The 2015 anime "Death Parade" is a unique thing for a variety of reasons. Even without knowing the history of its making, the first episode makes clear this isn't like most anime you would watch. The first episode introduces us to two adults who find themselves in an empty bar, greeted by a white-haired bartender who forces them to play a supernatural game of darts. Without fully explaining the rules, it is hinted that their lives are on the line during the game, and it becomes clear that the two players are dead, and this acts as a test to judge their souls and decide what becomes of them in the afterlife. After a dramatic exchange between the two players, one admits guilt to the other; to the viewer, it seems clear this was done out of pity to soothe the second player and confirm their suspicions. The bartender takes this at their word, and sends one to paradise and the other to damnation. It isn't until the second episode that another character offers her opinion and suggests that the bartender made a mistake."Oh?" says the bartender called Decim. Not fully understanding the complexities of human emotion and truth versus lie, he learns he probably did make a mistake after all, and gets scolded for it. But we'll never know for sure. The two souls are gone now, and it's too late to take back their judgement. That's a brave assertion to make about the rules of this fictional world. This is the realm that comes after life, Arbiters are tasked with judging souls, and find it best to do so through competitive games to see their true colors. Decim isn't quite like the others and has a lot to learn over the course of the 12-episode season. A human woman named Chiyuki never did get judged, and remains stuck with Decim while trying to recover lost memories about who she was in life. Meanwhile, other Arbiters work on their own, occasionally clashing with each other over methods or worldviews, the higher ranking beings giving some reason for lower workers to fear them and their decisions. It's a unique and compelling premise."Death Parade" originally came to be through a short film titled "Death Billiards," a short film with the same characters. It could be thought of as a pilot episode to test the story. It was originally produced as part of the 2013 "Anime Mirai" project, a series of short films to help fund and give experience to new talented animators and directors. Organized by the "Young Animator Training Project," a series of short films would be made each year since 2010 (and continues as of 2018), to be released theatrically in Japan. 2013 was an especially strong year, with three of the four short films being expanded into full-length feature films or series, a rarity compared to the other years. Unfortunately, none of these have been released outside of Japan on home video, so most of the shorts remain inaccessible. In fact, "Death Billiards" is perhaps the only short to be seen, thanks to Funimation including it as a bonus feature on "Death Parade's" release in North America.A strong premise can go a long way, but isn't necessarily enough to lead it to become something great. The story for "Death Parade" doesn't quite hit all the marks it should. Decim's lack of understanding of human behavior makes him appear like an adult Pinocchio, something that hints at a plot reveal, but also makes him harder to respect as anything more than a naive child, making it harder to take his actions or revelations seriously. Chiyuki's dilema is left untouched until the final few episodes. So we are left with episodic adventures as new souls walk in and play a new game, be it bowling, cards, or a 2D fighting video game. 
That in itself isn't a bad thing. "Death Parade" is at its best when it focuses on character development and world building. The characters of the bar (besides Decim himself) are all fascinating individuals. The souls that come by each have their own backstory, and the short time they spend on screen is effective. If the story state philosophical from start to end, like critically-acclaimed "Kino's Journey" or "Mushi-Shi," I would probably keep this at the top of my list of favorite anime. But when it does inevitably go back to the main plot... the ending feels unsatisfying to its intentions, and I'm left realizing how much I still don't know, and WANT to know, about the characters and this world. It's still a very good story, but that's held up almost entirely by the premise alone.The production values are generally more solid than the story, but not in a specacular way. The original character designs and color-palette stand out as the most memorable aspect, feeling genuinely cool and distinct from other shows in recent memory. The animation keeps a steady quality, not the best studio Madhouse has produced, but certainly representitive of what they've been capable of at their best. The background music is good, although the catchy (and in good humor, very misleading) opening theme will be more memorable that the rest. I liked the English dub, but didn't think it fully fit the world like a glove, perhaps due to how little reference material the actors could rely on in their performances. There's a lot of "good, but not great" in "Death Parade." Thankfully, no one aspect feels like a mistake, and the solid production at all levels makes me confident to recommend it on its novelty. After a strong two episodes at the beginning, I can't help but feel slightly disappointed that it didn't turn out to be much more than what it was. While we're at it, I still pray I can one day own a DVD of what is now a library of unique short films. Alas, sometimes you just have to enjoy what you have while you can.