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 This is a continuation/pseudo-sequel to the Death Billiards short from Anime Mirai 2013 so, first things first, if you haven't seen that, check it out here. Plot After death, humans go to either heaven or hell. But for some, at the instant of their death, they arrive at the Queen Decim, a bar attended by the mysterious white-haired Decim. He challenges them to the Death Game, wherein they wager their lives and reveal their true natures. Decim himself is the ultimate arbitrator of who wins and who loses, who lives and who dies. Characters  Decim VA: Tomoaki Maeno The bartender of Quindecim and the overseer of the games played within. A man of few words, he has a tendency to leave things unsaid. A big awkward goon who doesn't understand people, and builds mannequins for fun.  Black-haired woman VA: Asami Seto A newcomer to Quindecim, she woke up with no memories and no name. In both this and Death Billiards, is curous about where the players end up after their games are finished. Has a better insight on human nature than Decim (because she is human).  Nona VA: Rumi Ookubo Manager of Quindecim and a former arbiter. She often chides Decim for his mistakes, but allows him to do what he will as arbiter.  Ginti VA: Yoshimasa Hosoya He's presumably lower on the totem pole than Decim, and has a chip on his shoulder because of it. Regarded as an idiot by Nona.  Clavis VA: Kouki Uchiyama The elevator operator for Quindecim. Has an awfully cheery disposition.  Quin VA: Ryoko Shiraishi Manages the memories of incoming guests at the Quindecim.  Castra VA: Ryoka Yuzuki  Oculus VA: Tessho Genda Self-proclaimed "man who is closest to being God." He plays pool with Nona regularly and rarely wins. His carefree attitude pisses her off. Staff Studio: MADHOUSE Director/Screenplay: Yuzuru Tachikawa Music: Yuuki Hayashi Character Design/Animation Director: Shinichi Kurita Streaming on Funimation. The OP fuckin owns. Go hog wild DICKS FOR DINNER fucked around with this message at 22:07 on Feb 6, 2015 |
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Jan 10, 2015 01:21
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crossposting from season thread:Cao Ni Ma posted:I just initially thought the dude went to heaven and the woman went to hell, not continue in the wheel of dharma and sent to oblivion . Which really wasnt that different. Was that thought entirely based on what you thought about the masks because everything about the episode pointed all the blame towards the guy so why would he go to heaven?
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Jan 10, 2015 01:23
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pandaK posted:crossposting from season thread: She really was lying to him or wanted him to believe that she was lying. It was her that was laying sleeping with the playboy. And even if that wasnt true, its an act of pure malice rather than natural misguided emotion. Had she actually stayed quiet if her outburst was a lie, or told him that it was the truth but without the intent to hurt him, I think she would have been spared. e-Also, on rewatch you can see more details. The masks were flipped in the end, originally they were in the opposite elevators. Cao Ni Ma fucked around with this message at 01:42 on Jan 10, 2015 |
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Jan 10, 2015 01:31
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Just heard of this series a few days ago. Really looking forward to this. Off to watch!
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Jan 10, 2015 01:33
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that OP is amazing
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Jan 10, 2015 01:40
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told you so
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Jan 10, 2015 01:40
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Just finished watching, and yeah the OP loving owns. Show is pretty good too. I'm looking forward to people playing air hockey for their lives. As for the end of the episode, I think Cao Ni Ma Has it right. I'm sure that if she hadn't blurted that out, Decim would have sent her for "reincarntation" or whatever.
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Jan 10, 2015 01:44
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i don't think their actions (as in who right/wrong in the real world, or how they behave once they're in Quindecim) actually have any bearing on where they end up. the guy makes Decim acknowledge that they could've been throwing their darts at the opposite dartboards (as in, the ones linked to their own nerves) the entire time. In the end the woman, who "wins" at darts gets sent to oblivion, meaning that losing the game, aka being selfless, would get you into reincarnation or whatever. and yeah that OP is good.
