Many shows have revolved its theme around death, but Death Parade attempts to take a step further. By constantly introducing new characters and their situations, we progressively start to understand the value of life. Family, love, and artistic aspirations are to name a few that are presented in this show, but with these constant introductions to new characters and plots, we are left with not enough time to develop the lead characters and the world. This constant barrage of new plots that we are given, while very refreshing, end up hurting the world building and even the development of the lead characters.
Story:
The story itself is very interesting. To put it simply, there is no afterlife in this world. There is only reincarnation and the void. To cast judgement on the people who leave the living world, there are arbiters who cast judgement on these individuals through a randomly selected game. As the plot progresses, we begin to understand the concept of life as a whole. From the warm, loving side of life to some of the most cruel and tragic. There's more that goes into the plot, but that would be delving into the spoilers. As I’ve mentioned, this plot is interesting. The entire show really had my interest until the very end, but that's when I started to realize that there wasn't much world building. Well, maybe it wasn't world building, but rather world explanation. They really do go in depth with the existence of the void and Quindecim itself, but the creation of arbiters and their dolls goes pretty unexplored. We’re given a brief explanation on how they come to be, but we never get anything past that. There are probably more points that go unexplored, but those are the ones that stuck out to me.
Characters:
This show is able to keep each episode fresh by rotating out the new characters after each pair of characters’ plot is complete. While the new characters get enough time for development and understanding, the lead roles don't. The latter half of the show dives deeper into their characters, but by then it is too late. It feels as though they just didn't get enough time to truly establish their motives. Although it is a bit rushed, the characters are still done very well and do manage to avoid falling into cardboard-cutout archetypes.
Music and Sound:
The music that accompanies this show is great. More notably, the OP is fantastic. The music that is played in the background is also great and manages to help establish mood and atmosphere. The sound quality is also worth mentioning. It’s crisp and very effective when it's used to establish a darker tone.
Art and Animation:
The animation and art direction for this show was great. When the atmosphere needs to get darker, the music, characters, and art design really come together to produce an effective tone.
Overall:
While I felt like the lead roles didn't get enough development towards the end of this show and that some of the world explanation was lacking, I had a good time watching this show. The steps that Death Parade takes to differentiate itself from other plots centered around death is admirable. Not many shows would delve into the values of living with such a dark premise. If they gave more explanation as to how the world worked, and more than anything gave more time to the two main leads to flesh out their characters, I could easily recommend this to anyone. However, as it stands, I can only recommend this to people who love the atmosphere and want to experience this distinct plot for themselves at the cost of some character development and world building.
