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Darker than BLACK - Kuro no Keiyakusha -
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Animation - 8.7 |
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Sound - 8.3 |
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Story - 7.6 |
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Character - 8.2 |
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Value - 7.4 |
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Enjoyment - 8.0 |
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Average - 8.0 |
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| Average |
8.2 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| The catastrophe called Heaven's Gate occurs in South America five years before the beginning and so then appears Contractors. Follow the story of BK201 and his abilities in and around Tokyo. While the story can be confusing at times, the ending does its best to wrap everything up. How can a person see in a world that's darker than black? Watch.
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|
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Noir fiction that is heavy on philosophy, these types of animes are starting to get more popular since Cowboy Bebop and Trigun stormed the anime world. There hasn't been a lot of good shows of this archetype, but Darker Than Black is different. This isn't about the wild wild west, shoot outs at bars, whiskey, the blues, jazz, or any of that good stuff. It's about people with supernatural powers. Yeah, you heard that right. A strange mix since superpowers are often associated with action shounens, but how did it turn out?
While Darker Than Black is divided between a bunch of non related story arcs that last no longer than two episodes, there is a continuing story developing behind the scenes. A giant blast was set off in South America that allowed people to possess supernatural abilities. These people are referred to as Contractors. Contractors have something known as an obeisance where they have to do something in order to continue using their powers, like one person has to smoke daily, while another has to drink, and it gets more bizarre down the line.
Like you'd expect of any good anime, these obscure conditions are explained as the story moves along, but for the most part, a lot of questions remain questions. The story serves it purpose, but it does nothing more. No plot twists, no great upheaval, in fact it was really underwhelming, and while most noir fiction move at a snail like pace, this moved even slower. Disappointing, right? Well, it's the side stories that give the anime life. Hei, the shows' main hero, works for a syndicate and is asked to do various tasks that has him encountering a whole slew of unique personalities and characters.
The stories to these side characters are just really really fun to watch. For characters that you'll never see again, they are surprisingly well developed and fleshed out. How each of these side characters respond and handle to having these supernatural powers provides some excellent drama and great entertainment. It isn't overly melo nor is it not dramatic enough, it's just right. Unfortunate that the side characters are more intriguing then the main cast. Hei is a two face that is known as either Lee, the bashful and humble transfer student from Hong Kong, or BK201, a killer assassin that shows no mercy with top notch fighting instincts. Not once did I feel really connected to him, and that goes for his friends he works with. A promising premise, subpar execution.
Darker Than Black is a strange anime. It has a lackluster main storyline, but excellent side stories. It has a pretty average main cast, but an excelling supporting cast. Mixing in noir fiction with classic comic book superhero traits was an odd experiment, but overall, it turned out to be a fantastic mix. Where it faltered was a lack of development from its main storyline and characters. Nonetheless though, there isn't a lot of anime like this one, so it's definitely well worth the watch.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Darker than Black chronicles the story of a single character and the mysterious circumstances that pervade the city he lives in. Strong in writing, sound and visuals, Darker than Black is a real classic.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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Summoner |
(2009-05-01 09:00:16) 2009-03-15 13:05:56 |
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| Average |
7.0 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Note: This review is based on sudo fansubs, which though lack in translation are of great 1280x720 HDTV quality. If you are not too picky about elegant English you should go with them.
Quote:
The light within your heart is that of hell, darker than black. Contractors do not dream. They can only make rational decisions.
Originally created and directed by Takamura Tensai (Wolf's Rain, Stink Bomb) Darker than Black is a story about a super power wielding hitman Hei, who works for an organization hidden so well, no one, including Hei himself, knows a thing about it. Everything unfolds in the near future where the world is warped by some weird phenomenon causing imagination become reality, super power wielders called Contractors run around causing crime and government does its best to contain them, all the while hiding truth about their powers and phenomenons from the public eyes. Working as hitman Hei learns new things about Contractors, organizations and gets closer to the phenomenon itself. Though Hei is but a tiny cogwheel in the world scale turmoil, his significance to the future of the world is bigger than anyone could guess.
Though the show has both interesting premise and characters, it never exceeds in any categories, never turning itself into something really memorable. It offers various questions including what are the defining traits of a human, what is the best way to make decisions, or can humans co-exist with an intelligent life form different from them. However, it never really delves deep in any of the issues, leaving the viewer to make his own decisions and use his own answers, all while enjoying the good action and atmosphere of the show. Though it's not groundbreaking, Darker Than Black is an anime which retains its substance from the beginning to the end and never really disappoints. Be it up-par animation, fitting music or engrossing plot, there is little to actually call bad in this show, despite that, it will probably be forgotten after a few years of time, as it offers little, what other anime haven't offered before.
