There are many animes to watch these days, but there are three of them in the shonen that are made so different than the common ones like Naruto, One Piece, or Bleach. For example, one thing that many people loved including me is that these have strong action scenes with not so much censure. These dark anime trio are of course Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, and Hell's Paradise, all of them animated by the studio MAPPA, and I had to say they won my respect and I would say that it is one of the best anime studios. The last chapter of the first season of Hell's Paradise is already out and with that, you can watch the complete first seasons of all three animes. With that closure, I want to talk about these great projects of MAPPA studios which I liked a lot!
Animation:
Here is where the quality matters and not so much the quantity. The animation was great and unique, each one has its different style that goes according to the plot of the series. For example, Jujutsu Kaisen is more sinister, Chainsaw Man more violent and bizarre, and Hell's Paradise is more colorful as the protagonists travel through a new and mysterious island where everything is different including the flora and fauna. What the three have in common is that their animation looks awesome!, and as there is not so much censure, that mix of quality with the action scenes is insane, especially of Chainsaw Man.
Antiheroes:
What is interesting and also different from other animes, is that the three protagonists of the anime are antiheroes. Denji from Chainsawman does not actually have strong intentions for saving people, and Gabimaru from Hell's Paradise is a known murderer. What both of them have in common is that we might see in the following seasons more character development of them and see how they can become better persons. On the other side, Itadori from Jujutsu Kaisen wants to save as many people as he can but he is not afraid to get his hands dirty to save others like Denji, and also it seems that he only has that intention only because his grandfather asked him before passing away.
That way, there is an interesting plot where we can see the path of these antiheroes and see where are they going to end while they experience a lot of development.
Deaths:
This type of series also is very successful because you can not know who is going to live or die, the plot makes the story unexpected, so you can not know when it is going to do a twist and surprise you. I would say that I was surprised in many parts of each series. I was not expecting the story turned out the way it did.
Fillers:
Something that is still a problem and appears that some studios like Pierrot do not understand is that we do not care about the quantity, just the quality. So when it comes to fillers, these three animes are the better example that sometimes you do not need fillers to do a great job. I actually would not care if they put fillers on these animes but just a few chapters and not a whole season of fillers like happens with Naruto and especially Boruto.
Interesting Characters:
Another great thing about the dark trio is that their characters are great and it makes me to want to know more about them and where they are going to end. They are charismatic, funny, interesting, or even sympathetic, with a great design too! Villains also give you various types of feelings.
Soundtracks:
Not just the animation has quality, but also the soundtracks, it makes you want to see the fights again. Also, all their openings are great, I put their openings on my list of favorite ones and these are: "WORK" by Ringo Sheena and Millennium Parade (Hell's Paradise), "VIVID VICE" by Who-ya Extended, and "KICK BACK" by Kenshi Yonezu. I have to say that my favorite of all three is "WORK".
I also have to give special acknowledgment to the endings of Chainsaw Man (each chapter has a different one) where they show a unique art in each one, the first opening of Jujutsu Kaisen called "Kaikai Kitan" by Eve and also to its first ending "LOST IN PARADISE" by ALI featuring AKLO.
Plots:
If the previous features were not still enough for you, here is an interesting synopsis of each one!
1) Jujutsu Kaisen:
The story starts with Yuji Itadori, a normal high school student from Sendai, but with a unique physical force. Itadori's grandfather is hospitalized and about to die but before that, he asked Itadori to help others and die surrounded by people. He also joins the occult research club and he finds an interesting object for them but later we realize that it is a finger from Sukuna, who is the strongest spirit cursed. In this world, all people emanate energy called cursed energy that comes from negative emotions but common people cannot control it, so as a result they give birth to dangerous curses. So, to save people from curses, there are also are sorcerers that can control this energy and exorcise them. Sorceres and curses are catalogued by grades too where the higher one is the special level.
After releasing Sukuna's finger, the occult club members are dangered by a curse, and Itadori then runs to rescue them with a sorcerer called Megumi Fushigiro, but they couldn't beat it. So to save all, Itadori has to eat Sukuna's finger and become his host. After defeating the curse, Itadori meets Gojo Satoru, who is the strongest sorcerer and as Itadori does not lose control of his body by Sukuna, he takes him to the Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School, where he will learn to control the cursed energy. That way, Gojo postpones Itadori's death sentence until they get all 20 Sukuna's fingers. When they get them all, Itadori has to consume hem and he with Sukuna is going to be exorcised.
That way, Itadori start in high school as a first-grade sorcerer with Megumi, another new student called Nobara Kugisaki, and Gojo Satoru as their teacher.
Apart from the series, there is also Movie 0, which allows us to understand some things of the story and it happens before the events of the series.
2) Chainsaw Man:
This a world where devils exists and are born from human fears. So, like the curses and sorcerers from Jujutsu Kaisen, there also Devil Hunters who must deal with them. But also humans can make contracts with devils by sacrificing something depending of what the devil wants, it can be a part of your body too. The story starts with Denji, who is a poor young man that works as a Devil Hunter in order to pay a debt to the Yakuza. He also has a devil as his friend or pet called Pochita, with which, unlike other humans and devils, they get along pretty well. After the Yakuza betrays Denji, he founds himself in the border of death, and Pochita, in order to save Denji and see his dreams and objectives becoming truth, offers a contract to Denji, where they merge together making Denji becoming a human-devil hybrid. After defeating the Yakuza and the Zombie Devil, he meets Makima, who invites him to join a group of governmental Devil Hunters. He accepts in order to achieve his dreams of living a good life, and also to spend more time with Makima.
Makima wants to create a special squad where there would be special people like Denji and Power, who is the blood fiend. Power possess the corpse of a woman, and she can manipulate her blood to form weapons. Also there is Aki, who have contracts with different devils and is going to be in charge of Denji and Power. That way, Denji, with his bizarre ability of becoming parts of his body into chainsaws along with Power, Aki, and other Devil Hunters, are going to confront many threats, and it seems that one special goal of them is to defeat the Gun Devil.
3) Hell's Paradise: It is about a murderer from the shinobi elite called Gabimaru. He is known for not having emotions and not caring about himself or others. That way he wins his infamous alias Gabimaru The Hollow. After being betrayed by his village, the authorities want to execute him, but they can't because of his great resistance and strength. But later that would not matter because he gets to know Yamada Asaemon Sagiri, who is a Samurai, and she makes Gabimaru realize that he actually wants to live in order to return one day with his wife. So, she offers him an opportunity where he can be spared for his crimes. The shogun wants to send many criminals to a mystery island to find and bring the elixir of life, the one who can do it is going to be spared. That way, Gabimaru, and Sagiri have to help each other to finish this task and survive the dangers of the island Kotaku.
Conclusion:
The Dark Trio are spectacular anime series, I enjoyed every episode of each one, and as I said before, they have more quality than quantity. Each series has until now one season where Chainsaw Man and Hell's Paradise have both 13 episodes and Jujutsu Kaisen 24 episodes. I like all three, and each has its unique different style. It would be hard for me to choose which one was my favorite but if I have to I probably would stay with Hell's Paradise, especially because of the big twist of its most recent episode that left me astonished until the date. With all this I have to say that MAPPA does a wonderful job!
And there is more! Because, despite the first season of Hell's Paradise ended, season 2 of Jujutsu Kaisen is coming this July! Here is the trailer!
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