Shinigami no Ballad.

I\'m the first to write a review about this lovely anime?

Surprising. Well, Shinigami No Ballad is pretty much this: There\'s a shinigami named Momo, and if you don\'t know what a shinigami is.. it\'s basically a death god. A god that takes people\'s lives. So she\'s all around watching people and judging who\'s life she\'s going to take next. But the thing about this is, there\'s more to just that.

Each episode is based on one or two people, sort of like mini stories about each person, and the reason why they\'ve been chosen to take their lives away is based on what they\'ve been doing, ... or what they wish for, or the fact it is really their time to go.

It\'s really a nice, sweet anime to watch. Honestly, 6 episodes wasn\'t really enough.. it could have gone on for at least another 6. Momo is a really sensitive character, considering her job is to take lives away, but in the anime, she says \"I cry for them\". Each story is really touching, I think the first episode got me into it straight away because of the story.

It\'s short, which I personally think is a downfall to the overall score I\'ll give it, because I think it\'s enjoyable, and the music is pleasing to the ear. But I would say the stories are pretty good to watch, I guess it depends on everyone\'s preference. But, give it a go and see how you like it.

5 WORDS OR LESS REVIEW: Nothing special. Bland.

If I would describe Shinigami no Ballad in one word, I would describe it as bland. I usually like loli anime, but Shinigami no Ballad barely caught my attention.

Cute girl gets her hands dirty by working a job that involves death. Such premise is almost similar to the plot of Hell Girl, except Hell Girl had more “zing” to it. There were no high or low points in Shinigami no Ballad – it was monotonous during the whole 6 episodes. There wasn’t really a climax either. You’d think the last episode would be more exciting than the first ... 5 episodes, but nothing really set it apart from the other episodes. I think the problem lies in the storytelling – the sequencing of events were a bit off, there were some holes in the story, and you couldn’t really relate to the events or the characters.

Speaking of the characters, the characters didn’t grab me either. As much as I like lolis, I didn’t like Momo at all. I thought her personality was weird, she seemed almost bipolar. Whenever she did her job, she seemed cold and stoic, but in the end she would always cry for some reason. It wasn’t really explained why she was such a crybaby, but apparently her assistant cat (Daniel) thinks the same. As for the other characters, they were all forgettable and almost insignificant. They all lacked charisma.

The character design needed work too. I didn’t like how the characters looked like each other – if they had the same hairstyle, there would be almost no way to tell them apart. Furthermore, nothing about the character design was striking. In fact, as a whole, Shinigami no Ballad’s visuals were bland.

I don’t completely hate Shinigami no Ballad, I actually like the voice acting. The voices really matched their respective characters. Also, a lot of notable names on the cast list, such as Ai Shimizu (Koyori in Sola, Tamao from Strawberry Panic), who played Daniel. Other notable names are Daisuke Ono (Yukito from Air, Koizumi from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya), Kana Ueda (Yumi in Maria-sama ga Miteru, Sakuya from Hayate no Gotoku) and Ryoko Shiraishi (Hayate from Hayate no Gotoku). I’m a little disappointed that these voice actors were only present for one episode each.

The music wasn’t bad either. I liked the playful BGM, but it was still lacking. There was nothing really special about the BGM. It’s the same for the opening and ending themes. It was okay, but not great – the themes didn’t grab me at all. If any, they made me a bit sleepy because both songs were too mellow.

I’m glad that Shinigami no Ballad was only made up of 6 episodes, but then again, I think that more episodes would make it better. Shinigami no Ballad definitely has potential to become a great story, probably even better than Hell Girl, and I think having only 6 episodes stifled that potential a bit. More episodes would definitely provide more room for that potential to shine.

Some might think, 'oh, six episodes, this series must have not gone so far' or something along the lines of that. And you just had to watch it to figure out why it only had six episodes.

Story: 10/10. Overall, this story was very nice and impacting. Let me tell you - six episodes sure can mean something. Each episode was about Momo (the main character, the shinigami) basically watching over a different person and trying to help them realize why they should live and what's good about their life. We as human beings often under appreciate what we have so the story was pretty unique ... and made me think that even the smallest things can make a difference.

Art: 10/10. Not much to say. I thought the OP/ED was sequenced nicely and I like how the animation and how the characters were drawn.

Sound: 10/10. Again, not much to say. I liked the OP/ED songs and the background music fit the scenes quite well. All in all, very relaxing and put together well.

Character: 10/10. Each episode had different characters involved, but the one that stated constant was Momo and her cat Daniel. I thought Momo's personality really fit her. Generally, shinigamis aren't imagined as "nice" but rather "mean, evil," and whatnot. I loved the fact that they showed that shinigamis can be nice and peaceful. Every different character she was with had personalities that fit the situation and the story.

Enjoyment: 8/10. This series was only 6 episodes, and for 6 episodes, it was awfully slow-paced. I know, this anime wasn't really one to focus on action, and I don't think it was intended to at all, but I thought just a teeny teeny tiny bit more action (to keep my low attention span) would've been better. At times, it was just a little too mellow and calm for me, but in general, the peaceful atmosphere of it was nice to see.

Overall: 9/10. This series was a short and simple one that told a lot in six episodes. Although, be warned, if you're one that likes action and has to have something going on, you might not really be all that interested in this series as I was. I personally like animes that kind of give us a 'life lesson' so that kept me watching. :)