Anime: Shinigami no Ballad

VIDEO VERSION: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIUrWy6ksvs

Life is full of surprises, not much can be guaranteed. Everyone grows up with their own beliefs and interests, both of which can be different from person-to-person. If there's one commonality all humans share, it is death. Be it hearing about death on the news, dealing with death of a loved one, causing death, or experiencing it. Shinigami no Ballad attempts to take this one commonality and create a series of stories to help those cope with the loss of loved ones.

The series focuses on Momo, a shinigami (or death god), that is tasked not only with taking the souls of humans, but also carrying out the tasks of the dead. The series is six episodes long, and each episode is stand-alone. I have no problem with episodic series, and this sort of concept could work as a Mushishi-esque title that proves to be both relaxing and thematically engaging. The problem lies in the fact that these episodes are played out in a fairly straightforward way. There's not much differentiating each story from another, and after watching a few, they all start to meld together. Each episode always is from the perspective of teenagers, there's always a romance in the stories, and there are multiple instances of episodes that feature the two sneaking onto school grounds in the middle of the night. It would have been nice to see a perspective from younger kids or from adults, to switch the mood up, and allow for different mindsets as well as perhaps seeing how Momo would interact with a young kid or an adult, in comparison to how she interacts with teenagers.

What makes the execution so bland is not only because it lacks variety, but also by its lackluster characters. Momo, the main character, isn't really all that interesting, nor is her development stable. Each episode she starts out stern and cold, then turns sad in the end. It makes her character development feel like it is resetting after each episode, and not to mention, there really isn't much to her outside of those traits. This makes Momo, as a character, very one dimensional and uninteresting. The characters in each episode develop, and they get the job done, but at the same time, they lack a strong presence and personality. There's nothing that really makes them stand out as characters, and as a result, yes, they have conflicts, and they learn from these conflicts, but all with underwhelming execution. This is made apparent in one episode, where a girl takes care of her brother, and becomes the "mother figure" of sorts, after their own mother has passed away. This is a fairly typical storyline, and its characters are played out pretty much exactly how one would expect them to. There's no twists, no turns, nothing to spice up either the story or the characters. The only character to really show much of personality is Momo's cat, Daniel, who is less sympathetic towards humans, in comparison to Momo. This could lead to some interesting conflicts, but unfortunately, due to a lack of episodes, it all felt like wasted potential.

The visuals of the series are equally bland. There's nothing particularly wrong with them, but at the same time, it doesn't do much to stand out. The character designs are fairly generic, and most of its characters looked the same. It doesn't help that this series only focuses from the perspective of teenagers, so there's always going to be the same kinds of characters showing up. The rest of the animation is standard 2006 fare. Nice backgrounds, and at the very least, the animation was consistent.

The music itself is fairly fitting, but forgettable. The background music all does its job, but it is not something one will want to listen to on their own. The only track in this series that struck me as interesting was the opening theme, "No One". It's slow-moving and solemn sounding, but it is also lyrically fitting. It's from the perspective of Momo, one who's job is to kill. She knows she has to carry out her job, but she also understands the perspective of those she has killed, and feels sympathetic towards them. As a result, she carries out their own wishes. It is kind of upsetting that one can get more of an idea of Momo's own character through the show's opening theme, rather than the series itself. It says a lot about the series itself, and the lack of exploration when it comes to Momo's character.

All in all, I cannot quite say that Shinigami no Ballad is worth recommending. Nothing about it strikes me as all that bad, but at the same time, there really wasn't much in the series that I really liked. There ultimately wasn't enough personality, variety, or intrigue in the stories to leave much of an impression on me. If it had more episodes to explore Momo's character, as well as see how she may be able to help adults or younger children cope with death, then perhaps I would be more interested. I think how much one will enjoy the show is dependent on how simple one minds the execution of the story. For me, it was just too simple to be enjoyable.

The challenge of adapting an existing work into another medium is twofold: One, the material has to be accessible to people who are unfamiliar with the series, and two, it must recreate the elements that fostered its original fanbase. When these conditions are met, the matter of whether to go with the adaptation or source will largely depend on the person themselves, and the complaints are minor details at best. But should either or both of those expectations go unfulfilled, the result is nothing short of very painful to watch. Ballad of a Shinigami, whether intentionally or not, falls into that rare middle ground for an adaptation between being praised to death (no pun intended) and suffering a backlash.

