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Hell’s Paradise Season 2 Episode 24: Favorites – Quick Summary
In Hell’s Paradise Season 2 Episode 24, “Ephemeralness and Fire,” Gabimaru lay sprawled on the ground. He bled from a mortal wound. Yuzuriha, injured but not as badly, could only watch as Gabimaru bled out. Ran, supremely confident, transformed, prepared to deliver the killing blow. Can even Gabimaru’s dedication to his wife Yui pull him back from the brink? Or are there some wounds whose healing is simply beyond willpower’s reach?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from Hell’s Paradise Season 2 Episode 24
Gabimaru had a clear goal in mind as he lay dying. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Gabimaru’s drive to get back to his wife is the foundation of this story. At least, it’s the emotional foundation. As such, it has to bear a lot of weight. We not only need to buy into the idea that Gabimaru loves Yui. We have to feel it, without question, without hesitation.
This show has approached that goal by showing us some tender flashbacks to Gabimaru and Yui together. We get to see just how well they get along. Saying they’re a “cute couple” doesn’t scratch the surface of their relationship. She’s there for him. She accepts him even if blood covers his face.
We know that love isn’t one-sided. We know that Gabimaru treasures her as much as she treasures him. In this episode, right before we needed that foundation to hold the most, we got the perfect example – a reminder, or a refresher.
Gabimaru lay dying. His thoughts went to Yui and their relationship. He fixated on his inability to bring himself to fully face her – to disclose who he really was, all facades aside. And in the moments just before he would have expired, it came to him:
“I still don’t know how to face her,” he thought (05:17). “But I don’t ever want her expression to be clouded.”
If you have a spouse who has to put up with you for whatever reason – maybe you’re on the spectrum – then that sentence has to hit hard. I know it hit me hard.
Favorite Moment from Hell’s Paradise Season 2 Episode 24
They made a great team. Right up until the end. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Setup: Flashbacks Done Right
I really hope Yuzuriha isn’t dead.
At the end there, I’m not sure if the narrative signaled she was going to die because she decided to put her life at risk to save Gabimaru and, through him, his relationship to Yui. I hope it was something else – namely, that she’s going to recuperate in some quasi-reasonable way so she can show up when they most need her.
After all, in this show, almost every fight seems to have a moment like that!
My favorite moment led up to Yuzuriha ending up in dire straits. We’ve know that she isn’t inclined to risk herself for the sake of others. At least, that’s what she’s told us, repeatedly, over the course of the show.
At the same time, she seems to put herself at risk from time to time. It seems to be tied to whether she thinks she can make a difference. Against Ran in his full combat form, she struggled to see how that would happen.
That is, until Gabimaru switched to his “Plan B.”
Plan B was a massive risk for Gabimaru. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Usually, I don’t like flashbacks. Many of the ones I’ve seen intrude on the moment. I’m looking at you, Naruto Shippuden! But in this episode, and in this series as a whole, the narrative weaves in flash-backs smoothly. Allowing those moments to play out ahead of time would have slowed things down; sprinkling them in here, a little at a time, worked.
It was in those flashbacks that we saw Gabimaru’s devotion to his wife, along with his desire to find a way to open up to her – to “face her,” as he put it. Another set of flashbacks let us know that Yuzuriha had a sister who didn’t make it. It seems that her experience of losing her sister weighed on her.
So, as she projected an image of complete independence and a lack of connection to those around her, Yuzuriha really didn’t want to lose anyone dear to her. And apparently, Gabimaru had become someone she felt close to. At the very least, his plight resonated with her. At one point, she even said she was “jealous” of his relationship with Yui.
Delivery: Yuzuriha Stepped Up
Even after Gabimaru had injected himself, his raw power still fell short. His tao, fire, couldn’t put down Ran’s tao, water. If he was going to win, he would need Yuzuriha’s help.
Ran had smashed him backward. As he crouched, healing and trying to determine his next move, Yuzuriha spoke up.
“You’re a freak,” she said (10:21), her voice scornful. “You’re still fighting after dying once. You’ve even abandoned your humanity. For an uncertainty. You’re a fool. I don’t have time for this.”
Gabimaru spared a moment to defend his position, saying that she was clear-headed, but there were some goals he could only reach with emotion and drive. He said she’s so clear-headed that she’d probably never done something to make herself look like a fool. That seemed to hurt, based on her expression.
He’d struck a nerve, though she didn’t want to admit it. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Standing, she said she’d never fight someone she couldn’t beat. At this point, I’m not sure if Ran fired something at her, or her control slipped and allowed the wound on her side to open. Regardless, either pierced by Gabimaru’s words or resolved on her own (or both), she took up a stance beside him.
“I’ll make anyone who tears my favorite clothes pay,” she declared (11:17).
Her resolve, her dedication to her comrade, stuck with me. So did their banter. Immediately after saying that, Gabimaru observed that “Those aren’t even yours.” But they fought very, very well together. They even defeated Ran.
Though it may have cost Yuzuriha her life. What did you think of Sagiri’s reaction to Mei explaining Plan B? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
Hell’s Paradise Season 2 Episode 24: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Jigokuraku Season 2 • Hell’s Paradise Season 2 – Episode 11 discussion
- Anime Rants: Hell’s Paradise Season 2 Episode 11 Review
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- Hell’s Paradise Season 2 Episode 14: Dawn and Confusion
- Hell’s Paradise Season 2 Episode 15: Reality and Fantasy
- Hell’s Paradise Season 2 Episode 16: Immutability and Change
- Hell’s Paradise Season 2 Episode 17: The Samurai Code and Carnage
- Hell’s Paradise Season 2 Episode 18: Humans and Sages
- Hell’s Paradise Season 2 Episode 19: Hindering and Restoration
- Hell’s Paradise Season 2 Episode 20: Two People and One Person
- Hell’s Paradise Season 2 Episode 21: Chrysanthemum and Peach
- Hell’s Paradise Season 2 Episode 22: Love and Karma
- Hell’s Paradise Season 2 Episode 23: Master and Student
- Hell’s Paradise Season 2 Episode 24: Ephemeralness and Fire
- Hell’s Paradise Season 2 Episode 25: Endings and Beginnings
It seems I was right that Gabimaru becoming like Choubei was an option although he hasn’t yet stabilized as the influence of the Waitanhua Flower in him is still growing, and he needs something to stop its influence from growing further as Choubei did.
Fire Tao restores Earth Tao, so I suspect Gabimaru will heal Yuzuriha. It’d be really strange to pair them up that way only for Gabimaru to not save her.
I remember you predicting that. Very cool!
I’m not sure if you’ve seen the final episode yet or not, so I won’t comment on Gabimaru/Yuzuriha.
The last episode was a lot of fun, BTW — very chaotic in a good way.
Crow, just check your spam comments. Keep an eye out on anything that says tags.pub, seems like a wave of bot attacks are making their way
Thanks for the heads-up! I’m using Akismet, and so far at least, it’s done a good job for me. In its view of quarantined spam, I see a surge in unusual stuff (I usually get more crypto spam), so it looks like I’m seeing the same thing!