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| That was interesting, I think this would have worked really well as an episodic series. |
| Watched this I while ago, but only found this thread today. I must say the show really impressed me for something so short, and was quite remarkable. The fact that we don't know which of them went to hell or heaven makes it that much more riveting to think about. I'd certainly be thrilled if they continued this as an episodic series, though I do wonder if the story could withstand further prolonging. |
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| There are some really interesting interpretations here, especially the ideas where the winner goes to hell and the loser goes to heaven. This is because I think it was predetermined that the old man would go to hell and his flashbacks show that maybe he deserved to go there, and the young man would have gone to heaven because he was young and regretted his mistakes, so this pool game was to give the old man another chance, and the young man another test to see how they would use their morals in this situation. Hence, in the end the young man lost because he resorted to unfair violence - the old man couldn't have been him in a fist fight. Another idea: The woman wanted to play a game of billiards with the bartender to see if they could figure something out - perhaps this was to decide who was the better one among them (by better I mean just generally better, a form of hierarchy - they have never lived so they don't really have experience of understanding each other or being equals). But, the bartender had reached this conclusion a while back and keeps himself in control by giving her no answers - meaning he can be the 'better' person. This would mean that in reality, even the bartender doesn't know where they are going, what the purpose of this was or anything. It has been said before that the elevator doors are meaningless since they used the same doors on entry so maybe the bartender was told to just send them to the same elevator doors on the way back, and give no answers. In short, maybe this whole billiard thing was simply entertainment in a waiting room before they carry on their journey to the afterlife. This idea was full of guesses and stuff - it's not a real explanation, just an interesting idea. Anyway, maybe they left so many options and interpretations open so that we would discuss it like this - for no particular reason but to make it more interesting. Overall, this was an amazing anime. I think the way it was so mysterious but simple was amazing. The whole thing was set in a single area (a few joined rooms and a wash room) and with only four characters yet so much happened and it was so interesting - loved it! |
| That was worth the time, I want see more |
| Two Theories: 1: The game wasn't the actual judge. The actions based on the game determined who would go where. Than young guy may have pocketed the final ball but the young man lost the true game however that did not make him more evil than someone who does not regret his evil actions like the old man who bullied and killed people. When he lost it and confessed (more or less) and showed regret than he accepted his fate. From there there i believe the bartender had always the intention of sending the young man to heaven he just needed proof of regret. The old man walked up to the man and said something like"i used to kill men who acted like that" than smirked in the elevator because he loved the thrill of evil. Theory 2: God had always the intention of bringing two people into the bar who arn't actually equal but made the bartender lie about it. One person was always truly evil and the other had done some bad things. It is planned that the winner is the man would would realize his wrong and accept his fate and regret. |
| ~Lurna |
| I think the strings were going to take the young guy back to reality, because The Bartender said "you changed fate, if you enter the elevator you will understand the outcome."[The young man was fated to die, remember he got stabbed] As soon as the old man hears this he walks over to the bartender.[Seems like he realized something] The old man probably asked to switch places. Also If you look as the young man is crying and being dragged to the elevator, the old guy does a tsk noise like this kid doesn't understand that he getting a second chance at life. Then the last clue is during the bartender hug scene he says "Its okay now you can rest." The young guy was never dead he just got stabbed he was probably bleeding out on the bed. [purgatory] Lastly, The old man probably smirked because he was already dead from the beginning thus he caused the young man to miss out on his chance to go back and thus truly winning the game in the end. The cue balls show no pulse in the hearts beats, thus telling us that both have died. In the end I think they both went to heaven. Ironically, The man wining about how life's not fair and no ones equal on earth basically got him a place in heaven for him to "Finally Rest." Theory 2: Maybe the elevator takes you where you think you should go. The game is to make you realize your true colors and Ironically you judge yourself. |
CountChristopherMay 19, 2014 10:05 PM
| Re-watching the classics. |
| Outstanding. |
| What was the twit?That they're dead? |
| hmm, since the old man seems to let the young one win by lying on the floor and the smirk at the end let me think he got what he wanted, indicates to me that he'll go to heaven. The bartender says that you know what'll happen when you entered the elevator. Maybe he can then be judged to go to hell too because he tricked the young one since the smirk looked evil? From my point of view the young one clinged too much to his life and put it above all else so i personally would put him into hell or back to life. He clearly lost the judging game though since it's implied heavily that who wins the match doesn't matter. At the end i think it's more of an open end but tells something about our values since we judged the two men and then speculated acoordingly if they will go to hell or heaven. Also, does someone know what the clue that the flashback of the young man goes backwards and the old man goes forward should tell us? |
