Kim 1

Mia Kim
Mr. Olszyk
Block D JCNE
March 13. 2015

Welcome to QuinDecim

In American culture, animated series don't have an extremely large reputation.

For the most part they are meant for children or are complete satires of what goes on in
America. In Japan, however, animated series take on a completely different role. Many
of them are stories riddled with emotion and the drama that would leave the audience
wanting more every week. In December of 2014, studio Madhouse released the first
season of their original series Death Parade. In the world of Death Parade, those who
have died at the same time suddenly awaken to find themselves inside a dark but classy
bar. With no recollection of how they got there, they are greeted by the bartender Decim,
who promptly bows and say, "Welcome to QuinDecim." Decim is an arbiter; he a judge
whose sole purpose is to decide whether someone's soul will be casted into the void or is
deserving enough to be sent to reincarnation. The method that Decim and other arbiters
are guided by, are prompting guests to play a game against each other. The premise is
simple, but the judgement lies within how the players react and what they do as they
slowly start remembering who they are and exactly how they died. Even though it's an
animated series, Death Parade is filled with religious themes, the main one being
Hinduism. The series demonstrates the values of Hinduism due to its examination of the

Kim 2
true nature of the human soul, judgement and regret of the afterlife, and perception of
reality.
Decim, unlike other arbiters who work on different floors, has an assistant. She
has no name, but will be referred to as Onna. Unlike the arbiters, Onna is a human who
came to QuinDecim with her memories completely intact. As a result she has different
views opposed to Decim who is not actually human. In Hinduism, the concept of
Samsara is a form of reincarnation or the cycle of life turning into death and vice versa.
This also ties into someone's thoughts, futures, and actions. In more specific terms,
Samsara is a constant cycle of ignorance and self-deceit. While guests who arrive at
QuinDecim are only able to gain their memories slowly through playing a game, Decim
receives all of them at once so he has some sort of background info. However,
judgement can't be passed just solely on a person's memories, which is why he must
prompt them to play a game and tells them their lives are at stake; hoping to reveal the
true inner workings of their soul by their actions. An episode where this is demonstrated
can be seen in the first episode. Takahashi and Machiko are a newly married couple who
arrive at QuinDecim. Unable to find a way out, they agree to play a game and a roulette
reveals that they will be playing darts. These games are designed to put people under
extreme circumstances and prompt them to take different courses of action. In this game
of darts, the targets are linked with their opponent's internal organs. At first, the couple
agrees to miss in order not to cause each other pain, however Takahashi slips as he
remembers that he suspected his wife of being unfaithful, while Machiko remembers that
she is pregnant. As they deal physical pain to each other, the instability of their marriage
resurfaces until they both remember that they had died in a car accident due to

Kim 3
Takahashi's carelessness. He goes into despair knowing that he killed his unborn child
and resorts to accusing Machiko of being unfaithful; saying the baby wasn't his. At this
Machiko becomes hysterical and proclaims to Takahashi that she never loved him and
that the baby wasn't his. At this moment Decim believes that he has seen the true
meanings of both their souls and makes a judgement. Takahashi is sent to reincarnation
and Machiko is sent to the void. However it is later revealed that Onna believes that
Machiko had lied in the end and Decim, upon examining their memories, realizes that he
had made the wrong judgement. The first episode is a form of a foreshadowing to the
rest of the series of how true human nature isn't supposed to be completely understood
by neither oneself or anyone else. A fundamental thought of Hinduism.
Another emotion that majority of the characters feel in Death Parade is of course
regret. In Hinduism, a person's ultimate goal is to come to a full realization of living a
life without selfishness and understanding themselves. This is also referred to as
Moshka. While many of the characters have regret for selfish reasons, in episode four, a
man named Yousuke arrives at QuinDecim. He is to play a video game against a reality
TV mom, Misaki. Through their game, as usual they both recollect their memories.
Misaki remembers her family and terrible life with abusive husbands. Yousuke
remembers a childhood with an abusive mother and then a life with a step-mother who
tried her best. After Yousuke wins, he breaks down asking himself why he committed
suicide in the first place. During his lifetime, he was unable to grant his step-mother one
wish, for her son to call him "mother." On the other hand, Misaki only regrets being
killed by her manager and being unable to live the life that she wanted, one with fame
and money. As expected Decim passes judgement: Yousuke to reincarnation and Misaki

