Story:
Two people who recently died end up in a bar and are told to play a game with their lives at stake, for they do not remember that they are dead. The bartender judges them by their behaviour and sends them either to reincarnation or into the void. If that was all this anime was about, it would probably already be an entertaining watch, but it goes deeper than that. Despite how it appears at first, the judges aren't perfect and not everybody in the afterlife is happy how things are handled. Death Parade plays with our expectations, which may piss some viewers off, but I found it to be an interesting story that utilizes its potential well.
9/10
Art:
The character design is very creative without going overboard. All the afterlife people have their own unique looks while the "real" people look more plain, though they all are drawn rather detailed, which is nice to see in this day and age. The scenery is often kept gloom, though the colors are very intense. Again, this contrasts the plain world of the living that we get to see in peoples memories. Oh and have I mentioned the awesome pool table?
10/10
Sound:
The opening song is fantastic, one of the very few I never even skipped once. The (more fitting in tone) ending was also very good, as was the background music in general. The voices were all solid, though nobody did an outstanding performance in my eyes.
8/10
Characters:
It was interesting to see these otherworldly beings having flaws, some more, some less. Usually when you mix a human with somebody...else, the other one will be extraordinary good in what they do. This gave the characters more shades, which I liked. The human "guests" weren't that interesting unfortunately. To me they appeared very one-dimensional, though there were exceptions. It is also unfortunate, that we didn't get a deeper view into the mindsets of the other afterlife characters besides Decim and the black-haired woman.
7/10
Enjoyment:
The slow, but constant plot development kept me interested in this anime and I had some fun overthinking the judgements and how correct they were. There was potential for more episodes, but it didn't feel like something was missing, so I guess it's a case of less is more. The ending was predictable, which I didn't mind, but with so many slight directional changes in the story one may expect a little more. Anyway, I felt entertained very well.
9/10
Overall:
8.6/10
