Well, that ranks up there on my ‘strange as hell’ o-meter. It’s not bad, not in the slightest just, strange. So what happens in the first episode of Death Parade? I’ll tell you.
The episode opens with these two people coming out of elevators into a strange and unfamiliar hallway to them with no memory of what led to them getting there in the first place. They’re dead, calling it now. They died and this is where they came to get their souls judged. Done, already know exactly where this is going.
Even knowing that though, you shouldn’t stop here. So the couple, Machiko and uh…guy with totally generic forgettable face. [Takashi] head into the bar where they meet with Decim. The bartender who informs them that now, they must stake their lives on a game that will be decided by roulette and until they play, they will not be able to leave the bar. They run around trying to look for an exit despite being told this and find out, he wasn’t lying. There is no way out.
They ask Decim what happens if they don’t play this game and he opens up being the bar and they see a bunch of hanging corpses. Hanging corpses guys, behind the bar. Gross. A thing I enjoy about this though is that it’s merely hinted at with shadows and doesn’t actually straight out show us the corpses. It becomes more psychological rather then gore and leaves how mangled or decayed the bodies are to your imagination. It does however get Machiko and Takashi to change their tune and hit the roulette button to find out what game they will be playing.
Today’s game? Seven Darts. Each one of them is given seven darts and a dart board. Each part of the board is linked to the nerves of the other player. So, you hit it with the dart. They feel pain. Let’s not pussy foot around here, you’ve ever seen one of these shows you know these games are designed to bring out the true nature of people so their souls can be sent to heaven or hell and this is no different.
As the game progresses, both Machiko and Takashi slowly start to crack, both of their true natures start to show.
As this happens, they stop beating around the bush and not hitting the targets pretending to love each other. I actually felt really bad for Machiko for a good chunk of the episode. I was honestly tricked for a good part of the episode into thinking she was a good person that Takashi had suspected of cheating on him for no good reason.
Then her true nature broke through the angelic mask she’d had on for most of the episode. Good job Death Parade, you had me fairly tricked. So, as she snaps she admits that she’d been cheating on Takashi all along. Only using him for his money. He goes to attack her, but as the game is over, Decim stops him with puppet strings…..wait, did we introduce me to a white haired, stoic guy who uses puppet strings? THIS ANIME KNOWS WHAT I LIKE. Er um, so anyway he takes Takashi and brings them both to the elevators.
The ending kicks up and we’re left wondering where each of them went, until after the credits where we meet this black haired girl. They don’t say her name, the Wiki doesn’t say her name. She is known as ‘Black-haired girl’ and from the opening and what I’ve seen of her so far she’s the character I am the most interested in. She asks where each of the souls were sent. Takashi was sent to be reincarnated and Machiko to the void. So I guess winning the game doesn’t actually mean much when it comes down to it. It all comes down to what kind of Person you are.
So is the game only there to bring out peoples true natures? Is it like Who’s Line where the points are made up and don’t matter?
I need to stop being so hard on this show, you guys are going to think I hated this episode. I didn’t, I thought Decim was a really interesting character. The opening has me generally interested in the rest of the cast and I love these sort of revenge/judgement stories that are in the vein of XXXholic/Hellgirl. The art in this show is fairly interesting, I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY like Decim’s eye. These are really pretty eyes. All of the other characters have really interesting and vibrant designs as well. I wonder how they factor into the bar, it’s inner workings and the judgement of human souls.
The MOST jarring thing in this entire episode is it’s dance style opening. Guys, we’re a dark show about using games for judgement….LET’S HAVE A QUIRKY OPENING WHERE EVERYONE DANCES! That makes total sense. Best idea in the world, fund it. No, no it’s not. it kills the tone and if I was watching this show on DVD I’d skip the opening for sure. Opening aside, this was a pretty strong first episode and episode two looks like it’s focus is more aimed on the black-haired girl and the other members of the bar so I’m looking forward to that.
My final verdict on this show is this, if you’re the kind of person who enjoyed Shows like XXXHolic or Hell Girl, where peoples souls are being judged through various means like games or tests? This is a show you’ll enjoy, if that’s not you’re thing. You should probably stay away from this show. I give episode 1 of Death Parade, A dart to the heart out of 10. Seriously though, 9/10 will be watching.
