This anime series is set in the Quindecim bar where bartender Decim judges the recently deceased to determine whether their souls will be reincarnated or cast into the void. To help his decision two recently deceased people must play a game; they don't know they are dead and have had their memories removed but they do know they are playing for their lives. The game they must play varies; some play darts, some plat air hockey and others play billiards. The games aren't quite how we know them though; as they play there are physical consequences and, although they don't know it they are judged on how they play not whether they win or lose. Decim isn't human; he is an arbiter; his sole purpose is to judge the dead unpassionately. He is meant to do that but when Chiyuki arrives he is unable to judge her and ends up making her his assistant
it is only delaying the inevitable though; eventually he will have to judge her too.
This is one of the current season's more interesting series; the premise is original and the story is well told. The pace might seem a little slow to some, but I really enjoyed it. With each new pair of people to be judges I was curious to learn what game they would play and how the game would progress. As the story progresses we learn more about Decim, the other arbiters and Chiyuki as well as the strange in-between world they inhabit. The characters designs are distinctive and well animated. Normally I like series to be twelve or thirteen episodes long but when this finished I was left wanting more however the story had been told in a way that neither felt rushed nor dragging so twelve episodes clearly was the right length and it is nice to have some questions unanswered.
These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.
This is one of the current season's more interesting series; the premise is original and the story is well told. The pace might seem a little slow to some, but I really enjoyed it. With each new pair of people to be judges I was curious to learn what game they would play and how the game would progress. As the story progresses we learn more about Decim, the other arbiters and Chiyuki as well as the strange in-between world they inhabit. The characters designs are distinctive and well animated. Normally I like series to be twelve or thirteen episodes long but when this finished I was left wanting more however the story had been told in a way that neither felt rushed nor dragging so twelve episodes clearly was the right length and it is nice to have some questions unanswered.
These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.