Hell’s Paradise: Who Is Eizen? Was He Really Killed by Rokurōta?

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 one specific character in the series – Yamada Asaemon Eizen. In this article, you will find out everything about Yamada Asaemon Eizen, including if Rokurōta really killed him.

Yamada Asaemon Eizen was the 1st rank Asaemo belonging to the Yamada clan. He was a skilled and wise royal executioner, thought to be the best and most skilled one. This is why he was assigned to guard Rokurōta. This was ultimately the reason of his demise, as Rokurōta, after waking up, attacked Eizen, killed him, and then ate him because he was hungry.

The rest of this article will focus on Yamada Asaemon Eizen and his fate in the Hell’s Paradise series. Yamada Asaemon Eizen was one of the most intriguing characters in the Hell’s Paradise lore, and it only makes sense that the fans want to know what happened to this guy, which is why we have decided to compose this article. This article will contain some spoilers from the Hell’s Paradise manga, so be careful how you approach it.

Yamada Asaemon Eizen was the most powerful executioner in the clan

Yamada Asaemon Eizen was the highest-ranking executioner of the Yamada clan and its most powerful one. Not much is, sadly, known about him as a character because he did not receive too much on-page time in the manga. He was certainly the most powerful among the executioners but also a very noble, kind, and wise man. He was the best candidate for the position of the next head of the Yamada Clan. His elemental attribute was Wood.

Not much is known about his skills and abilities, but since he was the highest-ranked Asaemon, he was undoubtedly the most skilled among the lot. He could perform the one-cut execution, and he thought that execution should be quick and painless for the convict. Aside from that, sadly, not much is known about him as the author never really went deeper into his story (you’re going to read why in the next section of this article). Be that as it may, we are going to tell you what we know of his personality before we walk about his story.

Eizen was incredibly proud of the Yamada clan and thought that when executions were the issue, there was nothing they couldn’t handle. He was a professional executioner because he understood that trying to hurt those that were convicted of execution with his sword would desecrate the magistrate. He also adhered to the Yamada clan’s best method of killing people by slashing their victims without feeling any pain or emotion, a concept he tried to instill in a young Shugen. He had previously considered Gabimaru’s treatment of offenders in the fight to the death abhorrent.

He was also compassionate and loving, and his pledge to look after Shugen when he was a child has given him a lot of influence today. He had an adversarial relationship with Sagiri because, like his clanmates, he thought ladies of the Yamada clan shouldn’t pursue life as samurai. He attempted to utilize Sagiri’s covert aversion to taking another person’s life—which he was fully aware of—to persuade her not to accept the shogun’s task.

In addition, Eizen openly informed her that her position was to live a comfortable life inside the house because, as a woman, she was not suited to carry out executions. Eizen sought to take care of her despite her displeasure while he tried to stop some convicted felons from harming her.

Oh, before we actually tell you about his fate, we just had to say that if there was ever an obvious Bleach reference in an anime, it was this guy. The guy’s name, for starters, is Eizen, which is quite similar to Aizen, and everyone and their grandma knows that Aizen is Bleach‘s central antagonist.

On top of that, the eyepatch Eizen wears is almost identical to the eyepatch Aizen was given after being defeated by Ichigo. But, the eyepatch is also an obvious reference to another eyepatch-wearing Bleach character, Kenpachi Zaraki, who was the most feared and physically powerful Shinigami in Soul Society. Another similarity with Kenpachi is Eizen’s hairdo, which is identical to the one Kenpachi sported during the Quincy War, save for the color identical to Renji Abarai’s color. This does not have much to do with the character himself, but we simply could not skip it here. Now, let us get back to the topic.

Eizen was brutally killed by Rokurōta

After Gabimaru killed Keiun in self-defense, his attendant, Yamada Asaemon Kishō, explained to him and Sagiri that the island’s tranquil atmosphere was just an illusion. The fact was, according to him, that the Yamada Asaemon were escorting dangerous and brutal criminals, mostly murderers, and that they couldn’t really count on their cooperation, regardless of the terms and conditions of their assignment. While he was stating his expectations, several scenes showing what was or might have been going on elsewhere were shown. One of these scenes involved Yamada Asaemon Eizen:

As you can see, Yamada Asaemon Eizen was assigned to watch over the giant Rokurōta. Rokurōta was known to be a monster, and it only makes sense that Eizen was assigned to him as the highest-ranked executioner. And while it seemed like Eizen would definitely be able to control Rokurōta, the situation did not play out well for the Asaemon. Namely, as they arrived on the island, Rokurōta woke up and walked behind Eizen. Eizen noticed that and asked Rokurōta whether he was hungry but got no reply; Rokurōta simply kept staring at him grimly.

Eizen realized he was in danger and began drawing his sword immediately. Rokurōta soon charged at him with his gigantic hand, and Eizen was quick to draw his blade and attack him, but the blade simply broke into pieces upon contact with Rokurōta’s hand, shocking the Asaemon. The gigantic hand soon struck the executioner as well, and his body was crushed on a nearby tree. The scene was a bloody mess, and we would soon see Rokurōta eating something from his bloody hand, probably Eizen’s head, as it was not seen when his corpse was shown.

Based on how Yamada Asaemon Kishō narrated it, as well as the other events (especially since Yuzuriha was seemingly dead in one of them, and we know that she did not die), these scenes could’ve been both true and not, but as it turned out in Eizen’s case, they were more than true. Rokurōta did kill Yamada Asaemon Eizen, and the highest-ranked Asaemon ended his journey on the island before it even began. This scene was, thus, real, and Yamada Asaemon Eizen did really die by Rokurōta’s hand. Literally. (Kenpachi would’ve dealt with Rokurōta easily… just sayin’).