is a Japanese anime miniseries created, written, and directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa and produced by Madhouse. The series spawned from a short film, Death Billiards, which was originally produced by Madhouse for the Young Animator Training Project's Anime Mirai 2013 and released in March 2013. The miniseries aired in Japan between January and March 2015. It is licensed in North America by Funimation and in the United Kingdom by Anime Limited. The series was obtained by Madman Entertainment for digital distribution in Australia and New Zealand.
Plot
Whenever someone dies, they are sent to one of many mysterious bars run by bartenders serving as arbiters inside a tower in the afterlife. There, they must compete in Death Games with their souls on the line, the results of which reveal what secrets led them to their situation and what their fate will be afterwards, with the arbiters judging (on behalf of the missing God) if their souls will either be sent for reincarnation or banished into the void. The series follows Decim, the lone bartender of the bar where people who died at the same time are sent to, known as the Quindecim bar, and his assistant.
Characters
Main characters
The bartender of the Quindecim bar (located on the 15th floor) who oversees the Death Games between people who have died and must be judged. His hobby is making mannequins that resemble guests who have made an impression on him. He is supposed to have no human emotions, just like all arbiters who are referred to as dummies because they have never lived or died. As a risky experiment, Nona allows him to develop his interest in learning about human emotions. In the series finale, Decim is implied to be the missing amnesiac God.
Decim's assistant, who has been learning the methods that arbiters use to judge human souls and helping Decim learn about human behavior. Initially credited as , she is ultimately revealed to be a human, , rendered amnesiac by Decim to become his assistant and an Arbiter after she had arrived in the afterlife on her death with all memories of her life and the process of passage between life and death intact, seen by the Arbiters as a message from the missing God.
Other Arbiters
Decim's boss, with the appearance of a young girl. She reports to Oculus and manages the arbiters, primarily working on the 90th floor and sometimes overseeing the games.
An arbiter bartender who runs and oversees death games in the Viginti Bar on the 20th floor. He does not get along well with Decim and disapproves of his reliance on Chiyuki, although their relationship is not antagonistic.
An ever helpful elevator attendant who is always smiling.
A member of the information bureau who ran the Quindecim bar before Decim took her place after she moved into the information center, hence its name, Quindecim.
A woman in a skull helmet who oversees deaths across the world and decides which souls are sent to which arbiters.
A powerful being with a lotus-like beard and hair who was close to the missing God and manages the arbiter system. He spends his free time playing galactic pool.
Players
He appeared in "Death Billards" as a cocky young man in his 30s who came in before Roujin at Quindecim. He and Roujin were forced to play a game of billiards that would decide their fate. In the midst of the game, he was completely surprised when he underestimated Roujin who, at his advance age, was already beating him in the game and was able to defend himself after he lunged at him with a cue stick. After the confrontation, he was able to recall that he is already dead and that he died at the hands of his girlfriend who murdered him after he cheated on her. At the end of the game, he and Roujin both were led to the elevator to reincarnation and the void, respectively.
He appeared in "Death Billards" who died of natural causes. He arrived in the Quindecim after Otoko, where they were both made to play a game of billiards that would decide their fate. Unlike Otoko, who is cocky and aggressive, he is calm and level-headed. Even when in the face of a confrontation with the latter, he was able to defend himself from Otoko's assault. At the end of the game, they were led to the elevator by Decim where it was not known as to what their fate has become. Before entering the elevator, he whispered something to Decim whose details are unknown. In the final scene, he was seen with a smirk on his face as he has been sent to the void.