Review: Death Parade “Story Teller”

Death Parade seems to be reaching an end game here, because the Black-Haired Woman is finally on the clock, and Decim is ready to judge her. However, most of “Story Teller” is all about Decim’s dilemma of whether he is able to judge the Black-Haired Woman properly or not. He actually goes so far as to go to Nona and tell her that the way the arbiters judge humans has been antiquated, and drawing on the darkest part of the human psyche doesn’t work as well anymore.

That leads Decim and the Black-Haired Woman playing a game of Old Maid with an unnamed woman. The woman seems to have grasped her death pretty well, and she got her memories out relatively quickly. I don’t even know why I am calling her the Black-Haired Woman anymore, because she has her name now. I’m not going to ruin the surprise, because it’s definitely not a common name. Even after the two were judged, the old lady goes into her elevator, with the Black-Haired Girl left behind. Oh, and then Oculus finally shows he’s there for something more than billiards, but that’s for another time.

I’m not entirely sure what to make of what what was going on in “Story Teller.” The problem here is that most of Death Parade‘s season was spent on making the most of the disconnected stories. The only thread that went between them was the Black-Haired Woman. However, the thread finally came through tightly within the last couple of weeks. I’m not sure how I am digging it, because I’m not sure where the serial plot has come from. I guess when a plot comes over the top with the unexpected, it’s something great. We’ll see how much of a mess the ending of the season comes through, because I’m not excited at all with the turn of events here.

That’s not saying “Story Teller” was bad, because it wasn’t. Decim finally decided to turn the tables, and try his own thing. Showing a sort of rebellious streak when it comes to the status quo. The “arbiter with human emotion” thing seems to be backfiring on Nona and the whole arbiter thing. I’m glad things are going to get turned on their heads, because things did get stale. I just wish things didn’t unravel like they have so far.