Episode 1

## Episode Chronology

**The Death Row Convict and the Executioner** (死罪人と執行人, *Shizaijin to Shikkōnin*) is the first episode of the Jigokuraku anime series.

## Synopsis

Executioner and member of the Yamada clan, Yamada Asaemon Sagiri, meets with a death row convict at the execution site. "Gabimaru the Hollow" is a cold-blooded shinobi with a superhuman body who has brought many people to their deaths. Upon meeting with Sagiri, Gabimaru tells her, "I want you to kill me".

## Plot

Gabimaru gives no last words as he is about to be beheaded by his executioner. However, to everyone in the courtyard's surprise, the sword snaps from the executioner relentlessly striking Gabimaru's neck that remains undamaged. This leaves Gabimaru to wonder as to why he is unable to die despite having no reason in life to live on.

On the other side of his cell, a female inspector interviews Gabimaru, an Iwagakure shinobi born and raised as a superhuman killer. Gabimaru tells the inspector that she was right to assume that the executioner's blade was not strong enough to cut through his tough flesh and that he didn't even have to use ninjutsu to avoid being beheaded. Interested in the fact that he can perform ninjutsu, the inspector requests for him to show her but is denied.

Later, Gabimaru is sentenced to be burned at the stake, along with being impaled with a spear beforehand. However, he is unharmed by both attempts as his body snapped the spear and resisted the flames. He is then sent back to his cell where he is once again interviewed by the inspector, albeit turned around after his burned clothes left him exposed. Gabimaru tells the inspector that he was not trying to resist and suggests bringing him a change of clothes if she was not going to continue making eye contact with him. The inspector tells him that she will continue to perform her task even if he is nude and asks that he continue explaining to her his background. Though he believes that his background is not that interesting he complies with her request.

Gabimaru tells the inspector about how his parents were killed by his village chief for an unknown reason when he was only an infant but was unaffected by this. As a shinobi, he explains that he does not possess any dreams since his only role is to kill whoever he is ordered to. As for how he was arrested, he explains that his village chief ordered his fellow shinobi to betray him on a mission after wanting to desert the village. The inspector then asks as to why he wanted to leave Iwagakure.

The next day, Gabimaru is sentenced to be torn apart by bulls tugging at ropes tied to his feet. However, Gabimaru survives this as well after the bulls become overwhelmed by the weight of his legs from him subconsciously clinching his feet. The magistrate becomes furious with this turn of events and furiously requests to bring more bulls to make another attempt at executing Gabimaru. The inspector comes up to Gabimaru to tell him that she found it strange that despite him accepting death she has been noticing hints of resistance from him. She then asks him to answer her question from yesterday as to what his reason were for wanting to leave Iwagakure.

Gabimaru tells the inspector that he was the strongest shinobi of Iwagakure, and because of this, he gained recognition from the Iwagakure chief to be suitable to marry his daughter. Gabimaru describes the girl as an unfit person to be around due to her acts of normalcy dulling his senses as a shinobi and went to his leader to fix the problem. The Iwagakure chief complies with Gabimaru's request but tells him that he must complete one final mission for him. Despite knowing that he was being setup to be betrayed and captured at the time, Gabimaru explains that he had no choice but to be arrested since escape would mean Iwagakure tracking him down wherever he went.

At night, the inspector walks along the streets with one of the men from the execution grounds who becomes concern if she should involve herself with Gabimaru, given his reputation as "Gabimaru the Hollow", the cold-blooded shinobi who killed over 20 men during his arrest. He also adds in the rumor about the shinobi of Iwagakure having drunk the Elixir of Life, the medicine of immortality from Shinsenkyo. Though she is warned how dangerous Gabimaru is, the inspector questions why the emotionless man would fight back hard enough to kill those men.

While in his cell, Gabimaru thinks back to the inspector's past observation of him showing signs of resistance and believes that she is right after remembering how he strengthened his neck to survive his beheading execution. However, he becomes confused as to why he is subconsciously preventing himself from dying despite not having no reason to live. He then decides that he will allow himself to die in his next execution. However, the next day, Gabimaru survives the scorching flames of his boiling execution and walks confused as to why he is still resisting. After closing her journal, the inspector tells the magistrate that she is ready for her next task.

While being taken to his next death sentence by the magistrate and his men, Gabimaru complains how tiring their futile attempts are but hears from the magistrate that he is certain that the next death sentence will surely kill him. Upon entering the room, Gabimaru sees the female inspector sitting at the center. The magistrate reveals to Gabimaru that the female inspector is named Yamada Asaemon Sagiri who hails from the Yamada clan, a rōnin clan of highly skilled sword-testers and executioners. After becoming shocked by the revelation that she is an Asaemon sent by the shogun, Gabimaru senses that he is in danger of being beheaded and causes his restraints to break from his nervous reaction. This then prompts the magistrate to order Sagiri to quickly execute him, which she complies to do by instantly getting behind Gabimaru. Gabimaru moves out of the way on time from her sword being brought down and only receives a minor cut on his neck but is asked by Sagiri as to why he moved out of the way since he would have died like he wanted. Gabimaru then reacts to dodging Sagiri's next attack, which makes him question if he actually does not want to die. Having heard his history and carefully analyzed him, Sagiri tells Gabimaru that he has been lying to himself about wanting to die because his attachment to life is his wife who he actually loves. After becoming shocked by this revelation that causes him to look back on the fond memories he had with his wife, Gabimaru reacts with anger by quickly grabbing a sword from one of the men and clashing swords with Sagiri. Gabimaru denies her allegations and proclaims himself to be hollow.

