Well first off I should establish that this review is most definitely going to have spoilers, but I'd definitely recommend at least watching one episode to pique your interest. The first episode is good, and sets one of the two alternating tones of the anime.
Overall story: 9/10
The anime has a main story which concerns whether or not judging people after death by drawing out their inherent darkness is the only just way to judge people. Those who fail or lose, are sent to the void. While the winners are allowed to reincarnate. That's is the underlying premise of the story. Thus Arbiters (the people who judge) cannot have emotions or experience life, for that would bring them too close to humans. However the red herring comes along with Decim, who is an arbiter with human emotions. In addition, he works with a human who helps him discover what it truly means to be a human. With the help of his assistant (chiyuki), Decim becomes more understanding. However the story does not only revolve around just Decim and Chiyuki, but around a wide array of other characters as well (I will discuss them in detail for the characters). Overall, the anime gives a good message for life and death in general. The interesting thing is that the deaths in the anime are not outrageous in all, but rather much realistic. For instance, one girl dies from slipping on soap and twisting her back (kinda makes you realize that death really is random). Also what this anime does well is that it creates a concept of the afterlife that presents death and the afterlife in a very unique manner. In terms of message, it's pretty basic: value. Your. Life. Throughout the anime there are multiple types of people who all looked at life in a differs way and it's pretty relatable. As for the story between Decim and Chiyuki, it's enjoyable, but is seen more as a mutual friendship, as opposed to a romantic relationship.
Characters: 10/10
All the characters are fun and definitely have more emotions than it seems. However, since the story focuses on a select few, other characters are rarely mentioned by name.
Decim 8/10
A solemn, quiet bartender who watches and judges. He is a very proper character who doesn't really emote a lot(ironically). However you can definitely see him progress morally through his relationship with Chiyuki. He's pretty enjoyable.
Chiyuki 9/10
The reason why I give Chiyuki a high 9 is because how they introduce the character. We basically do y know anything about her until the last 3 episodes. Heck we do t even know her real name until then! But she's a comical character and watching her slowly figure out her identity is fun and is instrumental to Decim progressing as an arbiter. Unfortunately, she is judged by Decim in the end and regains all her memories. The last scene with her judgement was a very emotional scene and definitely take you on a feels trip. It very much resonates that every person has a significant other or person who cares for them. The end scenario very much reminded me of the movie The Box (button button). Where if you press a button you get something good, but someone else dies. However in this case Chiyuki would comes back to life, but someone else would die. It was sad to see her go, but in the end she passed judgement and reincarnated! (Season 2 ples)
Nona 9/10
Very interesting mysterious character, who is responsible for setting up this whole ordeal. She plays a lot of background tricks and definitely establishes herself as a character that should t be messed with. It was cool to watch her do little crafty things to test Decim and Chiyuki.
Ginti and bear girl who stays with him 8/10
Basically a pissed off annoyed Decim, who doesn't really care about people and is annoyed with the selfishness of people. It's obvious that he enjoys his job of messing with people and doesn't really get along with the others. As for the bear girl, she has a name, but they rarely mention it, bummer. She acts as a foil for Ginti and kinda reveals that he isn't a hater after all. The fun part about them is how they interact and in the end she ends up in the void because she chooses to be with CHA dancer guy. But you do see that Ginti did value her presence because he makes a liquor bottle that looks like her.
Flower head old dude (oculus) 7/10
He's kinda the overwatcher of the arbiters who is kinda sketchy. He has a mysterious happy sketchy personality, which eventually manifests as a sort of antagonist feel. He doesn't really show up all too much.
Animation 10/10
The animation is really amazing and there's never a moment where it slacks. If you don't believe me, just watch the opening, the opening is what initially got me to watch this anime, and the fluidity of the animation definitely caught my eye. It was like kekkai sensen with out the blobs. Plus I feel like when you make anime characters dance, that instantly shows how fluid and crisp a studio can animate. In this case studio Madhouse does a superb job, much like one punch man.
Music 9/10
As I mentioned before, the opening was what got me to watch the anime. Flyers by Bradio, is a really catchy song and reminded me a lot of sugar song to bitter step(kekkai sensen ending). The opening animation is fun to watch as well and matched with the music; demonstrates a bit of humor on the animators side. The ending is pretty deep? I guess that's the word to describe it. It's cool that at each ending it shows some background stuff from the plot of the episode. The soundtrack is calming and ominous at times. It very much matches that bar atmosphere.
Overall, this anime definitely climbed my way to top 15 for me. It has a good meaning about it, good animation, fun music, and enjoyable characters. A definite must watch, plus it's only 12 episodes. (Which, because I liked it so much, I took my sweet time). Hope you guys have fun and feels with it! And welcome to Quindecim!
