The third episode did touch me. Not because of plastic surgery. It felt more like just the federal idea of being young And attractive but a social outcast. Or being overlooked for another friend leading to insecurity and trying to be more like them. And then possibly dealing with how the person you want the approval of may react to that
Ep. 4 broke me. Anxiety was a nightly thing and school made me want to step of a balcony like he did. Junior year I was in the hospital for a week after talking to mom about me getting closest to suicide. While in the hospital, I was with other similar people in similar situations, except there's was much worse. I saw a gurl rush across the room and try to choke a girl to death, I heard a little boy in the room next to mine scream about how he wanted to stab and shoot himself before he had to be "calmed down" and hauled away to a different room. After that I learned to appreciate how easy my life was and how lucky I am to have married biological parents and a high school education. A bit after that I watched Death Parade. Watching a girl and boy find honest, pure love for each other, a boy with no wish to do anything but secluded himself, commit suicide, and to see an emotionless function understand human worth and respect and love it, helped me figure out why I was worth more than I ever understood.
My feelings are a little "tough/dull(?)", I feel horrible for not crying, but almost every episode is sad and like you said, I enjoyed every single one.
I think what hit me so hard during episode 4 was the conclusion - what happened to the people was hard enough on its own; a young man with family issues whose life was so empty that he saw no other way than to take it away himself and an abused mother, who did everything for her children but was a monster to everyone else until that became her downfall. But then the reactions kicked in, disbelief from the guy that he up and left without any goodbye, anger from the woman that she was killed just about the time she tried to turn her life around for her family. And what does Decim do? Hug them and exclaim "You both did what you could.". Depending on your worldview, it's impossible to feel regret after you died, also very unlikely that someone tells you what you did was just. These are things that can turn lives around if they are heard before death. In this case it's the final verdict on people that are already gone, a final What-If. It's an extremely powerful message. Also an important character moment for Decim which later unexpectedly stains his relationship with his assistant.
One of my favorite shows .It is so unique because it tried to express a topic that has never been though of not like nowadays with every good anime following an op mc with a shit load of fan service,rather this anime just throws it all at you and introduces cool characters I’d like to know more about such as Decim.Truly a masterpiece
About the plastic surgery thing. (I have no idea if someone had brought this up already, I have not looked through the comments) Yeah, in places like the US, and other countries plastic surgery really isn't that big a deal. But it's not like that everywhere. In some areas it is frowned upon. Not only that, but it also depends on who you are (I know, it's awful). Say, girl A is popular, and goes and gets plastic surgery, everyone "oohs" and "ahhs", "she is even pretier now!", "Wow, so cool". Girl B also gets the same surgery, however girl B is not popular, so everyone "she's just copying girl A", "wow, how desperate do you have to be!", "she's even uglier now". Yeah, it's horrible. That's just how people are. Also, bullying culture is different in Japan/South Korea (It's one, or the other, or both... I don't remember which XD ). Instead of individuals being bullies to people, entire classes will bully a single individual. Again, horrible, I know.
The point of episode 3 in my opinion is that the childhood friend had a crush on the boy but he didn't feel the same way and had a crush on a different girl. So what she did is to get plastic surgery in order to get his attention and make him fall in love with her cause I am assuming she didn't get any love or friendship from anyone except his.
Her character droped school and did a plastic surgery for aesthetic reason, these two are very stigmatized in japan. They wanted to portrate a complete social outcast.. I think her story means that sge chose her personal happiness, even if that mean being an outcast
I hadn’t thought about Death Parade in a while. I genuinely got emotional. I might rewatch the series after this, I think the content would hit better now as I’ve gone through more in life and would probably relate to the characters at this point. This video was very well done, thank you for sharing.
All those stories in Death Parade has shown us a couple dark side of the society that people deliberately ignore about. And that Moonlit Night OST is just so emotionally composed that keep remind me of all those moments of each character regret and sorrow about their entire life in this post-life judging terminal. This anime is a good recommendation for those with empathy or having a depression moments that need an escape from reality.
