Death Parade Episode 4 Discussion

She effectively tried to use her children (whom she neglected to an extent) to save herself.

> She said "send me back to those children", unless there was a mistranslation, it would seem that she was saying that as a last hope of getting to live.

> [i]Also, no. That was the instinctive reaction of a mother which did not know how could her children live without her. She seemed terrified by the thought of them being completely alone. You can also notice that were true intentions / emotions by the fact that Quindecim tries to comfort both contestants while they are crying.

GoMarcia said:
Why has the woman been sent to hell? I don't get it

DeadlyTreasure said:
She tried to kill him.

Dictator said:
The system is flawed because life is not fair.

willierocks said:
I don't understand... Are you saying that there is no meaning behind the story?
It has humans that are being judged. It can relate to the evil in mankind's souls. You don't have to include the reincarnation or void in that, yet you still have a message that starts conversation.

vodall said:
Oh. I thought this show would become more interesting after last week, but I guess we're back to the melodrama! It's sad, sure, but that's the whole point. Hopefully it can strive for more than an emotional response.

That's the point. There's recently been 1-2 anime every year that revolve around this boring "fundamentally wrong" concept, and people eat it up each time. The problem is that Death Parade is not setting itself apart from the majority.

ReaperCreeper said:
Except if you payed attention you'd notice how the dark haired woman (that's what she's actually named as) is there to show how ridiculous it is to judge people in such black and white terms. Hell it was spelled out clearly in Death Billiards. You'll notice Decim shows signs of being unsure of the system too.

Narendur said:


This is of hardly any importance at all, imo. The human instinct for life is a strong one. If you think you're going to die if you don't win, you'll probably do some horrible things. I mean, if that were really the case (which it wasn't, but that doesn't matter), it wouldn't matter whether she tried to kill him or just stop him from being able to play. She'd still end up winning and being the survivor (and thus indirectly killing him).

hellogarry said:
The woman should deserve to be reincarnated..she was just doing her best for the children and she was just lead in evil because of the unfairness of life.

AaaaaaKun said:


Then why made a anime telling us only that? That human can be evil? or selfless? It's not like we've never seen that before. It's not thought-provoking or inspiring, it's actually like what the lady said: it's a ドッキリreality show. The only purpose is to entertain your viewers by putting your characters in a strange setting and setting up some startling or shocking events to shock them and watch their reactions, except the judement part. But at the same time you are telling me why this kind of show is cruel to the people unknowingly participated when you are the one making all this up? It would be fine if the show don't go too deep into critizising the judement system but forcusing on the characters, like their thoughts about the people they judged, just make a character-centric story. You already made a troll OP, don't expect anyone to take you seriously.

r0ykun said:
Definitely the most emotional episode by far. It really leaves you wondering who went where. I personally believe that both Yousuke and Misaki went to heaven, or they both went to the void. Yousuke didn't make the right choice, but he really didn't do anything. Misaki might have been a bitch, but she was obviously driven to that point due to her terrible marriage. It also seemed that Decim noticed that he might be making the wrong decision in some of these games.

Maybe I'm thinking too hard, but man I love shows that make me think about stuff, even after an episode ends.

willierocks said:
She was happy, but she was also mad about how weak they were, but with the otaku, he finally called his stepmom momma. Her kids resented her or at least the eldeset, and thus her move was weaker compared to the stepmom, that cared for her stepson without his acknowledgement.

willierocks said:
If English is your native tongue, then there is a BIG difference between "those children" and "my children". Those would imply that she cared more about herself than the children. It gives off a tone of discontent about the children, where if she used "my" it would have a more endearing tone.

During the flashbacks you can see the contempt in the childrens faces towards their mother, because she gained fame by using their situation. It might have started out with good intention, but her actions throughout the show made it easy to see that the fame had gone to her head. She was even surprised when the otaku didn't recognize her. Most people probably wouldn't give a crap about her show and not know, but in her head she's a super star.

ycy94z said:
how can you tell who goes to heaven or hell?

Brynhildr said:


Yeah, I got that point. But I don't wanna go further in this because it would mean talking about the difference between being the parent of someone and being the child of someone.
The eldest children were resentful to a certain extent toward the behaviour of their mother [ the whole *exploit their personal situation for profit* ]. The little kid, being still oblivious to the world, was more attached to his mom, so even when the other went he remained to finish the attack.
I don't think she was mad because of them, but because of the mechanics of the game. Tbh, her reaction was more natural, given they thought they were playing their lives in there at that moment.