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Jan 10, 2015 01:46
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Does anyone have a translation for the opening song? I was looking if there was a full version yet and I found this: "BRADIO’s vocalist revealed the theme song was a challenge to write, but he’s still glad they got the opportunity." (The song is "Flyers" by BRADIO) Just curious if the lyrics have anything to do with the show if it was written specifically for it. Edit: Paper Triangle posted:i don't think their actions (as in who right/wrong in the real world, or how they behave once they're in Quindecim) actually have any bearing on where they end up. the guy makes Decim acknowledge that they could've been throwing their darts at the opposite dartboards (as in, the ones linked to their own nerves) the entire time. In the end the woman, who "wins" at darts gets sent to oblivion, meaning that losing the game, aka being selfless, would get you into reincarnation or whatever. I don't think the actual outcome of the game matters, it's just a way to get them to reveal their true selves so the bartender can judge where they belong. Demicol fucked around with this message at 01:48 on Jan 10, 2015 |
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Jan 10, 2015 01:46
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Yeah, back in Death Billiards Decim admits that the games are just a way to determine how to label the players. So by putting them under deep pressure, they can figure out who deserves what fate.
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Jan 10, 2015 01:49
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This show is stuck on my mind, because I can't figure out what the gently caress happened in ep 1. In trying to settle things, I've been reading the 2ch thread to get an idea of what the general opinion is. The majority of people seem to think: The wife wanted to spare her husband from the agony of living (uh) with the fact that he had killed his own child, so she steels herself, wipes tears, and attacks him with the white lie that of course she was cheating and it's not his child. However, that seems to clash with the flashback where she's in bed with a smoking man without a beard, and her going down the "demon" elevator. But then again it can be refuted with the flashback either being the husband's imagination of what it was like when she was cheating, or it could be the husband after he shaved (note that he's clean-shaven the first time they ever meet, in the restaurant) being jealous and checking her phone while she's hurt by how distant he is. And then we're not entirely clear on if perhaps the winner simply gets to pick an elevator (and she sacrificed herself), or perhaps even that the judge sees through her lie and gives her what she wanted (ie. sacrifice). Then there's the seating card confirming that there was a "Machida Yuuki", possibly indicating that the wife tells the truth about Macchii. The opposition thinks: The wife really cheated, and turned on the husband when she knew she'd won, thinking she'd get the "good" elevator, and finally maliciously let him have the truth. The seating card could be explained away by interpreting a seating card in the middle of the wedding dinner as meaning Machida Yuuki never actually came, and it would be unlikely the girls were gossiping about someone who didn't even show up. And she never got the "good" elevator because the game was irrelevant for the outcome, since the bartender was the final judge of character. Personally I'm too dumb to understand.
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Jan 10, 2015 01:50
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dang it sounds like i'm wrong and they made it deliberately impossible to take a single reading and i just outed myself as a misogynist.
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Jan 10, 2015 01:53
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i learn new things about myself every day thanks to my good friend anime.
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Jan 10, 2015 01:53
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i think that depends on if you take flashbacks as the truth, which probably is the best idea and puts me in the second camp This is a reply to the long spoiler post
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Jan 10, 2015 01:55
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I took all the flashbacks as iron-studded truth, but that might just say that I'm an idiot who consumes media in the shallowest way possible
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Jan 10, 2015 02:07
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In regards to the reveal. I'm not particularly familiar with Buddhism, but isn't a central part of it about about trying to leave the cycle of reincarnation? I don't think reincarnation/oblivion really map over to heaven/hell
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Jan 10, 2015 02:08
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Well, this can go on all day. If Machida Yuuki married some doctor, why was she invited to the wedding under her original family name instead of her new married name? (obviously it's possible she divorced and returned to the old name, or never changed in the first place) and As has been mentioned, the masks have swapped positions between the arrival and exit scenes, so maybe the wife was really the one getting rebirth, but the bartender was kind enough to let her think the husband would be saved instead by faking it! or Maybe the wife actually believed herself to be faithful until the cheating memory was finally unlocked (just like their death), and that's when the real truth came out, showing her real character to the audience! etc, etc. Er.
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Jan 10, 2015 02:13
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DICKS FOR DINNER posted:I took all the flashbacks as iron-studded truth, but that might just say that I'm an idiot who consumes media in the shallowest way possible I don't see any reason for us not to.
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Jan 10, 2015 02:13
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Yak of Wrath posted:In regards to the reveal. Buddhism does have hells. You're basically dropped in there till your karma is low enough to be lifted back up to the other realms. Cao Ni Ma fucked around with this message at 02:22 on Jan 10, 2015 |
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Jan 10, 2015 02:18
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I prefer the idea that the flashbacks could be unreliable because it makes multiple readings more plausible.
