Death Parade (デス・パレード) is a 13 episode psychological fantasy anime by Tachikawa Yuzuru and is based on a 2013 Madhouse short film titles Death Billiards. It initially aired in Japan over the winter of 2015.
Once people have died their souls end up in an intermediary location in order to be judged on whether they will be reincarnated or sent to hell. The judgements are done by having two souls compete against each other in a randomly selected game and take place in a fashionable lounge like room, moderated by an Arbiter. The series focuses on one arbiter specifically, an emotionless Lurch type character named Decim. He reigns over the bar known as Quindecim and judges souls with machine-like precision. One day his boss, a crafty woman whos' real age bellies her youthful appearance, brings him an assistant named Chiyuki. Chiyuki is taught the judgement process, along with the audience, over a series of arbitrations.
The newly dead find themselves stepping through elevator doors into the realm of Quindecim. The memories of the death non-existent, so they believe they are still alive. Decim confirms that they have no recollection of how the arrived at the bar and then proceeds to tell them they can not leave until they have a completed a randomly selected game. The game is chosen and its rules are explained to the players. As the begin playing it rules are expanded upon that are meant to force buried memories and emotions from the players to allow a for a correct judgement. The players begin to have moments of catharsis during the games as the rules and stakes quickly turn lethal. The process dredges up memories that lead to the players deaths and they realize what is happening to them. Once that process is complete Decim can then pass judgement on their souls.
Not everyone goes quietly though and Decim has to employ some supernatural abilities to reign in the newly dead that are resistant. The process is also unsettling to Chiyuki who questions the way Decim forces people to have the 'required' catharsis. Little do either realize but Chiyuki is there as an experiment to test Decim's capabilities as well as to correct issues in Chiyuki herself.
On the surface and over the first few episodes, this series seems cut and dry and rather pointless. Two souls show up, play a game and they are judged. Once the basics are laid out for the audience the focus begins to shift on the realities of the arbiters existence and their world. This is where the story becomes interesting as more characters are introduced that work as arbiters and the politics they deal with come into play. The judgements and the stories behind some of the recently dead are interesting, but there is too much focus on twists an 'a ha' moments to really be quality. In the end the mysteries surrounding Chiyuki and the politics at play with the arbiters is interesting and well done. The story wraps it's self up rather nicely in many ways but I can see room for a shorter side story set in the same world.
The artwork is interesting. The background details are very well done but the character designs have a unique quality to them. Almost like a blunted modern rendition of shojo in some regards. The people are all beautiful in their own way, but as their agony surfaces their facial expressions contort in exagerated and grotesque ways. There is also a large amount of body fluid present, particularly spit and snot. It was interesting.
The series was simulcast by FUNimation and an English dub is in the works. The series has not yet been released in North America on disc though.
Once people have died their souls end up in an intermediary location in order to be judged on whether they will be reincarnated or sent to hell. The judgements are done by having two souls compete against each other in a randomly selected game and take place in a fashionable lounge like room, moderated by an Arbiter. The series focuses on one arbiter specifically, an emotionless Lurch type character named Decim. He reigns over the bar known as Quindecim and judges souls with machine-like precision. One day his boss, a crafty woman whos' real age bellies her youthful appearance, brings him an assistant named Chiyuki. Chiyuki is taught the judgement process, along with the audience, over a series of arbitrations.
The newly dead find themselves stepping through elevator doors into the realm of Quindecim. The memories of the death non-existent, so they believe they are still alive. Decim confirms that they have no recollection of how the arrived at the bar and then proceeds to tell them they can not leave until they have a completed a randomly selected game. The game is chosen and its rules are explained to the players. As the begin playing it rules are expanded upon that are meant to force buried memories and emotions from the players to allow a for a correct judgement. The players begin to have moments of catharsis during the games as the rules and stakes quickly turn lethal. The process dredges up memories that lead to the players deaths and they realize what is happening to them. Once that process is complete Decim can then pass judgement on their souls.
Not everyone goes quietly though and Decim has to employ some supernatural abilities to reign in the newly dead that are resistant. The process is also unsettling to Chiyuki who questions the way Decim forces people to have the 'required' catharsis. Little do either realize but Chiyuki is there as an experiment to test Decim's capabilities as well as to correct issues in Chiyuki herself.
The artwork is interesting. The background details are very well done but the character designs have a unique quality to them. Almost like a blunted modern rendition of shojo in some regards. The people are all beautiful in their own way, but as their agony surfaces their facial expressions contort in exagerated and grotesque ways. There is also a large amount of body fluid present, particularly spit and snot. It was interesting.
The series was simulcast by FUNimation and an English dub is in the works. The series has not yet been released in North America on disc though.
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