(L) Death Parade

[MCAL]

Well that came in this winter season like a breath of fresh air.

And that insanely catchy opening...

[Iron Maw]

Wow that OP... Compete breath of fresh air compared to what we usually get! Honestly rather upbeat which is weird considering the nature of this show.

So... yeah this definitely the best of (if not the "best") of winter premieres so far. Not that it has much in the way of competition to claim that... But certainly the first show for me so far that really makes me want to follow it to the end.

Fulling expecting this to be mostly episodic vignettes since that is what this type of series often to be, but I don't have any problems with that. I do like that doesn't mean the writers won't be developing staff at Queen Decim if the post credits are any indication.

Now one of most interesting parts for me of the episodes where turns out those doors actually lead to reincarnation or the void rather heaven and hell respectively. Which obviously suggest the view of afterlife is more inline with the Buddhism instead of any Abrahamic religions. But I wonder why they had this fact from participants though?

[Utsuro no Hako]

After thinking about it some more, I've come up with a theory: When Decim lays out the rules, he claims the goal is to score 501 points, but if that doesn't happen, whoever has the lower score will win. But there's one little problem -- that goal is impossible with only seven darts.

But later in the game, Decim mentions an extra rule -- you can score points for your opponent by throwing at their board. You can't win on your own, but you can help the other person win. Maybe demonstrating selflessness like that is what it takes to get into heaven, but since neither of them did it, Takashi had to settle for reincarnation and Matchy got the void.

[orion]

This site says there is no Heaven or Hell in Buddhism.

http://www.budsas.org/ebud/whatbudbeliev/303.htm

So...the husband skipped the happy place/period and went straight to reincarnation prob because he wanted to slug is wife or worse. The wife went to the void to be enlightened and will eventually be reincarnated. Prob because what she said/thought in her last moments, not to mention almost "killing" her husband. It doesn't seem like she got a "bad end", like going to Hell.

[zero7090]

When the husband broke and started crying after knowing about him killing his own child, the wife had a flashback about his proper dignity image. At the moment, her body language - close eye to calm herself, turn her body back to hide her true face expression, create distant so her husband cant have a clear look of her, a flat smile (notice her smile didnt make a V save) indicate sad and acceptance - all of them scream lie.

So i believe she lied to remove the shock "killing his own child" from him.

I am not sure if the cross inside Decim pupil symbolise christanity but any god who send the wife to hell is pretty much a shitty god and dont tell me god is bounded by rules.

[DOmus]

I would laugh if in the end the masks were placed wrong

[frodonk]

hmm, so an alternate retelling of death billiards huh?

Nice, that anime mirai short was one of those that I liked, good to have a full season of the same show.

[jeroz]

well, found myself crying at the end of the episode

[Maxulous]

Well executed as expected, but still iffy on the loose ends regarding the "rules". For impact, it makes sense to either clarify the outcome of the players or leave us to be the judge - depending on the make up of the pairing of course. I felt this episode did neither.

The OP is not a bad song per se, but feels ridiculously out of sorts with the rest of the show. Save it for Durarara!!x2 or something.

[Kanon]

That was excellent. It lived up to all of my (high) expectations and some more.

There are many different interpretations possible, and I greatly appreciate that. Mine is thus: the winner of the game is irrelevant. The only purpose of the game is to test the players' true characters and in this particular case, their love for each other. Takashi succumbed to despair and lost himself. Machiko, on the other hand, never stopped loving him, and as a final gesture, relieved him of his guilt about killing his own unborn child by lying to him about loving another man. She did cheat on Takashi, but it was probably only a one night stand she deeply regretted afterwards. She was indeed pregnant and the child was his. Decim saw through that lie and rewarded her. She was allowed to be freed from the endless cycle of reincarnation and attain Nirvana. Reincarnation is the "punishment" for Takashi. He failed to accumulate good karma and was sentenced to try again.

Perhaps future episode will enlighten us a bit more about what happened. It's hard to judge exactly all of this works based on only one episode.

The OP is pretty fun. My thoughts after watching it were "holy crap, there are a lot of people working at this bar". I'm thinking it might be a disservice to the series, but we'll see what they do with these characters. The black-haired girl seems like she's new here. Her story will most likely be the common thread of the series.

[Nicaea]

Originally Posted by frodonk

hmm, so an alternate retelling of death billiards huh?

Nice, that anime mirai short was one of those that I liked, good to have a full season of the same show.

I agree with you and I think that this is onenof the best series of the season so far.

[Maxulous]

Originally Posted by Kanon

She was allowed to be freed from the endless cycle of reincarnation and attain Nirvana. Reincarnation is the "punishment" for Takashi. He failed to accumulate good karma and was sentenced to try again.

I had a similar reading regarding Machiko's selfless act, but the ambiguity hanging over "void" admittedly robbed some of the impact during the episode. What you described seems like the most fulfilling outcome though.

