabimaru loved Yui and only her. There would simply have been no sense in her liking Gabimaru in a romantic way, knowing how much he loved his wife. This is why we are positive that she was telling the truth when she denied loving Gabimaru to Shion and that she really did just want to be friends with him.

Sagiri knew that Gabimaru was a deeply emotional person and that he was capable of strong and deep emotions, and based on everything the two of them had been through, it made sense that she would want to be his friend. This is, in fact, the only natural and meaningful conclusion to the relationship between the two. They did remain friends after the adventure’s conclusion, as we’ve seen Asagiri and Yuzuriha visiting Gabimaru and Yui later on, proving that they remained close. And this is the whole story of Gabimaru and Sagiri and the true nature of their relationship in the series.