I’ve been asked many times to do anime reviews. I’ve
declined these requests because I find reviews to be a pain. Why should I give
my opinion on something when people aren’t really interested in my opinion? And
not only that, I need to try to sound smart in my review because my pure
enjoyment of the anime alone doesn’t count. There are tons of anime that I
really like that have a lot of problems in it, but people seem to think if
there are a lot of problems with it, then it’s no good. This is why I can’t do
reviews. That and it feels like I’m back in my freshman English class critiquing
a story for each element such as plot, character, setting, and so on.
I would rather write on a deeper level when it comes
to anime because anime is more than a cartoon. Anime has the ability to each
people values and lessons in life. I know many anime that has inspired me in
ways reality can’t. So instead of anime reviews, you’ll be seeing anime analysis
posts from me, starting with this one.
***No spoilers***
Death
Parade is not only about Death
We’ve been taught as
young children that there’s a Heaven and Hell. If we were good we’d go to
Heaven, and if we were bad we’d go to Hell. But who chooses our fate? Who
judges whether we’re good or bad? “Welcome to Quindecim,” the place that
decides your fate. In Death Parade it
is the job of an arbiter to test the kind of person you really are. Arbiters
have three rules to follow:
"One: Arbiters
cannot quit making judgments, for that is the reason they exist.
Two: Arbiters cannot
experience death, for that would bring them being too close to human.
Three: Arbiters cannot
feel emotions, for they are mere dummies."
Following these rules lets the arbiters make the
most accurate decision of a person’s soul. If the person is judged as good
they’ll be reincarnated, but if the person is judged bad they’ll be thrown into
the void.
Death Parade follows Decim, the
bartender at Quindecim who plays death games with his visitors to determine the
outcome of their souls. The games are entertaining to watch and the people who
come through Quindecim are interesting to watch as their personalities change
once they realize their “life” is on the line. Death Parade has a lot of great things going for it on enjoyment
level, but some neglect the story behind all the death. Just because the title
speaks of death doesn’t mean that’s what it’s all about.
The
series shows that there is life before and after death. Quindecim is not only a
place of death, but a place of life too. The people who are playing the games
are fighting to live again. The audience sees how these people have lived and
how they have changed their reason for living once circumstances arise. It is
also seen towards the end of the series that our main character Decim learns
about the meaning to live, something that should not be able to happen due to
his role as an arbiter. It is clear that Decim starts to understand what it
means and takes to live as he sees this reflected through his female assistant’s
situation.
Death Parade is entertaining, thought
provoking, and suspenseful. The characters that work at Quindecim aren’t just
mindlessly working. These characters encounter people that make them think
about a person’s life and whether they are making the right judgments.
Tachikawa, Yuzuru. Death Parade. Directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa. Produced by
Studio Madhouse. 2015.
I hope you enjoyed my first anime analysis series.
This one was short because I’m testing this out to see if it’s going to be a
thing I do. Please give me feedback on if you liked this kind of thing or not.
I’m also up for suggestions on anime, so send those my way too.
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