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How do you judge a person? Do you judge him or her base on looks alone? By the things he or she has? By what he or she on the inside?

Judging a person. It has been a topic with struggle for such a long time in history. Whether when it comes to religion or practical experience still, no one can easily say (at least for me) at the end that judging is easy. Death Parade tackles the issue and I can honestly say, it has done an excellent job in doing so at the topic. But first the story...

What happens when two people die at ... the same time? Are they given the same treatment of judging whether they go to heaven or hell? For such special case the two people go to a certain place where they are given the chance to be reincarnated or sent to the void, an equivalent of hell (with out the fire, depends on your belief). However they must play a game to do so without knowing they died in the first place. Our main protagonist, Decim, is an arbiter, a being who judges the two people where they go based on the outcome of the game. Joining her is Onna, his assistant. She is our 'eyes' how everything goes in this place.

My first impression of DP was I thought it was going to be like the SAW franchise. The people are forced to play a game with dire consequences based on what they did wrong. Well obviously I was wrong and I love it when that happens. I like to read or watch stories that will make you fool you onto world that did not exist but it feels real. And it did. I discovered an anime tackles such issue about judging a person with there regards of its own set of principles and experience. The makers did a good job making the story come to life with the interactions of the characters and the set of rules that place has. The struggles it took just to make the right judgment count. I keep calling it a 'place' because through out the whole anime it did not specify whether that is purgatory or not, it kind of looks like it but with a twist.

Being a mystery type of story it does well. Reviling layer after layer what happens as the story goes along, making the audience guess for quite a well. Drama mixes well too. There you could see the joy and sadness of the characters, especially fear. Psychological makes the morals of the characters seems right. You could get to guess and see why and how some certain actions of the characters affect the flow of the story as a whole.

There are some issue regarding the two main protagonists being one sided characters and such. For me that is not the case as the story moves on, character development is there and by the end of the anime of 12 episodes, you get to see the full circle of it all.

Madhouse did not waste paper when animating the anime. You could see the mouth moving, body expressions, and facial expressions are top notch. It also fits the story quite well. It is important for a story and animation to coexist together. Otherwise it would look awkward. And it did not.
The art stays true to the story. I love the style how the character designer did with the characters, the right mature feel to it. The background designs makes you think that place exists. Everything is nice and well.

The sound, oh my where should I start? The voice actors did well. There voices fit the characters quite well. Whether it’s the drama scene or chill moment still it is nice. Regarding the special effects sound is right on cue, no problem on that part. Now about there soundtrack… IT. IS. AWESOME. There opening is surely one of the best I have heard in a long time. Despite the anime being serious in such a way they balance it out with that one opening, an excellent work by the band BRADIO. The ending is such a fitting song that fits the atmosphere quite so well. For me there two songs are not far off by the theme of the anime.

As a whole, I strongly recommend the anime. Buy a copy when you have a chance or support it.

After the anime ends, I dare say that I enjoyed the ride. Ironically it ends with the opening, that happy go lucky jazz funk opening then it made me realize about certain things. Judging a person maybe not easy but knowing the person is worth your time. The more you know, the you get to see the whole picture of that person. As per liking that person or not, well is up to you. You get to be him or her for the brief moment. Also enjoy the life as each moment passes by. Make the most out of it with your love ones or not. Make it count.