Death Parade (2015)
Studio: Madhouse
Licensed By (NA): Funimation
Director: Yuzuru Tachikawa
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Psychological Thriller
Main Cast:
 |
| Decim - Voiced by Tomoaki Maeno (JP) & Alex Organ (EN) |
 |
| The Black Haired Woman - Voiced by Asami Seto (JP) & Jamie Marchi |
 |
| Nona - Voiced by Rumi Ōkubo (JP) & Jad Saxton (EN) |
 |
| Ginti - Voiced by Yoshimasa Hosoya (JP)& Robert McCollum (EN) |
Death Parade was a 12 episode anime series based on an anime short, Death Billiards, written and directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa. Death Billiards was produced for the Young Animator Training Project's Anime Mirai 2013 project.
In the Buddhist afterlife, people who die at the same time (though not necessarily in a related manner) are taken to bars run by non-human 'arbiters.' There they are forced to play 'Death Games' which let the arbiters to see the darkness in their soul, and allow the arbiters to make a judgment of the person's soul.
One such bar, called Quindecim, is run by an arbiter named Decim, who one day comes across a soul he cannot judge. With no memories to use in the judgment, Decim decides that he cannot pass judgment on the mysterious black-haired woman. Whilst waiting to be able to pass judgment on her, she joins Decim to help him judge the souls of others.
In the Buddhist afterlife, people who die at the same time (though not necessarily in a related manner) are taken to bars run by non-human 'arbiters.' There they are forced to play 'Death Games' which let the arbiters to see the darkness in their soul, and allow the arbiters to make a judgment of the person's soul.
One such bar, called Quindecim, is run by an arbiter named Decim, who one day comes across a soul he cannot judge. With no memories to use in the judgment, Decim decides that he cannot pass judgment on the mysterious black-haired woman. Whilst waiting to be able to pass judgment on her, she joins Decim to help him judge the souls of others.
Writing
Death Parade is an interesting one, it is an original story and, as such, is directly from the mind of the director, and I think that the director made a very compelling story here. All of the psychological aspects are very well done and the over arcing story is given enough development during the episodic 'judgment' episodes and really leaves you wanting to know more. The only mark off that I gave to Death Parade is because I really wanted to know more about the universe that it is set in.
In the 'judgment' episodes, I was really intrigued by the use of games to uncover the darkness in the souls. From darts and billiards, to twister and an arcade fighting game, each of the games were imaginatively used.
In the 'judgment' episodes, I was really intrigued by the use of games to uncover the darkness in the souls. From darts and billiards, to twister and an arcade fighting game, each of the games were imaginatively used.
Characters
For the most part, the characters in Death Parade are near perfect. Even the souls to be judged, who generally appear in only one episode, are given enough character development to make them relatable as people. The only real negative for me is that Nona and Oculus' motives are never really explained.
Visuals
Madhouse really pulled out all the stops for this one. To call the animation in Death Parade 'well done' is an understatement. All of the movements are really smooth and there is never a moment when the quality drops.
Audio
The Japanese voice acting is pretty good. Not particularly exceptional, but higher than average for Japanese voice acting, in which bad parts are very few and far between.
Funimation made the dub for Death Parade what they call a 'broadcast dub,' which means that they put each episode of the dub out on a weekly basis, starting just a few weeks after the series started airing in Japan. I think that it is a good idea; Funimation generally has good dubs, and it will allow fans of anime that prefer dubs to watch some of the newer series that come out. As far as the English dub by Funimation goes, Death Parade is very well done. Funimation used some voice actors that I'm not really familiar with here, and I think it worked well. They did fill the minor roles with some of the usual suspects, though (Todd Haberkorn, Monica Rial, Leah Clark, Ian Sinclair, etc.).
I love the music they selected for Death Parade. The opening is "Flyers" by Bradio and the ending is "Last Theater" by NoisyCell.
Funimation made the dub for Death Parade what they call a 'broadcast dub,' which means that they put each episode of the dub out on a weekly basis, starting just a few weeks after the series started airing in Japan. I think that it is a good idea; Funimation generally has good dubs, and it will allow fans of anime that prefer dubs to watch some of the newer series that come out. As far as the English dub by Funimation goes, Death Parade is very well done. Funimation used some voice actors that I'm not really familiar with here, and I think it worked well. They did fill the minor roles with some of the usual suspects, though (Todd Haberkorn, Monica Rial, Leah Clark, Ian Sinclair, etc.).
I love the music they selected for Death Parade. The opening is "Flyers" by Bradio and the ending is "Last Theater" by NoisyCell.
 |
| ♪ Everybody, put your hands up♪ |
Personal Enjoyment
I found Death Parade to be incredibly enjoyable. The psychological aspects of the series are particularly enjoyable to me. I would recommend Death Parade to anybody: hardcore fans, casual fans, hell, even non-anime fans would probably enjoy Death Parade.
What other Anime Revue writers said:
"Dat animation tho... But seriously, Death Parade is an awesome original concept and a funky fresh take on two of mankind's oldest and most inspiring muses: death and the afterlife." ~ D.K.
The Final Word
 |
| For your enjoyment: This excellently animated figure skating routine |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Tell us what you think! Were we on the mark? Did we totally blow it? Share your thoughts here!