Kim 4
to the void. This is one of the instances where the human nature seems to be revealed
accurately, however Yousuke is able to come to a full understanding of what
consequences his actions have brought him.
The season finale of Death Parade brought about one of the most emotional
endings. As Decim earns experience as an arbiter, he is given judgements that are
considered more difficult to make decisions on. In the last two episodes, two men arrive
at QuinDecim: Tatsumi, an investigator, and Shimada, a young man who works multiple
jobs to raise his sister. Unlike usual cases, Decim faces a dilemma because both men
have killed someone in their lifetimes, making this judgement extremely difficult and
requiring a full examination of their souls. As the two are required to face each other in a
game of air hockey both men remember their motives. Tastsumi's wife was murdered
and Shimada's sister was assaulted and raped. They eventually reveal that they plan on
taking revenge. Decim decides to to raise the stakes and link the air hockey pucks to
their internal organs. The pain causes their memories to return quicker and both men
remember that they have already killed the target of their revenge. Tatsumi had killed
him wife's murderer some time before he died, but he decided that he would continue to
pass judgement onto criminals and deal with them himself. Shimada's sister had told him
that while she was attacked, there was another man in the distance who was just
watching. Therefore he had sworn vengeance one two men, the attacker and Tatsumi.
Fate had led Tatsumi to observe the attacker and decide when it was right to kill him. In
the end, Shimada kills his sister's attacker but is also stabbed, then Tatsumi shows up
with the same intention, in which Shimada kills him before bleeding to death. When the
two men regain these memories, Shimada is in despair but Tatsumi seems indifferent. In

Kim 5
his despair, the younger man questions the detective, asking him why he didn't save his
sister when he could have stopped it. Instead of casting judgement, Decim decides to go
farther and test Shimada. He restrains Tatsumi and presents Shimada with a knife and a
stack of hockey pucks all linked to the detective's organs. Although Onna attempts to be
the voice of reason and stop him, Shimada gives into his anger and despair and smashes
the entire stack. In the end he loses all sanity. After their judgement has been passed,
Onna becomes enraged and recites an extremely powerful monologue. "People aren't as
complex as you think they are. They're simple and they get sad or angry over simple
things. That's how they are. They're quickly affected by the simplest things and live
without knowing where they're going to fall down. Youve never even lived. You dont
understand the least bit about grief. Its not just grief. There are as many emotions as
there are people. The fragility of someone who lets their anger get the best of them. The
strength to be able to overcome fear because of love. You cant comprehend anything
about them. So how can you possibly pass judgment on them?" Onna makes a point here
about the reality of humans. As said in Hinduism, humans are their own creators yet they
can't be perfect or fully understand themselves. They are riddled with faults that even
they can comprehend. At Onna's words, Decim is unable to speak and clenches his chest.
Although he is to act as one, Decim is not the ultimate Brahman, he is but an existence
that is to observe humans objectively and decide their fate.
Death Parade in actuality delivers a strong message about how people should
treat each other. Studio Madhouse makes a declaration through this series that although
humans are quick to judge, someone can never really fully understand another person no
matter how much they know. It is a person's sole responsibility to come to terms with

Kim 6
themselves, they can be guided however just as Yousuke was able to realize his wrong
doings. The series does not have a negative or positive connotation on Hinduism, but
does demonstrate it well by examining human nature, regret, and perception of reality.

Work Cited
Tachikawa, Yuzuru. Death Parade. 2015. Studio Madhouse. Tokyo, Japan.