No it's not and I apologize for that mistake, but my statement remains. She calls them *my* children all the time.

http://i.imgur.com/FQ7S7jg.png
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oFa6e.png

And then, there's that final moment in which she states:

http://i.imgur.com/WwulMya.png


Honestly I didn't perceive it as an attempt to use *those* children as a tool to get her life back. I'll repeat it, in all her desperate attitude / behaviour I saw her concern as a mother about the destiny of her children.

By any rate, she got what she deserved, I didn't defend her general attitude during the game [ heck! she even tried to kill the otaku guy ], but what I think were her true feelings toward her children.

MaahHeim said:
That was intense. Must be so hard to decide who goes to hell. But you have to choose one of them. I mean, damn. Poor her. She was changing, but she died. Well she snaped a girl before dying, but she was taking care of her kids now, and she was beaten several times... I mean she really commited "sins", but her life was messed up. She suffered so much. It's hard not to lose your mind sometimes. Right after almost "killing" the guy, she regret it and freak out completely. Between the two, yea, she should go to hell. Her actions, everything. And I found it REALLY interesting that they didn't send the guy who commited suicide to hell. Like two days ago this girl killed herself and people kept saying "poor her, she died to meet her father, but she killed herself, so she won't meet him". I mean, what? Why? Srsly this anime is really good. In the last episode I asked like "why that guy went to hell? I mean he wasn't that bad at all" and that was it. Didn't think much about it. But this one really got me. They were sent there together, so one of them should go to hell. But did she REALLY deserve it? She deserved more than the guy, if you put it in a sins balance, but she didn't deserve it at all. As she said "Who do you think you are to judge me?" And yea, who the hell people think they are to say "Aw, she's going to hell because she killed herself"
I MEAN I DON'T KNOW I'M JUST WONDERING BUT BUT YOU KNOW?
"Oh but it's religion stuff" well I don't know about that. I respect people religions but IDK THIS IS JUST SO UGHUAIFHFSJOIDCKX.
And now this anime has done it. He killed himself, and he was reborn. She was murdered, and went to "hell". It's their work to decide who goes to hell and who doesn't, so they have to do it, but I can only think "Can you really judge a person only by seeing all their life?" Like, if you commit sins you go to hell and if you don't you go to heaven. Right. Then if you were "good" in a part of your life and "bad" in the other, you go to hell anyway, even if you're changing? The answer in the anime seems to be yes, but we can only see in the next episodes.
And... Okay, I might be truly in love with this anime.

deadoptimist said:
I think that the beauty of the designs and animation in this show is seriously wasted on showing people that are in indecently broken state.

The conflict between a wolfmother and a closed-off child could've been good, but here their situations are of such a great difference in weight, that it's hard to compare, and they didn't really communicate enough to cover for it. I mean, she lived a low life, had several unhappy marriages and fought to raise five childeren. No wonder she is wild, though it is ugly. His story wasn't explained in details. His family collapsed, but he got a step-mother, who cared about him. Amd I don't think that we've been shown, why he did commit suicide. Anyway, he seems to have had better chances in life. He, probably, was a better person, but, on the other hand, sporadic suicide is lame and wasteful.
And in the end the series chooses to give its judgement. Mora and more I think that it would be better to not show the outcome.

Also, Decim seems to have doubts. I hope that they mean it as a metaphor on human suffering or something, because I can't say that as of now I am terribly interested in learning the shortcomings of a completely fictional judgement system.

willierocks said:


The guy in episode 3 was reincarnated and not sent to the void. Both him and the girl showed their pure hearts (not perfect of course ) and sent for reincarnation.

willierocks said:
Well lets just agree to disagree :) Everyone can interpret the same thing in a multitude of ways, like how Christians interpret the Bible and how many denomination there are. Each denomination has a different interpretation of the Bible, some are vastly different, some only disagree on a couple verses. (Just using this as an example in the real world that I know)

MaahHeim said:
Well, he was depressed. When he was about to jump, his eyes were blurred and he said "A-ah, this sucks". He was out of his mind because of sadness, I guess. Then he jumped. Those things that happened when he was a kid probably influenced it. Even with a really nice stepmother, he couldn't be happy. He couldn't trust people because of his mom, I imagine. His life at school seemed miserable as well.
Anyway, it doesn't really need a reason. It was enough reason for him.