In a past memory, Gabimaru hears from his wife that he is not an empty person but sadly refuses to believe so since he is only accustomed to ugly things. After coming in to hug him, Gabimaru's wife assures him that he is a kind person since he wasn't concerned with the scar on her face. She also tells Gabimaru that even though the people of Iwagakure are not allowed to live ordinary lives and that her father tried to destroy this dream by marking her face, she reassures him that "people's hearts don't die so easily" and comes in to kiss him on the lips after she still sees him feeling down. After causing him to become flustered from this, she happily tells him that this is proof that he is not hollow.

As he continues to clash swords with Sagiri in refusal to her earlier statement, Gabimaru recalls asking the Iwagakure chief for permission to quit his life of bloodshed so that he may live peacefully with his wife and this act leading him to be arrested. After telling Gabimaru that it is possible for him to gain a normal life, Sagiri pulls out an official pardon that dismisses his past crimes, in addition to gaining the shogun's protection, which could help free him of the magistrate's office and Iwagakure. However, she explains to him that he can only receive it on the shogun's condition that he travel to the underworld, as in the legendary place known as Shinsenkyō where it has been recently discovered to exist beyond the Ryukyu Kingdom. There he must acquire the Elixir of Life for the shogun, which was a task that many expedition teams have failed to do after the only thing that returned from the island was a boat with a corpse sprouting flowers, and compete with other death row convicts who also have their eyes set on the pardon. Having recognized his skill and fierce desire to live, Sagiri declares him to be a suitable candidate for the task and informs him that his wife has closed herself off from everybody as he she fatefully awaits his return, much to Gabimaru's assurance. Sagiri then asks Gabimaru if he is willing to accept this offer.

Hearing this, the magistrate refuses to allow Gabimaru to be released, despite Sagiri stating that it was a command from the shogun, and has his men point their weapons towards them if they try to resist. After shedding a tear thinking back to his wife's past statement on how "people's hearts don't die so easily", Gabimaru reminds Sagiri of the time she wanted to see ninjutsu and honors her request by using Ninpō: Hibōshi to scorch the men with the flames emitting from his body.

While holding her blade up close to the magistrate's neck, Sagiri remarks to Gabimaru that his ninjutsu was impressive to witness. Gabimaru tells Sagiri that he accepts the mission to find the Elixir of Life and asks what the next step for him will be. After being told that he will have to accompany her to Edo, Gabimaru complains about not going straight to the island but changes his mood after Sagiri almost calls off the offer, telling her that he will face whatever comes his way in order to see his wife again.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

* Gabimaru
* Yamada Asaemon Sagiri
* *Gabimaru's Father* (flashback)
* *Gabimaru's Mother* (flashback)
* Iwagakure Chief (flashback)
* Yui (flashback)
* Tokugawa Nariyoshi (flashback)

## Powers and Techniques Used

**Gabimaru:**

* Ninjutsu
	+ Ninpō: Hibōshi

## Anime Notes

* In the manga, Gabimaru is chastised by the magistrate for resisting his beheading execution. This is excluded in the anime.
* In the manga, a piece of cloth floats behind Gabimaru's neck in his reflection for having no reason to live, while the anime has this removed.
* In the manga, Gabimaru recalls the harsh training of Iwagakure in his mind, while the anime has Sagiri talk about this fact.
* In the anime, Sagiri wears her Asaemon attire while acting as an inspector, while in the manga, she wears a different attire.
* After the bull execution fails, Gabimaru is reprimanded by one of the men for resisting and comments on he felt ticklish from this. This is excluded from the anime.
	+ Additionally, Gabimaru's comment on how Sagiri has free time to interview him is also excluded from the anime.
* In the manga, after surviving the boiling execution, Gabimaru comments to the magistrate on how poorly he and his men have been doing trying to execute him. This is excluded from the anime.
* In the manga, Gabimaru glares at a guard after he is demanded by him to stay still after he dodges Sagiri's second attempt to behead him. This is excluded from the anime.
* In the anime, Gabimaru wears his shinobi attire in his second flashback of his wife, while in the manga, he is wearing a simple robe.
	+ In his fourth flashback of his wife, Gabimaru wears his completed shinobi attire, while in the manga, he is absent of his dickey and gauntlets.
* In the anime, the scroll of the pardon is given a pattern, while in the manga it does not.
* In the manga, the Iwagakure chief stand behind his daughter as Sagiri informs Gabimaru about her situation. In the anime, the Iwagakure chief is replaced with a shadow on the wall.