If there is confusion whether a place is hell or heaven, you can be sure it’s hell. And this particular hell is all about sexy times between Buddhist sculpture, Taoist esoteric teachings and Boschian thicc predatory plantlife. Body horror meets clerical gardening in a tale that’s interesting to look at, but not so much to actually read through.

It’s a fresh Asian-themed flavor of the deadly mutant-infested “zone”, normally characteristic of post-apocalyptic settings. It’s just that it’s pre-apocalypse for now and not a wasteland – like really, it’s quite lush.

And it’s also often so pretty. In later chapters a reveal of a new landscape makes you stop and whoa – it’s imaginative, beautiful and striking like best comic locations are. The designs of the characters are also masterful and well thought out (author’s notes on how he designed clothes were impressive).

In addition it’s a battle royale. With a culling of the cast coming early, heads flying and real final deaths even for named characters.

So yeah, there’s blood and there’re naked bodies. Jigokuraku is an example of fanservice done in an adult almost proper way. Characters pose naked when it’s logical for them to be naked, sex is a thing that people do. The fanservice is very male-centric in its vibe, with only female bodies being shown off, thought there’s narrative BL bait for ladies, some clothed handsome men and there’s attention to the struggles of women in their world. Yet I say almost, because while it’s written so much better than the vast majority of similar manga, a bunch of same worrying stereotypes is present – an age shifting mute loli with a dark past, several evil seductresses, an incestual bromance… There’re hints on sexual violence (which is fair considering the context, but it may make some potential readers reconsider). Oh, and the unique fetish this manga can satisfy is gender-flipping hermaphroditism with a darker edge.

…Too bad that all of this still isn’t engaging enough. And a big part of the reason is because the plot is overstructured. It’s a typical battle shounen with power levels, bosses and skill acquisition, and a battle royale with additional interpair relationships between executioners and their charges. The system is too rigid, familiar and predictable – no miracle has happened because of the fusion, no fresh meat has been grown on the bones. Now, it may change with the addition of new characters and forces, but it’s a maybe at 70+ chapters.

And the rest of the reason is that the concepts of the characters are also old. Gabimaru, the repentant ninja, is basically Mumon from Shinobi no Kuni, but less interesting, or the main character of Basilisk, and the executioner, Sagiri, is a great female character bound to be protected, sidelined and too ideal for her own good, like Tokine from Kekkaishi or Hime from Bleach. The worst part of writing is the tell-don’t-show approach to aggrandizing, when the author spells verbally how great the characters are – a character is often “thinking” that another one is oh-so-strong or cool: “Look, she/he is so cool, look”.

Additionally I honestly can’t say that battles are exciting. Too much is delegated to energy levels and weird ninja magic, so you can’t exactly build expectations, worry and celebrate, you just follow the lines.

In short, the manga drags, because it lacks emotional hooks. You know who is going to win and the character development isn’t engaging. Plus only several characters in the focus get it, side chracters remain largely simplistic.

When I read Jigokuraku I constantly feel the pull of two opposing forces. I want to see more of the gorgeous disturbing feast that the world of this manga is, its visual proficiency and mature (both in themes and in skill) narrative ideas make me want to continue to follow and enjoy it. But then the plot drags and drains, most revelations are predictable, I struggle to care. Tastes and mileage may vary tho, so Jigokuraku is totally worth checking out – for its interesting hellscape and rare brands of body horror, for a big amount of great female breasts and bi-everything plant handsome people, for Buddhist inspirations and historical fantasy fighting. Maybe the story will redeem itself, but for now it tests my patience, you can see for yourself how much it strains yours.