Find merchendise for this anime through Shopping Mall Japan!

-Running Time: 150 Minutes
-Screen Format: 16:9 Full Screen
-Number of Discs: 1 per volume. (3 total)
-Special: Limited edition comes in a special digipak and includes a mini novel.

Shinigami no Ballad or Ballad of the Shinigami (Shinigami is basically the Grim Reaper) was paired with the Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora to create 12 episodes to fill the time slot they were given.

This is a set of mostly standalone episodes where the Shinigami comes to collect various individual's souls or fulfill the final wishes of a dying person. Very little, other than the cute Shinigami Momo in a white dress, is carried from episode to episode.

The first episode involves a girl in elementary school with asthma and her "boyfriend." The second involves a high school boy and girl who. The girl has feelings for the boy but can't express them. The third is a boy following a treasure map his dead RPG loving grandfather left him; a map to happiness. The fourth episode revolves around the wish of a dead mother and how her daughter has tried to take her place. The fifth episode features the young boy from the first episode making a return appearance to help a young girl reconcile her final words to her dead sister with how she really feels. The sixth and final episode involves a girl who can't admit her feelings for a boy and dies, accidentally, the day she finds out (she believes) that he is involved with someone else.

All in all the series is really good and the stories, while retaining little more than Momo (the Shinigami) and Daniel (the winged cat), are well presented and are consistently good.

While you might expect a series with this kind of setup focusing on death, you would be incorrect in this assumption. Shinigami no Ballad focuses more on love; love in a romantic aspect and love in a familial aspect.

The opening animation plays out to "no one" by KOY. The music fits the series and the opening animation. The opening animation itself is a collection of images of the various characters who make appearances in the show during their everyday life, while Momo can be seen watching on. The opening is nicely done.

The ending animation plays out to "White Messenger" also boy KOY and also fits the series well. You have Momo and Daniel walking down a path while the screen scrolls up, displaying a montage of all the characters with whom Momo has a connection with during the series. It ends with Momo and Daniel looking up at the sky. The animation is minimal here, but works well.

Animation is done by Group-TAC the same group that gave us the sister show, Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora. Character animation is smooth and detailed with nicely detailed backgrounds.

There is a single option for audio, Japanese LPCM stereo. There are no English options on this disc at all. The characters are all well acted and fit their parts. The show is dialog driven so there really is no requirement for multi-channel sound and so the stereo LPCM is more than sufficient.