"Death Parade" (2015) = 8.7
Review date: 2017
Extremely light spoilers, no specific plot pointz
That was lovely. Death Parade presented a philosophy about the soul that impressed me deeply and evoked thought, which I find anime rarely do to me anymore. I'm used to discussions about the human soul being juvenile, overly fantastical, or simply unsophisticated, and I dread it as a theme in the general anime. Death Parade surprised me, though. It presented an idea about the meaning of life I had never considered; as it was put in the anime, life is "to suffer, yet stand firm" (ep.12). I never thought of life in that exact way, and I realize that I've probably never described life that well. In all the time I've spent discussing and pondering life and what it means to be alive, I've never been as on the nose as that quote.
Death Parade has much more to offer than its philosophy, though. Death Parade tells many stories in it's short, twelve episode run, but tells each one quite well. Some of them get pretty sappy and cliché, but for the most part, they still tugged at the heart strings. I must admit, at least one episode hit me with so many clichés at the end that they kind of lost me, but that's as bad as it ever got. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this experience. I cried twice, both times were incredibly cathartic, and the show concluded with a clean resolution, a realistic and fulfilling happy ending, and an open ending that makes a second season absolutely possible while still leaving the season conclusively enough that a continuation of the story isn't necessary. I should also note that the dub is great-especially Jamie Marchie, who played Chiyuki, she was fantastic. Oh, and the crying scene at the end? Marchie did that thing that people do when they begin crying while simultaneously talking and their voice sounds quite silly, and it added to the realism of the scene significantly. Great work with casting, Funimation, it's good to see you casting new people for once instead of the same five over and over again, as much as I like those five. Or used to. Anyway:
In summation, I am very satisfied with this viewing experience. Thank you, Madhouse.
"To suffer yet stand firm-that's what it is to live, isn't it?"
That was lovely. Death Parade presented a philosophy about the soul that impressed me deeply and evoked thought, which I find anime rarely do to me anymore. I'm used to discussions about the human soul being juvenile, overly fantastical, or simply unsophisticated, and I dread it as a theme in the general anime. Death Parade surprised me, though. It presented an idea about the meaning of life I had never considered; as it was put in the anime, life is "to suffer, yet stand firm" (ep.12). I never thought of life in that exact way, and I realize that I've probably never described life that well. In all the time I've spent discussing and pondering life and what it means to be alive, I've never been as on the nose as that quote.
Death Parade has much more to offer than its philosophy, though. Death Parade tells many stories in it's short, twelve episode run, but tells each one quite well. Some of them get pretty sappy and cliché, but for the most part, they still tugged at the heart strings. I must admit, at least one episode hit me with so many clichés at the end that they kind of lost me, but that's as bad as it ever got. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this experience. I cried twice, both times were incredibly cathartic, and the show concluded with a clean resolution, a realistic and fulfilling happy ending, and an open ending that makes a second season absolutely possible while still leaving the season conclusively enough that a continuation of the story isn't necessary. I should also note that the dub is great-especially Jamie Marchie, who played Chiyuki, she was fantastic. Oh, and the crying scene at the end? Marchie did that thing that people do when they begin crying while simultaneously talking and their voice sounds quite silly, and it added to the realism of the scene significantly. Great work with casting, Funimation, it's good to see you casting new people for once instead of the same five over and over again, as much as I like those five. Or used to. Anyway:
In summation, I am very satisfied with this viewing experience. Thank you, Madhouse.
"To suffer yet stand firm-that's what it is to live, isn't it?"