Never would have thought to see Light Yagami make an appearance in this series!  If there would be any MADHOUSE series to do it Death Parade would certainly be it.  Both series are handled by the same studio, centralizing its themes around death where it brushes up with the many supernatural ideas that this series offers.  It’s a written in nicely and is a fun touch to detail.  Nona mentions to Quin in an earlier episode how the deaths have risen.  Now I can see why–  its Light.  If any of you have seen Death Note you’ll understand where I’m going with this.  Don’t tread life so lightly–  Light thought it was some game by taking lives and Death Parade [leaving it up to the viewer] provides the aftermath of his actions in a large way.  A point that even Ginti is getting across–  does it even matter whether Mayu knows Light or not?  Who should she choose to send in the void?  Quite a powerful message–  judge people from what you see or judge them from their actions.  Every episode tackles this method of thinking in some pretty unique ways involving various death games.

Moving away from the cameo this is such an amazing episode that’s both beautifully animated and contains two stories that focus on the importance of life.  Onna isn’t sure how she died exactly but she does in-fact know that she did die when she arrives at QueenDecim for the first time.  This is a question I’ve been wondering about since the premiere.  This episode transitions so well from past to present without force-feeding it with dialogue–  a smooth follow up into the bigger picture.  Nona erased Onna’s memories and we are seeing repercussions of that.  Onna is the extreme conditions trigger for Decim.  The final episode should put this out in the open now–  Decim’s emotional breakdown and how Onna is reactive to it.  So she was a figure skater that had an accident ending her career.  The Onna we see in this show is very different from the Onna that had been alive and episode director Jun Shishido conveys that wonderfully where we see how immersed or rather more alive she becomes as she’s skating.  The Director’s build up every episode to this moment is a smart move that comes off amazingly strong!  Absolutely love that entire scene!

I really like how those flashbacks provide a sense of “coming home” where on Ginti’s side Mayu is “going home” in a different fashion.  With the man she idolized she’s finally receiving what she’s always wanted to be a part of him.  I can see how this adding in Ginti’s scenes would be a turn-off for some viewers–  it’s distracting and is different than the emotional ride we’ve been on with Onna and Decim’s relationship!  However, it’s a really smart move because its almost as if Mayu changed Ginti into a kinder arbiter something I’m sure that Decim will end up doing in the finale!

Awesome episode!

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 10/10

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