What immediately jumps out upon watching the first episode is the fairly down to earth design and coloring of the backgrounds and characters; with the exception of Momo and Daniel, there isn’t anything with a stylistic flare, which works just fine considering the subject nature of this anime. The amount of detail put into the artwork and the frame-by-frame itself is much more dated than something that was released in 2006 -should- be, yet it’s also a boon as it creates a hazy, dream-like quality to the whole experience. And if the visuals are a dream, then the soundtrack is pure heaven.

But there isn’t actually much BGM in a traditional sense, though, as most of the sounds are mere ambience that one would expect from its setting: raindrops, sirens, footsteps, and the like. They work fine, but what little music the series does have is nothing short of mesmerizing. Keep in mind, it isn’t so much how memorable it is more than how well it supplements the mood, and it does its job amazingly well when the tracks are actually used correctly. In other words, the main problem with the music is that as good as it might be it isn’t used properly most of the time, which actually goes hand-in-hand in another area of this anime that Tomomi Mochizuki had trouble pinning down for its first half.

And that would have to be the story and characters themselves. What makes the light novels so impactful is how well it communicates the semi-realistic issues of whoever the narrative focused on, and what makes the anime the exact opposite is its lack of direction. Even without being compared to the light novel, though, the execution is all over the place, either by trying too hard with inappropriately used music, or not trying at all by rushing through events without properly conveying whatever drama someone might be going through. As a result, people who are completely new to this series might find the anime passable at best, whereas the audience from the light novels is liable to dislike how much the emotional scenes fall flat.

It isn’t all bad news, though, because after episode three, Ballad of a Shinigami progressively gets better in terms of the narrative flow, properly establishing the issues of its cast while mastering a scarce but powerful soundtrack to its fullest extent. It ends on a rather heartwarming note, but the contrast between the first three episodes and the last three episodes is so stark that one must wonder how much better it could have been had it continued for a proper cour, because it seems Mochizuki fell victim to the old saying of “too little; too late.”

The enjoyment that would be derived from this hinges on your patience for an episodic series to actually pick up, which is counterproductive seeing as how standalone episodes normally don’t lend themselves to gaining steam, but it was for this one. Ballad of a Shinigami has -a lot- of heart, but simply doesn’t show it enough and ends up feeling mediocre as a consequence. It’s not a total waste of your time, but it won’t be winning the hearts of those who prefer an emotional connection to a story any time soon. If, however, you wish to see this idea done correctly, feel free to read the light novels if you can be bothered to track them down. Otherwise, approach this anime with caution, don’t expect much, and you’ll be just fine.

When one has been watching anime for quite a while, one tends to get a little jaded with regards to the cultural differences between Japanese and Westerners. It's so easy to stereotype, even when dealing with anime characters. That makes the viewing of a small series like Shinigami no Ballad such a pleasure - it transcends that cultural divide and stereotypical characters, delivering its message with clarity.

Summary: Shinigami. Bearers of souls, something like an angel, but not quite. One Shinigami is named Momo, eyes of blue, hair of white, figure of a child, bearing an oversized scythe and accompanied by a somewhat caustic winged cat named Daniel. It's a fact of life that the path of a Shinigami will intersect the paths of humans. When Momo's path crosses that of the living, incredible things begin to happen...

Animation
Character Design: Most of the characters are only "good" in terms of their artistry and design. Most are simple - you won't find any flashy neon red or green hair, nor any 16 year olds with E-cups. It's a more sedate style, reminding me of shows like Boys Be, but still retaining the quintessential anime styling.

Momo herself is the most fantastic character in the series when it comes to artistry. The artists took special care to make her face very, very emotional.

Op/Ed: Once again, standard fare. The opening does highlight some of Momo's absolutely adorable emotional spectrum, though, which makes it entirely worth watching each and every time.

Artwork: Honestly, you don't notice the artwork much in this series. The characters command the screen with their presence, which is an odd thing to say, but really - the background is a secondary consideration.

Sound
Op/Ed: I love the opening song. It's in English, sung with a Japanese accent, but it's not mangled or even overly noticeable. It's fairly slow and moving, and it joins the ranks of songs that absolutely fit the tone of the series. The ending track is less interesting and I didn't bother listening to it after the first episode.

