Death Parade | Episode 12
GingaDaiuchuu: One more judgment for Chiyuki. I knew she was going to get as close to pressing the button down as possible before recalling all the judgments she’s witnessed and the humanity that have poured out as a result, deciding that she couldn’t selfishly choose herself over any other person with circumstances they’re as passionate about. And of course this story has always existed as something that could exist on the other side, so there was never any chance that someone could actually just come back to life.
Because of those constructs, it was also fairly clear that nothing too world-changing was going to happen in the end, instead dealing with characters on a personal level in episodic fashion with a few recurring characters to provide some overarching storytelling and offer some fuller character arcs. Given that it was quite excellent, using mythological allusions to create a well-realized world to sort out the souls of humanity, allowing for fascinating commentary on the nature of life, death, humanity, and individuality while also presenting the inherent flaws in the attempts of doing so. There’s plenty of potential for more, but we’ve gotten as much as it really matters to see, I’d say. And as expected of MADHOUSE, it’s visually stunning all the way through, an important element to make this world so immersive and believable.
Sensuifu: Sad to see this over. Definitely the best show of the season against a lackluster lineup. The entire segment with both Chiyuki and Decim breaking into tears was pretty moving, so much, it almost got to be hard to watch without tearing up manly tears myself. This wasn’t cheap heartstring pulling either, unlike other shows that try to execute something emotional, yet fail because they end up being too forced and hamfisted, or overtly melodramatic to the point of becoming eyeroll inducing or comedic. Here, both Chiyuki and Decim were genuinely anguishing over matters that proved who they really are as characters, one as a human, the other as a dummy/shell, fated to only judge (a lot of times unfairly) on suppositions based on incidental reactions. Decim’s deception was part of this trap, despite making it really difficult for himself upon Chiyuki’s successful ‘save’.
I had a feeling Chiyuki wouldn’t press the button, but it was reassuring to see her reasoning illustrated with the beautiful montage of why, she as a human, didn’t have the right to deny anybody else’s attachment to their loved ones. Having refused to press the button, she was able to show Decim the meaning of her death and by sincerely valuing that preservation of her past, Decim was able to finally empathize and feel that same amount of pain and sorrow Chiyuki had for accepting that fact. The ending was somewhat bittersweet in a way because Chiyuki is finally sent to the destination she deserved, yet Decim is still stuck being a marionette, forced to be empty of human emotions to properly perform his job as an arbiter.
Truly a classic worth revisiting. Despite the lack of explanation regarding some of the other facets of the show’s depth (characters, philosophy,etc.) what we got was pretty much excellent all around.
bctaris: Which I was pleasantly happy to see. Instead of long speeches about death and judgment–how, exactly, it seems wrong from Nona’s perspective, how it must be from flower beard (I forget, did he have a name?)–the story instead goes the “show” route, and, as usual and so much to the show’s strength, leaves it to the audience to decide. Showing Chiyuki come through her (rather clever) judgment by recalling the events of the past three months, and showing the anguish of humanity come over Decim, says far more than any dry philosophy about whatever bureaucracy keeps this place afloat.
Sensuifu: I agree, though they’ve integrated much of the philosophical elements by reference/symbolism anyway, as we’ve previously seen with Decim giving a brief background behind the threads and the concept of Void/Reincarnation/Heaven/Hell. Any further explanations wouldn’t need to be extensive, and much of it could be just hints to give an idea what they’re implying…kind of like Oculus’ (flower beard’s name 
) cryptic assertion about the arbiters needing to stay dummies to judge humans as unbiased, detached independents from any emotional interference. Though seeing as the production was limited to only so many episodes, they’ve done a solid job with the most important subject matter, which was focusing on Chiyuki’s judgement and Decim’s ability to empathize.
bctaris: What, exactly, it says, I haven’t figured out just yet. Decim settled on the same sort of gambit that Ginti used, but with the natural compassion that comes from an arbiter who actually respects humanity. (Mayu, despite the rougher terms, managed to make the same decision as Chiyuki, making her the “purest” soul, perhaps, in the show. But that’s why Mayu’s awesome.)
Sensuifu: Mayu was deceived because Ginti wasn’t compassionate enough to separate her from Harada in sharing the same judgement. So I suppose ‘guilty by association’ plays some role with her outcome despite actually being the ‘purest’ soul in the show. Since she was willing to stay with him regardless the consequence, she assumed he had a chance of reincarnation as long as she was there to awaken him from his unconsciousness. The problem was that Ginti never gave her enough time to realize that was practically impossible to do once the judgement was made, which he basically made before they went inside the elevator.
As for meaning behind the entire system, there’s a lot of unanswered questions, so it’s difficult to pinpoint the real answer. But I’m thinking one possibility is that there is some kind of ‘checks and balances’ I alluded to earlier. The very fact that Oculus seems adamant that dummies can’t be human or share that human spirit, seems to imply that they only exist to pass judgement according to the intentions a certain soul makes at their most distressed state. This is likely assuming that their behavior/actions are also reflective of their very true nature deep inside them when they answer with their final decision.
But Chiyuki’s sudden eye-opener, contradicts this, and proves that humans are capable of reasoning beyond their basic instincts, whether or not that realization involved empathetic influence. The interesting thing is, her decision wasn’t just from her own experience, but was also made from the collective thoughts of the others’ experiences.
It’s this type of unity with another human’s spirit/soul that really defines this raw human characteristic to care for others despite their verdicts in the end. It’s basically what saved Chiyuki. Thinking/reasoning as an ‘individual’ yet allowing emotions conduct a final decision is what the arbiters are trying to understand, or at least imitate from a human’s perspective. Doing so allows them to characterize themselves as unique individuals with their own sets of emotions, instead of generic dolls programmed to act and judge unilaterally. That’s likely why Nona partnered Decim up with Chiyuki- to give him an example/test that could potentially evoke some latent ability to be more like a human. Watching Oculus tilt his head like a dumbfounded dog tells us that’s going to require an open mind to even begin to understand.
bctaris: This is a story that clearly wants to tell more, however, with Nona still searching, Decim in deeper water, Ginti, even, more conflicted than before; the story with Quinn, curious, a “dummy” who obviously drowns out her job with liquor, and even the elevator operator who seems to have had something rub off on him. But, echoing GingaDaiuchuu, what more can it say about the central issues? Not much, really, but again it is the quite well made show it is because it never really tried that hard to do so in the first place.
Sensuifu: Yeah, the central issues have already been defined, it’s just the world around them that I think needs further development. Revealing how and why this very system exists is something that could be expanded on. A sequel to this doesn’t need to elaborate on what we’ve already seen between Chiyuki and Decim. But seeing Nona’s history, her ambition to change the system in which they’re structurally obedient to, and whether or not her further attempts is successful, might work, even as a direct sequel if done right. Perhaps another cour might seem too much, but short OVAs might be more likely. Connecting what they’ve established at the end of this series to a sequel, could provide that background framework at explaining why arbiters are capable of empathizing, which ultimately affects their judgements and the system that’s been established.
