straightforwardly (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
straightforwardly) wrote2015-03-18 02:51 pm
straightforwardly) wrote2015-03-18 02:51 pm
Entry tags:
0068 | in which I become surprisingly invested in Death Parade
► I've been watching more Death Parade, and... I've already caught up to episode 10? That's about eight episodes in 2-3 days; I definitely did not intend to spend so much of my free time watching it, but here we are. For a series I was feeling so ambivalent about in the beginning, I've gotten really invested in it— I have so much to say.
For me, the highlight of this series is definitely Decim and Chiyuki, and the way they relate and interact with one another. I ship them pretty hard, but it's also a bit more than that?
I just love the idea of them being really important to each, and especially the idea of Chiyuki being very important to Decim. Something about their relationship hits all the right notes for me. When Decim lashed out at Ginti for potentially hurting her, despite generally being a calm, unflappable person? If I hadn't already been shipping it, I would have been converted in a second there.
I also really like Nona. She's much less creepy than the second episode led me to believe— I honestly thought that she'd end up playing an antagonistic role later on— but she's no the less interesting for in. I'm curious about her reasons for questioning the system— if that is, in fact, what she's doing re: the arbiters with human emotions thing.
At first, I was actually pretty disappointed when Chiyuki was revealed to be human. I liked the idea of arbiters having assistants born from those flower-things, like Chiyuki had seemed to be. Plus, her being human seems to contradict what that conversation between Clavis and Nona at the end of the second episode implied. The way they spoke, it seemed like there had been assistants before, and that Chiyuki was just the latest in a long line of them.
That being said, I have warmed up to the idea, especially since the last episode. I love that there's a time limit to how long a soul can inhabit a dummy, and that her body seems to now be slowly breaking apart. It's introduced some tension, and not of the dull variety, and my shippy heart loves that Decim seems to be so reluctant to judge her.
Speaking of judging.. episodes 9 and 10 were so, so good to me in regards to some of my concerns on that front. I'd been uneasy about the judgment for Misaki back in episode 4, mainly because I think that, while she was definitely a flawed person, she didn't deserve to go to the void. Yes, her anger made her do terrible things, and she certainly pushed people around, but I think that she genuinely loved her children. She was deeply flawed, but not evil.
This just occurred to me, but I find it interesting how Decim comforted her— seemed to care about her, in his own way— and yet was still able to send her to the void. With the hindsight of later episodes, I have to wonder if this was the series way of foreshadowing how judgment— especially judgment by arbiters with no emotions— is flawed.
She did these bad things, ergo, she gets sent to the void. She didn't do anything that was that bad, ergo, she gets reincarnated. But when you get emotions involved— when you start emphasizing with people and think, yes, they're not entirely a good person, but they had these reasons for doing this/acting like that and those reasons are understandable even if the actions aren't— then those judgments are no longer quite simple.
This is just as true for Misaki as it is for Shimada— and I think the only reason why Chiyuki didn't flip out about Misaki's case is that she didn't have Misaki's memories. She didn't know about the abuse, or about the ways she thought of her children— she only saw Misaki's outward anger and darkness. But when she had the memories of Shimada, she saw how much he loved his sister, how it was that love that drove him to do terrible things, and that was why she reacted.
Speaking of which... did I mention how I really, really, really loved Chiyuki telling Decim off like that? Not only did she have a point, but how he responded to it. He'd been so impassive up until that point, but when she started yelling at him... he reacts.
(source)
And then, when she was hitting him, upset and weak, at the end of the episode—
(source)
Basically, what I'm saying is that, as well as being intriguing from a plot/characterization viewpoint, it also hit many emotional points very, very well.
Especially since it led to Decim questioning how judgments are carried out the very next episode, and that, combined with how Chiyuki's time for judgment is running out— well, let's just say that I'm really, really excited about how this is all going to play out.
