Death Parade

After death, either Heaven or Hell awaits most humans. But for a select few, death brings them to Quindecim—a bar where only pairs of people who die at the same time can enter. Attending the bar is an enigmatic figure known as Decim, who also acts as the arbiter. He passes judgment on those who wind up at Quindecim by challenging them to a life-threatening game. These games determine if the patron's soul will reincarnate into a new life, or be sent into the void, never to be seen again.

From darts and bowling to fighting games, the true nature of each patron slowly comes to light as they wager their souls. Though his methods remain unchanged, the sudden appearance of a black-haired amnesiac causes Decim to reevaluate his own rulings.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Decim Main

Maeno, Tomoaki Japanese

Kurokami no Onna Main

Seto, Asami Japanese

Nona Main

Ookubo, Rumi Japanese

Clavis Supporting

Uchiyama, Kouki Japanese

Ginti Supporting

Hosoya, Yoshimasa Japanese

Arita, Mayu Supporting

Tanezaki, Atsumi Japanese

Quin Supporting

Shiraishi, Ryouko Japanese

Tatsumi Supporting

Fujiwara, Keiji Japanese

Castra Supporting

Yuzuki, Ryouka Japanese

Oculus Supporting

Genda, Tesshou Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Nakatani, Toshio Producer

Taguchi, Ayuri Producer

Nara, Shunsuke Producer

Reviews

Jul 11, 2025

Naufalalaziziyo

Recommended

Rating: 8,8/10
Status: Highly Recommended


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💬 English Review
✨ Death Parade

• Story 📖 – 8.9/10
... Death Parade presents a thought-provoking premise: when two people die at the same time, their souls are sent to a mysterious bar, Quindecim, where they must play a game to determine their fate—reincarnation or the void. These games reveal their darkest truths. Rather than focusing on life, the anime focuses on what happens after death, and what it reveals about how people lived. It’s a psychological, philosophical, and emotional rollercoaster.

• Plot ⚙️ – 8.8/10
Each episode introduces new characters, new games, and new moral dilemmas. The episodic structure works well because behind it all is a larger arc: Decim, the emotionless arbiter, begins to question the system itself. Slowly, Death Parade evolves from episodic judgments to a deep meditation on humanity, justice, and empathy.

• Characters 🧍 – 8.9/10
Decim is a fascinating protagonist—calm, methodical, but increasingly conflicted. His relationship with the unnamed black-haired woman (Chiyuki) becomes the emotional core of the show. Side characters—other arbiters, souls who pass through, and even the enigmatic Nona—add depth to the world. The show’s power lies in how even characters who only appear for one episode leave a lasting emotional impact.

• Visuals 🎨 – 9.0/10
The animation by Madhouse is stunning—elegant, expressive, and atmospheric. The bar is sleek and cold, while the flashbacks and emotional breakdowns are warm and raw. Color and lighting are used masterfully to shift tone, and every episode feels cinematic.

• Sound 🎧 – 9.0/10
The soundtrack blends haunting piano pieces, emotional strings, and jazzy interludes. The OP “Flyers” by BRADIO is wildly upbeat, a stark contrast to the tone of the show—but it works perfectly. The ending theme is quiet and reflective. Voice acting, especially for Decim and Chiyuki, carries the heavy emotion with nuance.

• Execution 🎬 – 8.8/10
For a show about death, Death Parade is profoundly human. It asks whether people can be judged fairly, whether emotion clouds justice—or defines it. Its central question—"Can the dead truly be understood?"—remains beautifully, painfully unresolved. This is storytelling that dares to ask uncomfortable questions and leaves you reflecting long after it ends.


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🌟 What’s Interesting About This Anime?

• 🎯 Games that reveal the soul.
The bar isn’t just a place of judgment—it’s a stage where the darkest parts of human nature surface. Each game—from darts to bowling—is designed to provoke emotional outbursts. As they play, memories return, and so does guilt, fear, and regret. It’s not the game that matters, but what it reveals.

• 👁️ Decim’s growing doubt.
At first, Decim believes in perfect neutrality. But as he interacts with Chiyuki, he begins to see that emotion might be necessary to understand people. His evolution is subtle yet powerful—from judge to someone who genuinely tries to understand.

