Written by: Kevin Berge
When are we getting season 2 focused on the best arbiter, Ginti? (Image Courtesy of: funimation.com)
Anime really has no boundaries. This leads to many bad anime, but it also sets up some of the best. In most forms of media, you can only go so far with anything, but anime is free to do whatever it wants.
That includes writing a story about the afterlife as a party game. It sounds weird on the surface, and it is. However, Death Parade makes it work through sheer force of will and imagination. This is a series I had to check out for its sheer creativity.
Most of the time, I watch anime for simple adventure stories with developing characters and relationships because usually those are done well and are a pretty cheap simple form of long-term story commitment.
It is shows like Death Parade though that remind me why I return to the medium for so much more. It is varied and crazy and bizarre, and it is worth checking out series like this just to see if they can actually work.
That includes writing a story about the afterlife as a party game. It sounds weird on the surface, and it is. However, Death Parade makes it work through sheer force of will and imagination. This is a series I had to check out for its sheer creativity.
Most of the time, I watch anime for simple adventure stories with developing characters and relationships because usually those are done well and are a pretty cheap simple form of long-term story commitment.
It is shows like Death Parade though that remind me why I return to the medium for so much more. It is varied and crazy and bizarre, and it is worth checking out series like this just to see if they can actually work.
Basic Story Set-Up
When pairs of people die, they arrive in a mysterious bar where they are required to compete in a Death Game with the result of the game deciding the fate of their souls. The bar primarily showcased in the series is Quindecim, run by arbiter Decim, who judges these souls.
In the process of learning his duties, he is paired with new arbiter Chiyuki, who slowly comes to terms with how souls are judged and why this whole system exists even as its glaring flaws pop up continuously.
In the process of learning his duties, he is paired with new arbiter Chiyuki, who slowly comes to terms with how souls are judged and why this whole system exists even as its glaring flaws pop up continuously.
I still wonder: do arbiters sleep? Do they sleep in their outfits? Do they shower, change clothes? Do they sweat? So many questions clearly very important to discuss. (Image Courtesy of: longroom.com)
Story Arc Analysis
***This is the one section of the article where the reader is expected to have seen the show. It will contain complete spoilers for the show. If you have not watched it yet, you can skip ahead to the Impact and Art Style section.***
In just one episode, Death Parade showcases the fundamental negatives of its judgment system. Decim, the unemotional arbiter, sees the entirety of the memories of both parties in this game, yet he falls for the emotions at the end. The whole second episode which explains the process also studies his mistake.
A husband and wife battle to decide who will get to be reincarnated, and the husband wins both the game and gets reincarnated. However, he only does so because his wife saves him. She plays the callous cheater and convinces Decim that she does not love her husband enough that he chooses the aggressive, skeptical husband.
No judgment is obvious in these stories. In fact, it's not even wholly clear if reincarnation is the good option. Maybe some of these characters don't want to go back to the world in a new form. Perhaps both should be cast into the void, one for being a bad person and the other to complete their journey.
Over the top of all these judgments though is the story of Chiyuki, who is not actually an arbiter at all but rather a human that Decim could not judge. She is the catalyst for change the arbiters need, convincing them slowly that these judgments are inherently flawed.
Nothing better illustrates this than the series' best episodes, the two-parter Death Rally/Death Counter. The mental battle in this pair is like something out of a comic book as the villain easily wins in this battle of murderers despite Chiyuki trying to stop the avenging brother from throwing away his second chance.
She recognizes that it is the arbiter's need to push out the darkness in people's souls that ultimately makes sure everyone can fail. It's a rigged game that the arbiters begin to understand just at the end.
The final episode culminates in Chiyuki's own judgment, reincarnated as one would expect. However, her time in the afterlife mattered. She is the only human allowed to live a fulfilled life after death, and it makes for a gorgeous metaphor on what truly matters.
She makes an impact, a lasting impact that immortalizes her far beyond the first life she led and the next life she will lead. If one can live that kind of fulfilled life, it doesn't truly matter if they go to the void or get another chance.
In just one episode, Death Parade showcases the fundamental negatives of its judgment system. Decim, the unemotional arbiter, sees the entirety of the memories of both parties in this game, yet he falls for the emotions at the end. The whole second episode which explains the process also studies his mistake.
A husband and wife battle to decide who will get to be reincarnated, and the husband wins both the game and gets reincarnated. However, he only does so because his wife saves him. She plays the callous cheater and convinces Decim that she does not love her husband enough that he chooses the aggressive, skeptical husband.
No judgment is obvious in these stories. In fact, it's not even wholly clear if reincarnation is the good option. Maybe some of these characters don't want to go back to the world in a new form. Perhaps both should be cast into the void, one for being a bad person and the other to complete their journey.
Over the top of all these judgments though is the story of Chiyuki, who is not actually an arbiter at all but rather a human that Decim could not judge. She is the catalyst for change the arbiters need, convincing them slowly that these judgments are inherently flawed.
Nothing better illustrates this than the series' best episodes, the two-parter Death Rally/Death Counter. The mental battle in this pair is like something out of a comic book as the villain easily wins in this battle of murderers despite Chiyuki trying to stop the avenging brother from throwing away his second chance.
She recognizes that it is the arbiter's need to push out the darkness in people's souls that ultimately makes sure everyone can fail. It's a rigged game that the arbiters begin to understand just at the end.
