

Death Billiards is one of the four anime works that each received 38 million yen (about US$480,000) from the "2012 Young Animator Training Project." Just like in 2010 and 2011, the animation labor group received 214.5 million yen (US$2.65 million) from the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs, and it distributed most of those funds to studios who train young animators on-the-job. An old and a young man find themselves in a mysterious bar where they have to play a game of billiard. The bet: their lives.
Direction
Tachikawa's debut shows Death Parade's DNA in concentrated form.
Writing
25 minutes that spawn an entire series philosophy.

Director
Yuzuru Tachikawa
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This 25-minute short outperformed expectations so hard it became the pilot for 12-episode series Death Parade.
Part of a government initiative to combat anime's aging workforce crisis — your tax yen at work, and weirdly effective.
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