English Dub Review: Death Parade “Death Seven Darts”

Who knew that the Japanese can do psychological thriller?

The anticipation for Death Parade was a slow burn for me. I heard of it, and heard the pedigree of the production Company, MADHOUSE. With movies like Ninja Scroll, and shows like Hunter x Hunter, Trigun, and Death Note, you know that Death Parade is going to at least look great. The base plot seemed a little off to me. But hey, it could be worse, right?

The story is, that when people die, they have a chance to go to Quindecim. This is a purgatory of sorts, to see if Heaven or Hell is in their future. As they play, the person’s true self comes to life, and they go to their destination. This week, the name of the game is Death Seven Darts, and a husband and wife are both playing this week. There is a slight twist. Every wedge of the dart board is connected to a nervous system to the other person.

The story picks up right after the first darts are thrown. I love how Takashi doesn’t realize anything is going on, and it takes that first board hit for the both of them to realize that things are going to go dead wrong. “Death Seven Darts” keeps you guessing until the ending theme starts to play, because nothing is as it seems. Machiko and Takashi’s true nature really did come out, and the ending was something M. Night Shamalyan would be proud of. Unfortunately, it took about 10 or so minutes for the story to get going. That’s the only thing I have a problem with.

The main draw, character-wise is Decim. He is a no-nonsense “bartender” that also doubles as gamesmaster for whoever shows up to Quindecim. For as extravagant as the bar is, Decim is deadpan, remorseless, and his “matter of fact” attitude is what gets him to stick out from many of the main character tropes that you see in anime nowadays. There’s a lot to like about Death Parade, and its take on the episodic formula is pretty different. I can dig this, because it makes me feel like a series like House. The episodes have seperate stories, but they all come together. Granted, this is from just one episode, but it seems pretty close.

So far, this is the second show that premiered in the new Dubbletalk Block, and I am thoroughly enjoying both Death Parade, and the block. While the Death Parade wasn’t as good as Assassination Classroom, it was still a great show to watch. The premise is pretty unique take on the purgatory setting, and the stakes of the games couldn’t be higher. Funimation hit Death Parade over the fence, but like I said before, the pace of the episode seemed pretty off. Hopefully it gets better in episode two.