Hypersonic
June 13, 2022
Death Parade Episode Seven Review
>By: Prince Lammy
Death Parade Episode 07: Alcohol Poison
When it comes to certainty, death is the only thing that cannot be denied. And it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a large number of shows touch on that topic.
However, only a few anime titles go the full-blown path of focusing their whole storyline on it. Death Parade isn’t the first to tackle the topic of the hereafter, but it’s the first to focus on the judgment of those who enter it, no matter how small the sample size.
But what is Alcohol Poison, the seventh episode, all about?
Story | 7/10
The curtain draws on the man next akin to God, playing a galactic billiards game. As he seemed to be playing alone, he kept mentioning some qualities of arbiters, all of which sounded like things they can and cannot do.
In describing the episode’s story, I think I’ve been giving a straightforward approach to previous episodes. Some of these might have contained some spoiler bits, so that I would try a more conventional approach with this one.
The assistant discovers the Chavvot book, which tells the same scenario in her dreams. This leads to the assistant regaining part of her memories and concluding that she has passed on.
When she inquiries about the book, Decim reveals that it was formerly the property of Quin, who served as the arbiter for the Quindecim. During a flashback to an earlier part of Decim’s training, Nona confronts him about why he had not used his hand-held device to influence the outcome of one of Quin’s games.
He responded by saying that he admires people who lived fulfilled lives, which piqued Nona’s curiosity. Since resigning from her previous work as an arbiter, Quin has joined the information bureau as a member of the staff. Quin remarks to Nona about how Decim is an uncommon arbitrator with human emotions as he is drinking with Nona.
During this time, Decim demonstrates his prize to his helper, a repository of dummies dressed up as prior visitors who were exiled to the void. He acts to ensure that they are not entirely thrown away and overlooked.
After some time has passed, Nona makes preparations for two very important visitors to pay a visit to Decim.
Art | 8/10
I could go on and on for a considerable amount of time praising the art, exquisite animation, the DAT opening,
and the distinctive character designs, but the fact is that we are dealing with Madhouse here.
It should come as no surprise that they brought their best performance. It is consistent, acoustically well put together, and overall, on a production level, it satisfies every requirement. Instead, I will speak about the problems.
Sound | 8/10
The opening sequence gives a somewhat inaccurate impression of the show’s subject matter and general atmosphere. Flyers
by BRADIO is a highly infectious song that is also quite peppy and may be danced to.
In NoisyCell’s Last Theater,
which has quickly become one of my favorites, the ED is a more nostalgic and emotional rendition. Both are of very high quality. In terms of the music that plays in the background, Death Parade has a significant amount of quiet, which, as a result, enables the vocal performances to be far more effective and emotionally intense.
The background music, when it existed, was often composed of mellow piano music, which fit beautifully with the more quiet and reflective periods of the game.
Character | 7/10
I was astonished to see Mayu in this episode. Wasn’t she supposed to have been thrown to the void or sent to be reincarnated, and the last judgment would’ve gone to Harada?
The episode also introduces Quin, Quindecim’s former arbiter. She is a bit of a cheerful soul, and I dare say she’s still the most friendly amongst the arbiters. And as Quindecim’s former arbiter, she owned all the drinks in the bar and left it all to Decim when she got re-assigned to the Information Bureau.
She is seen to complain about her job at the Information Bureau mildly and wishes she had never left Quindecim. As a lover of alcohol, it does seem like she filled the entire bar with drinks herself. She appears as a slim young woman with a robotic patch on her left eye.
Ginti has finally confirmed my suspicions of being a somewhat violent nonchalant bully. And I dare say he harbors a certain degree of hatred towards Decim (reason unknown). And he doesn’t hide this, for he takes every opportunity to taunt and admonish Decim, even on trivial matters that do not concern him.
Talking about our main character, Decim, I was stunned to learn some things about him. Who would have thought that Decim is a lab rat in Nona’s little experiment? I was left astounded to discover how and why he is just a pawn in Nona’s scheme.
And what is this scheme? Naturally, arbiters are people without emotions and have given judgments in distinct and specific ways. But Nona felt there could be other approaches to judging, infused Decim with human emotions, and made him an arbiter to see how that would affect his judgments.
And as much as everyone has something that they cherish, and hold dear, so do arbiters. I know Quin holds her bar and the Chevvot book, dear. Ginti holds his dolls dear. I know not about Nona and Clavis, but what about Decim?
Following the fact that he claims always to respect people who have lived a fulfilled life, and since people who are sent to the void after judgment are always turned into mannequins and disposed of in a pit, he collects these selected mannequins and stores them in a room in the Quindecim.
Enjoyment | 8/10
This episode was more of a revelation than a game-filled or action-packed one. And yes, the revelations were pretty much thrilling as they could be. And I just kept nodding my head as I started adding twos to one’s and coupling it to arrive at the equated three’s.
But you have to note that there’s a bit of zero development on the characters. Nothing of note has gotten better on them, except flashbacks and talks revealing more about them.
Overall | 8/10
Suppose there is nothing I like more in an anime series; it consistently provides all-around entertainment. And that is literally why some anime like DBZ and One Piece is still even relevant to this day, despite how old they are.
But why would you want to see this show until its seventh episode? Why else would I want to spend about 160 minutes watching a series up to episode seven if I don’t see something worth it?
I’ve not seen the end of this series, I’ve only seen episodes one through seven, and I have to admit that this is a mood setter. And the plot gives a feeling of beauty, terror, anxiety, and calm all at once. I know some other anime gives off this vibe, but do let me know when you see one that beautifully talks about death.
But despite all the seeming hype, it’s still evident that there is something still amiss about the anime so far. And I can’t help but feel that all elements of this anime haven’t been utilized to their full potential.
Next Episode: Episode 8 Review
Leave a comment