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「ストーリー・テラー」 (Sutoorii Teraa)
“Story Teller”
Our Nameless Girl finally recalls her name… *bum bum bum* it’s Chiyuki! And Chiyuki realizes that her body is quickly falling apart because she’s just another dummy. What a scary sight to see your own body decomposing and shedding. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself because not only does Chiyuki have no memories of her life, but everyone else seems to have forgotten her history as well. I don’t know what Decim’s deal is, but I would’ve tried to judge Chiyuki sooner rather than keeping her around because you’ll only grow attached to her and make it more difficult to send her off. I don’t see why Nona would want to keep her around either, unless it’s some secret ploy to evoke human emotions out of Decim. Now Nona is going through all this trouble to try and reconstruct Chikyuki’s memories or “data” (which is what this “puzzle” looks like). What I’m having problems understanding is who truly knows what; because Chiyuki sure knows very little… Decim’s memories should fade over time and Nona doesn’t seem to know either. So where does Chikyuki really fit in? There’s a lot of questions still swimming in my mind and I think we’ll have to see how it plays out with Chiyuki and Oculus as he tries to understand what has been going on behind his back.
Asides from the focus on Chiyuki this week, I thought the tone of the episode was calming and bittersweet as this old lady comes into Quindecim. Uemura Sachiko (Tani Ikuko) plays a game of Old Maid with Decim and Chiyuki this time and the atmosphere is such not a hostile or disturbing one. This episode is a much slower paced and a less-antagonizing episode versus last week’s; but I like that Death Parade doesn’t always focus on the bad or troubled individuals but the good people as well. Sachiko lived a full life with her husband and although it didn’t include murder and childhood pain, her story still made me sad. She never had children and instead, her “children” came to life through her artwork and characters. What a reminiscent feeling it must be to see your life’s work in the form of cards while playing Old Maid. I know it’s not meant to be a sad ending (because it wasn’t) but I still think seeing nice old ladies pass on reminds me of my own grandparents; and that makes me feel bittersweet. Sachiko’s appearance deemed more beneficial to Decim and Chiyuki after she explained her POV of the Chavvot story. Although Sachiko was appreciative for the game of Old Maid, I think she provided more insights to Chikyuki and Decim’s situation than she realized. What a nice wise old lady.
After last week’s episode, Decim seems to be at a loss for what he really is. He’s conflicted between his duties as an arbiter and the human emotions that he has within him (that Chiyuki awakened). He goes around talking to Ginti, and Nona, but ultimately I think it’s Chiyuki that gets through to him. Life is not all about meeting the end and then receiving judgment; there’s more complexity to it than that and there’s more to an arbiter’s role than trying to look at the darkest pit of someone’s soul. I do agree with Nona’s point of being unable to judge Chiyuki without knowing her past… so I don’t think Decim will reach an resolution by making her play Old Maid or asking her directly. However, I don’t agree with Nona’s tactics (like Ginti’s) of forcing people to behave certain ways to judge whether or not they deserve to be reincarnated. You’re putting people in difficult situation purposely to try and get them to slip up! And yes, sometimes this works, but not everyone’s the same and not everyone will behave the way you expect them too. I think this is why Decim is having a hard time judging Chiyuki. She doesn’t behave the way he expects her to and her reasoning and reactions are not typical of humans he’s met. It’ll be interesting to see how her memories come into play next episode as we hear more about her life. A reader mentioned this before and I think it’s appropriate to give them credit now for guessing right… it looks like Chiyuki was a skater in her previous life.
Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: I love old wise grannies. Reminds me of my own. Great follow-up ep to the intense one last week #dp_anime #DeathParade
Preview
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I hate Oculus..
https://randomc.net/image/Death%20Parade/Death%20Parade%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2034.jpg
Look at his eyes. That is the eyes of a dangerous man…
“Hate” is such a strong word for a character who barely had any screen time.
