Before I begin to break down the anime, I first want to say that this anime was thoroughly enjoyable. I finished it in 2 days (9 episodes in the evening, 3 the next morning with breakfast). As someone who ONLY marathons anime, Death Parade had good length for its story premise that made me plow through it quickly.
The OP was cool. I'm not sure why people get super crazy about it, but it was enjoyable. Again, as someone who marathon'ed the series, I truly only watched it once or twice (same with the ending).
Now to break down the anime itself (I will do my best to not mention any specific spoiler events, but make reference in regard general themes within the anime it self).
Story: 8/10
I enjoyed the story. Some people think that it lacked depth for the reason that it did not explore the "world" the characters find themselves in. Quite frankly, exploration of the world would not bring about any further relevant information that serves to enhance the main theme, characters, and overall plot of Death Parade. The anime's story itself is simple: after death people are either sent to "heaven" or "hell" (or rather "reincarnation" and the "void"). However, before being sent to one or the other, they must pass through a judgement process. Judgement is made by "arbiters" within what we could symbolically claim as "purgatory" (this being represented by a bar scenery). The story is about the effects of human emotion and the judgement process itself, both of which have little to do with the overall purgatory-esk world itself. The fact is, the world exsits for the purpose of judgment. How it exists/how it was made/what else is there are all interesting questions that are left unanswered, but have no relevance to the plot.
Art: 7/10
I enjoyed the animation itself. There are really only a few scenery's that are used throughout the anime however. Each arbiter has a unique bar which they bartend. I would have liked to see more bars of some of the other arbters we see throughout the show.
Sound: 7/10
Nothing special about the sound for the most part. Music was pretty good. Voice acting was good. No complaints, but nothing worthy of extreme praise. It was just fine
Character: 8/10
I think the characters were done well. Each is enjoyable in there own way, and I liked the design of most of the recurring characters. Although supposedly emotionless, each character still has a unique qualities about them as to make them different.
Enjoyment: 9/10
I enjoyed watching every episode because I really wanted to the next set of people get judged. I wanted to see what game they would play, and how the game would effect them. I enjoyed trying to figure out who would go to heaven and who would go to hell. That was the most fun for me, because you get to see two characters develop in 1 episode, and how remembering certain memories effected their psyche. For the most part, each episode leaves you with a sense of fulfillment, all the while knowing that something more will happen next time - pressing you forward with the series.
Overall: 8/10
Death Parade is a type of anime I don't usually watch. I typically enjoy anime with more action and comedy, however from time to time I like something more psychological, philosophical, and drama related. Death Parade is an easy anime to get into, and is a quick 12 episodes long. There is really no reason that a seasoned anime go-er should skip this other than it simply not being their personal flavor of tv series. The show explains only what it needs to, and leaves the rest open to your interpretation. Usually I don't like that, but the gaps are easy enough to fill that it isn't a problem at all (unlike some people gripe about), and more importantly, it has no effects on the story.
Give it a watch, or don't. The choice is yours.
