Category: Death Parade

Well this isn’t quite what I expected. This episode was a much more lighthearted fare with it being about love. It was better than the last episode but still not to the level I expected from this series. The game this time barely factored into the story at all. The twist on it was that they were bowling with each others hearts. It didn’t really factor into anything besides a truly disturbing moment we’re the man was getting turned on from having his fingers inside the area of her heart. Just…seriously what is wrong with you? But things looked up when the arbitrators whispered about a secret the girl was keeping. My mind started spinning tales from her being a serial killer or her being a man. So in truth it was my own fault that the reveal was so lackluster to me. But really it was something so small that I didn’t get why everyone made a big deal out of it. So if you have not watched the episode yet I recommend to stop reading here as I am about to spoil it.

Alright my main problem here is that this girl wanted to catch this guy’s attention so much that she got full plastic surgery in order to look like a girl from his childhood. Small inquiry here. If you were willing to go that far then why was talking to him out of the question? Would that have been too embarrassing? And hey Instead of getting full facial surgery why not just go for a boob job? If anime has taught me anything it’s that is bound to catch his attention and it would have been cheaper too. I can sort of get what the message here. The two just needed to talk to each other and only got the chance when they died. But I just feel the extreme she went to was just too extreme. Well the two got their date and we learned that both people can go to heaven which means of course that both can be damned to hell as well. This is info that will make the next games interesting.

I wouldn’t have minded this episode if it was in the middle of the series. In fact it does feel like a middle episode as Decim and Onna seem oddly used to working together. I found it strange when Decim remarked that Onna was getting used to the game. Especially when to our knowledge this was her first time working as assistant. This is bad as I was looking forward to seeing the two warm up to each other and build chemistry. But the story seems to have skipped that process. In fact this is my main problem with this episode. I wouldn’t have minded a change of pace if this was the seventh or eighth episode. After a few grim episodes having a light hearted game would have been refreshing. But here it’s oddly out of place. We have only started and the characters are treating it as though we have been through a number of games. The two death games so far have kept things on the light side. I hope the next episodes delve more into the dark parts of humanity. Next time we got an arcade game and things look to be more on the side that I like.

Well this isn’t the best start. I must admit to being disappointed in this weeks Death Parade. Mainly because it was essentially a recap of the first episode. This episode was from the perspective of two characters who were watching the events of the first episode. With a white haired ponytail girl introducing another to how the game works. This bugs me in a number of ways. One for being a complete rehash of the first episode, even using the same animation. Two, for spelling everything out. The first episode needed no explanation. Anything the ponytailed girl mentions could have easily been figured from the first episode with a little thinking. Three, explaining the process. Some things are better left in the dark. When you start uncovering the process to how it works it loses it’s mysticism. And four, removing the ambiguity of the last episode. The last episode allowed you to make your own conclusion to what happened. That was great, as in most situations like this there is no clear answer. But then this episode goes and just gives you the answer on a silver plate. Here you go, no more wondering. It’s aggravating.

However there are good things here as well. I quite like that Decim aknowledged that he may have made a mistake in his judgement. Meaning that an arbitrator can potentially send the wrong person to hell.(or Void…sigh…I prefered Hell. Why can’t we keep that ambiguous?) That opens up great possibilities for later episodes. Onna(The girl that white ponytail was talking to) is going to be Decim’s assistant for future episodes which is perfect as she is showing herself to be the emotional compass to contrast Decim’s detached demeanor. Though that may be incorrect. Decim may not show much on his face but there are things about him that make him not quite indifferent. His reaction to his mistake was certainly telling. Plus I wonder what does he do with his doll hobby? Though while Onna and Decim are interesting I can’t say I am fond of the ponytailed girl, otherwise known as Nona. She mainly played the role of the exposition device in this episode but her overall personality is basically just being the boss of the group. If she’s going to be in future episodes then she will need more characteristics. That interest in the human mentality she briefly mentioned for example. It would be interesting to see her jump into future games and change the rules in order to make things more twisted for her own amusement. Well next week we have another death game and I personally am looking forward to it.