My one complaint is with the arbiters with no emotions thing. It’s not completely believable since lots of arbiters have distinguishable personalities based on emotion.
A pretty decent episode anyhow. Not very intense and seems like it’s more of a set-up
I figure they can have emotions, just not human emotions.
Sachiko quickly claimed her spot as my favourite guest in Quindecim. Sweet old ladies warm my heart. But was her husband the old man from the original Death Billiards OVA? It’s a nice little tie-in, if I’m not mistaken.
Yes, he is
I was happy to see that callback but there’s a bit of fridge sadness to it when you remember her husband went to the Void so there’s little chance of them ever meeting again.
https://randomc.net/image/Death%20Parade/Death%20Parade%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2014.jpg
Ah, all of those little callbacks…
Just like hinted in the OP, Chiyuki was a figure skater after all…
https://randomc.net/image/Death%20Parade/Death%20Parade%20-%2010%20-%20Large%20Preview%2002.jpg
And the granny is the wife of the gramps from Death Billiards
https://randomc.net/image/Death%20Parade/Death%20Parade%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2017.jpg
The Deck have it all: Death Airhockey paddle, Death Arcade Players, CHP Album, and many more…
https://randomc.net/image/Death%20Parade/Death%20Parade%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2036.jpg
Oh Ginti, now you found Decim’s dollmaking hobby fun…and made Harada…
the joker was/were(?) her skates
Looks like Ginti is ready to break Mayu with the creation of a dummy Harada.
Since Chiyuki is disintegrating because she knows she is human, what of Mayu then? Should Mayu be disintegrating as well? Questions,Questions.
Really liked the pace of this episode, much needed breather after last week.
Mayu arrived after Chiyuki, so I am guessing it’ll be a while longer before she disintegrates.
Since I’d theorized about it before, I can now safely say called it over Chiyuki being a skater~ That said, it’s still difficult to figure out how it all fits into Chiyuki’s character completely but it wouldn’t surprise me if part of why we’re seeing Chiyuki skating next week is another way of gently drawing her memories out like the card game and Chavvot book did. That probably won’t be all there is to it or as easy a thing, given the fact they noted she died young, she still knew she was dead when she first arrived (though Nona might’ve set it up?), and Occulus now knows what’s going on but it’s interesting that Chiyuki’s been associated with the Joker/Trump card now.
I think next episode we can look forward to a parallel comparison between Decim’s method/Arbiter method through how Decim and Ginti deal with Chiyuki/Mayu. I think one of the flaws of the Arbiter system, aside from the one highlighted this episode of creating darkness then revealing it, is that it doesn’t have much in the way of dealing with people who have little to no darkness to begin with. In the sixth episode, we see Ginti’s method relies a lot of efficiency and fear and that sort of thing bounces right off someone like Mayu. I think if Ginti had judged Shimada and Tatsumi, his methods probably would have worked and he probably would have Voided them too but I don’t think it’d occur to him to consider “creating darkness” or to have doubts in his methods. With Mayu, she’s like a bug in his system since even after finding out she was dead she had no real darkness so I think fact he’s possibly brought Harada back as a doll is an attempt for him to get darkness from her no matter what. By contrast, Chiyuki may or may not have darkness in her forgotten memories but she doesn’t right now, so Decim’s method will most likely account for that.
I am curious how they’re going to wrap up the Arbiter plot line though. Chiyuki being gone for good or staying/coming back is about 50-50 imo at this point (or even maybe Nona’s gathering Chiyuki’s memories can create another version of her) but the Artbiter plot has two more episodes and the series has made it clear the system needs to change. With how they’re setting up Occulus, it doesn’t seem like it’d be resolved simply by Nona showing him what she’s done with Decim and him accepting it or else I doubt Nona would need to go to all the trouble of hiding what she’s up to.
Thoughts on Episode 10:
Disclaimer: I have not watched the episode at the time of this post. This is merely what I thought from reading Cherrie’s post and checking out the comment section.
