History Anime / DeathParade

** Episode 6 taken UpToEleven. The episode is absolutely insane, being played for laughs for most of the episode to suddenly becoming morose and dark, before jumping right back into hilarious again. The jumps happen so much so that it's hard to believe it's from the same show.

* HanlonsRazor: Malice driven from mer e ignorance and misunderstandings seem to be the true explanation for why Quindecim works the way it does, coupled with a generous dose of bureaucratic apathy.

* HanlonsRazor: Malice driven from mere ignorance and misunderstandings seem to be the true explanation for why Quindecim works the way it does, coupled with a generous dose of bureaucratic apathy.

Produced by Creator/{{Madhouse}}, ''Death Parade'' expands off of a half-hour short called "Death Billiards", an entry for Japan's Anime Mirai: Young Animator Training Program in 2013. The short was successful enough to be one of [[Anime/LittleWitchAcademia only two]] that were produced into an anime series. Aired during the Winter2015Anime Season, it can be legally streamed on [[https://www.funimation.com/shows/death-parade/ Funimation's site]].

** This is a JustifiedTrope with Chiyuki, as she has been brought to Quindecim [[spoiler:in hopes that her empathy and humanity will influence Decim’s roll as an arbiter

!!Tropes:

** Also happens to Decim’s assistant when she requests a memory transfer for the quests in episode 8. Interestingly, this doesn’t happen to Decim when he gets memories of the dead, though.

** In the children's book within the series, Jimmy felt this for the titular Chavvot. He was very enamored with her smile. This is a direct para

Now has a [[Characters/DeathParade character page]] in the works.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: Castra has dark brown skin, and Ginti is noticeably darker than the rest of the cast as well. Like the others, neither are human, and so like them they don't really have a race.

* WhenSheSmiles: In the children's book within the series, Jimmy felt this for the titular Chavvot. He was very enamored with her smile.

[[quoteright:388:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cc122ca5ba64ce64b2ca77c8440e0163.jpg]]

* MeaningfulName: Names of all the arbiters linked with Latin numbers. Other staffers have Latin words as names. The only exception is Decim's assistant who has no name and is credited as "Woman with Black Hair" or simply known as [[FanNickname Onna]]. [[spoiler:In episode 10 we finally learn her what is her real name--it's Chiyuki, written with the kanji for "knowing" and "happiness"]].

** The first one to sink is Ginti/Mayu, [[AbandonShipping which most shippers were okay with due to Ginti's actions]]. [[spoiler:His judgment of her is harsh and particularly deceitful, and he gets her sent into the void.]] Though on her part, she makes it pretty clear that the only person she cares about is Harada, anyway.

* MassiveNumberedOffspring: PlayedForDrama. Misaki from the 5th episode is a 38-year-old woman with 5 kids from several different men. However, she had so many husbands because [[DomesticAbuse they were all physically abusive]].

** The old man in the short film flashes a rather menacing smirk just before the elevator doors close. [[spoiler:In episode 10, we see his wife who is an equally nice and charming woman.]]

* BrokenBird: More than a few have rather tragic pasts which lead to their JerkAss or cynical personalities. Misako and Yousuke of episode 4 both stand out though, [[spoiler:with the two having dealt with serious domestic issues which lead to them not treating their nicer family members well and not realizing how awful they were until it's too late.]]

* DownerEnding: In just the ''first episode'', [[spoiler:we have a happy couple that ends up having their relationship torn completely to pieces and Decim ''actually slips up and sends the two to the wrong fates'']]. In episode 9, [[spoiler:BOTH guests are sent to the void, despite the black haired woman's attempts to prevent this outcome by talking some sense into Decim and Shimada. She fails.]]

* FirstEpisodeSpoiler: It can be fairly hard to explain the plot of the series to someone new to it, especially considering the opening theme is so [[BaitAndSwitchCredits jarringly peppy]] compared to what the show is really all about, which may lead to fans of DarkerAndEdgier anime to shy away from it or fans of LighterAndSofter anime to want to watch it. The couple that walks into Quindecim is dead. The bartender is an [[{{Psychopomp}} arbiter]], and the games are created with the sole intent of bringing out the true colors of the players in question and judging whether they will go to "heaven" or to "hell".

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Although the end result leaves Takashi more angry than happy, it's more like "to be free from guilt". [[spoiler:Machiko lies about having an affair and being pregnant from another man to alleviate Takashi's guilt from killing his own child, and it potentially may have cost her being reincarnated.]]

* AnotherSideAnotherStory: The 1st episode of the series revolves around Decim's job to determine whose soul is worthy to be reincarnated between a married couple and the 2nd episode is his assistant's perspective as an observer.