One last thing. This isn't quite related to my thoughts on the overall plot, but I think Chiyuki might have missed the point about Decim's dummies in episode 7. It's not just a hobby— it's the only way he can remember all the people who come to him. He might forget everything about them— might not even be able to tell a single story about them, or remember their names— but that facsimile of them still remains.
Essentially, I think he makes them because he forgets everything about them. That way, he can still see them and what they looked like, even after he forgets everything else about them, and so, in that small way, their presence still survives.
► Whenever I'm watching / reading / playing something that I think I might want to write an entry about, I write down notes about it, and delete them once the entry is written. For some reason, I don't really like the idea of deleting the notes I wrote about Death Parade, so I decided that I'll share them. Fair warning: there's quite a bit here that I've already talked about, but if you want to see some of the more minor points that struck me / my initial reactions, it might be interesting?
episode 3:
Overall: this made me feel a bit more relieved. Apparently, not all the episodes would be grim and tense and nervous-making, which is nice— also, shippy feelings for Decim/black-haired woman
episode 4:
d'aww at that hug. I'm concerned about Misaki's ending, though, because I don't think she deserved the void; even if she had bad characteristics— the anger, pushing people around— I do think she genuinely loved her children, & that she was that way because of how she was treated by men in the past.
episode 5:
shipping feelings on overload, how protective Decim was of her! I didn't really like the reveal that she was human, though. Just, I liked the idea of her being a being born from that flower-thing, especially since Nona made it sound like there'd been assistants before with her conversation with Clavis at the end of episode 2
episode 6:
had some good moments, & I liked Ginti & the cat a lot— & Harada's story was somewhat interesting— but the humor wasn't too my taste— probably my least favorite episode by far.
episode 7:
I think the black-haired woman kind of missed the point with the dummies— I got the impression that he makes them because he forgets about the people they're based on— because then they have at least that much of a presence left, even once his memories of them are gone
episode 8/9:
At first, I liked Tatsumi, even as I was fairly certain he'd turn out to be the murderer. (And then they both were, whoops.) But by the end...he definitely strayed. Shimada, though, deserved better. everything he did was for the love of his sister, & I can't blame someone for flipping out like that when their family is harmed, even if I don't approve of murder or of hurting other people.
I really, really liked how the black-haired woman flipped out on Decim— & his reaction! need gifs for this part in the post, definitely; I was just hit by a rush of feelings there— he was definitely feeling something there.
also, her saying that bit about the judgments being flawed / just creating darkness in people makes me think of Misaki & her judgment— and to a lesser extent, Machiko too, since her lie was driven by the situation they were in— but anyways, it suggests to me that the series is saying that that judgment may not have been correct, even if the anger/bitterness driving her were real.
episode 10:
Decim agrees with her. I love this. I love that he acknowledged what she said, and that she had a point. I've warmed up a bit to the Chiyuki-is-human thing by now, & I really like the tension created by his running out of time to judge her. I wonder what would happen to her soul if she isn't judged? Also, it's nice to have a name for her now, instead of always having to say "the black-haired woman".
I kind of liked how the game ended up prompting Decim to reflect on his own memories as well, despite his supposed to be a step back from it all as an arbiter.
That old man is creepy, & I'm a bit concerned about the implications of his learning about what Nona did (also, side-note, after that bit of creepiness in episode 2, Nona really hasn't acted creepy at all, has she)— for several reasons, both feelings-related and plot-related
Theory that just occurred to me: is Chiyuki a human? She remembers being dead for some reason, & it reminds me of that man in episode 5 who inexplicably remembered being in that bar before (and who turned out to be a dummy, nothing more). She does have human memories, so that puts a chink in this theory, but still... couldn't she be something Nona created, either to draw out Decim's human emotions, or to be a prototype for how the full range of human emotions affect arbitration? Either way would make the old man just as displeased, I think.
wait, no, that can't be— Nona asked for Chiyuki's memories, which would imply that she didn't know them, which would in turn suggest that she didn't create her. damn.
