Death Parade is an animated series, produced by Madhouse and released on the small screen in 2015. To date, it can be easily found on Netflix and VVVVID. What you are about to read will take you inside this little masterpiece.
Synopsis of Death Parade [Spoiler]
Last night you drank a lot, too much, otherwise it would not be explained why you have no memory of the day before. Your last memory consists of you and your wife in the car while you are on your honeymoon. You get up from the floor and look around. You are in a small room, almost as big as a wardrobe, with mirrors on the walls and on the floor there is a red carpet. After a while a wall opens and you realize that you were in an elevator.
Go out and find yourself in an environment that strongly resembles a modern and elegant bar. There is even a tall aquarium with some exotic jellyfish swimming placidly. You seem to hear some blues notes, when your wife, coming out of another elevator adjacent to yours, hugs you in fear. It doesn't remember anything, like you. Strange, she's not a big drinker. You decide to ignore it and move on, going through what looks like a Zen garden, with a flowing artificial stream and tall bamboo canes.
Finally you arrive at the counter, where a tall young man with strange white hair and a cross-shaped iris informs you that you are in Quindecim. After confirming that he does not remember anything, he forces you to play a game in which your life will be put at risk, and, to threaten you, shows you some bodies hanging behind him. Holy God, it's serious. Hesitantly, take your wife's hand and press the button that activates a mechanism. A blanket of smoke and some metallic noises, behind you appears everything you need for a game of darts: two targets, two sets of darts, one red and one blue. Decim, as the barman introduces himself, informs you that the game has started. A particularity, in the segments of the target are represented some parts of the body and, in the center, the heart.
Your wife, the love of your life, throws the arrow and hits the segment depicting the lungs. A twinge in the chest bends you in pain. How is it, damn it? You are a doctor, you know that there are no implants in your body, it is not possible. No, it cannot be, you will have been made suggestive. You are convinced of this until you hit the shoulder of your wife, depicted on the target. His scream dominates the sound of that damned blues band that you just can't see. It's too much. Grab the bartender's collar and yell at him. He reacts calmly, reminding you that to avoid the pain, it is enough that both contenders miss the shot. Surprised, but vaguely reassured, tell your wife and the game resumes, with constant mistakes from both. It's your turn, you have two darts left. You load the shot, aiming just below the target, when an image flashes on your head. The corpses behind the counter. No, you can't lose the game, your hand acts before your conscience: the arrow flies and hits the segment representing your wife's intestine. It's a moment, she spits blood and you run to hug her, apologizing for your bad aim. But what has gone through your head? How could you hurt her? When she dabs her mouth with her hand, the blood stains the faith that leads to the ring finger.
His next hit hits the segment with your eyes. He must have done it on purpose, he was taking revenge. Furious with pain, you prepare to hit her when she just begs you not to hit her belly, you could hurt your child. It's like a slap to you. You did not know, and a tear of joy furrows your face. You load the shot but, while the arrow flies, a scene comes to mind that you witnessed a few hours before your wedding. A couple of your wife's friends talked about how she had received all the fortunes of life, including a rich husband and a beautiful lover. The arrow affects the image of the stomach.
Your wife falls to her knees holding her abdomen and, at her request for explanations, accompanied by tears, you tell her that you know everything. She denies it but you know she's lying, but she can't do it forever. Not happy, take her last arrow and you're about to throw it, when she reveals that the woman to whom her friends referred was not her, but a relative of hers. Your certainties falter, it takes the object from your hand but slips, throwing the arrow against the center of the target, against your heart. You fall to the ground, prone, but you get up quickly, you can't lose, you don't want to die! You scream, terrified, when your wife's firm and calm voice blocks you. At first you don't want to believe her but you understand it there, you remember everything. You are already dead. Moved by jealousy, while driving you wanted to take her cell phone, but your carelessness caused the accident that ended your life. Decim reveals the truth to you: you are already in the afterlife and Quindecim is the place where you decide who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell. In this place, continues Decim, the souls of two people who died at the same time arrive. But how did this happen? You just wanted a happy family, you just wanted joy, you don't want to be dead, it's an injustice! You can't have killed your son ... if he's really yours. In fact, it probably isn't, it's all your wife's fault! If she hadn't behaved like a slut she is, none of this would have happened! While you are mad with grief, she admits the whole truth. That's not your son, she doesn't love you and married you just for money.
After a moment of bewilderment you know very well what to do, grab two darts and squeeze on her, ready to vent your anger on her, when you are blocked by metal cables that you have not seen. It must have been that damned Decim, yelling at him to leave you but he doesn't react. The energies soon leave your body, which is now little more than an empty shell, inhabited only by pain and despair. You are dragged into one of the two elevators and your wife enters the other. Before passing out, the image of two masks passes before your eyes, one for the lift. The one above yours is white, porcelain, smiling. The one above the other, which houses your wife, is red and demonic.
Conclusions
Coming out of the story, this is nothing more than the fictional transposition of the first episode of the aforementioned series. I didn't want to write a review as each episode tells a story in itself, and talking about the general structure gave me the idea of trivializing it. If I managed to intrigue you even a little, give it a chance. You will not regret it.