** Episode 3. Mai gets to go on a date with the {{childhood friend|s}} whom she's loved for years, but they're both dead, and it seems it isn't until she [[spoiler: had plastic surgery]] that he began to recognize her. While it's implied that they both reincarnated rather than one of them going to hell, this also comes with the fact that they could easily reincarnate as people a world apart, meaning they simply cannot be together as they want to be in this (after-) life.

* ButtMonkey: Episode 4 features two of the most tragic examples of this trope. [[spoiler:Yousuke and Misaki both have lived very rough lives. Yousuke lived with a very abusive mother who wished he was never born and because of the way he grew up, he became antisocial and hardly spoke to anyone, not even his kind stepmother. Even in the afterlife, the arcade game has a {{Flanderization}} of him and he gets his face smashed onto the machine by Misaki. But, Misaki probably had it even worse. She married three times and each husband was just as abusive as the other and they all left her with at least one child. She ended up becoming abusive to her own children and her manager. She was done in by said manager after she had been through much of her abuse. In the afterlife, she plays as a {{Flanderization}} of herself and after learning that she is dead, she receives a figurative blow below the belt from Decim when he coldly states that she should be familiar with "life being unfair".]]

* CoolOldGuy: Coincidentally, her husband happens to be the same old man from ''Death Billiards''. He was a man who can hold his own and even take on a young man with just a billiard stick.

* CoolOldLady: Sachiko from episode 10 is a sweet and polite elderly woman who lived a fulfilled life and loved to draw. She had a blast playing cards with Decim & [[spoiler:Chiyuki]] in the Quindecim.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Episodes 8 and 9 are by far the darkest in the series. [[spoiler:Both guests were guilty of murder for revenge and the black haired woman broke down to the point where she called out Decim for his cruel methods and even intervened to try to save Shimada from sending himself to the Void, and ''she fails''.]]

** Various poses in episode 6 during the Twister match deliberately invoked this.

** One of the guests in [[spoiler:episode 4]] had this as their backstory.

** [[spoiler:[[FanGirl Mayu]] does this for Harada]] in episode 6. This happens before they realize they're dead, though, and it's not made [[ZigZaggingTrope entirely clear]] if she did it to save face (because she was about to piss herself in front of her idol) or out of genuine selflessness, either. Tried to do it again in episode 11, [[spoiler:because Ginti told her there is a chance to get back Harada's soul if another soul was given in his place. He lied.]]

** In episode 11 we have a beautiful skating scene and [[spoiler:mentions of severe depression/suicide a while later]].

** Decim's shirt gets grabbed by someone in ''every'' episode for the first half of the series. Averted in episode 6, however, because he only showed up briefly during the credits. This time, Ginti fell victim to the assault at the hands of Mayu.

** This seems to be a major point of that woman's character type in general. Episode 9 firmly cemented her as Decim's {{Foil}} when she tells him that dragging out the darkness of someone's soul was forceful and arbitrary, and she sympathetically recalls and somewhat justifies past actions of the dead guests, noting ThePowerOfLove and implying that not everyone who exhibits "darkness" [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone is actually "dark" themselves]]. Basically, she humanizes the guests, rather than demonizing them.

* UndignifiedDeath: In episode 6 it's shown [[spoiler:Mayu died by slipping in the shower and hitting her head... because she was too busy jumping around and fangirling over her favorite boy band]].

** Episode 5 reveals the MythArc of the series--[[spoiler:the assistant's judgment. As it turns out, she is a {{dead|AllAlong}} [[TokenHuman human]] who could recall that she had died upon being sent to Quindecim, so Decim had her memories erased and is now keeping her as his assistant in some SecretTestOfCharacter]]. This episode also hinted at a fundamental difference between humans and arbiters, which wasn't really elaborated upon until episode 7.
** Episode 7 dumped so many swerves so casually that you could hardly tell they even happened. Mainly, [[spoiler:Arbiters are emotionless dummies who cannot die, and Nona has had human emotions implanted in Decim for immediate reasons that have yet to be fully revealed]].
** Episode 9 is even worse, since it was a WhamEpisode for the series ''as well'' as the [[MonsterOfTheWeek continuing guests]] from episode 8. The black-haired woman broke down and said many, many things that shocked even [[TheStoic Decim]]. She finally expresses her rage and contempt towards how cruel the system he serves is, [[spoiler:eliciting a ''genuine'' [[NotSoStoic emotional response]] from him for the first time and sparking Nona's plan]]. And then the guest's memories return, revealing that [[spoiler:Tatsumi was a SerialKillerKiller and obsessive VigilanteMan who watched Shimada's sister get assaulted simply so he could kill the assailant. Shimada eventually killed him before bleeding out himself]]. The episode ends [[ColdBloodedTorture on the]] [[DarkerAndEdgier darkest note]] yet.
** Episode 10 reveals [[spoiler:the assistant's true name to be Chiyuki, the old man's wife from "Death Billiards" passed away, and Oculus finally discovered that Nona implanted human emotions into Decim after stealing memories from Clavis]].
** Episode 11, where do we start? We learn that [[spoiler: Chiyuki was an professional skater who won several skating competitions until she got an serious knee injury which abruptly ended her career. She went into deep depression and killed herself. In the same episode, Ginti told Mayu that there is a way to bring Harada's soul back from the void by offering a soul in his place. '''He lied.''']]

