Synopsis: Humans spend their whole lives wondering where they will end up after they are dead. Heaven or hell? Will they be incarnated? Or will they just drift away in the void. Death parade offers a more logical and debatable solution to determining one's afterlife. Players are to play a randomly chosen game and their fate is determined based on their performance on the game which pushes tem to their limits and brings out their true colours.

Plot
There is no main overarching plot but small plot twists and revelations in every episode. However, the show centres around the past of a human whose fate cannot be decided by a rookie arbiter who supposedly has human emotions. It also features supporting characters who make occasional appearances in the series. The show does not stick to a case of the day format for all 12 episodes, which i had expected after watching the first few episodes. It was enjoyable getting to know the unique backgrounds of the people who step into Quindecim and the decisions they make over the course of the game. It was equally engaging as viewers are left to guess the fate of the players and see if it matches the arbiter’s.

The players were in a way related to each other, except for one pair, and this helped to set up conflict in the show. As their memories are revealed one by one, our impression of them changes and makes the show more exciting and suspenseful. At the same time, around the 4th episode or so, the show pays more attention to the background of the mysterious assistant who is a human but for some reason her fate has not been decided and Nona, has let her help Decim make decisions. The show teases us with a little information about her and ultimately reveals everything in the last few episodes.

Characters
There were only 2 main characters which mostly appear in the show. There were other supporting characters that are introduced along the way. However, they did not have much of part to play in the show. Nona was the most prominent supporting character. Although she did not do much apart from ragging Decim, I enjoyed hearing her philosophy about life and death. There was another character, Oculus, the creator of the system of arbitration, who mostly formed an impression at the end of the show. I felt he could have had more screen time as his banter with Nona had some interesting points.

Between Decim and the assistant, I really can’t pinpoint who is the main character as both experience major character development. The last 2 episodes were heated where everything about them falls into place and we are moved to tears. Both of them have a purpose and learn something about themselves and change for the better. It was heartwarming to see them working together. The assistant sees situations in a different light and this influences the player’s fates greatly. Decim may seem like a boring and nonchalant character at first but he eventually gets more interesting.

Animation
No complaints with the animation. The characters were expressive, just what is needed in the show. The special effects were grand such as the transformation of the bar before each game as well as memories. Worldbuilding was creatively done and it was nice seeing the resort-like Quindecim, somewhere classy and peaceful before you continue on your afterlife. Something which I found fascinating was Nona and Oculus playing billiards with balls shaped like planets, symbolizing that controlling the universe is like a game to them. The OP and ED were catchy and suited the theme of the anime. I also found the part where memories compressed as kaleidoscopes very creative and symbolic as well.

Majot themes [some spoilers ahead]:

Determining fate
The main purpose of arbiter’s is to send the presumably good souls back to earth through reincarnation and get rid of the bad souls from earth. However, we were constantly questioned whether the system is just or not. Quindecim can be compared to a courtroom where evidence is presented to the judge and lawyers fight their case. However, the evidence there is objective. In Quindecim it is completely subjective given the complex nature of human beings. Can the games they play with the help of their memories accurately show their true character? Moreover, subjectivity entails different perspectives. Arbiters who are immortal have no fear of death and possess no emotions. Therefore, they cannot empathise with the players and make decisions solely based on what they witness. Chiyuki’s role is important here as she highlights that humans express their emotions differently and playing games, even creating “extreme” situations is not enough to show their true character.

The episode which focuses on this the most is between a detective, Tatsumi and the boy whose sister was assaulted, Shimada. Shimada was a murder but he did it all out of love for his sister whom he wanted to protect. This shows that emotions that we posses can drive us to extremes and this is something that the arbiter’s do not understand. They capitalize on these emotions to test whether the players truly deserve a second chance or not. Hence, players are forced to tone down on their feelings for the sake of redemption. This was clearly seen when Shimada tried to attack Tatsumi who was conveniently held by Decim’s spider web but Chiyuki stopped him, worried that he would get sent to the void if he actually attacked him. Here, their emotions are suppressed and under control as there is a desirable outcome placed ahead of them: a second chance at living. The show reinforces that humans have the fear of death and would do anything to continue living. In the end Shimada does induce pain to Tatsumi releasing all the anger bottled inside of him. Proving that while humans would do anything to live, expressing emotions is inevitable.

This system of determining the fate of one’s afterlife is just an extreme situation of what we face in our everyday lives. Are grades a good indicator of one’s intelligence? Is one’s salary reflective of their skills and hard work? These indicators are never accurate and it goes to show that life is not always fair. We should just be true to ourselves and do what we think is right. After all, the main objective of the arbiters is to bring out the darkness in the player’s souls. However, there is good and bad in all of us. When and to what extent does the bad outweigh the good? I believe that there is no foolproof method to figure that out.

Value of life
Chiyuki’s stroy is something relevant in today’s world: feeling of being left out and alone and knowing your self worth. She got her whole passion snatcehd away from her with her injury and she felt lost and emotionless. The last 2 episodes moved me to tears as Chiyuki realized that she should have treasured her life more as there are people out there who care for her and need her. She said “humans should never try to learn to understand each other” (not exact) but after seeing her mother she quickly learnt that it is alright to do so. I liked seeing her character go from an ordinary person to a talented skater to someone who realizing her mistake. Surely enough, her story was enough to bring out the emotions in Decim. This shows that emotions are contagious.

It is also worth noticing that her death is different from the other deaths as they died by accidents or murders meaning that did not intend to die. (Yes there was the otaku who committed suicide too but i felt that he was not in his sense at that time?) Whereas Chiyuki did have the intention to take her own life. By being Decim's assistant she learnt that life is worth living for and regretted her decision. Her "game" was finding out this outlook on life, whether she valued it or not. As well as her virtue, return back to her mother at the cost of another life. In the end, after learning her lesson, we was sent back to the real world.

This anime, despite its dark nature, has lighthearted and emotional moments. It does deal with some heavy topics so brace yourselves. There are some notable dialogues from the show that really enlightened me.