Review: Death Parade
Death Parade Review Image
Information

Ep/Vols:
12

Vintage:
2015
Other Names:
n/a
Genres:
Psychological, Mystery, Game
Type:
Anime (TV)
Rating:

Reviewer:
Intro:
The winter season of anime has given us a lot of favorites and love, as it is the hotspot season of the year. Many quality anime series arrived on the scene but one of the many master pieces is a show called Death Parade. Lets begin.

Story:
Welcome to Quindecim, where the dead are sent to be passed judgement of whether they will be reincarnated or sent to the void. Ran by a mysterious arbiter who looks like a butler bartender named Decim, the dead are forced to play a game where the arbiters will try and seek the darkness within the hearts of the those are dead. Determining how dark and evil they can be under certain circumstances determines if they go to the void or get reincarnated.

Characters and The Voices:
Decim: Decim is one of the arbiters of many that passes judgement. However, he is a peculiar arbiter because he has a more engaging interest in humans than the average arbiter,making him unique from many. He is quiet , calm and always has a blank face. Voiced by Tomoaki Maeno he is also Junichi from Amagami SS,Naotsugu in Log Horizon, and Natsume from Brothers Conflict.

The Black Haired Women: She is a mysterious being, as we dont know her name nor any sort of memory about her. She exhibits human emotions and is very vocal about her opinions. She assist Decim in his judgements and add a very special flavor to things. Voiced by Asami Seto she is also Laffinty from Rinne no Lagrange, Iona from Selector Infected WIXOSS, and Ayaka from Witch Craft works.

Animation:
The animation is beautifully done by the famous studio production of Madhouse. They have also animated Black Lagoon, Beck,Death Note, Hajime no Ippo, Hunter x Hunter and many many more. As always, the atmosphere in the show is well shaded and has a mystical, beautiful look to it. The character designs are unique and look more realistic, giving it a great feel to the mystery genre. Keep it up Madhouse, you're stuff is almost always in good shape.

Music::
The opening is a hype and pumps us up for the show! Never have I skipped the opening for the show, it is simply a joy to listen to and maybe even dance a long. The ending is more on the mellow and alternative side, nothing to special but it's nice too. The main ost is directed by Yuuki Hayashi, who has also directed music for Blood Lad, Diabolik Lovers, DRAMAtical Murder and Robotic;Notes. The soundtrack is also very well made and a pleasant listen. It truly adds into the emotion of the show and it wouldn't be good without it. Soft but sorrow music when passing on, intense jazzy beat, the somewhat mysterious, mystical feel. The music is high quality that just piles more onto the shows quality itself.

Final Comments:
This may be just me, but never have I cried so much in just a 12 episode show. It deals with loss of loved ones, regret, deceiving, and overall teaches the viewer the value of one's life. It also provides other life lessons too but I won't get in too deep with that. The show's main mystery of the show centered around the Black Haired Women is somewhat spread out until episode 10 or 11 where things are finally revealed about her then builds up to the concluding last episode. This leaves the rest of the episodes to intrigue you and pull you in which can potentially lose viewers. The shows episodic nature is the main pull and does a good job doing so. The show didn't go too in depth about the after life and Quindecim itself so it leaves little spots of questions to be answered. The show does a fantastic job at developing Decim along with emphasizing how he grew with The Black Haired Women. All the side characters are even memorable in their own way and their design, too. This show shouldn't be missed by anyone so I highly encourage anyone to go ahead and give this one a shot!

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