* DomesticAbuser: Misaki of episode 4 went through ''three'' of them, each of them having her bear at least one child before they left her. Suffice to say, it's left her and her family a little broken.

*** Along with the game paraphernalia on the bar in the scene with her Nona, and Decim, there's a pair of ice skates, seemingly at random.
*** Decim applauds her slide across the floor behind Nona and Quin drinking. [[spoiler:Not only is she in a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biellmann_spin Biellmann spin]] pose, if you look closely, you'll see that she's wearing the figure skater outfit she eventually wears in ep. 11]].

* BerserkButton: Many characters seem to be triggered by a certain event or even certain words that can drive them over the edge. Examples include Takashi never being loved by Machiko, Misaki thinking that she will die if she loses, the black-haired woman witnessing Decim's judgement methods, and worst of all is [[spoiler:harming Shimada's beloved sister, Sae.]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes: ''Shimada''. He is a sweet and polite young man who cared deeply for his sister and did whatever it takes to protect her after their parents died. If you ever say anything bad about Sae [[spoiler: or even go as far as assault her, ''there will be hell to pay''. He will go as far as murdering the culprits and, given the opportunity, torture them and watch as they suffer as excruciatingly as possible.]]

* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: It's heavily implied this is the truth behind Machiko's actions in episode one. [[spoiler: She lies about being pregnant with his child and tells him she was only in it for the money to absolve him of the guilt of indirectly causing the death of his family. She does this knowing full well of their situation--it's implied she knew [[{{Psychopomp}} what the purpose of Quindecim is]] and [[HeroicSacrifice jeopardized her spot]] in "heaven"]].

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: In episode 3, the bowling balls are stylized to resemble the players' hearts. Shigeru [[IkeaErotica puts his fingertips into the ball's holes]], cutting to a stylized scene of his fingers inside pulsing red flesh. He blushes and smiles, and then says:
-->"She's so warm..."
** Also Oculus's lotus flower hair and beard. What other godly figure is there in real life who uses a lotus flower motif?

* DrivenToSuicide: One of Harada's girlfriends Kana, after he breaks up with her.

** [[spoiler:Chiyuki committed suicide after learning she can never go back to professional skating after the injury during a contest]].

* HotBlooded: Decim's assistant, even if she doesn't look like it, and Ginti often show that they have quite the temper and can be very enthusiastic. Mayu is also prone to getting fired up, though it's less angry and more [[GenkiGirl genki]].

** Episode 10 is the most relaxing episode ever.

* MoralityPet: It seems that Tatsumi's wife was this for him before she died, and it's implied that her murder is what [[spoiler:turned him into a [[VigilanteMan vigilante]] SerialKiller. Or, at the very least, pushed him into becoming one]].

* ShoutOut: Ginti asks Mayu if she is willing to send someone to the void in order to save Harada. If you look closely at the guy Mayu would need to sacrifice, you may notice that he shares a striking resemblance with one popular character. [[spoiler:Well, if it isn't [[Manga/DeathNote Light Yagami!]] That would explain the strange increase in deaths several of the characters gossip about...]]

--->[[spoiler: '''Decim:''' "Lying? Why would there be any need for that?"]]

--->[[spoiler:'''Chiyuki's Mother:''' "Her smile really is terrific, huh? I'm with you, ''Chi''."\\
'''Assistant:''' "My name... is Chiyuki."]]

** In the colorful shots of the games, in the last few frames the organs affected by the games can be seen flying at the screen.

** The old man in the short film when he leaves on the elevator. A rather menacing smirk, at that. [[spoiler:In episode 10, we see his wife who is an equally nice and charming woman.]]

* {{Psychopomp}}: Arbiters judge and send the dead to the afterlife. [[spoiler: The problem is that they're so detached from humanity that their evaluations on where souls go is skewed enough to need an assistant, one who is decidedly ''not'' a psychopomp herself.]]

** Episodes 8 and 9 where Shimada and Tatsumi started off on good terms but after learning about each other's pasts, [[spoiler:Tatsumi berates Shimada and when he is given the opportunity, Shimada stabs the hockey pucks that are connected to Tatsumi's orgams to torture him and make him suffer for watching Sae get assaulted.]]

* ResurrectiveImmortality: No matter the assault that may occur, players in the games cannot die; if they stop breathing or their hearts stop, they simply come back up again a time later. Makes sense, considering they're already dead. On the other hand, there IS a possibility of [[spoiler: causing the other player a pain of unimaginable strength... and it is NOT a pleasant thing to see.]]

