There's a second season in 2026 and I'm not sure I can judge the series without watching that. I enjoyed the set-up, but it's basically Wacky Super-Samurai Sent To Surreal Death Island From Hell. Death row convicts go on a mission to retrieve an immortality-granting Elixir of Life. If they complete it, they'll get a pardon and go free. Some of them want that, but others don't care because they're too psychopathic, bonkers and/or non-sentient.

It's a fun cast, though, with plenty of seriousness and darkness to get your teeth into. This is a shounen series (i.e. aimed at boys), but it's one of what's called the "dark trio of shounen" with Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man.

1. Gabimaru the Hollow had given up on life and was waiting for an executioner to manage to kill him. Swords bounce off his neck. Oxen aren't strong enough to bisect him. He regards murder as a trivial but tiresome chore to be avoided. He's an unstoppable death machine... but then he found a wife and that relationship is the most important thing in the show, despite only existing in flashbacks. She tried to heal him and teach him decency, which is still bouncing around in his head.

2. Sagiri Yamada Asaemon is Gabimaru's executioner. All those convicts on the island are accompanied by an executioner to kill them if they step out of line. Also, the convicts will get executed if they return without this mandatory companion. Killing your executioner thus isn't an option... unless you're a psycho who doesn't care, obviously. Anyway, Sagiri is a nice lady who's overcome 19th century feudal sexism to get here. She's the kindest person in the show. Admittedly her job involves decapitation, but she tries to do a clean job and prevent suffering. (She also sometimes imagines her victims' corpses crawling over her naked body, e.g. the closing title sequence.)

Sleaze like that is the main thing bringing down the maturity level. Apparently the manga is full of nudity, which the anime handled by not drawing nipples. I've never understood that anime-ism. What's the point of prudish sleaze? The show's undeniably exploitative, with sex-fuelled gender-fluid monster and characters like Yuriha of Keishu (goes around with her shirt wide open) and Akaginu (the Cannibal Courtesan).

Authority figures can be appalling. The shogun assembles too many convicts, orders them to reduce their own numbers in front of him and enjoys the "entertainment". One of the convicts is a twelve-year-old whose village got condemned for following traditional ways instead of blindly obeying the shogun.

The island of Shinsenkyo is pretty damn surreal. It has titans like those in Attack on Titan, but they're not on the Top Ten Weird Killers list. Even its plants are terrifying. Everything there is exotic and lethal, including the scenery. Shinsenkyo is arguably the show's real star, like a less extreme Made in Abyss, and the show's driven by the island's inhabitants, religions and even laws of physics.

I liked all this a good deal. The biggest negative is the no-nipple sleaze. Maybe I'll buy the manga? It's complete and has 13 volumes. Anyway, this is a twisted, dark-as-hell trip into weirdness with a fun cast. Cleavage Ninja provides fanservice, yes, but more importantly she's a shameless, self-serving lazybones who's fooling no one for a millisecond. (But see also the rather good death scene in episode 13.) I admire the show's darkness and its willingness to kill main characters. I'm looking forward to Season 2.

Oh. That was disappointing. It's still weird and it's still got all those characters I loved in Season 1. (And been freaked out by.) It's still got crazy grossness like a thug gouging out his own eye as a battle tactic. (This works!) You can cut a strong enemy in two and he might just transform into flowers. Enemies can change gender to have sex with you. Pink Girl's cheerful "wow"s when people inflict horrendous wounds on her are surprising and cute. (And eventually scary.)

However, it's a Shounen Jump adaptation. It's ultimately just lots of fights, while wibbling about the magic powers of tan/tao. The show's still okay, mind you. I happily watched it. The fights are good and I like the cast... but I could see that the show had deteriorated into fight scenes.

The season's best material is thus back on the mainland. Yes, I know we're meant to be following the hell island, but the A-plot's getting predictable. I was more interested by the shogun's scary people and their plans. Episode 17 is gross and explains that "Mr Good Samurai" committed yakuza genocide, including the babies. Also, it has this:

"Not at all. A ninja's life belongs to his master. On this mission, the Yamadas are our masters. If you doubt us, select anyone here. They will be thrown overboard or executed to demonstrate our loyalty."

"Oh, yeah? Okay, you."

The last episode also grabbed my interest by ditching the island and instead focusing on humans and who they want to kill. There's a new female ninja with a scary smile.

There's a lot to admire in this series. It's extreme and twisted. The manga's creator (Yuuji Kaku) is a talent to watch. Season 1 at least is definitely worth watching. However, the storyline was more interesting before it fell into the shounen battle template.