Possibility of watching: Gaurenteed
Possibility of blogging: High
~Midnight
I agree with you on the opening. I mean yeah when I watch a show about two people being judged I think cabaret dance numbers. It’s perfect. Sell that shit. The song is pretty catchy though.
I don’t agree about the opening. It actually fits the theme pretty well, Think about it this is a bar/casino is where you would normally go to have fun, relax, and enjoy yourself. These character are here to show you the time of your life~ Which would normally be a good thing BUT the show is literally about showing you the time of your life your mistakes, your flaws, and your dark thoughts.
Holy crud muffins I didn’t think of that…
I absolutely LOVED the opening. Such a troll move by Madhouse! It’s so catchy and fun! I’m curious about where the anime will go next, because hopefully not every episode is just a new pair of people coming to the bar. That black-haired girl and the girl with the braid look really interesting too. 😀
i actually don’t think the chick cheated on him. she only said that to hurt him after seeing what a depraved, worthless sack of crap he was. the flashback sequences show her slowly realizing he was never the man she thought he was. when she says “there’s someone else i love” she was referring to the version of him that she thought he was, not the sorry mess he is in Quindecim.
^ Actually, that’s what I thought too! After all, she was so insistent the entire time that she was faithful, even when accused directly.
I thought that too until she was sent to the void and he was reincarnated. I’ll watch it again to see maybe if there is a sign one way or the other.
What does the VOID mean in this anime?
I would assume something similar to Hell or perhaps just an endless darkness?
I think the fact that you don’t know for sure how the interpret the void and the reincarnation is part of what makes this show kind of interesting. Because in some beliefs you reincarnate until you reach the state of nothingness (which could mean the Void) and reincarnation does not necessarily end up being a good thing since you could end up as a cockroach etc. So yeah tl;dr noone can really say anything for sure.
I’ll split this post into different, titled sections just so no one reads anything they’re not interested in from the get-go:
NEXT TIME ON QUINDECIM:
Decim, you’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do! Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks so, because our new and gorgeous black-haired girl is rather curious about something in the end. Hopefully she’s wondering the same thing as I am: if Machiko and Takashi are at Quindecim because they’re dead, what’s the deal with Quindecim’s employees? Are they people who refused* the ‘good’ prize for their own personal reasons and so they came to spend their time there before they’re ready to move on?
—
POINTS OF INTEREST:
-When Machiko was about to throw the final dart, it actually looked as though she was going to throw it at the piano “player” in the backdrop (15:33). Am I just seeing incorrectly?
-I believe Machiko did cheat on Takashi, but this was before they were married. I don’t see a reason for them to draw a flashback scene of her in bed with another man if it didn’t happen. In fact, the friend ‘Matchy’ may have been referenced because by contrast she couldn’t break it off with her side-partner before her marriage.
—
THE JUDGEMENT ROULETTE:
As for the whole Heaven vs hell and reincarnation vs the Void, what if those are all options? Hear me out please!
Perhaps you can’t go to Heaven with a heart that is not pure/not at peace*, neither of which Takashi fully had at the time. Otherwise you are reincarnated and given another chance to cultivate the right heart to go to Heaven. After all, in such a place of love and loyalty, you wouldn’t want to have someone who suspects others and doesn’t confront the matter properly, or who had difficulty making peace with their offender, even in the last possible moment that the offender could ever hurt them. You also wouldn’t want to force anyone to Heaven if they weren’t comfortable with the idea due to needing closure or time to come to terms with being dead. I mean, you might reason you’ll at least get to see your parents again and maybe want to go to Heaven at the same time as one or both of them.
It’s possible that the Void, a place of emptiness, is place for repentant people to find themselves again before being reincarnated. On the other hand, hell is a place for the unrepentant to pay for their sins but only for as long as is necessary. I mean, eventually the suffering of the sinner would exceed the suffering they caused (hell comes from a mistranslated Hebrew word so I feel fine playing with its meaning like this).