The reason that this is such an awesome narrative is that the idea of judging humans through arbitration raises an incredible sum of questions. As you start to learn more about the process, you'll notice these aforementioned questions come up. Why should these arbiters be the only judged? Are these games really coaxing out the true nature of the human or only creating it? What does it take to judge a human after death and how can one reasonably say whether or not one person is much more moral and ethical than any other? This is the crux of Death Parade and it facilitates some great discussions.
The greatest thing about it is that it never treats you like a child. The entire conception of Death Parade was ambiguity; it never allows a proper, linear answer to the questions that it's posing. Rather, it allows you to postulate on these questions and in that case, you almost become an arbiter yourself. Every episode speaks volumes on mature topics such as life, death, sacrifice, and survival. It makes you wonder what you might do in this situation and teases out confusion from your morale compass. Between life or death, what would you really do in a game that decides such a heavy outcome?
Every character seems like they springboard these things too. The characters all have their own views on this arbitration process that really make you think. Some characters even have breakdowns and you can see the ambivalence that even the judges have towards being the ultimate decider of fate. Although I believe that Death Parade could have expanded a bit on why this institution of adjudicators exist in the first place, I think that they did all they could within the amount of episodes they allotted themselves. I felt like I was slightly let down, but the ending was satisfying enough that I could let it slide this one time.
As for the art and animation, I thought it was pretty typical. There were some really interesting scenes with beautiful colors, but overall there wasn't much of a wow factor for me. That isn't to say that it's bad; just nothing to write home about. The musical score is about the same. The opening was pretty good (as most will say), but the soundtrack wasn't very impressive to me. It was enough that it filled in the silence really well, but not much else in any other aspect of Death Parade.
My final verdict is that Death Parade is worth the watch if you're looking for something adult, mature, and serious. Even if you're not looking for something that you can think on for days to come, I think fans of the more generic, action-oriented anime will like the show for the conception of the game itself. It was really cool watching some characters fall prey to deep, visceral human emotion while they played the game which makes Death Parade kind of a catch-all anime, in my opinion. Overall, it was an uncomfortable anime, but one that brought up important questions with a fun and entertaining narrative.