Music: As with the background artwork, the background music is completely overshadowed by the characters. I'm sure it's there, but I never really noticed it.

Voices: The voices, for the most part, were a little deeper and "older" than the children who make up the majority of the characters. This does make the series more serious, which really does add to the emotional weight. Having squeaky squeals would just ruin the mood.

Story
Plot: The series is episodic, with only one episode having a couple of repeat characters from an earlier episode. Momo and Daniel, of course, are the constants that tie the series together. Each episode deals with death, to put it in simple terms. Sometimes it's an actual death, sometimes it isn't, but the focus of the series is on death and how the characters act and react around it.

While death is a somewhat touchy subject, Shinigami no Ballad deals with it on a very mature level. Do not expect gore or tasteless jokes. The tone of the series is very much serious, although there are occasional spots of levity to keep it from getting too morose.

The only complaint I have is that most of the episodes were too romantic/touching. While I love romance, it felt a little out of place in this series. While it is something that could happen, it just seemed a little much. I think it would have been interesting to see some episodes taken in different directions.

Script/Writing: This is where the series begins to truly shine. The characters react very plausibly and appropriately. Everything done is realistic and you'll never sit there scratching your head and wondering why so and so did such and such. Even though I do mention the overabundance of romantic elements in the series, it's still plausible.

Character
Interest: The characters really take the stage in this series. Momo does deserve special mention here. While gambit in his review styles her as one of the least interesting lead characters, (I'd have to disagree - that dubious honor should go to Randou Rino from Gokujou Seitokai!) Momo actually does play an important role, that of catalyst. She continually sets things in motion, but never takes the forefront. I love characters that can catalyze action and drama without taking over the series.

The main characters in each episode tend to be a boy and a girl, ranging from elementary school to high school. Each of them have personality, definite personality that some series would take ten episodes to bring out! You never feel like you're watching throwaway cardboard pieces.

Growth: With the episodic nature of this series, growth wouldn't seem to be a major factor. However, with the topical nature...characters do grow. Momo prods them to, sometimes blatantly, sometimes just by her orchestration of events.

Value/Enjoyment: Well, 6 episodes is not "value". It's too damned short, especially since it's so episodic. Granted, it's based on lightweight novels, but still - get writing and animating!

As for the enjoyment of the series...the very message was pure enjoyment. Shinigami no Ballad works very hard to tell the viewer that death isn't something to fear, that people dying isn't the end of the world, and that above all, life goes on. It's a very simple message and it means the same thing in every culture. To see a series actually communicate such a thing is a sublime pleasure.

The first series where the protagonist is the least interesting character.

Shinigami no Ballad is a good series, but due to the episode-wise stories it never manages to give you the feeling that you get attached to the characters, which is a pity. I hoped the final episode would somehow connect the 6 stories together, or at least a few of them, but I haven't seen any relations anywhere. What I did see was in episode 4, there are several books with the title ‘Zettai’ on a bookshelf, together with a book which says ‘Summer of Fairies’. That by itself might not seem like anything useful at first sight, yet together it forges a connection to the anime Zettai Shounen. And when considering the animation-style and the way the characters behave, it isn't too hard to imagine them both in the same universe. So if you enjoyed Zettai Shounen, you will most probably enjoy this one too.
Nevertheless, the animation and the 6 stories make this series worth watching. It's just that I like my anime better when there are some actual relations between the stories, in some way or another. Somehow Momo doesn't do the trick.

Animation: Simple, yet full of atmosphere.

If you have seen series like Zettai Shounen, you will understand what I mean with ‘Full of atmosphere’. It emits a sort of relaxing atmosphere even though there is nothing special in the animation. It breathes rest and ease, adds some slice-of-life to it and then mixes it up until it has a nice, relaxing atmosphere. But Shinigami no Ballad has more: while the animation resorts to simple designs, they never forget to add several nice bits of detail. Therefore the backgrounds often look good and add to the atmosphere this series strives on.
Character design looks like it's done well. The characters look alike which might be a little annoying, but the characters never look bad and the way they move and behave looks more realistic than in several other series. So, while it has simplistic design, it is used well and thus fully deserves its points.

Sound: Realistic voiceactors, although they're not great.