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I will miss calling Chiyuki “Black-Haired Woman” now that her name was revealed, lol.
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Sachiko was like an easter egg for anyone who watched Death Billiards! Thank you, Yuzuru Tachikawa (the director of both Death Parade and Death Billiards)!
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Here is evidence linking the OVA and anime television series from comparing screenshots:
Death Parade:
https://randomc.net/image/Death%20Parade/Death%20Parade%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2017.jpg
Death Billiards:
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm58/ichigo_daisuki/Anime%20Mirai%202013%20-%20Death%20Billiards%20-%2001_zpsb6cobcji.png
Death Parade:
https://randomc.net/image/Death%20Parade/Death%20Parade%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2018.jpg
Death Billiards:
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm58/ichigo_daisuki/Anime%20Mirai%202013%20-%20Death%20Billiards%20-%2002_zps18a3wxyl.png
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Show Spoiler ▼
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This makes me wonder whether it was Sachiko or her husband who died first.
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I look forward to actually watching the episode. Thank you as always, Cherrie!
Sachiko definitely died second; the old man’s flashbacks have her leaving some food he enjoyed out as an offering to his dead portrait, as a way to include passed on family members in meals, and she was serving him a beer and some of the same food in the scene before he died.
Well, that’s if the OVA remains as it is; it could be retconned.
Wow, totally missed that ball. I watched Death Billiards too!! But I totally forgot about that old man and his wife…
Wow, good job Death Parade bringing in the old lady as well. They seemed like a nice couple =) Unfortunate of them not to have kids though, they would’ve been great grandparents. My respect for the writers just shot up.
Sure, the grandma is nice, wise, and all, but then her husband (the grandpa from death billiard) is sent to void where she gets reincarnated. What an irony…….
Perhaps the Emotion that was Implanted into Decim is part of Chijuki’s Personality. So some kind of Brother and Sister in Mind Bond? That would explain her Memory loss
The reason I like Death Parade is because of the pace, it’s as though the writers thought of the viewers in mind with every episode. Man, even the game they played is quite calming (although I have seen Old Maid games going way overboard as a kid!). Really surprised to see the wife of the grandpa who appeared in Death Billards, joining the fray. It’s also quite pleasing to see that they really stuck to what the series reinforced, they really don’t remember every dead person that arrives to Quindecim, seeing as how Chiyuki and Decim have zero reactions to seeing the grandpa in the cards.
If Chiyuki is that special, what about Mayu then? Rather than saying humans can’t stay in this realm for a long period, it’s more accurate to repeat Decim’s analysis of Chiyuki finally realizing she’s human. Mayu on the other hand, lmao, awareness is probably not her strongest suit.
Oculus really creeped me out in this episode (and whoa that hair ain’t just for show).
While i am still curious if the two from last episode would have been sent to the void if they got that ‘special arbiter’ as noted by the skull wearing lady, this was a nice and calm episode as well ^_^
Seems like the people most likely to be sent for reincarnation are the ones who gracefully accept they are death and just hope for the best instead of freaking out since the granny here didn’t even seem bothered by it when she noticed.
Nona said that Chiyuki didn’t have many memories (implying that she died young). One of her strongest memories is a children’s story. Her clothes have that big gap over her stomach–maybe that’s not style but rather, ill-fitting-ness.
Maybe she died as a child and then she appeared as older after death? I dunno. Maybe people appear as per their self-image rather than what they actually looked like.
I’m grasping at straws here.
I’m pretty sure Nona said that there’s “quite a bit” of memories in the bag. It’s Quin that says that it’s on the low end (since Chiyuki died young). I don’t see how Chiyuki can be described as “old” with her present appearance.
Does anyone have a feeling that Nona is going to meet a bad end now that Oculus is aware of her plans. The normal end sequence of the show with the green-eyed, green-haired doll being shattered and dumped while reaching for that rose makes me think that is Nona not obtaining her goal.