At the time when I watched Death Parade, the episode 4 cemented my love for Decim. I could see myself in Yousuke, the young man who killed himself. Worst I could see my future in him. I knew I wasn't that far of being a danger to myself. Watching this anime made me hold onto life longer. It's not only good for its character but its message. This anime is dark, deal with philosophical subject but also have a simple message through its darkness because it show light too. That life isn't only suffering there is life too. So maybe you shouldn't die and stay longer. To have a fulfilling life which would make the arbiter with the most neutral face ever smile.
the last two episodes really touched me because the topic spoken about really touched me deep and i cried multiple times so... great anime 10/10 my emotions are a mess
Well... personally episode 3 got to my heart amazingly strong. I mean... I had a long-term crush in my childhood, but never got attention from the person, so I know her feelings more than I would want to. She just wanted to be accepted, to be given a chance, to wake up one day, and get a message on her phone like ”Hey pretty” from that one person. Yet all there is was just another nightmare, another day when you'd rather get ignored than have the average day, and being bullied because of plastic surgery is a normal thing, so don't tell that it's all fine, because not everywhere is like where you are. (sorry if I came over too harsh.) Anyway ^-^ We have a common understanding that Death Parade is amazing.
Episode 4 was definitely super close, but what will always be the breaker for me is the scene where she saw her mother mourn the loss of her daughter, how she blamed herself, her pain, her tears--and the regret. Losing your loved ones, especially on bad terms, is the absolute worst thing that could ever happen and the one fear I always truly dead. It might just be a soft spot of mine due to all the issues I havs with my own mom, but it was just absolutely heartbreaking and I cried during every bit of that scene.
I personally related to ep 3. To feel like you don't belong is so painful that you would want to do anything to fit it. But yeah, great video. Very good analysis 😊
The answer is simple, it's backstory. As you mentioned, the episodic individuals characterization is superficial. Death Parade reveals backstory of random lives to appeal to the viewers emotions or their empathy. As for the recurring characters, I don't think they are particularly interesting either and quite puzzling as them having personalities goes against the shows world building elements but I digress.
As a channel I've only recently discovered, you're pretty good and you remind me of myself sometimes in your delivery and fairly simple editing style. You make well-thought videos that provoke you and reach for something insightful rather than simply reiterating an anime's plot, a problem many "video essayists" have issues with.
As a writer myself. I try my hardest to make interesting OCs or even a scene where the readers can cry alongside the music playing. Ths really helped out. Thanks for making this sort of series
Episode 3 was perfect for me, it don't need some shocking past to the girl to make me understand she was bullied. I can relate with that. The only one that I don't really care about the characters was the OVA.
Episode 1 decides if i will watch the anime or not and death parade got me hooked i love what the anime is about Its very fun to watch im just sad that its over but a season 2 is possible
when i started death parade i actually for some reason didn't enjoy it as much, i basically even stopped watching it for a while and later came back to watch the last few episodes because of how interesting it sounded when you talked about it. i mean the reason i might not have liked it all that much and stopped could maybe have been for personal reasons since now that you mention it, it really does seem real. im definitely going back to watch the series and the videos you have made on death parade all over again.
I like how in death parade we aren't allways told with person was send into nothing or into rebirth. That way every viewer can watch the story of the Charakters and decide for themselves where they would sent them.
Except we were, just look at the face-thingy above the elevators; the only time we were not shown where t he y go was in episode 9 and there it was absolutely clear both of those guys go to hell/into the void
For me the third episode and the girl was all about her changing her looks to look like somebody else. All in the pursuit of getting his attention. If you're a woman you feel pressured to look and act a certain way. When she finally met society's expectations and was about to get her reward... She died.
Episode 3 is great because im sure many, if not all, people can relate to being interested in someone that isnt interested in you. Her way of trying to overcome that was to try and look more like the girl that the boy liked as a kid instead of her so she could grab his attention. Youre not necessarily supposed to relate to the plastic surgery per se, rather feeling as if youre not good enough and wanting to do everything you can to be good enough. And I dont think it was also looked down on, the feeling thats suggested is more so they were surprised that he didnt recognize her as they knew who she was and that he had known her as a kid. 3 in general is probably what I believe to be in the top 3 episodes of the series. 3, 4, and 8 are all arguable for being the best, and I wouldnt really argue with any order you put them in. The series as a whole is an insane work of art, and I hate that I had put it off for so long just watching it this past month. It easily made it into my top 5, and Im currently debating on if I believe its my number 2.
I think ep 3 wasn’t really trying to focus on the aspects of plastic surgery as much as “love”. The thing I related to was how much she loved him but never was noticed by him because of her physical features. It’s more like she would do anything to get noticed and feel acceptable like when you like someone and you would do anything to be good enough for them. She was always there for him she even said “but I’m still here” when the other girl left but sometimes personality isn’t enough.