[MgMaster]

Can't really see what's so great about this. The show apparently wants to show the true nature of people by pitting them against each other in such nasty circumstances although that's putting it wrong if you ask me as it's more like, trying to bring out the worst in them.

Anyway, just going along with it and um, is that it? Episodic or arcs of seeing how characters we can at best feel sorry for but never really cared about behave when faced with games where their lives are at stake? Don't get me wrong here, I can see the appeal in that and even though it's not exactly my cup of tea, I'd still enjoy it to a degree but only if there's more to it. And if psychological mind-games are gonna be the appeal, then they'd better do a much better job than they did in this episode - it actually felt rather rushed, IMO. The couple's personal troubles were basically told in what was less than 5 mins. On the flip side, that might've been a good choice for a introductory episode...

Still, based on this premiere I can't help but compare this show to Jigoku Shoujo, which did better a better job even initially at presenting itself. And I'm not even that much of a fan of that show, having only watched the 1st season.

[gecd]

I choose to believe that the wife is indeed cheating but lied when she said she doesnt love her husband and the baby is not his child. She wants to make her husband feels better.

Great episode, but I watch anime just for fun
If the rest of episodes will be like this, I am not sure if my kokoro can take it

[hamazura]

Originally Posted by gecd

I choose to believe that the wife is indeed cheating but lied when she said she doesnt love her husband and the baby is not his child. She wants to make her husband feels better.

Great episode, but I watch anime just for fun
If the rest of episodes will be like this, I am not sure if my kokoro can take it

dont worry, your kokoro will be daijobu

[Albel VII]

To me, this felt like a darker and edgier version of Mushishi with, and though I like the atmosphere and the setting of the show, I can't say I'm fond of the execution.

The whole thing felt a bit rushed. The characters’, especially the man's behaviour changed too quickly. Okay, their memories only gradually returned, but the changes still felt a bit sudden. The facial expressions were also so over-exaggerated that I felt I was watching a parody. Seriously, the man has drooled like a madman by the end.

The purpose of the story in this episode is also a bit ambiguous to me. It kinda felt like the author wanted to present an interesting moral situation here, but then decided to spice it up with some mystery, which is basically completely overwhelmed the moral side of the story.

These are relative minor things, so they don't bother me that much. However, if it turns out the judge cannot see through lies, and thus, can be fooled, I might drop this show.

Also, regardless if it happened or not, is cheating really such a thing that can decide what happens with someone in the afterlife?

[konart]

Originally Posted by zero7090

I am not sure if the cross inside Decim pupil symbolise christanity but any god who send the wife to hell is pretty much a shitty god and dont tell me god is bounded by rules.

They had those masks above the elevators - I doubt it's christianity we dealing with.
And in buddhism wether you go to your reincarnation through some hell or not - is decided on your last thought. Kind of.

What's got my (and only my) eye - is that they change the mask placement.

At the beginning of the episode Takashi enters from the left doors with an angry mask above, while his wife from the right (our point of view) with a calm mask above:

Spoiler for image:

While in the end the masks change their positions:

Spoiler for image:

Why bother if you can just walk them into different elevators?

[Cloudedmind]

Originally Posted by Albel VII

To me, this felt like a darker and edgier version of Mushishi with, and though I like the atmosphere and the setting of the show, I can't say I'm fond of the execution.

The whole thing felt a bit rushed. The characters’, especially the man's behaviour changed too quickly. Okay, their memories only gradually returned, but the changes still felt a bit sudden. The facial expressions were also so over-exaggerated that I felt I was watching a parody. Seriously, the man has drooled like a madman by the end.

The purpose of the story in this episode is also a bit ambiguous to me. It kinda felt like the author wanted to present an interesting moral situation here, but then decided to spice it up with some mystery, which is basically completely overwhelmed the moral side of the story.

These are relative minor things, so they don't bother me that much. However, if it turns out the judge cannot see through lies, and thus, can be fooled, I might drop this show.

Also, regardless if it happened or not, is cheating really such a thing that can decide what happens with someone in the afterlife?

These were some of the problems I had with the episode as well, and how as bakaouji put it the show lacked a bit of finesse. As it stands I'm a bit more interested in the side characters who we saw in the OP, which was great by the way, then any couples we're likely to see going forward. But I am still very interested as I like the overall premise of the show.

[cleo]

Loved it. This is the only new series I had high hopes for, and I'm very happy it delivered. Great OP, very catchy, and very different from what I expected. But I'm glad they didn't go with a dark and gloomy tune. Decim & co aren't out to hurt people, they're there to let the games take it's course. And while the game can bring out the worst in people, it can also bring out their best as Machiko proved. We might even get an ep where both players reach Nirvana.

Did anyone notice that during the piano music, there was actually a girl playing piano in the background? I love details like that.

[DOmus]

Originally Posted by cleo1

Did anyone notice that during the piano music, there was actually a girl playing piano in the background? I love details like that.

It was a puppet from what i could see, in the ova of this anime is shown iirc