Star Crossed Anime

If asked about how I think of death parade so far, my answer would have to be divided. On one hand the premise is rife with potential and it does have moments where it rises above the bar. But it also seems confused as to what it wants to be. We have death games between random people which shift between heartwarming to tragic. Yet we have exposition episodes about the state of afterlife. By appearances it’s episodic yet this episode looks to be setting up an ongoing plot thread. These paths each have interesting merits yet I think the show is trying to pull them all off. In truth I am reminded of a genius violinist who has a set path to greatness. Yet he insists that his true destiny lies in rock in roll and aims to play better guitar. Rather than choosing a path he wavers between the two, never doing either satisfactory.

So Onna is human. Though I had assumed so from the beginning. Actually I was given no indication that arbitrators were inhuman. As I was under the impression that Onna was being trained to be one. The interesting idea of game where one of the players played before is shot down before it could bloom. Instead bringing in a exposition episode that provides more questions than answers. There are details I like about the after world’s design such as the control center with wine glasses and raining blood. But this would need to be leading up to something. The battle segment was ridiculously out of place. I am glad the boss put a stop to it. I prefer my shounen battles in shounen anime thank you.

The storybook segment looks to be a symbol of Decim’s and Onna’s relationship. I question how someone dreams in storybook though. While I like Decims implied fondness for Onna, this story thread does not intrigue me. The conclusion of this looks obvious and potentially fatal. I am glad Maria Okada isn’t the writer of this series or this particular element would get dragged to the forefront and beaten for every forced emotional dollar. The new character is sadly just as figured. Hot headed and constantly pissed off. While his status as the former bartender of quindecim is a good point, his personality is just too stereotypical. And next week looks to be a flashback episode to when Ginti was the bartender. While it is a good way to flesh out his character I think this is just diverging into another unnecessary tangent. My interest is waning Death Parade. Please, prove me wrong.

Now this is more like it. An arcade game between two strangers with dark pasts. Excellent. But both did have a similar problem. That being they are both people who couldn’t see past themselves. It’s nice to see people react differently to the game. Here we have the two of them mistaking it for a reality tv show. But slowly realizing that something is off. The emotional breakdowns when things get dire were perfect. Misaki’s desperate bargaining and Yousukes deep regret over realizing what he gave up. Personally the most striking moment was the image of a despaired Misaki rhythmical tapping the attack button on the game after beating Yousuke unconscious. The fighting game itself was odd, like a joke game. I suppose it would be interesting to see their fighting game characters as how the general public viewed them. In Yousukes case, a typical shut in otaku. In Misaki’s a cheery vain tv actor.  This marks the first game that Decim interfered with to bring out the darkness of the players. It was a curious position for him being unusually cold. But looking carefully you could tell that he truly hated it. That look he gave the device he used to rig the game at the end of the episode showed how conflicted he was about it. I really like that about his character. He’s forced to play the role of the villain and yet is still compassionate. That last hug he gave the players betraying that façade truly moved me.

But here’s the question. Did Misaki truly deserve to go to hell? Herein Lies the problem with judging with a good or bad scale. There are always people who fit into neither category. Misaki wasn’t a nice person, that much is for certain but was she evil? Not quite. In truth she is more ignorant to the feelings of those around her. She was so caught up in her problems and misery that she failed to take into account how her actions affected others. The very thing that lead to her death. Misaki had a hard life that shaped her to be who she is. If she made a better choice for a lover she might have become a completely different person. With that said, in my opinion I agree with Decims judgement. Nothing was as telling as Misaki slamming Yousuke’s face into the arcade machine. She did regret it, yes. But only after she had done the deed. There were plenty of telling things in her flashbacks and her actions. I for example found it interesting that her special attack in the game where the children came to help and the only useful one was the baby. The only one too young to recognise his mothers faults. It wasn’t her fault but her experiences had corrupted her. She was past the point of no return. If given a second chance at life I fear she would only repeat her mistakes. Yousuke however recognised his mistakes and saw what it was he threw away. Therefore he was more deserving of redemption. Still Misaki’s end was a cruel one and one deserving of pity. Next episode we get to met the red haired fellow from the opening so I wonder what he will bring to the table.

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.