boclani
Watch more reviews like this at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfNozbWd9SJYYwLK2zYn_AADEATH PARADE is the first anime I have seen without anyone recommending it to me. And an anime that isn't too popular, and I believe it's a nice little show. I decided to check out this series not thinking it to be great. And it wasn't. But it was damn close!Death Parade takes place at a bar amongst life and death called Quin Decim. Quin Decim is a place where the newly dead go, typically in pairs to take part in a random game under the supervision of the arbiter. The players must compete in a game that they believe will cost them their lives. Nonetheless, these people don't know they're dead. These games mentally push them to their max to reveal their true character, and by that they are judged with either having their soul reincarnated or forgotten in the void.Something I do find great though is that the show revolves around different people that get introduced to the afterlife, so the protagonists change throughout. Characters here are created with care and these characters feel real, and care for them, even if you have only got to know them for about fifteen minutes. This is where director Yuzuru Tachikawa makes his money. Tachikawa also directed the seventh episode of Attack on Titan, which was the episode that showed the greatest character development. It showed characters being pushed to their absolute limits to do whatever necessary, exactly what Death Parade is about. Changing characters every episode can be seen as slightly repetitive as the show goes on. Tachikawa shows the moments leading up to their darkest moments and their death. Most of these characters are bad, and some truly horrible! Inside you're punching yourself because you shouldn't feel for some of these criminals. But as I have stated before, Tachikawa is a brilliant character director.I am a sucker for great openings. Whenever I write a story I begin with a memorable beginning to get the viewer interested. This is what Death Note did very well and what Attack in Titan did extremely well. It is a huge plus to have a great beginning which is what Death Parade had. I won't explain the pilot as it is something that shouldn't be spoiled. All I will say, is that it is both a frightening and heart racing episode that is beautifully created. The ending was decent. My individual reviews near the end get extremely high, in the nine-out-of-ten category. It is fascinating showing the little pieces hidden around the show to reveal the main character's back story. There was a brilliant reflecting scene in Momento Mori. A reflective scene is when the show kind of stops for a while and plays music, usually calming music, so you have time to think about the subject and ultimately appreciate the beauty of it. I love those scenes in theatre. I do want to point out that, some of the characters just leave in the series and are in the end unnecessary. Some characters aren't explored and don't do anything. For example, Castra, the girl who designates the dead to whichever arbiter. Castra is given about four minutes of screen time in a roughly five hour series. They leave her character in, I believe, Story Teller, they don't come back to her and I found it very strange. Same as Nona and Oculus, the last you see of them is them having a verbal fight with each other. When the show ended I said, "goodbye then?" And also, throughout the series Oculus is rambling on about how everything is wrong about which person is the right arbiter. I thought in the last few episodes he was going to throw rampage, but he never did. So what was his point?I haven't read if here will be a season two, it is a possibility, and it explains some of the unfinished characters. The two protagonists get a heap of screen time in the end and are rounded off nicely. The ending itself you could see building and it created an emotional ending, but I still believe they should have a little bit more of an exploration and farewell for the lesser (but still important) characters.Death Parade keeps you interested for most of the series depending on how you look at it. If you want an anime analysing people and how crazy some of us get when out under certain circumstances, then go watch Attack on Titan, then watch this. Hehe. I'm probably making this show out to sound like its bad, but it isn't. I had a heap of fun with it. Death Parade is a nice little series you can watch in a day. If you don't worry about the little plot holes and the unnecessary characters you will be able to explore a great message about choices and the permanence of them.Overall - B+Watch more reviews like this at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfNozbWd9SJYYwLK2zYn_AA
bmoore07
When people pass away on Earth, they are immediately transported to a place called Quindecim, a fancy 90-floor hotel that serves as a waiting place between Heaven and Hell. At Quindecim, to determine where their destination is, the people have to play a game, ranging from Twister to bowling and even Old Maid, and throughout the game, they receive memories of they died and crucial moments from their lives. Overseeing the games are human-like beings known as 'arbiters' and Decim, the main character of Death Parade is one of them. A pale, white-haired bartender, Decim is cordial, courteous, and considerate, but to describe him as warm-hearted would be a huge mistake. The other main character is a woman with black hair and red eyes who doesn't remember her real name (It's revealed later in the series) so is called "Onna". Onna serves as Decim's assistant, providing new insight in tough situations while pointing out the flaws in the arbiter's system. Throughout the series, Onna helps Decim to realize there's a different way, a better method, of judging the deceased and, more importantly, to express his emotions, something entirely unprecedented for our super-serious young bartender. It's not obvious early on but, later in the series, Onna's acting dominates Death Parade, especially in episodes 9 and 12, and, in the end, she solidifies herself as this anime's most memorable character.Misaki, an actress that arrived at Quindecim in episode 4, once said, "Holy crap, this show must have a serious budget." Death Parade's amazing animation, something expected from a 2015 anime, inspires a reaction like Misaki's every time, and the soundtrack is easily one of the best I've ever heard. The series showcases the same couple of songs but its blend of soothing jazz and classical music always pleases me (Death Parade's greatest exhibition of musical excellence is in the unforgettable sequence in episode 11, where an ice skater and an extremely emotional piano piece glide across a vast ice rink in perfect harmony). One of my favorite things about Death Parade is its theme song, a fast-paced, synthesized-pop number containing lyrics that alternate between English and Japanese. For some shows, the opening is the highlight of the series, but for Death Parade, it's one more great aspect in an anime full of them.Quindecim is not only the home of our two main characters, Decim and Onna; it is the residence of tons of other characters as well. Nona is Decim's boss as well as the owner of the establishment, a demanding young woman requiring perfection from her subordinates, and a petite but powerful arbiter that induces fear and respect from the other characters. Quin is the brains behind the arbiter system, a likable information processing worker with an eye-patch and an unbridled love for alcohol. Clavis is my personal favorite, a relatively minor character with green hair, an easygoing demeanor, and a job as elevator operator. Ginti is the red-haired hothead with a sadistic side to his personality who serves as an intriguing counterpart to Decim's cool, calm, and collected appearance. Death Parade's supporting cast, while some don't receive as much detail as they should (*cough* Clavis *cough*), is overall a fairly fleshed- out crew of characters.I think every great series needs an equally great villain, but Death Parade is lacking in that department. In Paranoia Agent, Lil Slugger was a villain symbolic of society's struggles whose very existence was a mystery. In Black Cat, you loathed Creed Diskenth but his charm, his passion, and his uniqueness made him an interesting character to say the least. Death Parade's main antagonist (or the closest thing the series has to one) is an elderly arbiter named Oculus, the creator of the arbiter system with a strongly-held belief that arbiters don't have emotions (to him, they're but disposable dummies) and that humans are ultimately worthless. When Nona, who Oculus is technically superior to, rebels against his system and alters the rules of the arbiter, Oculus' answer to being undermined by his subordinate is not to kill Nona and anyone associated with her ideals, as any legitimate villain would've done, but to engage in a philosophical debate with Nona and to "keep an eye on her." This is an unfair comparison to make, but do you think Johan Liebert would've done the same thing if he were in Oculus' shoes? The Oculus issue, a run-of-the-mill first episode, and the fact that some of the stories of the deceased folks entering Quindecim didn't contain as much detail as I expected, are the reasons why I can't include Death Parade on any all-time-greats list. For what it's worth, I enjoyed watching this series (I especially loved the way Death Parade concluded the series) and, while it's not the best anime I've ever seen, Death Parade is a favorite and I'd say this is the greatest anime of the year.