• 🪞 Chiyuki’s forgotten past.
Chiyuki enters without memory, but her story unfolds slowly and meaningfully. When the truth is revealed, it becomes the show’s most emotional moment. Her pain, her regrets, her final decision—it all adds a deeply personal layer to a show that could’ve been purely procedural.

• ⚖️ The flaws of the judgment system.
We expect arbiters to be objective. But Death Parade questions this at every turn. Can someone who’s never lived judge those who have? The arbiters lack emotion—and that might be the biggest flaw of all. The system might be efficient, but is it just?

• 💃 A stylish paradox in the OP.
The show opens with a bright, flashy, and cheerful opening that feels completely opposite to its theme. But that contrast is intentional. It reminds us that joy and tragedy often dance closely—and death, too, can be colorful.

• 🎆 A finale that chooses empathy.
The ending doesn’t offer clear answers or perfect closure. But it does offer one powerful truth: understanding someone fully may be impossible—but trying is what makes us human.


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💬 Versi Bahasa Indonesia
✨ Death Parade
Rating: 8,8/10
Status: Sangat Direkomendasikan


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• Cerita 📖 – 8.9/10
Death Parade membawa premis yang unik dan mendalam: ketika dua orang meninggal di saat yang sama, jiwa mereka dikirim ke sebuah bar misterius bernama Quindecim. Di sana, mereka harus memainkan permainan yang menentukan nasib mereka—reinkarnasi atau kehampaan. Tapi lebih dari sekadar permainan, ini adalah cermin yang memperlihatkan kebenaran batin mereka. Anime ini lebih tertarik pada "apa yang diungkapkan kematian tentang kehidupan" daripada sekadar kematian itu sendiri.

• Alur ⚙️ – 8.8/10
Struktur episodik anime ini bekerja sangat baik. Setiap episode memperkenalkan karakter baru dan dilema moral baru. Namun di balik itu, ada alur utama: perubahan batin Decim sebagai penilai. Perlahan, Death Parade bertransformasi menjadi perenungan besar tentang keadilan, rasa empati, dan kemanusiaan.

• Karakter 🧍 – 8.9/10
Decim adalah karakter yang tenang dan datar—namun justru itu yang membuat setiap gerak emosinya terasa penting. Hubungannya dengan Chiyuki menjadi pusat emosional cerita. Karakter lain, bahkan yang hanya muncul sekali, tetap berhasil meninggalkan jejak yang mendalam.

• Visual 🎨 – 9.0/10
Animasi buatan Madhouse sangat memukau—kombinasi elegan, sinis, namun penuh nuansa. Bar yang dingin dan formal bertolak belakang dengan kilasan kenangan penuh emosi. Penggunaan cahaya dan warna sangat efektif dalam menciptakan atmosfer.

• Musik 🎧 – 9.0/10
OST-nya bervariasi—dari piano yang sunyi hingga jazz yang enerjik. Lagu pembuka “Flyers” oleh BRADIO sangat kontras, tapi justru menyatu dengan nuansa aneh anime ini. Lagu penutupnya lirih dan reflektif. Akting suara sangat kuat, terutama Decim dan Chiyuki.

• Eksekusi 🎬 – 8.8/10
Meskipun membahas kematian, Death Parade adalah anime tentang kehidupan. Tentang memahami manusia—dan bahwa keadilan tanpa emosi bisa menjadi bentuk ketidakadilan baru. Ia tidak memberi jawaban mutlak, hanya pertanyaan yang menggema di hati.


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🌟 Yang Menarik dari Anime Ini

• 🎯 Permainan yang membuka jiwa.
Permainan di bar bukan tentang menang atau kalah. Tapi tentang mengungkap siapa seseorang sebenarnya. Dari darts, bowling, hingga mesin cakar—setiap permainan membuat ingatan mereka kembali perlahan, disertai emosi yang menyayat.

• 👁️ Keraguan dalam diri Decim.
Awalnya Decim menilai dengan logika murni. Tapi seiring waktu, ia mulai mempertanyakan apakah seseorang bisa dinilai tanpa memahami perasaannya. Perubahan ini pelan tapi menyentuh, membuat Decim lebih dari sekadar mesin penilai.

• 🪞 Masa lalu Chiyuki yang terlupakan.
Chiyuki datang tanpa ingatan, tapi perlahan masa lalunya terungkap. Dan saat itu terjadi—itu menjadi momen paling emosional dalam anime ini. Kisahnya sangat manusiawi: tentang penyesalan, depresi, dan keinginan untuk dimengerti.