Bit late to the party here, but allow me to add my two cents - So, episode three worked for me due to a few separate reasons. Firstly, I was kinda concerned about the bowling match being more like the darts game from the first two episodes; that being, that it would involve pain or some other cruel form of harming the participants. I'm just not good at handling that kind of subject matter in bulk, so when it was actually a nice, calm and cheerful outcome, I was greatly relieved. Episode three actually persuaded me to keep watching and put my trust into the show. The other large part was the girl in the episode, Mai. Though I've never gotten plastic surgery myself, I was a bit of a social outcast for most of my life and I can relate to her struggle of wanting to be seen without drawing unwanted attention. More personally, I heavily relate to her experience of slowly but surely drifting away from her childhood friend. She wanted the relationship to last, but he seemed to move on, and eventually they just stopped talking. It hits close to home, as I had a lot of trouble making and maintaining friends for pretty much all of my school life. It also draws a response out of me due to my subsequent abandonment and trust issues. Though Mai's experience was a good deal different from mine, I have a lot of respect for her deciding to go through with the surgery regardless of what people would say, and the fact that she meets Shigeru again before they part ways for a final time in the afterlife fulfills a sort of strange fantasy that I mostly entertained at the height of my suicidal ideation. Episode three is important, even if it's not particularly challenging and is instead primarily positivity and fluff, and while I know it fell flat for some, I want to believe it hit home for people like me as well.
Tbh I never had a childhood friend that had plastic surgery or anything like that but episode three to me was still pretty impactful it had a great story and in a way it had almost the same impact as ep 4 in which if anything I could relate to more with the mother by herself and the shut in kid I never was to that extent but I realized both aspect as I was a lil bit of a shut in and my mother was single raising me and my brother and her oldest one that she still looked over even from an early age I realize the trials that she faced but in a way what I’m getting to is that even thought I could relate to completely one episode and feel the same way about the other that I had almost no relation to or connection but it’s all up to the writing and animation and how they presented and revealed the part of the young teens I think that’s part of the reason this show is so good is that even thought you don’t know the characters whole life they are good at making you somewhat care and appreciate the things that you do manage to see or just observe well and realize who they are in such a small window and even if you can’t relate you could still feel a bit of what the character is feeling
I'm surprised you didn't talk about Chiyuki and her suicide. She was unable to do what she loved and she committed suicide, not just because she couldn't figure skate again, but because that was who she was and she practically lost her own identity. I personally have never lost the ability to do what I love, but i do struggle with suicidal tendencies and I can only imagine what i would do in her situation. Chiyuki stuck with me quite a bit for just that.
Favorite anime series by far! I’d been holding it off as I thought it was gonna be a sort of bloody anime.....boi was I wrong, I highly recommend it, a warning tho...get some tissues or towel ready...cuz you’ll be crying a river :’)’
Am I the only one who could relate mostly to Decim? I guess I became so attached to this show is because all my life I tried to understand and study humans from a distance, but I never really was a part of the interaction. I tried to understand humans on cold logical Level as I often couldn't relate in any way to their life expierences.
i guess this video only works in relation to the right audience and what the writer is going for. dragon ball is a good example. Work Hard, Never give up, and you can defeat gods. but no one is literally defeating gods. let's step down a level. star wars the clones wars umbara ark is wildly considered the best ark in the show because of the irony of the situation and the satisfying ending. without spoiling it, the viewer clear gets the polarizing situation the clone are in. No you're not a clone, and you don't take orders from Jedi but you still a man who is sometimes put in difficult circumstances with difficult choices to make.
Well, about the episode 3, in japan droping high school and make a plastic surgery for aesthetic (not because an accident) is highly stigmatized. The idea was to show someone totally social outcast, but by japanese standards, since it was produced there... Such as you mentioned, here in west a homosexual or teen pregnancy would be closer to our cultural stigmas...
I would argue that most of the characters are incredibly forgettable for example the guy who operates the elevator the girl with white hair and Quinn these characters are not only the main cast but so forgettable that despite me just finishing the show today Ive already forgotten their names except Quinn for some reason also these characters have no memorable traits at least for me but I love the video and the work you put into it and there are certain characters I really like. mainly the two murderers in ep 8 and 9
I don't think the Death Note movie was bad, and frankly I think the changes to Misa were for the better. And Willem Dafoe as Ryuk was pure gold. Light wasn't as compelling as he could have been, and L wasn't either, but I think the mistake was branding it as a retelling rather than a reimagining. If they'd changed Light and L's names entirely, I think it would have been received much more positively.
