Episode 8 & 9
[spoiler]
Intense arc. It pretty much exaggerated what was always the case: Decim/The Arbiters manipulating the outcome of the judgment based on their memories or any other whim they might have. The only issue I have with that is that it was fairly obvious from the start so it feels a bit weird that they only realize that now and were so shocked about it, but well.
The arc itself was very good though, the arc of suspense was very well done and the second half and especially the ending were extremely engaging. How they linked their two stories was interesting and the last scene when Shimada gave in to Decim's and Tatsumi's provocations/temptations was heartwrecking.
Looking forward to what kind of developments this will spark next episode.
These last 2 episodes were completely unexpected for me as I thought this show would primarily follow the same formula for its stories. But the sheer brutality of this episode was nail biting to say the least. Granted it may have been a bit melodramatic, but i think it deserves a pass.
I guess it was to be expected the detective was somehow connected to the other guy's situation, but the reasoning and motives behind their actions were played out perfectly. We probably won't see anything as deep and psychological as this episode for the remainder of the series, but I'm glad I've stuck with this up until now.
Ep 9
[spoiler]
The conclusion to the 2-parter was pretty intense. I mean it was somewhat easy to predict in general what might have happened, but the reveal through flashbacks was done well. The episode was a little over-dramatic, but I guess this tends to be how the show goes. I did feel like it was hypocritical of Kuromaki to say Decim was not considering "feelings/emotions" when making his judgement, when we all know that he does infact have emotions. I feel like if he didn't have the emotions and was being truly objective he wouldn't have bothered with the extra punishment in the first place. I really hope this thing blows up in Nona's face at some point.
LoneWolfMar 7, 2015 11:32 PM
"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself."
-Friedrich Nietzsche
The game resumes with a zoom in on blue transition into red, which is also used for the lead-in to the eyecatch.
Kurokami's always been conflicted with the system, so it was nice to see her actively question it now.
Nona is the white-haired girl, you're thinking of Kurokami. Decim may technically have emotions, but he's still performing his arbiter duties in an unemotional way, as shown by his actions in the second half. I think that the show agrees with Kurokami in that the system is at fault, so I doubt that this is going to "blow up in her face". Outside of this episode, they've already been manufacturing emotions by rigging the games when need be. Also, I don't find this overdramatic in the same way as I did 1 and 4, being that the most emotion-filled scene was muted by the end credits. Great lead-in to that btw, with the cracked chip.
[spoiler]
No I was thinking of Nona, because shes the one responsible for giving Decim (and probably Ginti) emotions. It was hinted that the old guy was catching on to what she was doing. Eventually hes gonna find out and by the results of Decim's recent judgments this experiment of hers is not going well. Even though Giniti's episode is supposed to be comical, he didn't even make a judgement for Mayu and shes just hanging around for no reason. Likewise Decim can't bring himself to judge Kurokami. That's why I said this thing *should* blow up in her face just looking at the evidence. The sole purpose of the arbiters existence is to judge people and she is effectively taking away their ability to do that. Ofcourse we'll probably get some BS explanation that subjectivity>objectivity and how important emotions are to the decision making process and how being impartial shouldn't be important etc. etc. The old guy will probably see her as some genius and she'll get promoted and we'll just have a bunch of humans running around this limbo, cause of Nona's brilliant plan to reduce the arbiter's ability to pass down judgement >_>
LoneWolfMar 7, 2015 11:32 PM
"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself."
-Friedrich Nietzsche
Well, first off, I really hope that isn't how this series ends, battosai. I'm going to try to be a bit more optimistic than that :P. It has been pretty good so far to me.
Anyway, we figured the two were connected, but I was pleasantly surprised at how they were connected. The flashbacks and the way the story progressed was really well done, imo.
The ending was brutal. Kurokami was stepping way out of line for someone not suppose to influencing decisions. Decim too, but Kurokami straight up told him he would be reincarnated if he didn't cause the other guy pain. Anyway, that was a rough scene. Pretty heartbreaking to see the kid smash those chips. I don't blame him though, I can't help but imagine myself doing the same thing. Maybe not. Also, I thought Kuokami's anger toward Decim at the end was justified. He absolutely set that kid up to fail. Anyway, I thought that was one of the best episodes so far. really enjoyed it.
First things first, those mind-reading tentacles surprised the hell out of me lol. Decim's still kinda shaken up about what happened last time, but it looks like he wants to be more than just the arbiter he's supposed to be. And of course, it's only a matter of time before Nona and Oculus bump heads again.
Really enjoyed this two-parter. MYSTERY ELEMENTS ALWAYS APPRECIATED. Like you guys said, episode 9 got pretty overdramatic, but that's just the way of the show. Teared up a bit when Shimada smashed the chips.
Episode 10:
JESUS CHRIST when the tulip lotus tentacle whatsits moved D: So creepy. They surprised the hell out of me too!
Also Sachiko is best girl. glad she got her soul reincarnated. More old people plox. Makes sense that humans have a limit in Limbo. Looks like Oculus is going to make his move soon.
LoneWolfMar 15, 2015 12:04 PM
"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself."
-Friedrich Nietzsche
Ep 11
[spoiler]
... Anyone else kinda disturbed by the thought that Decim likely has a stash of date rape drugs somewhere in his bar? =/
Anyway the animation for the skating during Chiyuki's backstory was fantastic. One of the best things I've seen from Madhouse in a while. Also best char Ginti being a boss as usual, delivering on those judgments :P Hopefully Decim can follow suit. I wonder what Oculus has planned for Nona though...
