Review: Death Parade “Cross Heart Attack”

As you can see, the theme of tonight’s episode of Death Parade is changes. For one, We don’t have Decim. Instead, we have Ginti. The bar is not as lavish as Decim’s, and looks like a mix of oriental and old west. It’s not the worst setting, but it leaves a lot to be desired when you’re used to Decim’s extremely lavish set up. What Ginti lacks in a lavish bar, he makes up in how crazy his game gets.

The plot of “Cross Heart Attack” revolves around Mayu, who is something like a Belieber for the band Cross Heart Attack. And who is she playing against, you may ask? Well, she meets Harada, who is (or was) a member of Cross Heart Attack. So, of course Mayu is going to go all in on playing a game with him. I am pretty happy with how these turn out, because it deals with the lighter side of fandom. With the internet culture, we always get inundated with the worst side of being a fan of something. Whether it’s console players hating each other, or fans going rabid outside of a concert to meet their idols. Listen, I can go meta all I want, but this is something that hits close to home.

“Cross Heart Attack” was a better episode than I expected, because it was a nice change of pace to see an arbiter that wasn’t Decim. Seeing a different bar was pretty nice too. As far as I know, neither of the participants were sent some where else. Again, I was expecting something different because of the formula of the last three or four episodes. That’s good, considering how much I dislike formulaic shows.

At the end of the day, “Cross Heart Attack” was a show that broke a mold, even if it was just for an episode. Ginti was a more brash barkeep than Decim, and that’s what carried the episode. Decim is mostly deadpan, so it was great to see someone who had something else, even though it was a harsh, “go fuck yourself” type of tone. If you haven’t watched “Cross Heart Attack” yet, go for it now if you have the Funimation All-Access Pass. It’s worth the time to sign up and watch.