Darker Than Black (Review)
Ten years ago, an inscrutable and abnormal territory known as Hell’s Gate appeared in Tokyo and altered the sky and decimated the landscape. The heavenly bodies disappeared, replaced by false stars. At the same time, people who possess various special abilities emerged. Kept secret from the knowledge of the masses, these individuals, known as Contractors, are able to murder in cold blood. Various nations around the world use Contractors as spies and agents, often resulting in violent battles for information. Each fake star has a corresponding contractor, and they vibrate when their contractor’s power is being used. As such, contractors are usually identified by their star’s Messier catalogue number. However, their abilities are gained at the edge of their humanity.
They lack human emotions, especially aversion to killing. Contractors usually work for one of various rival Syndicates as spies and assassins, although the ultimate purpose of the Syndicates is unknown. The main protagonist is an elite Contractor with the Messier Code BK-201. Hei plays a gentle-hearted student from China named Li Shunsheng when undercover. He becomes an apathetic and guiltless killer when on his missions. Joining an organization of unknown ambitions known only as a Syndicate, Hei is searching for the whereabouts of his sister Bai, whom he lost several years ago when the South American gate imploded. Hei’s contract allows him to generate electricity, and he is hotly pursued by the Japanese government for his involvement in multiple assassinations. For unknown reasons, Hei does not have a remuneration. He acts as the warrior/spy/assassin of his team.
Story:
First thing you notice when you start watching this show is the high level of animation that went into the making of this anime as to be expected from a studio like BONES. The Second thing you notice is the OST done by non other than the legend herself Yoko Kanno. So you got 2 out of the 3 requirements to make an awesome series all you need now is the story to bind the first 2 together but we will get to that part soon enough.
This is where Darker than Black’s weakness lies in its story. It tries something different you may ask what? It has something unique in its storytelling, it does three-episode story arcs through out the show except the final four episodes. Each focusing on different story which contains a part of the bigger story which Darker than Black works to in the final episodes.
This is an awesome concept but what ultimately kills it is the fact that these story arcs contain fillers and it just over complicates the already complicated story line making it hard to follow. And to complicate it even more they repeat what has already been shown in previous arcs and that doesn’t contribute anything to the story. But if you are able to keep your head you will discover a gem of a story. It cries out for a second season, as there is so much of the story left untold. Some of the underlying plot ideas and just the general feel of the anime reminded me of Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex. I really hope they are considering a 2nd series of this show.
Characters:
The characters get introduced at a rather fast pace during the Anime. We get to meet Mao, Yin, and Huang although Hei takes center stage most of the time during the show. My favorite character in the show was November 11 his contractor powers just did it for me and the way he acted reminded me a lot of 007 in the bond films . Without giving much away the character are the ones moving the plot along and not the other way around like in other Anime titles.
Animation:
As I stated before first thing when you start watching this show is the high level of animation that went into the making this Anime title as to be expected from a studio like BONES. The action scenes are done nicely and the animation sequences are fluid and they even used some 3d rendering for all the cars in the show. There has gone a lot of detail into the opening sequences of the show which makes for nice eye candy.
Sound/Music:
The first opening song done by Abingdon Boys School really grabs you and gives the show a flying start. But the second one done by Kakusei Heroism didn’t really do anything for me. The rest of the OST is done by non other than the legend herself Yoko Kanno. (She has written scores for famous animated works, including Macross Plus, Cowboy Bebop, Vision of Escaflowne and Wolf’s Rain.)
And is the most trusted composer by veteran and new-wave directors such as Yoshiyuki Tomino, Shinichiro Watanabe and Shoji Kawamori. Kanno has also composed music for JPop artists, the most notable being Maaya Sakamoto and Kyoko Koizumi. She is also a skilled keyboardist, and is the frontress for The Seatbelts, who perform many of Kanno’s compositions on the various original soundtracks for which she is responsible.) So I cannot fault the anime on the OST side of things because it is Yoko Kanno so by default it is awesome yes I know I am bias.
Enjoyment:
If you are able to keep your head through the patchy story you will discover a gem of a show. It cries out for a second season, as there is so much of the story left untold. The only let down is the 3 episode arch concept which in the end lets the Anime down. So if you are willing to persevere you will find a good Anime behind the somewhat flawed story.