• ⚖️ Kekurangan dalam sistem penghakiman.
Anime ini bertanya: apakah seseorang yang tak pernah hidup layak menilai kehidupan orang lain? Arbiternya memang adil secara sistem, tapi dingin secara hati. Keadilan yang tanpa empati bisa berubah menjadi kekejaman.

• 💃 Pembukaan yang penuh ironi.
Lagu dan visual OP sangat ceria, penuh tarian dan warna—kontras total dengan isi anime yang muram. Tapi di situlah letak keindahannya: bahwa bahkan dunia kematian pun bisa terlihat "hidup".

• 🎆 Akhir yang memilih empati.
Episode terakhir tak memberi jawaban pasti. Tapi ia memberi sesuatu yang lebih penting: bahwa memahami orang lain bukan hal mudah—tapi itulah inti dari menjadi manusia.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jul 1, 2025

Cory0905

Mixed Feelings

Especially at the beginning, it's pretty cynical and nihilistic. Humans are portrayed unfavorably and the overseers in the afterlife are cynical of humanity. But as it goes on you get to see humans act more favorably and some more complex and positive portrayals of humanity, and this is where you see the nonhuman overseers start to struggle with emotions and the cynical ways humans are dealt with in the afterlife. For the first few episodes it's honestly pretty boring but it becomes really good towards the late middle part of the season showing huge potential to end great. Episode 8 and 9 particularly take the ... cake as the climax of the season, really challenging the cynical and nihilistic attitude of the afterlife, particularly toward our unfeeling main character. Towards the end he has a satisfying breakthrough in achieving humanity, shedding his detached persona and giving our other main character, his assistant, consolation and a proper soul evaluation. The only issue with the ending preventing me from giving it an 8 is its inconsequential effect on the world. We see how bad the world they live in is but at the end the world remains as it is with only some ultimately inconsequential defiance by the characters in charge of part of the afterlife, and the boss of the afterlife built up to be the overarching villain of the story does nothing and reveals his own nihilistic attitude of being too attached to how it all works to do anything, so the build up of the entire story of defying nihilism and cynicism leads to nothing but the change of our main character, which ultimately reinforces the nihilism of the world. There wasn't a clear setup for season 2 either, it was treated as the end of the story with the end of episode 12 as if everything had been resolved. So despite all the sweet and great moments in the show confronting the nature of humanity which were impactful to watch and had great potential it left a bad taste in the end.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jul 8, 2025

joemaamah

Not Recommended

Seems like a formula Madhouse has gotten down pat over the last 20 years. Lots of flash, splash and dash, but not so much substance.

The artwork starts off absolutely brilliant, but tails off as the season continues. It never gets bad but the drop off is noticeable, especially with the characters and background work. There is some spectacular animation work, especially early on, then again in ep 11. Chiyuki's skating performance is brilliant. But there's lots of flashy trash, especially sprinkled through the middle episodes.

The character writing didn't impress me a whole lot. The MCs are both wooden, and stiff as flag poles ... until the end. Then they magically are supposed to become these well-rounded characters. I didn't buy it. It felt much too contrived. And who is supposed to be the antagonist? It's left unclear. Secondary characters are all very 2 dimensional. It turned out to be a weakness in the series

The narrative left a lot to be desired as well. Started off as very fromulaic, episodic chapters with zero overarching plot. Then, all of a sudden, it tries to convince you this is supposed to be some deep, meaningful metaphysical bullshit. Sorry, just never clicked for me. The story in the long run turns out to be mid.

The VA work was kind of a mixed bag. The VA for Chiyuki went from bland to boring to pretty good then to completely overacted. The rest of the cast were just bland enough to not be bad, but certainly never impressed me either. I think a lot of that had to do with some serious misdirection. The directors were so worried about pushing flashy-trash animation out the door, that everything thing else gets shortchanged.

This series does some things very well, but takes a total dump in others. It was a parade of poor directorial and production decisions. It's not awful, and watchable enough if you keep expecations in check, and don't think about it too much. Grading this, I can't see giving it more than a boring 72/100, for a C-. It wouldn't be the death of you, but then, like death, most folks should avoid it if at all possible.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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