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Jan 10, 2015 02:23
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Nona says her soul was sent to the void but i'm not sure what Japanese word was used which makes it tougher to suss out the buddhist meaning since there are like a million variations of buddhism I tend to think the flashbacks were legitimate, otherwise there wouldn't really be any need to show them and we could just take (or as likely not take) the characters at their word, which would already be unreliable, so why add another layer of unreliability on top of that?
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Jan 10, 2015 02:26
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Paper Triangle posted:I tend to think the flashbacks were legitimate, otherwise there wouldn't really be any need to show them and we could just take (or as likely not take) the characters at their word, which would already be unreliable, so why add another layer of unreliability on top of that? All flashbacks are lies, never trust flashbacks.
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Jan 10, 2015 02:28
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Oh baby the soundtrack is by the guy that did the Build Fighters, this is going to be the anime of the season!
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Jan 10, 2015 02:28
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I mean I agree with that, especially if the flashback is a particular character's reminiscence, but in this context I don't think there's any reason to have unreliable characters explaining what may or may not have happened, and then have on-screen flashbacks of events which also may or may not have happened on top of that. It makes the flashbacks themselves completely pointless.
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Jan 10, 2015 02:30
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That was a pretty good episode. I liked how it was much more of a downer ending than Death Billiards. If it keeps up this quality the show should be good.
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Jan 10, 2015 02:30
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If ep 2 is about the black-haired girl, it's possible they intentionally made ep 1 ambiguous, so they can show "behind the scenes" for the judging side in ep 2 and give us the ~final super real genuine omnitruth~. Trailer's on the website, and with a title like "Death Reverse", they might have fun going PSYCHE! at the audience.
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Jan 10, 2015 02:43
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Paper Triangle posted:I mean I agree with that, especially if the flashback is a particular character's reminiscence, but in this context I don't think there's any reason to have unreliable characters explaining what may or may not have happened, and then have on-screen flashbacks of events which also may or may not have happened on top of that. It makes the flashbacks themselves completely pointless. I'd forgotten which flashback we were even talking about specifically so I went back and checked that scene. Honestly I think it was just done for emphasis. I do think the flashback was in the husband's mind, though the cut is sandwiched between two cuts of the wife so that might have just been bad directing. Her whole breakdown there's no hint of some sort of facade being broken down, her expression just screamed her making a painful sacrifice to relieve her husband. That along with the fact that she got the "good" end of the elevator deal firmly seals this episode's mystery for me. Though I guess a lot of that is a lot of spekulah bullshit so 
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Jan 10, 2015 02:51
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pandaK posted:That along with the fact that she got the "good" end of the elevator deal firmly seals this episode's mystery for me. How is being thrown into the void of nothingness a "good" end?
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Jan 10, 2015 03:00
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i think until someone who knows way more than me about japanese buddhism can explain some stuff the verdict is still out on who got the "better" end of the elevator deal. i do agree regarding her about-face seeming less like she was pushed until she told the truth and more like she was making some sort of conscious decision though.
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Jan 10, 2015 03:01
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darkgray posted:How is being thrown into the void of nothingness a "good" end? the idea would be that "the void" is actually leaving the cycle of death and rebirth and attaining enlightenment i guess. i've read a little about zen buddhism but i don't think that applies at all here so i'm hoping someone can come up with a better explanation of what the two categories really mean.
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Jan 10, 2015 03:03
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Paper Triangle posted:the idea would be that "the void" is actually leaving the cycle of death and rebirth and attaining enlightenment i guess. i've read a little about zen buddhism but i don't think that applies at all here so i'm hoping someone can come up with a better explanation of what the two categories really mean. That would have made sense if the bartender didn't start out saying the outcome was between Heaven and Hell, and the masks so clearly being good and evil.
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Jan 10, 2015 03:07
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Paper Triangle posted:the idea would be that "the void" is actually leaving the cycle of death and rebirth and attaining enlightenment i guess. i've read a little about zen buddhism but i don't think that applies at all here so i'm hoping someone can come up with a better explanation of what the two categories really mean. "The Void" in this case might be Yomi. Idc to check again, but it should be made clear that Japanese Buddhism and afterlife rules are more of a mix between Shinto and Buddhism so enlightenment is its own thing and specifically referred to. [b[Not[/b] merely exiting it since it's possible to exit out the bad end.