LoneWolfMar 21, 2015 8:20 AM
"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself."
-Friedrich Nietzsche
Jeez, that ice-skating sequence was ridiculous, clocking at almost 4 minutes.
And the elevator scene too, worth it just for that single moment.
So, the ED is clearly showing us the void.
@batto - Lol, I wonder what else he has hidden back there.
That ice skating sequence was beautiful. I loved every second of it. Makes me want to watch an anime where ice skating is a central theme. I really like Kurokami's character. Her design, back story, seiyuu, pretty much everything about her.
That elevator sequence was equally magnificent. This was easily the best episode in the series for me. Can't wait for the finale.
Just making the connection now, but it's neat how this ended alongside Parasyte. Very different shows, but both showcase their characters struggling to understand one another, while ultimately gaining a greater appreciation for life.
Figured they wouldn't have time to make any significant changes, but I enjoyed the character resolutions and it looks like Mayu was able to leave an impression on Ginti after all, so baby steps. The show took a while for me to warm up to, but this was a rather satisfying conclusion. Also really liked the directing with all the attention to body language and eye close-ups, which were purposefully linked with the character's memories. 7/10
Ep 12
[spoiler]
I felt like the show was just becoming needlessly complicated from episode 2 onward, with its self-contradiction and meta-analysis. I mean I get it, sometimes the system that's been put in place isn't always the most efficient, but they are usually there for a reason. This show shouldn't have been about the "system" though it should have been about the cases of the individuals. There should be place for introspection, other episodic shows like mushi-shi and natsume yujinchou do this well, but Death Parade I fee like tries to go too far with it. At the end of the day Oculus believes that a human/life element in the judgement will "ruin" arbiters, yet Decim is still around and making judgement so at the end of the day Nona has won and in a sense "defeated" the system.
Does that mean she should have implanted emotions into a fellow arbiter without permission? Probly not, even if Decim was her subordinate, messing around with former people (remember arbiters are made of people that have fallen into the void) is not really her place. Tonally there was a lot of whiplash, going from intense melodrama to very light-hearted romance, slice of life and even comedy.
On to the positives though, the cinematography, framing, visuals etc. were all fantastic. I really like the newish direction Madhouse is going with shows like this and Parasyte. Especially considering they have been dishing out pretty awful shows for the last few years. Also Ginti. Ep 6 is by far my favorite of this series. I would gladly watch a spin-off series with Ginti as the main, even though he was somewhat influenced by Mayu.... although not enough to not send her right to the void. I can't imagine her coming back as an arbiter *shudders*. Anyway I enjoyed this for the most part. It's nice to see that there is anime is still willing to follow the episodic format and the concept in general was interesting. I hope Madhouse can slowly pull themselves out of the hole they've dug themselves in over the last few years. 6/10
LoneWolfMar 28, 2015 12:03 AM
"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself."
-Friedrich Nietzsche
Nice and relaxing episode that certainly contributed to Decim's character development. And based Lotus Tentacles were awesome as you guys mentioned. I guess now the confrontation this show has building up to is ahead, I hope they handle it well.
Episode 11
Holy goddamn iceskating scene. That was just gorgeous and beautiful in more than just the visual sense. Ginti's judgment and the ensuing elevator scene were very good as well. Harsh, but fair. And the Light Yagami reference was perfectly placed as brian pointed out. Great episode overall, gonna be hard for ep 12 to beat that.
Episode 12
[spoiler]
Very good episode as well. I liked how it gave some closure/conclusion while still ending on a generally open-ended note. Anything else would have seemed out of place after only 12 episodes. It wasn't up there with episode 11, but still those last 2 episodes pushed it from a solid 7/10 to an 8/10 for me. The visuals/cinematography as well. Good stuff overall, even if not all the episodes early on were that exciting.
Decim's smile was great to see <3.
I was actually a good bit disappointed with this final episode. I know Decim is feeling the human emotion of sorrow for the first time, but I thought falling to his knees, screaming to the top of his lungs, and pouring tears was over-doing it, for his character. I don't mind the melodrama, I actually enjoy it when it fits the character. I just think it would have been better if they toned it down a bit in his case. As for Kurokami, it suited her character perfectly. I thought she shined this episode and her trauma/psychological struggle was great. Her comforting of Decim was a great moment as well. Though, I knew he was just judging/testing her from the beginning. I thought they made it really obvious. Too obvious. I guess they weren't really trying to hide that fact, but I think it would have had more impact if they did hide it a bit more.
I wasn't really satisfied with Nona x Flower Beard's resolution either. Simply because there wasn't a resolution. Nothing has changed and Oculus didn't reveal anything that we didn't already know. I figured that their issues wouldn't be resolved in only one episode, but I was kind of hoping for a little more than "that is a stupid idea...no its not...im watching you...i dont care."
The reveal that the Arbiters are made from those sent to the void is an awesome concept. They could have done so much more with that angle and it instantly made me wish they had.
The series, as a whole, was really entertaining. It was great to see a quality episodic series that wasn't a comedy. Mushishi is better, obviously, but I thought this done a pretty nice job with the formula as well. The art was great, particularly the overall design (characters and scenery). That OP is one of the best of the season and would be pretty high on my all time OP list. The song and the visuals. I could watch Decim and Kurokami ballroom dance for an entire episode. I liked the characters well enough even if some of them didn't get enough screen time. Ahem, Ginti, *cough.* Really love Kurokami and everything surrounding her and her story. I expect this would have gotten a 9 from me if I wasn't as disappointed with the ending. Still gets an 8/10, (86%) from me.