The final episode culminates in Chiyuki's own judgment, reincarnated as one would expect. However, her time in the afterlife mattered. She is the only human allowed to live a fulfilled life after death, and it makes for a gorgeous metaphor on what truly matters.
She makes an impact, a lasting impact that immortalizes her far beyond the first life she led and the next life she will lead. If one can live that kind of fulfilled life, it doesn't truly matter if they go to the void or get another chance.
(Image Courtesy of: nefariousreviews.com)
Impact and Art Style
Death Parade's primary question is that of fairness and its relation to judgment. How does anyone decide who is right or wrong? How can you truly measure an entire life in a single game? How can you make the decision about what to do with a person's soul after death?
In this way, Death Parade obviously begins by asking one of the most intense and rich theological questions in history: what is good? Of course, this is anime. Death Parade was never going to get to the root of a theological debate that has been going on without end for millennia.
Still, it is impressive just how much it gets to in a short time. This show questions its own premise down to its fundamental elements and, in so doing, questions all such judgments. Human beings do not know what happens after they die. Thus, any interpretation that weighs the decisions one makes before death is a guess.
This show isn't trying to show how people should be judged after that. It is merely questioning how anyone can make these judgments. We can believe in all-mighty beings that can do what what we can not, but how can we choose to be good by their unknowable standards?
Any show that deals with the afterlife must wrestle with these ideas, and none are ever going to get to a grand conclusion. You'd have a better chance spending years studying theology and coming to your own conclusion, but that's not nearly as fun.
The art style of Death Parade has some immaculate moments and really leans into the style of the producer Madhouse. Its style is sharp with hints of CGI animation that give it a sense of motion.
In this way, Death Parade obviously begins by asking one of the most intense and rich theological questions in history: what is good? Of course, this is anime. Death Parade was never going to get to the root of a theological debate that has been going on without end for millennia.
Still, it is impressive just how much it gets to in a short time. This show questions its own premise down to its fundamental elements and, in so doing, questions all such judgments. Human beings do not know what happens after they die. Thus, any interpretation that weighs the decisions one makes before death is a guess.
This show isn't trying to show how people should be judged after that. It is merely questioning how anyone can make these judgments. We can believe in all-mighty beings that can do what what we can not, but how can we choose to be good by their unknowable standards?
Any show that deals with the afterlife must wrestle with these ideas, and none are ever going to get to a grand conclusion. You'd have a better chance spending years studying theology and coming to your own conclusion, but that's not nearly as fun.
The art style of Death Parade has some immaculate moments and really leans into the style of the producer Madhouse. Its style is sharp with hints of CGI animation that give it a sense of motion.
Sub vs. Dub
Funimation dubs are typically excellent, but Death Parade comes off disingenuous in English. The voice actors do their best with the material, but it lacks the subtleties behind the work especially of Tomoaki Maeno as Decim and Asami Seto as Chiyuki.
Moreover, this show falls into the dangerous hole of relying on a wide variety of one-off characters, which leads to voice actors coming in that cannot always carry the mood as well as the Japanese often does. It's best to watch this in the original Japanese.
Recommendation: Sub
Moreover, this show falls into the dangerous hole of relying on a wide variety of one-off characters, which leads to voice actors coming in that cannot always carry the mood as well as the Japanese often does. It's best to watch this in the original Japanese.
Recommendation: Sub
(Image Courtesy of: death-parade.wikia.com)
Conclusion
Death Parade takes a simple premise and runs with it to the point of showcasing its strengths and flaws in glaring detail. The Madhouse production does so much in its short time both through its individual showcases and its overarching narrative. This is a series with style and confidence.
Over just 12 episodes, it feels like it explores far more one would expect. Ultimately, it stands more as a series of character studies than a full-fledged plot, but that is a fine direction for a series this tight. There's just not enough time to complete all that is presented.
After it was over, I found myself mulling over the details, contemplating the subtleties as well as the bombastic symbolism. There's so much joy and sorrow yet so little in terms of genuine answers. This is a story about the afterlife though. How many answers can you give before you ruin the mood?
I don't know that I will need to return to Death Parade. There are certainly details I missed along the way that I could explore more in-depth, but introductory storytelling rarely has that long a shelf life. This is like watching a feature-length short story collection built from a single poem.
It's fun, thoughtful, and engaging. It has beauty to spare that comes out in a few immaculate scenes. I would recommend anyone watch it once, and it could live your thoughts for years to come.
Over just 12 episodes, it feels like it explores far more one would expect. Ultimately, it stands more as a series of character studies than a full-fledged plot, but that is a fine direction for a series this tight. There's just not enough time to complete all that is presented.
After it was over, I found myself mulling over the details, contemplating the subtleties as well as the bombastic symbolism. There's so much joy and sorrow yet so little in terms of genuine answers. This is a story about the afterlife though. How many answers can you give before you ruin the mood?
I don't know that I will need to return to Death Parade. There are certainly details I missed along the way that I could explore more in-depth, but introductory storytelling rarely has that long a shelf life. This is like watching a feature-length short story collection built from a single poem.
It's fun, thoughtful, and engaging. It has beauty to spare that comes out in a few immaculate scenes. I would recommend anyone watch it once, and it could live your thoughts for years to come.