In Hell’s Paradise, Gabimaru the Hollow claimed not to feel any emotions, yet that all changed when he met his wife, Yui. However, throughout the series, Yui never appeared and only showed in Gabimaru’s memories, making fans wonder if she was real.
Hell’s Paradise is a part of the dark trio of the Shonen genre famous for its morbid storyline that focuses on an unconventional Shonen hero. Gabimaru, an elite Shinobi assassin, was betrayed by his Village Chief and put on death row.
He claimed to have no attachment to life, and yet he subconsciously avoided getting executed every time. When Sagiri told him about Yui, Gabimaru finally realised that instead of dying, he wanted to go back to her.
This is how he joined the expedition in search of an Elixir of Life, hoping to get a pardon from the Shogun. Gabimaru’s memories of Yui throughout the challenging ordeal give him much-needed encouragement.
Why was there confusion regarding Yui’s existence?
Gabimaru’s always believed the Village Chief of Iwagakure to be immortal because of the tricks he used to pull off in front of the Shonibi. He claimed to have bought the Elixir of Life from a merchant to back up his story. However, when Sagiri told this story to Yuzuriha, the latter revealed it was only Genjutsu.
As a Kunoichi, Yuzuriha was aware of the tricks of Village Chiefs to instil fear among their subordinates. What’s more, the Village Chief of Iwagakure was famous for his Genjutsu. Therefore, pulling such a trick was incredibly easy for him.
Yuzuriha further hypothesised that Yui may not be real after all. Since Gabimaru is an assassin and only 16 years old, it didn’t make sense for the Chief to give him a household by making his daughter marry Gabimaru.
Gabimaru, on the other hand, started losing part of his memories, which further solidified Yuzuriha’s claim of Yui being imaginary. She claimed that the Village Chief put Gabimaru under a Genjutsu so he wouldn’t want to leave the village, but his plan backfired.
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Yui isn’t Gabimaru’s imagination in Hell’s Paradise
Despite Yuzuriha’s hypothesis and his fading memories, Gabimaru never doubted Yui’s existence. He genuinely believed that the time they spent together was real and that’s what kept pushing him to complete the mission.
In the later chapters of Hell’s Paradise, Gabimaru learned that although Yui was real, she wasn’t what she seemed to be. She always pretended to be unaware of the cruel world, but being the Village Chief’s daughter, she grew up in a violent environment.
As such, their conversations will always include metaphors related to battle and life. In fact, she dreamt of a normal life more than Gabimaru did. She only appeared in chapters 126 and 127, the final chapters of the manga.
Despite having so little screen time, Yui is one of the most important characters in the series. Without her, Gabimaru would never have wanted to fight for pardon by accepting the mission to find the Elixir.
Hell’s Paradise can currently be streamed on Crunchyroll. In the meantime, check out our other anime coverage below:
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