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Jan 10, 2015 03:11
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Paper Triangle posted:the idea would be that "the void" is actually leaving the cycle of death and rebirth and attaining enlightenment i guess. i've read a little about zen buddhism but i don't think that applies at all here so i'm hoping someone can come up with a better explanation of what the two categories really mean. I know very little about Buddhism, but a little bit of googling seemed to liken the void to hell so Hopefully someone who is knowledgeable about Japanese Buddhism pops up.
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Jan 10, 2015 03:11
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Paper Triangle posted:I mean I agree with that, especially if the flashback is a particular character's reminiscence, but in this context I don't think there's any reason to have unreliable characters explaining what may or may not have happened, and then have on-screen flashbacks of events which also may or may not have happened on top of that. It makes the flashbacks themselves completely pointless. I wouldn't say false flashbacks are pointless, if their redundancy could throw into question the truth of what the wife is saying. I just don't think the show wants to have a clear-cut answer or present one side more strongly, and the flashback actually helps with that. Without it, you're judging the wife's word against her previous sympathetic actions and overwhelmingly positive and loving memories of marriage. Not to mention her monologue seeming like an act. Having potentially concrete proof of an affair gives both sides the same ammo. You can take the flashback (there's no way it's the husband's imagination) at face value, or you can cite the unreliability of past flashbacks (both the husband and wife have very different, one-sided perceptions of their marriage and life together) and denounce it. It could even be there just as emphasis, like pandaK suggested.
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Jan 10, 2015 03:11
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darkgray posted:How is being thrown into the void of nothingness a "good" end? Because then you don't have to go back to that big gay earth again
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Jan 10, 2015 03:12
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darkgray posted:That would have made sense if the bartender didn't start out saying the outcome was between Heaven and Hell, and the masks so clearly being good and evil. Yeah, but he still hasn't finished judging them by then so it could really still be part of the game. Im taking the flashbacks as absolute truth. So here are they are The man distrusted his wife because he though she was cheating on him. He did love her before the wedding. The woman did love her husband. She did sleep with another person, at the very least AFTER they got married (the ring on her finger). Its entirely possible that she did so BECAUSE of how her husband was acting. Even then, I cant figure out how her outburst is anything but malicious or at the very least extremely misguided. Buddhism has a clear belief that you should not say a lie that would hurt someone, you should not say a lie that would give comfort to someone, you shouldn't say a truth that hurts someone either, its best to stay loving silent. Even if she did act in good faith when saying it, it only shows that she has some attachment left in her to him which sort of negates the idea that you've transcended these sort of things
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Jan 10, 2015 03:21
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Paper Triangle posted:i think until someone who knows way more than me about japanese buddhism can explain some stuff the verdict is still out on who got the "better" end of the elevator deal. i do agree regarding her about-face seeming less like she was pushed until she told the truth and more like she was making some sort of conscious decision though. Looking at some Japanese sites they are having the same debates we are in regards to who got the good/bad ending, so it appears reincarnation versus void is meant to ambiguous
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Jan 10, 2015 03:23
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I'd trust Decim's reactions. He seemed legit surprised that she was switching up her story and altering the outcome of the judgement. The flashback looks like she did have a post-marital affair, but she didn't look like she was in love, just feeling really guilty. After figuring out the "real" game and knowing they were both dead anyways, she played it up to at least try and save her husband.
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Jan 10, 2015 03:48
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I thought episode 1 was mildly disappointing apart from the OP. The story felt like it was being ambiguous for it's own sake and unclear. It could be CR's poor TL or awkward writing for the characters. If the main problem is confusing and lack of resolution for a judgement game is  I can accept unreliable narrator[s] but this feels like show's over then everyone died
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Jan 10, 2015 06:18
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darkgray posted:If ep 2 is about the black-haired girl, it's possible they intentionally made ep 1 ambiguous, so they can show "behind the scenes" for the judging side in ep 2 and give us the ~final super real genuine omnitruth~. Trailer's on the website, and with a title like "Death Reverse", they might have fun going PSYCHE! at the audience. I think that might be the case, I found an additional screen cap 
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Jan 10, 2015 06:39
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