| 9/10 loved it. So here are my thoughts: Okay we all now they both were already dead and the result of the game didn't matter. The place is obviously a world between life and afterlife. I think it was the way the had to deal with the situation which was important. The old guy played fair and didn't bitch around while the young guy freaked out, used violence and tried to cheat, just like he did while alive. So far so good, now why was the old guy lying so long on the ground, if he has already been dead and woke up knowing he died? Maybe he figured out how the game is working and tried to cheat, too, but that's probably not the case because he would have done the same thing as the young guy. I think he was just dreaming his life and not faking his death. And now my theory and conclusion about the elevators and the end: That's really hard to tell. The old man maybe asked the bartender if he send the young guy back to life, since he clinged so much and let's be honest, living is worse than staying in hell for eternity. The old guy probably went to heaven. He didn't give a damn about his fate and he didn't seem to regret anything, meaning he can now rest peaceful forever with no grudge over him and thats basically heaven, do you agree? The thing I didn't understand at all was the bartender's "You two are equal". Well they weren't equal at all during life, and that's why the young guy paniked. Maybe they are equal because they are dead. It's the same thing as in Death Note: Death is what makes everybody equal, no matter how you lived. But why do people go to this world anyway? Why compare dead beings? Can't god multitask and judge people right during their death? Doesn't make sense to me at all. Oh and about the smirk. I don't think it was mean't to look evil. He probably was just really satisfied and reliefed he was a good person. |
| One of my best 20 minutes spent watching anime. Honestly, I think there is no correct answer to where they went. Rather the purpose of this anime was to make you think, which it did. |
| your waifu is shit |
| I think the young man went to Heaven and the old man to Hell. Because when the waitress questions which one went to which to the bartender and he reply that he cannot answer. When she left, the bartender was staring at the two heart billiards balls that he was holding. One is red that belongs to the old man and the other one is blue that belongs to the young man. So I guess the red one is hell and the blue one is heaven. It was very interesting I will score it 10/10. |
Black_NoteJun 30, 2014 7:49 AM
Have a nice day!  |
| I would've loved a one or two cour of this! That adjudicator is HOT! Sent with Mal Updater |
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| 11/10 After the end I was speechless |
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| Well that was short but definitely worth a watch. I think those masks on top of the elevator suggests who went to heaven and who went to hell. 7/10 |
| Damn, i really really really enjoyed this. Great atmosphere and very intense. Loved it. Loved the psychological aspect. The guy freaking out and reviewing over his life but man, did he become a dick when he cheated on his super cute girlfriend. The old guy was awesome, i loved how chilled he was. As for the afterlife, i think the old guy went to hell because on top of the elevator, you can see a devil mask and a white mask which discriminates between a devil and an angel, at least thats what i think. But that smirk was very suspicious so i have no idea right now, lol. 9/10 wished it was 2-cour, favorites-worthy. Ryugen said: I completely agree, what he said touched me inappropriately as well. Was actually deep.What the younger guy said really touched me on how people aren't equal. I'm surprised to find such better values in a 24 minute episode than a 24 episode series. |
UchihaAug 29, 2014 7:47 AM
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| wow that ending. I loved how they left it open to interpretation. |
| Just because you know how to use a torrent does not give you the god given right to pirate. My actual list: https://kitsu.io/users/mattbenz99/library check out my youtube channel for my review: https://www.youtube.com/user/mattbenz99 |
| Wow, such a hidden treasure I find this anime. Didn't disappoint a bit. Even though it's only 25 min it's really deliver its message well. And enough to make me think a lot about it. Good job Madhouse, I hope you're making this kind of anime again rather than Mahouka. |
"All things are poison, and nothing is without poison; only the dose permits something not to be poisonous"  PROJECT-ERASER |
| that was great |
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| Damn, that was actually pretty cool. That was a powerful ending, too. Love the open ending. I also don't think there's a correct answer; it's meant to make the viewer speculate without giving them the truth. |
 ☩ Discord: the.path.to.pathos ☩ RateYourMusic ☩ last.fm |
| open ending meh i hope the TV series will have conclusive ending though or at least some easily noticeable hints as to what their fate is this one is true though  |
| Pretty awesome episode. Can't wait for the series!! 8/10 |
| Well done. I enjoyed it a lot :) |
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| Only really watched it cause I heard that there will be a series based off of this but I got to say I was really impressed. It just makes me a bit antsy now to see the series now. |
