ehalcomb: Death Parade || Anime Review

I wouldn't say that a whole lot of anime talk about death. Sure people die in many shows and movies but none try to go out of their way to explain death. The process of the afterlife and what ends up mattering during life. This is what Death Parade is all about; that is, the afterlife.

Death Parade's set-up and story is amazing. The entirety of the anime takes place at the Quinndecim, a bar in the afterlife designed to test two occupants at a time to conclude whether their soul will be reincarnated into a new body or be sent into the void. The bartender of this mysterious place, named Decim who is an Arbiter, explains this as Heaven and Hell to the occupants for easier understanding. He and the other Arbiters of the various bars that one can be sent to decide the fate of these humans by participating in games with each other in order to bring out their true self. These games can range from arcade fighting games to Billiards to even Old Maid. Playing these games brings out the true intentions of ones soul so that the fate of them can be determined not by who wins the game but who is a better person. Decim's assistant who doesn't have a name and, at first, seems to be an Arbiter-in-training quickly realizes that this method of retrieving someone's true soul by force can be brutal to even inhumane in some cases. Decim and his assistant's relationship between one another is the driving force behind the twelve-episode show. While Decim is a somber emotionless rule-follower, his assistant is generally more morally justified in her actions and can even be quick-tempered at times. The assistant also has a mystery surrounding her that is slowly revealed as the show's various plot lines intertwine with one another to uncover her backstory. All of the other Arbiter's have varied personalities and backstories. I especially enjoy Mona, the 'boss' Arbiter who tries to keep everyone else in line but also has her own motivations. She isn't dull, though, as her personality is almost a combination of cynical and fun. 

The music and animation of Death Parade fit the show extremely well. At first the OP, Flyers by BRADIO, caught me off guard from it's up-beat and fun attitude when the show is the complete opposite most of the time. It did grow on me, however, as it pumped me up and made me feel better before the heartache that was just around the corner. The music at the Quinndecim is very low and jazzy and perfect for a lounge setting while the other areas and bars have different moods and themes incorporated into them very nicely in their own musical ways. The visuals are also very polished and nice looking, though not as stylized as I would've expected from Studio Madhouse. This sounds like a contradiction but Death Parade can be very colorful in its own muted way as characters seem to just pop out from the rest of the scene that they are placed in. 

The Death Parade English sub is on Crunchyroll and the English dub is on Funimation but I prefer the dub overall. 

Death Parade is mortifyingly brilliant.