* RunningGag: Decim's shirt gets grabbed by someone in ''every'' episode for the first half of the series. Averted in episode 6, however, because he only showed up briefly during the credits. This time, Ginti fell victim to the assault at the hands of Mayu.

* SecretTestOfCharacter: The true purpose of the games, deciding whether the players deserve to be reincarnated or not by revealing their true selves through a high-stress scenario. The twist is that [[spoiler:since Decim doesn't really get how humans work, they're not particularly efficient or reliable tests, and the implied cruelty of this trope is completely unnecessary]].
** It is eventually revealed that the entire show is actually a SecretTestOfCharacter MythArc regarding [[spoiler:the black-haired girl, who was a human who entered Quindecim with the memory that she was dead. She thus refused to play the game, leading to some LaserGuidedAmnesia that landed her in her current situation]].

** The first one to sink is Ginti/Mayu, [[AbandonShipping which most shippers were okay with due to Ginti's actions]]. [[spoiler:His judgment of her is harsh and particularly deceitful, and he gets her sent into the void]]. Though on her part, she makes it pretty clear that the only person she cares about is Harada, anyway.
** Decim/the black-haired woman, [[spoiler:as she gets reincarnated in the end, and even if her soul ends up in Quindecim again, it still won't be the same person and she likely won't remember Decim anyway. Though it's implied that he still remembers her (based on her Meaningful Name and the fact he's still able to smile because of her at the end), this just adds to the tragedy and ultimate futility of the ship]].

* SheCleansUpNicely: Mayu, after removing her makeup and changing into a kimono. So much that Ginti doesn't even recognize her and Harada, who previously didn't consider her that cute, is pleased and says that she's his type.
* ShoutOut: Ginti asks Mayu if she is willing to send someone to the void in order to save Harada. If you look closely at the guy Mayu would need to sacrifice, you may notice that he shares a striking resemblance with one popular character. [[spoiler:Well, if it isn't [[Manga/DeathNote Light Yagami!]] That would explain the strange increase in deaths several of the characters gossip about]]...
* StartOfDarkness: Tatsumi's start was the murder of his wife, which caused him to find the murderer and then torture and kill him. After "hearing" his late wife's words of gratitude, he then proceeds to spend the rest of his life [[spoiler:as a [[VigilanteMan Vigilante]] SerialKillerKiller, who would go so far as to ''[[MoralEventHorizon watch people be victimized]]'' while doing nothing, simply so that he could have someone to "pass judgment on."]]

* TimeBomb: [[spoiler:Lisa, the last girl Harada was dating before he died, turned out to be the sister of his previous girlfriend who killed herself after he broke up with her. Lisa left him a ticking time bomb (in the shape of a heart and with attached note) hidden under the plate lid]].

* UndignifiedDeath: In episode 6 it's shown [[spoiler: Mayu died by slipping in the shower and hitting her head... because she was too busy jumping around and fangirling over her favorite boy band.]]

** Episode 5 reveals the MythArc of the series--[[spoiler:the assistant's judgment. As it turns out, she is a [[DeadAllAlong dead]] [[TokenHuman human]] who could recall that she had died upon being sent to Quindecim, so Decim had her memories erased and is now keeping her as his assistant in some SecretTestOfCharacter]]. This episode also hinted at a fundamental difference between humans and arbiters, which wasn't really elaborated upon until episode 7.
** Episode 7 dumped so many swerves so casually that you could hardly tell they even happened. Mainly, [[spoiler:Arbiters are emotionless dummies who cannot die, and Nona has had human emotions implanted in Decim for immediate reasons that have yet to be fully revealed.]]

** Episode 10 reveals [[spoiler:the assistant's true name to be Chiyuki, the old man's wife from "Death Billiards" passed away, and Oculus finally discovered that Nona implanted human emotions into Decim after stealing memories from Clavis.]]

* WhatTheHellHero: Decim's assitant, in episode 9, [[spoiler: snaps and brutally rips into Decim for the cruelty of his tests.]]

** Take a close look at the Chavvo doll in the final scene. [[spoiler:Its

* FreezeFrameBonus: Several in the opening.

** Decim applauds the Black-haired Woman's slide across the floor behind Nona and Quin drinking.

* GoodStepmother: Yousuke's stepmother was a very kind and loving parent in contrast with his real mother. Sadly, Yousuke never accepted her and became depressed [[spoiler: to the point of suicide. In fact, in the afterlife, his biggest regret was that he never got the chance to call his loving stepmother "Mom".]]

* SympatheticPOV: Machiko gets this in [[AnotherSideAnotherStory episode 2]] through the eyes of the black-haired woman, revealing that [[spoiler:[[HeroicSacrifice she lied to her husband to absolve him of the guilt of killing his own child and to preserve her feelings for him]] ]].