The voiceactors are good. They never have high-pitched voices, but down-to-earth voices, both for elementary kids and junior-high kids. And while I am one who actually likes that part of realism in anime, for some reason the voiceactors don't do such a good job as in other shows. Don't misunderstand me, they do their jobs well, but they sometimes sound a bit lacklustrous and crying-scenes don't always sound terrific.
There is some nice BGM in here and it is fitting. But due to the semi-sinister (in a slice-of-life way) atmosphere the BGM is a bit limited.
I really don't know what they did with the OP-song, but it isn't sung very well. And while the text does fit the series and the song suits the series in terms of atmosphere, I am not impressed with the singer. At least it has more appeal than the ED-song, which I usually skipped because it got boring after a little while. And with 6 eps that's kind of dangerous.

Story: Seperate stories, yet they still look alike.

The series consists of 6 episodes, but they hardly have anything to do with each other. The only thing which connects them is the fact that they're listed as episodes of the same series. And that they all have Momo appearing at some time, but other than that they have nothing to do with each other, not even characters intersecting.
I got some criticism that I didn't delve more into this section, but telling more than this is just plain spoiling, because they're slice-of-life styled episodes in a kinda-of-mature atmosphere about children dealing with death and there isn't really anything happening in the limited time the characters get. Giving a pet dinner or the actions they make before going to bed is about as exciting as the episodes get. Since the major focus lies in conversations and daily-life actions, any talk about a 'plot' is devoid here. Don't think .Hack//Sign or Rumic Theater here; think of a Zettai Shounen or Piano-styled ova.
But while there are 6 stories, they all face death from a different angle, which makes the seperate episodes all worth watching without them feeling repetitive. The fact that they all have a satisfactory ending is also worth noticing.

I have to admit that during the short spans they managed to give just enough feeling to the episodes that they are able to add some nice touches in the scripts. Every now and then there is a cute happening which at least made me smirk. And about every episode there are some subtle jokes which made me enjoy the series much more than when it was an all-serious series. Such nice touches give the anime a much better environment to enjoy it in.

Characters: Every character is a main character, even with only 20 minutes screentime.

As said before, the characters only have 20 minutes to get on stage, make an introduction, tell their story and then step off the stage again. Because of this, just before you become attached to them, they disappear again. While the characters are all good characters they still lack just that tiny bit to enjoy the series more. Just when you get used to them, the new episode starts and you get fed a brand new bunch of characters (mostly consisting of 1 or 2 characters). Because of the few characters per episode, you can get used to the characters more easily though.

Realistic and worthy characters.
I have to admit that it surprised me how ‘real’ the characters appear to be. They all display a personality worth a main character (which is what most anime lack). Usually this takes several episodes before you can actually see them as a true character instead of ‘just a character’, but Shinigami no Ballad manages to do so with only 1 episode each time. They sometimes feel a little bit forced, like the girl in the last episode, but it has plenty of coverage to make up for it.

Disappointing main character.
I actually expected Momo to somehow connect them in some way or another, but in the end the 6 episodes are all standalones. Also, Momo herself doesn't get much screentime either, which was kind of a pity. In the end, Momo still feels like a sort of sidecharacter, even though we should have gotten to know her well enough. But apparently she's not as important as the stories told and that is actually a good thing for this series.

Value: Slice-of-life is always rewatchable in this format.

Seperate stories, so it is easy to rewatch a specific episode. Also, the characters are likeable and don't need any previously gained knowledge, so it is easily accessible. Perhaps I'm alone in this, but I always feel like series like this are easy to rewatch because none of what happens actually matters to a main story. It doesn't have a main story, so the episodes are all left for you to enjoy it the way you want. And things like Slice-of-Life in episode-format always feel to me as if they can be watched without a need to watch the entire series.

Enjoyment: Easily accessible.

I really enjoyed this series and I would recommend it for everyone who likes Slice-of-Life-style series. The ‘horror’-aspect it features never gets gross and it is so relaxing and mind-clearing that it is enjoyable to watch.
The best part I like of it is the realism it shows. Elementary kids, junior highschool kids, they all react in a realistic way about issues concerning death. Somehow it never gets truly interesting, unfortunately, probably because of the limited storytelling which only gets 20 minutes. Nevertheless, the episodes are well-done and enjoyable to watch, even though its subject is something one usually doesn't want to be part of.