► Well, now that that's done / I'm all caught up, I suppose I can now turn my attention back to the other anime / games I've been neglecting. I'm really close to beating two games that I've been playing quite slowly, and I've been slowly slowly rewatching Digimon Adventure 02 with my brother every once in a while, so it's possible that I'll be making entries about some of those things in the near future.
For me, the highlight of this series is definitely Decim and Chiyuki, and the way they relate and interact with one another. I ship them pretty hard, but it's also a bit more than that?
I just love the idea of them being really important to each, and especially the idea of Chiyuki being very important to Decim. Something about their relationship hits all the right notes for me. When Decim lashed out at Ginti for potentially hurting her, despite generally being a calm, unflappable person? If I hadn't already been shipping it, I would have been converted in a second there.
I also really like Nona. She's much less creepy than the second episode led me to believe— I honestly thought that she'd end up playing an antagonistic role later on— but she's no the less interesting for in. I'm curious about her reasons for questioning the system— if that is, in fact, what she's doing re: the arbiters with human emotions thing.
At first, I was actually pretty disappointed when Chiyuki was revealed to be human. I liked the idea of arbiters having assistants born from those flower-things, like Chiyuki had seemed to be. Plus, her being human seems to contradict what that conversation between Clavis and Nona at the end of the second episode implied. The way they spoke, it seemed like there had been assistants before, and that Chiyuki was just the latest in a long line of them.
That being said, I have warmed up to the idea, especially since the last episode. I love that there's a time limit to how long a soul can inhabit a dummy, and that her body seems to now be slowly breaking apart. It's introduced some tension, and not of the dull variety, and my shippy heart loves that Decim seems to be so reluctant to judge her.
Speaking of judging.. episodes 9 and 10 were so, so good to me in regards to some of my concerns on that front. I'd been uneasy about the judgment for Misaki back in episode 4, mainly because I think that, while she was definitely a flawed person, she didn't deserve to go to the void. Yes, her anger made her do terrible things, and she certainly pushed people around, but I think that she genuinely loved her children. She was deeply flawed, but not evil.
This just occurred to me, but I find it interesting how Decim comforted her— seemed to care about her, in his own way— and yet was still able to send her to the void. With the hindsight of later episodes, I have to wonder if this was the series way of foreshadowing how judgment— especially judgment by arbiters with no emotions— is flawed.
She did these bad things, ergo, she gets sent to the void. She didn't do anything that was that bad, ergo, she gets reincarnated. But when you get emotions involved— when you start emphasizing with people and think, yes, they're not entirely a good person, but they had these reasons for doing this/acting like that and those reasons are understandable even if the actions aren't— then those judgments are no longer quite simple.
This is just as true for Misaki as it is for Shimada— and I think the only reason why Chiyuki didn't flip out about Misaki's case is that she didn't have Misaki's memories. She didn't know about the abuse, or about the ways she thought of her children— she only saw Misaki's outward anger and darkness. But when she had the memories of Shimada, she saw how much he loved his sister, how it was that love that drove him to do terrible things, and that was why she reacted.
Speaking of which... did I mention how I really, really, really loved Chiyuki telling Decim off like that? Not only did she have a point, but how he responded to it. He'd been so impassive up until that point, but when she started yelling at him... he reacts.
(source)
And then, when she was hitting him, upset and weak, at the end of the episode—
(source)
Basically, what I'm saying is that, as well as being intriguing from a plot/characterization viewpoint, it also hit many emotional points very, very well.
Especially since it led to Decim questioning how judgments are carried out the very next episode, and that, combined with how Chiyuki's time for judgment is running out— well, let's just say that I'm really, really excited about how this is all going to play out.
One last thing. This isn't quite related to my thoughts on the overall plot, but I think Chiyuki might have missed the point about Decim's dummies in episode 7. It's not just a hobby— it's the only way he can remember all the people who come to him. He might forget everything about them— might not even be able to tell a single story about them, or remember their names— but that facsimile of them still remains.
