Death Parade

Death Parade is totally awesome. It has an interesting theme, good atmosphere, it is imaginative (and I really enjoyed reading reviews and speculations of other reviewers about how it actually turned out and why it was so). In the third episode, the anime’s creators are obviously no strangers to making shows touching and moving. I thought it was an awesome show due to the charismatic Decim and the way they gradually reveal the backstory of the mysterious brunette who assists him. Even the ending is good, in my opinion, and I liked it a lot. What is also awesome, in my view, and I have to give it a shout out, even though others have done it, is the opening, which, while it suits the overall feel of this anime series about as well as a laugh at a funeral, has a very nice piece of music. In conclusion, if I take all the anime series from this winter’s releases and subtract all the follow-ups (sequels, season two, etc.), then I can safely say that of the new anime series, Death Parade is clearly the best, in my opinion. So I will award it a well-deserved 9/10. (2015.01.23)

It reminded me a bit of Shinigami no Ballad. Not so much in terms of the story, but in the mood and the main characters. I'm sure the kihontekini have something similar. It's not a gem, it's basically an anime about nothing, but oddly enough it's not particularly boring and the characters are quite enjoyable. The animation is unremarkable for its time, the opening and ending are a world unto themselves. It basically goes over the same thing over and over again, so as a dinner table setting it's very appropriate. An utterly unremarkable mediocrity. (2016.03.03)

Death Parade is a beautiful example of how trying to develop a short piece of work into a fully-fledged television show does not always complement the original work. While Death Billiards was not exactly a top-class piece of work that made my suspenders burst with suspense and excitement, it was thanks to its excellently built suspense and mysterious atmosphere, short running time, and open ending that left the audience’s mind full of questions and was therefore quite cathartic. So, in that regard, Death Billiards stood out as a stand-alone work, and after watching it, I did not expect any sort of follow-up in the form of a fully-fledged season. Therefore, rather, unfortunately, Death Parade did not boost the value of the original work in any way. To my disappointment, the season follows a silly and, for me personally, a severely unpleasant pattern almost the entire time: throw in an as-yet-unseen game, and always choose two participants so that their interactions will cause the greatest possible amount of emotional outpouring on-screen, and to move the audience as much as possible. This of course entails showing over-the-top emotional outbursts as much as possible, shouting lines full of pathos, and would-be philosophical horseshit, which again is just a means to manipulate the audience’s feelings. I refuse to engage in such games with the production company. I am not sure if the original Death Billiards suffered a bit from being embarrassingly calculated, but if it did, it certainly did not suffer to this extent. Thus, only the soundtrack, along with the opening theme song, and the outstanding visuals are worthy of praise, which of course is not enough to make a season successful. Maybe it would perhaps demand more elaborate characters, psychology, a deeper story and for the repetitiveness to be kept to an absolute minimum? But alas, this is just a first-rate attempt to emotionally manipulate the audience by any means necessary. For the soundtrack, the artwork, and the good things left from the original Death Billiards, I give it a very weak 2 stars. (2015.12.24)

Questions of life and death can be approached in various ways. Through unexpected twists, moving scenes set to a touching soundtrack, or casual dialogue about both trivial and all-encompassing matters. Death Parade excels in all of these aspects, bringing a flood of thoughts about life, death, and everything in between, while also presenting the viewer with a perfectly contrasting main duo. While Decim is a puppet and puppeteer without emotions, primarily focused on doing his job well, the beautiful stranger by his side keeps her story hidden for a long time. However, it is precisely because of the feelings concealed within her that the series resonates profoundly and lingers for a long time. When the time comes for me to enter somewhere without memories, I hope it will be into Queen Decim's bar. (2015.12.29)