Death Billiards

Two men have just arrived at a location known as Quindecim and are unable to remember how they got there. They are immediately greeted by a young woman who escorts them to a small bar, where a bartender awaits them. They are told that they will have to participate in a game, randomly chosen by roulette, and will be unable to leave until its completion; if they refuse, the consequences will be dire. In addition to the rules of the game, the two men are told to play as if their lives are at stake.

The game that has been chosen is billiards. But there's more to it than just pocketing pool balls, as the two are about to find out the outcome could mean life or death.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Decim Main

Maeno, Tomoaki Japanese

Kurokami no Onna Main

Seto, Asami Japanese

Otoko Main

Nakamura, Yuuichi Japanese

Roujin Main

Hazumi, Jun Japanese

Tsunoki, Takuya Producer

Tachikawa, Yuzuru Director, Script, Storyboard, Original Creator

Motoyama, Satoshi Sound Director

Kurita, Shinichi Animation Director, Character Design

Reviews

Apr 7, 2013

Tanshaydar

Recommended

Now that is a single pearl, easy to miss and likely to be underrated.
Madhouse studios must be mad.

A short story of life and death, a story of human life and the illusion of equality. Could it be possible to compress into 25 minutes? Well, it seems it was.

On artistic-wise, visuals were appealing, if not gorgeous. Such details and great work for such a short story, with all the detailed background visuals were something that multiplied the joy.

For a one shot special anime, it would not be fair to judge characters, yet they were not half-baked personages either.
Death Pool (or Death Billards for that matter) uses ... its visuals perfectly to tell the back story of the characters and their emotions. No need for long speeches and introductions.

Overall, a rare pearl to enjoy.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Dec 8, 2014

YoungVagabond

Mixed Feelings

"Death Billiards" has an intriguing premise. An old man and young man, whose names are never given, find themselves in a luxurious, mysterious bar, and must play a game of billiards. It's never revealed what is at stake, only that it's very significant. With comparisons to "Kaiji" and "Liar Game" already swirling in my head, I was immediately engaged.

Unfortunately, the execution is often lacking. The young man is an overly hysterical, ridiculous character, and thus reduces our investment in the game and his fate. If he is neither sympathetic, intelligent, nor even realistic, why should one care? ... The billiard game itself is okay, but nothing special. Considering what "Akagi" was able to get from Mahjong, they surely could have done more here. On the plus side, I liked both the animation and flashbacks. It conveys the atmosphere of this bar exceedingly well. I especially enjoyed the neon lights of the jukebox and the loving way the drinks and cigarette smoke were drawn.

Another weakness is that while I normally enjoy ambiguous endings, doing so here robs the short of any real point or punchline. We don't know what ultimately happens, and can only guess based on symbols that may or may not be relevant.

Overall, this is an enjoyable work I would generally encourage others to see. But it's also nothing special; "Kaiji" and "Liar Game" are light-years ahead of this.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jan 10, 2015

minusatwelfth

Not Recommended

This short movie was produced by some amateur trainees at Madhouse. And you can tell, because it wasn't very good.

The story was highly unrefined and boring.The short movie clearly strived to be a thriller and psychological drama. This inherently means the pacing was somewhat decent; there were a few new things to hold my interest for a few seconds.
However the climax was very disappointing. It was not even clear which scene was the climax because the pacing was so monotone and inorganic. It was like reading a list of events on an author's outline, rather than being engaged by the world or characters. So in ... that sense the story-boarding was quite subpar.
To tie things off, the ending did not resolve anything and was 'open' for the sake of being open. This 'story' was just a one-way trip to nowhere.

There are argubly multiple main characters instead of just one. At least, most of them shared about the same screentime. This was a bad idea because the story was already so weak and pretentious. There was nothing compelling about the characters, and most of their issues and mysteries remain unresolved.
I cannot give away too many details without giving away the plot. And therein lies the problem. The movie was just one cheap surprise.

The animation was typical of Madhouse, very rigid and crisp, thick lines and low keyframe-rate (unsmooth movement). The sound was decent enough; the voice-acting immemorable and unexceptional. Some of the characters were drawn well enough to be memorable. The only female character however, did not stand out and was quite forgettable.

The only strength of this movie was that it dealt with a rather uncommon theme; life and death. Errr, but again, more cannot be said without giving 'plot' away.

If you like being mystified by horror movies that is just full of cheap surprises but leads to nothing substantial, this movie 'might' be for you.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Death Billiards Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) xochandaox - Mar 19, 2013	312 replies	by Archean-Return »» Jul 23, 2:55 AM
	Any clues? ScreamInAnguish - Aug 16, 2021	1 replies	by Irumakun22 »» Aug 16, 2021 7:51 PM
	Related Anime Oliver007 - Jan 11, 2015	4 replies	by ChrnoTodd »» May 5, 2015 11:01 AM
	New TV series titled Death Parade Stark700 - Oct 31, 2014	14 replies	by gustavogbi »» Jan 2, 2015 8:22 AM
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