Brynhildr said:


Sure. ^^ Though, it's an interesting point, nonetheless. I would like to see if the japanese term used was indeed *those* and if they included that in the ep with the exact purpose of distancing herself from her children and to emphasize its real intentions. :)

Antearion said:
Dat head smashing.

Another great episode of depicting that humans are truly monsters. One I got to give it up to Decim this episode. I think he has got better at judging since the woman came along. The way I see it was the woman deserve to go to hell and here's why. During the game when her kids came she was happy they helped out, but when she saw how weak they were she got angry at them. Now I'm now mother, but I think she should have at least been happy they even helped. Then while she was alive yes she was abused, but then she turned around and abused others. Then lastly I think she only cared about herself more then her kids. If she did I would think she would have said my children instead of those. And let's not talk about that head smashing. Just my take on it.

Anyway great episode. 5/5.

deadoptimist said:


But that is a wasted life. Maybe the biggest contrast between them was the amount of effort put into living the best way. I'd say that the woman is a beast to make herself believe that her life only starts in her situation. That's the complete opposite from the guy.

MaahHeim said:
Well, I think it looked like a wasted life for him too.

MaahHeim said:


REALLY? Then almost everything I said was out of context. I didn't see they mentioning anything, but I thought there was a normal face and a demon one in the elevators, nope? Did they say that? I really didn't see

konatachan80 said:
Based on what was shown, the meaning of "those" in that context do seem closer to
how she's treated them (and just about everyone else) so far.
In other words, the kids isn't really important, but what they can do/provide for her is.

Btw, his eye seemed to react to that sentence.

Brynhildr said:


Still not sure. I'm sorry, I seem stubborn on this point and am not able to change idea so far. Also the complete quote was: *I'll do anything* - *Send me back to those children.*

http://i.imgur.com/WwulMya.png

I dunno why I seem to interpret this as the desperate attempt of a mother to get back to her childrem. :/

Though, there's a term for her *wolfmother* [ don't know if it's correct in english ], which kinda explains her extreme attitude, both when she slap her manager and when she's on the verge of killing the guy [ without justifying it, nonetheless ]

Landos said:
What are you people smoking to say Misaki should have been reincarnated? Have you not watched the episode and seen what had happened?

A sociopathic attempted murderer does not get to be reincarnated. If a women cheating on her husband and being a compulsive liar can land you in hell, then why are you people so surprised Misaki is going to hell?

sirflimflam said:
Jeez. In terms of right vs wrong, the mother did seem to have committed more "wrongs" against the world, where as Yousuke seemed to just bottle up his depression and then off'd himself, but I feel like the issues the mother went through were pretty serious.

I think had she not smashed Yousuke's face into that arcade, it'd be hard to actually judge her worthy of going to hell. I wonder what happens when one side doesn't visibly have more darkness? I mean surely it has to happen; it's not like all arbitrating situations have to necessarily have a good side and a bad side, and if they could guarantee that then they'd surely not need to do the game in the first place.

Vellamo said:


Except she didn't cheat on her husband. On the contrary; she sacrificed herself. Yet the arbiter sent her to void because he made a wrong interpretation. He's far from being 'heavenly' at all.

konatachan80 said:

No she didn't cheat. She was violent and finally attempted to murder her opponent.
In life she apparently used her children for fame and whatnot, so I guess they were also
sacrifices for her, although the older ones didn't seem too happy about it.

willierocks said:
Almost anything can be interpreted as having a message. That message doesn't need to be new or old, large or small, just something of meaning. They also can illustrate the complexity of the human soul, a la ep.2. She loved him so much that she put on an act to sacrifice herself to save her husband from his grief. She'd rather him 100% hate her than keep him questioning for eternity. She fooled Decim, thus showing that while the arbiters get their memories and test them, they are no were close to omnipotent. And from next weeks teaser it seems we will get some character development, as it showed a few more members from the opening scene.

Vellamo said:


I was talking about the other woman from the first episode. :)

Vellamo said:


I was talking about the other woman from the first episode.

Oddyeus said:
That bitch was entirely at fault for how she lived her life. First of all, she was divorced three times, which is likely all her fault, judging by how much of a finicky whore she is. She was abusive towards innocent people, and blamed other people for her own problems.