Hell’s Paradise Reading Order: All Arcs & Volumes

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. From January 22, 2018, until January 25, 2021, it was freely serialized on the Shōnen Jump+ app and website. Shūeisha gathered and released the chapters in thirteen tankōbon volumes. The series was released in English in North America thanks to a license from VIZ Media. It is set in the Edo era of Japan and centers on the pursuit of immortality by the assassin Asaemon Sagiri and ninja Gabimaru. The first episode of the MAPPA-produced anime series premiered globally on April 1, 2023. This article is going to be your ultimate guide to the narrative arcs of the Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku manga, as we are going to tell you everything you need to know about them.

How many Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku arcs are there?

As you can see, the overall structure of Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku manga is quite simple. The story progresses in a linear fashion most of the time (there are some flashback moments), and with 127 chapters that comprise the series, there are only four narrative arcs. This is a relatively small number in comparison to the number of chapters since most manga with so many chapters have more arcs, but Kaku seems to have a different approach, and that works as far as Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku is concerned.

Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku manga arcs in order (at a glance)

In this section, we are going to bring you an overview of Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku manga arcs at a glance

1. Island Arc
   • Volumes (Chapters): 1–2 (1–16)
   • Episodes: 1–13
2. Lord Tensen Arc
   • Volumes (Chapters): 3–7 (17–59)
   • Episodes: TBD
3. Hōrai Arc
   • Volumes (Chapters): 7–12 (60–110)
   • Episodes: TBD
4. Departure Arc
   • Volumes (Chapters): 12–13 (111–127)
   • Episodes: TBD

In the next part of this article, we are going to tell you how you should watch the series in chronological order.

In what order should you read Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku?

Fans of Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku will need to start with the first volume of the manga, but they will then have to follow the release order of all the chapters in order to normally follow the evolution of the plot. It’s a lot of material, we know, but the best way to approach it is to simply follow the release order, as it coincides with the evolution of the plot.

Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku manga arcs explained

1. Island Arc

The elite ninja of Iwagakure, Gabimaru, is about to be put to death, but the young man escapes all attempts at execution and starts to question why he won’t let himself die. A woman interrogates Gabimaru about his background while he is in jail. After having proven himself worthy, he reveals the story of his marriage to the village chief’s daughter, Yui. Gabimaru, on the other hand, claims he can’t stand being near her and requests permission from his captain to leave her. Gabimaru is informed that his request will be fulfilled if he completes an assignment. As he agrees to the expedition, his allies betray him since their leader has told them to have him jailed for planning to leave the town.

Chapters and Episodes included in the Arc

2. Lord Tensen Arc

As they gradually learn more about the island’s past and release the enigmatic power known as Tao, the story’s protagonists—the remaining convicts and executioners—take center stage. They come across and have to fight the members of Lord Tensen, who are actually seven strange creatures thought to be immortal, that rule over the whole island thanks to their possession of the Elixir of Life. The Shogun, who is growing dissatisfied with the initial group’s attempts to obtain the elixir, sends a second group made up of four Asaemon and Shinobi from Iwagakure. Gabimaru chases after them after sensing a shadowy presence behind them. He reaches for his hood and raises it to reveal a little girl.

Afterward, while attempting to defend the unidentified little girl, he avoids a monster tree strike. In the hopes that she may learn more about the island, Gabimaru avoids another attack by the tree monster and informs the others that he is after the girl. Sagiri, who is still responsible for watching over Gabimaru, pursues him while Yuzuriha and Senta handle the tree monster. Yuzuriha removes Senta’s spectacles so that she can use her ninjutsu without him being able to see her skills. When Gabimaru comes up to the girl, she pushes her aside, much to her surprise at how powerful she was. The girl is then scolded by Sagiri, who declares that they do not wish to harm her.

Chapters and Episodes included in the Arc

3. Hōrai Arc

The plot revolves around a group of survivor murderers and criminals who assault Hōrai in order to take the elixir of life and leave the island. The leader of Lord Tensen, Rien, is getting ready to travel to Japan with the perfected elixir of life and produce more elixir for the Japanese people, but Lord Tensen is waiting for them and getting ready to offer them as a sacrifice to their lord. Upon the arrival of the second landing group, chaos quickly breaks out, and Zhu Jin, a member of Lord Tensen, turns to assimilation with the Banko. Mei told him about the palace’s design and the aquatic monsters that live near the island, which Fuchi now shares.

The Tan is in Rien’s lab, and according to Mei, the area has a valve with a lot of ships they may use to avoid aquatic monsters. But Mei warns that the palace’s layout is continuously changing. Shion entices Gabimaru and Yuzuriha to teach group espionage and the Tao because she is aware that they are about to enter hostile terrain. Gabimaru instructs him on how Tao can be utilized in battle, while Yuzuriha starts by instructing them on how Tao is used to hiding someone’s presence. The group divides into the Elixir Recovery Team and the Escape Route Security Team after class. Gantetsusai advises Mei to make her own escape after the teams are created rather than hanging around for Team Elixir.

Chapters and Episodes included in the Arc

4. Departure Arc

The story’s action centers on the first and second landing party survivors’ departure and their fight to prevent Tensen Rien from transforming all of Japan’s inhabitants into tans in order to bring back her deceased husband, Jofuku. In addition to acknowledging how the loss of Banko’s Tao also resulted in the destruction of the island’s Tao, which was a hint that the island would soon fall, Gui Fa expresses relief at finally seeing Mei. Gui Fa also offers a stoic analysis of Zhu Jin’s behavior following their merger with Banko, which causes Yuzuriha to observe that Gui Fa seems unmoved by the deaths of her allies.

Gui Fa tells Yuzuriha that the eggs of the dead Tensens are in the basin they are holding, and they will be revived in around a thousand years. Yuzuriha concentrates on traveling to the floodgates with Mei, unaware of what will occur in the future when the Tensens are reborn, but she stops when she hears Gui Fa tell her that Nothing can be stopped any longer from reaching their objective. Gui Fa shows them what they learned while guarding the pool at Rentan Temple through a Tao illusion; Tensen stated that this was the reason they shrank after overeating or using all of their Tao to fulfill their tasks. The revelation that Rien is Jofuku’s wife astounds Yuzuriha and Mei.

Chapters and Episodes included in the Arc

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!