Review :
A lot of anime try to pull off the deep,
psychological route, exploring themes that run a
bit deeper than "how can I get senpai to notice
me" or "the power of friendship." Unfortunately,
most of these shows fail, either by fault of not
committing enough to the idea, sacrificing depth
for shallow entertainment, or by taking themselves
too seriously, mistaking false depth for
watchability.
Death Parade, thankfully, is neither of these.
By merit of its effective use of episodic stories in
an overarching narrative, Death Parade manages to
explore many themes surrounding death while not
coming off as overly macabre or dismissive. It
acknowledges that life is both cruel in its fairness
and merciful in its unfairness; that humans are
both kind and monstrous; that death is both a
tragic loss and a comforting conclusion. Better
still, Death Parade does this through interesting
stories, gripping even at one-episode lengths, and
through well-designed characters, who remain
memorable regardless of their screen time.
The show isn't without its flaws, but they're largely
marginal. Some of the plot elements introduced in
the latter half of the show are poorly fleshed out,
though whether this was a product of poor pacing
or intentionally vague storytelling is anyone's
guess. Likewise, while the show remains
entertaining as an episodic work, the show has the
pacing of a Slice of Life while dangling the
foreshadowing of a drama, which inspires a feeling
that's less "anticipation" than "confusion."
The OST, courtesy of Hayashi Yuuki, is nothing
short of brilliant. "Moonlit Night" is currently one of
my favorite instrumental tracks, and I can see it
staying in my top 5 for quite some time. The same
can be said for the OP - there's just something
about FLYERS that puts me in a great mood, and
it's such a FUN sequence. I usually skip the OP to
shows once I've seen it a few times, but for Death
Parade the OP itself was a highlight of the week. And, the ED, Last Theater by NoisyCell was such a brilliant and polarizing track that I can't come up with words to describe it.
Death Parade is, in a word, fantastic. It was a true
pleasure to watch.