Well, i see more a “Fallen Angel” Flag over her head. But perhaps he will speak with her about her Actions, and perhaps let her continue. At last this is clashing of Old Rules with New Rules
Uhm Cherrie its kinda bothering me to see that your introduction is a spoiler and it might bother some visitors of this page who haven’t seen Death Parade yet.
I think that depends on what you define as a spoiler. After blogging many shows that have strongly opinionated audiences, Death Parade is hardly a show that I think I can “spoil”. I don’t think stating her name is a spoiler because you can’t deduce much from someone’s name.
RC is an anime blog that follows shows on a weekly basis and as writers, we write our impressions as it airs. If we’re forced to avoid spoilers in THAT episode, then it’s not much of an opinion piece if we censor what we say. We want RC to be a place for people to discuss shows that they’re following along with us and that ultimately means that if you’re not following, then why do you care?… And if you are following and care about not being spoiled, then you should visit our site AFTER you watch the episode. A lot of people might want to know what happens in the episode to entice them to watch it so it generates interest too.
Well of course everyone finds the grandma to be a nice old lady: they didn’t ever say anything about her past or her death at all. Decim refused to see her memories, she herself refused to remember her death, and the only thing she remembered over the course of the game is the grandpa and her drawings (though I’m not sure if that’s because the cards missed something or because there was nothing else to show). Say what you want about the Arbiters’ methods, but if everyone had such an easy time being judged, no one would ever go to the Void.
And that actually makes the whole conflict of the show even more interesting: it’s basically the conflict between quantity and quality of work. What would you rather choose: spend time and effort to understand all of your “client”‘s problems and do your best to find the best solution, or spend that precious time to serve as many “clients” as possible? Keep in mind that they keep on coming every second, so even with the Purgatory’s vast resources, most of them probably don’t get as much attention as they deserve.
I don’t know what Decim’s deal is, but I would’ve tried to judge Chiyuki sooner rather than keeping her around because you’ll only grow attached to her and make it more difficult to send her off.
The entire point of Nona’s plan seems to be giving Decim time to truly understand a single person before passing his judgment on them. It’s very difficult to see humans as something more than the sum of their memories and experiences when you only have enough time to see them playing a single game, but Decim is a quick learner, and perhaps this experiment will lead to increasing both quality and quantity of his judgments. But of course, even in Purgatory, some people (godlike beings?) are always going to be afraid of change.
Ep 11:
Well, i only write down this. Be prepared, that you will see a very Large Placeholder, disguised as Omake for us. Well i do not complain. but Looks like they need Time for Episode 12
But i must admit, it is a wonderful Placeholder. Just the 2.5D Animation feel sometimes a bit of. You should had make the Person the Center not the Camera of the Background, that would be perfect in my eyes
as you see, nothing really spoiler. I do not want to ruin this delicate Show
8 because of the Heart feelings but -1 for the Placeholder
so 7/10 from me
I still think one more episode is too short to wrap up everything (I just watched 11 too), as there are still so many questions unanswered. But at the same time I think the pacing is just right because, as Cherrie mentioned right at the beginning, it wouldn’t be a good thing to just keep seeing the judgements of two people over and over again. I must say the writers of Death Parade has done a superb job at weaving the plot together along with each judgement case. Nothing is wasted in this anime, everything is linked and each episode builds up the main story more. I wonder why it hasn’t been more popular!!!
Okay, back to Ep 10, I totally agree that it was a bittersweet episode and a welcome breather after the intense Ep 9. It was nice that we finally found out the name of the black haired girl, although it did take the mystery out of her character. My favourite part was what the granny said about the joker at the end of the episode: that the person with the joker shouldn’t be the one to lose, as it’s the last card standing. Very, very interesting. I wonder if it bears any significance to the final leg of Death Parade!