Essentially, I think he makes them because he forgets everything about them. That way, he can still see them and what they looked like, even after he forgets everything else about them, and so, in that small way, their presence still survives.
► Whenever I'm watching / reading / playing something that I think I might want to write an entry about, I write down notes about it, and delete them once the entry is written. For some reason, I don't really like the idea of deleting the notes I wrote about Death Parade, so I decided that I'll share them. Fair warning: there's quite a bit here that I've already talked about, but if you want to see some of the more minor points that struck me / my initial reactions, it might be interesting?
episode 3:
Overall: this made me feel a bit more relieved. Apparently, not all the episodes would be grim and tense and nervous-making, which is nice— also, shippy feelings for Decim/black-haired woman
episode 4:
d'aww at that hug. I'm concerned about Misaki's ending, though, because I don't think she deserved the void; even if she had bad characteristics— the anger, pushing people around— I do think she genuinely loved her children, & that she was that way because of how she was treated by men in the past.
episode 5:
shipping feelings on overload, how protective Decim was of her! I didn't really like the reveal that she was human, though. Just, I liked the idea of her being a being born from that flower-thing, especially since Nona made it sound like there'd been assistants before with her conversation with Clavis at the end of episode 2
episode 6:
had some good moments, & I liked Ginti & the cat a lot— & Harada's story was somewhat interesting— but the humor wasn't too my taste— probably my least favorite episode by far.
episode 7:
I think the black-haired woman kind of missed the point with the dummies— I got the impression that he makes them because he forgets about the people they're based on— because then they have at least that much of a presence left, even once his memories of them are gone
episode 8/9:
At first, I liked Tatsumi, even as I was fairly certain he'd turn out to be the murderer. (And then they both were, whoops.) But by the end...he definitely strayed. Shimada, though, deserved better. everything he did was for the love of his sister, & I can't blame someone for flipping out like that when their family is harmed, even if I don't approve of murder or of hurting other people.
I really, really liked how the black-haired woman flipped out on Decim— & his reaction! need gifs for this part in the post, definitely; I was just hit by a rush of feelings there— he was definitely feeling something there.
also, her saying that bit about the judgments being flawed / just creating darkness in people makes me think of Misaki & her judgment— and to a lesser extent, Machiko too, since her lie was driven by the situation they were in— but anyways, it suggests to me that the series is saying that that judgment may not have been correct, even if the anger/bitterness driving her were real.
episode 10:
Decim agrees with her. I love this. I love that he acknowledged what she said, and that she had a point. I've warmed up a bit to the Chiyuki-is-human thing by now, & I really like the tension created by his running out of time to judge her. I wonder what would happen to her soul if she isn't judged? Also, it's nice to have a name for her now, instead of always having to say "the black-haired woman".
I kind of liked how the game ended up prompting Decim to reflect on his own memories as well, despite his supposed to be a step back from it all as an arbiter.
That old man is creepy, & I'm a bit concerned about the implications of his learning about what Nona did (also, side-note, after that bit of creepiness in episode 2, Nona really hasn't acted creepy at all, has she)— for several reasons, both feelings-related and plot-related
Theory that just occurred to me: is Chiyuki a human? She remembers being dead for some reason, & it reminds me of that man in episode 5 who inexplicably remembered being in that bar before (and who turned out to be a dummy, nothing more). She does have human memories, so that puts a chink in this theory, but still... couldn't she be something Nona created, either to draw out Decim's human emotions, or to be a prototype for how the full range of human emotions affect arbitration? Either way would make the old man just as displeased, I think.
wait, no, that can't be— Nona asked for Chiyuki's memories, which would imply that she didn't know them, which would in turn suggest that she didn't create her. damn.
► Well, now that that's done / I'm all caught up, I suppose I can now turn my attention back to the other anime / games I've been neglecting. I'm really close to beating two games that I've been playing quite slowly, and I've been slowly slowly rewatching Digimon Adventure 02 with my brother every once in a while, so it's possible that I'll be making entries about some of those things in the near future.