| Good shit! Getting hyped for the Death Parade! I don't understand why they had the whole "if you lose you die" deal when they were already dead on arrival. That part just confused me. Maybe the loser goes to hell and the winner goes to heaven? That grandpa was pretty fucking badass. I wonder if he went to hell, that malicious face he made at the end makes me believe so. Not so sure about the other guy though the bartender did say they were on equal footing. 4/5 |
FunnyRatmanNov 5, 2014 9:23 PM
Berzin said: That's exactly what I was thinking!This was an interesting watch it was like Kaiji meets Jigoku Shoujo! I know it's a training project but i really hope they continue this a bit further someday. |
| That old mans smirk at the end was great:) |
| ---------My Profile------------ |
| this was crazy i wonder how they're going to do the show it? def looking forward to it!!!! |
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| That was freaking amazing! The dark vibes coming off this...the concept is really unique and has an awful lot of potential, there's just so many interesting themes that could be explored with a setting like this... Animation and Art were just Top, specially the backgrounds, gloomy and gorgeous, aesthetics were beautiful, great color palettes, really sets up the mood. Overall this looks pretty damn amazing! Soundtrack was Great, don't have much to say with only 20 minutes though, i liked what i heard. Characters looks cool, i like the bartenders, very intriguing. Also this is an Anime-original! Which means Madhouse is free to do what they like, i can't really word it well, but the implications and advantages of this being an original anime are huge! Now i'm really hyped for Death Parade! That twist at the end, the younger man's speech and the way the flashbacks were played...i'm surprised to find such quality in 24 minutes, when series with 24 episodes (or even longer) fail to deliver something this genuinely good. 9/10 |
PriestSlayerDec 12, 2014 9:35 PM
FragOutFire said: Why am I a Berserk fan? All I ever experience is pain. We are in the eclipse and Miura has sacrificed us |
So... Death Parade based on this kind of OVA? A very interesting and twisted view about human's life. Kinda reminds of Mushishi, but when Mushishi conveys its message gently in a "classical" way, this one conveys its message in a more "retro" and modern way. Very interesting, and fresh. 4.9/5, the only reason I still give it that score is for the room of improvement in the upcoming series. |
HOW TO SAVE ANIME IN THREE SIMPLE STEPS
Should even one of the above conditions cannot be done, anime is still at risk. |
| Wow! Freaking liked the open-ended ending! Death Parade hype train, count me in! |
| "Having someone saying you're okay as you are and being needed by that person... It was nice to have someone like that..." — Taiga Aisaka |
| Feeling hyped for Death Parade! |
| The afternoon has gently passed me by The evening spreads its sail against the sky Waiting for tomorrow Just another day God bid yesterday goodbye... |
ChaoticSilence said: I don't understand why they had the whole "if you lose you die" deal when they were already dead on arrival. That part just confused me. Maybe the loser goes to hell and the winner goes to heaven? The Bartender never said if they lost they'd die. That's just what the young man assumed. Neither the old man or the young man were aware that they were dead until they started fighting. ------- While watching, I wanted to hate the young man which I did. But at the end, I didn't like the old man either. I really want to know what he told the Bartender and what that smile was all about, since it was pretty disturbing. Overall was great though. Can't wait for the series. |
| I'm really getting hyped for the TV. 10/10. |
| I found this extremely interesting. Wished we learnt who went where... 8/10 |
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| This was a gripping watch..At first, I thought that it was pacy since the match was going to get over within the first half but then came some neat and slick twists that caught me by surprise.. After re-watching the first few minutes again, it is clear as a day that death was the cause that they arrived at the Queen Dekim.. Hmm.. This solitary episodes makes us ponder on who's right and who's wrong. Surely it looked as if that the Old Man went to hell.. Also, when you compare the scene where that man came from and the scene where that Old Man left to, you find out that it is the one and the same elevator.. Meaning, that he came from Hell in the first place is what I believe.. O.o |
| Very interesting and thrilling, MADHOUSE delivers again, now we just gotta wait for the series for more answers. |
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| No wonder this is hyped! This was definitely amazing. The whole idea that Queen Decim acts as a limbo and thet a game decides if they go to heaven or hell is so intriguing! The ending confuses me. I was so sure that the old man went to hell and the man went to heaven, but that smirk will haunt me. What does it mean?!?! I need to know where they went!! Can't wait for the series! 4/5. I hope they do an episode or something on the backstory of Decim for the series. I think it would be nice to know. |
nanoflowerDec 25, 2014 6:03 PM
| Nobody's talking about the room with the corpses, so do we all just assume those are the dead bodies of people who refused to play the game? I can't wait for the TV series. I give this about a 9.5/10, but will round up to 10 in my rating. |
| Nice job Madhouse ! The mood of this show was really immersive. All the mystery around this game and the decision were good. I am looking forward to "Death parade" ! |
| Now we know who went where. In first episode of Death Parade was explained what the masks over elevator doors mean - |
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