After watching 12 heart and mind-boggling episodes of Death Parade by Madhouse Studio, here’s my take.
A question that has passed at least once: Where do we go after we die?
This is where the premise of Death Parade starts; judgment after death.
Two guest souls deprived of some essential memories are judged by arbiters in the form of bartenders through one-on-one games selected by the guests themselves to bring out the darkness in them revealing their worthiness to be either sent to the void or the resurrection.
The concept heavily draws from the roman catholic idea of heaven and hell and purgatory where souls stay before they are judged as mentioned earlier.
What is great about Death Parade is it is open to interpretation of what the characters in the story represent. The arbiters are Decim and Ginta, the head of the arbiter Nona, the elevator clerk and overall assistant Clavis, the information specialist Quin, the organization clerk Castra, and the overseer/god Oculus. This will ultimately fall on what are your beliefs on life, death, and spirituality when you try to interpret the meaning behind each of them.
However, what is great about Death Parade is also what is bad in this case since you might get lost on what is being presented in front of you. But no worries since every story is around 2-3 episodes and the wrap-around story of Decim and Chiyuki (Black Haired Lady) stringing them all in the most melancholic tear-jerking final 2 episodes I have ever watched.
The art is top-notch, knowing that the studio behind it is the same as the ones responsible for Hunter x Hunter 2011, One Punch Man, and Death Note (Yagami Light cameo in the later episode).
The sound is solid, bringing some funk to the opening theme and the dark and gloomy tunes of the ending song with the great musical ambiance through each episode.
This anime is not for everyone, you would need to have a feeling mind and a thinking heart to truly appreciate this piece of work.
With that said, Death Parade gets a perfect 10 memento mori cocktails (remember that you must die) out of 10.
