If you want to read my review of The Parades, read this post. In パレード, Minako discovered that she died tragically without saying a final goodbye to her beloved son.
Minako Kawakami (Masami Nagasawa) woke up on the beach, devastated by the tsunami, thinking she lost her son, but she was the one who was missing.
“No one answers me and I don’t feel any physical touch.”
Akira (Kentaro Sakaguchi) like all the other dead knew what had happened and what it meant for Minako to be able to see him.
“It was a great one, wasn’t it? For now, come to our house.”
The house was, in fact, an amusement park, a kind of limbo between the world of the living and the dead and served as a residence for repentant souls to live for eternity.
The Parades: welcome to the dead parade
Michael (Lily Franky) was a film producer who died while producing a movie that chronicled the Okinawa revolution and why he abandoned the love of his life.
“It must have been hard for you.”
Akira was terminally ill. The son of a farmer who couldn’t do manual labor and took out this frustration on his own family.
“People with regrets in the world of the living gather here.”
Shori (Ryusei Yokohama) was a Yakuza and member of his father’s gang. He was murdered 7 years ago, leaving his wife sad and unable to move on.
“But you can’t go anywhere else because you have unfinished business.”
Nana (Nana Mori) was a student who cut her wrists because of school bullying and abandoned her best friend who was also a victim.
“I’m glad my shitty life is over.”
Tanaka (Tetsushi Tanaka) was a banker and now he was a type of shinigami who helped souls in purgatory to make the rite of passage.
“Hey, Mr. Tanaka, what’s the other side like?”
Once a month, always on the new moon night, everyone would gather for a parade of tormented souls that served as an opportunity to put an end to repentance.
Akira invited Minako to the soul parade and explained that she could meet Ryo, but the encounters were random. In other words, she could be a lost soul for an eternity.
The Parades: hell butterfly
You might be wondering what the black butterfly at the end of The Parades means. Jigokucho are black butterflies in service to the gods of death.
One of the tasks of the black butterflies of hell is to guide the shinigamis on their journeys between the world of the living and the world of souls.
Death butterflies also serve as messengers for the gods of death, allowing shinigami to exchange messages.
Why you should watch The Parades
I won’t leave The Parades ending explained or a download link here, but If you believe in life after death, lost souls and their unfinished business, The Parades is a perfect Japanese movie.
Furthermore, this film very lightly touches on an emotional theme that is so dear to those who believe in the afterlife.
The Parades trailer
I really feel that you will like this one. So I decided to do this Paredo review. Go ahead, immerse yourself in the story, the environment and the soundtrack.
And come back later to tell me what you think in the comments. This Japanese film is a movie written and directed by Michihito Fujii.
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