i thought they've forgotten how to do proper Shonen like this by 2020, turns out they didn't. Jigokuraku proved to be a nice reading experience with all appropriate Shonen attributes and a twist of uniqueness. I personally enjoyed the darker elements which can be found in it, but for some it might be the aspect that makes them consider this manga "Seinen-esque". Haven't noticed any Seinen-esque ambition in it, aside from a few more mature details, like erotica references and naked female torsos. All in all, it would be nice to see a sequel some time in the future

Jigokuraku carries many traditional battle shounen archetypes and plot points. Thankfully it's short so it doesn't overstay its welcome. It has great art and a wholesome ending. Overall, a nicely executed shounen manga.

lots of meaningless fluff and meandering and nothing felt like it matter "lol let's just tao punch this bad guy group member A and then group member B here is another new secondary character whose personality can be described in one sentence"

except the art and battle choreography and composition was pretty and the character design was cool and there were a few cool moments so I'll give it a 6

I've been following this manga on and off since there were some 4 chapters, and by that I mean I can't judge the story as a whole properly. But for now, I honestly feel like I didn't feel let down by that ending arc, despite having felt somewhat jarred at some of the concepts/narrative paths being drawn so close to the end. Gladly, those feelings were washed away after just seeing those character epilogues.

Perhaps before that ending chapter I could say the author didn't quite stick the landing, but I'm just glad he stuck to the overarching plot that he laid out on the start: convicts and executioners go to an island, come back with an elixir and then the story ends. Maybe I felt jarred back then because I thought he'd be incorporating these elements in an attempt to draw this manga out, but thinking back - nope, that didn't happen and we have such a neat epilogue chapter.

Definitely a lot of room to improve though, and I am gonna be keeping a close eye on this mangaka's future works!

It becomes too hideous to read after 2,3 chapters. The story concept is good, the world building is really not bad and very original, steampunk samurai, western magic sound very unique because I don't see much work like this, but the way the authour develop it just can't be right. The pacing, it's is over the place, plot keep jumping from one scene to another, fighting a monster, yes, every 4 pages, excuse me insert a flash back, ok no problem, wait what, I read 10 chapter I still don't get what is the plot about, it's a horrible mess of plot writting.

Even the characters is so bad in this one, cant even stay in their character, this one time they act cool and cold, then after that they become all emo, and suddenly become all wacky and awkward, they have no real personality, nothing to seperate them from each other. As the story carry on, new characters get introduced and leave as quickly as how they jump into the story, and as I said before, same mold, nothing distinguised, most are very bland like white paper bland, I can hardly imagine them than anything but some brush strokes, some character concept fast sketched, or some old rpg npc with a few lines, stand there, do their role, leave. Not only that, the lines is just pissing me off imo, it's really really feel like reading some angsty poetry made by some 13 years old, each time they open their mouth, they're all aiming for a shock value, to be overly edgy, to show that they're fierce I just can't swallow any of it.

The art is pretty good although it's hard to make out what's really going on at some situation, there're some traditional artistic technique I see here and there, the character doesn't get swallowed by the rich and very detailed background, which I really like about it, overall it's a very beautiful artstyle. But sadly it's not enough to make up for the shallow story and characters. This is a very disappointing manga, one of the kind that get give a very long run above the quality it gives, it's a shame really, it have good art work and all the potential to be original.

... Last updated on December 28th, 2020, 9:10pm

Its getting better and better as the story develops
Especially the point where after reading you wonder if Gabimaru's peaceful life was really just an illusion or was it real.

The story is just amazing. I never get bored of it. I love the world building and characters. The gore and drama is just on point. Its a real dark tale that I just want more and more. This series is just too great, hats off to the writer and this manga.

Great build-up of a beautiful yet gruesome world with strong development of characters. Manga gets better and more intense as the story progresses. The art style is very well done. One of the better manga's i've read in recent months.

I originally gave this manga a 9, but I've changed it to 10 as of chapter 69 (nice) because the series gets better as it progresses.

One of the reasons why I skip over most shounen manga in favor of seinen is because shounen manga tends to lack real character development, or only a handful of characters develop while the rest of the cast remain static characters.

That's not the case with Jigokuraku. This manga has a large, revolving cast of criminals and Asaemons, yet the mangaka is able to add depth and development to every character, making each death impactful to both readers and other characters, as opposed to just killing off characters for the shock and gore.

Gabimaru is an outstanding and very refreshing protagonist - his staunch loyalty to his wife as his reason to survive is a welcome reprieve from the endless harems and love triangles in shounen and seinen manga. Similarly, Sagiri is a rare, well-written strong female lead - she's not crying 24/7 but she's not emotionless either, she's not pining away for the male lead like so many female leads tend to do, and she's incredibly strong and can hold her own against Gabimaru and some pretty insane enemies.

Another thing that makes this series stand out is the lack of filler action - almost every action scene (and there are a lot of them in this series) serve some kind of plot progression purpose. As a result, each release is satisfying in terms of both plot and action (as opposed to reading several chapters of back and forth fighting before getting some real dialogue), but manages to keep you on the edge of your seat, wondering what will happen to Gabimaru, Sagiri, and the gang next.

tl;dr - Jigokuraku is a must-read manga with the complexity of a seinen with well-developed characters and a fast-paced plot!

This story pretends to be a Seinen but it's themes and concepts are shallow enough to stay true to the Shounen tag that it wears. Makes reading this work feel very awkward for those wanting a gritty magical/historical ninja/samurai fusion story. It's still decent and it has its moments, but I've rolled my eyes a few too many times to really give this story top marks.

Really too early to tell to give a very accurate assessment. Overall a great read so far for the younger audience that wants a borderline Seinen.