Conclusion: Suitable for anyone who is over 13 years old Darker than Black is a good, if not exceptional, show. If you don't have anything good to watch at the moment, check it out and you wont be disappointed. It doesn't break the limits, but it does well at following them. As long as you are not scared of action and bleak, nor evil, nor good leads, you should give this show a chance, it wont become your favourite, but it will probably make your day. Other shows of interest - Ghost in the Shell S.A.C., Wolf's Rain.
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2 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Jamarr |
(2009-02-22 12:04:31) 2009-02-18 00:16:20 |
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| So I decided to pick this up and see what all the fuss was about. I was not disappointed. Well, that is not completely true. I did not find anything confusing or overwhelming with the beginning of the series, which I was actually looking forward too. Anyway...
The jist of the show is that these two mystical gates showed up out of the blue, and beings known as 'contractors' started showing up. A contractor, as the name implies, usually has a contract with some syndicate/organization for which they run arrands. Each contractor has a single special-ability, for example teleportation, that they can use with one requirement: they must fullfill their 'obeisance', for example kissing someone, after they have used their ability.
Animation: not much to say here, as the visual quality of the show is superb.
Sound: I disliked both the OP and ED soundtracks, but the sound effects and music during the episodes is excellent.
Story: I don't want to spoil the show, so I won't go into too much detail here. We basically get to follow the main characters around as they take on tasks delegated to them by their syndicate. With each new task we get to learn about each characters past, and why they are all drawn to the gate. As the show culminates, we find out how all of the characters stories are intertwined, and how this ultimately affects the outcome of the story. Most of the tasks are related to the gate in some way, and as you can guess the climax of the story revolves around the mystery of these gates. There are some questions left unanswered, like why the gates appeared, how contractors/dolls come about, etc. but those answers are not really pertinent to the underlying story; and who knows, maybe they will answer those questions in a second season?
Character: The characters are mostly flushed out, though I do think there was room in there to build up the relationship between Li and his sister; not just his sister, but between Li and the main villans as well. I was a bit disappointed with this, especially when there are a few filler episodes that do nothing to further the plot. But overall the characters where developed well enough to get the story across.
Value: I don't think there is a whole lot of rewatch value here (being a mystery and all), the series completely failed to pull me in emotionally (you never feel really attached to any of the characters), and the action could be better. So I did not rate this series very high in the value category.
Enjoyment: Still, I was able to enjoy the series overall and would recommend it to those looking for a mystery with some action, and a bit of light humor thrown in for good measure. I definitely enjoyed the series.
If you are looking for pure-action, you are looking in the wrong place. This is more a mystery/unraveling type series than your typical anime-action series. You should watch this series for what it is, not for what you want it to be.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
3.7 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
4 |
| Character |
2 |
| Value |
1 |
| Enjoyment |
1 |
| This is a fine example of how NOT to make an action series. A good idea with shocking execution.
In Tokyo, a strange field called 'Hell's Gate' has formed. The sky is no longer visible and humans possessing weird forms and powers have appeared - Contractors. Devoid on emotion or any sense of morality, they are used by the Syndicate and other organisations to perform dangerous missions - usually to kill. Through the adventures of Hei, we learn more about this world and the life of Contractors.
Now don't get me wrong. Darker Than Black has a very good concept and a good studio behind it. But on the execution level, it is utterly abysmal. This is supposed to be an action series but the series is so bogged down in dialog of the meandering or theological kind you could easily be forgiven this is supposed to be an action series. Episodes seem to follow the same formula every few episodes - 1. Chat between Contractor and Syndicate. 2. Rants in between finding the target. 3. Get the target and take the consequences. Yet it does this right to the end, introducing characters even right in the final wave of the series while failing to properly flesh out the story.
We know Hell's Gate is there, we know it caused Contractors to exist and they are connected with stars. We know Dolls exist. But there is a question Darker Than Black avoids like the plague - WHY?! Why does Hell's Gate exist along with everything that it brought? Why are Dolls important? Why does the Syndicate exist? Why is this all happening? By the time Episode 25 is over, you will be no closer to the answer than you were at Episode 1. Things seem to continue on as if there was no end or that nothing happened in the finale. It feels like a line that is supposed to connect A and B but stops at about halfway and just spirals around the middle. Listen, if you're going to create a proper story, at least bother to finish it right and with some proper explanation as to 'why' everything that happened did. Darker Than Black chooses to avoid it all and falls flat on its face as a result. It makes the journey from 1 to 25 seem like an utter waste - which it realistically is.
The characters are utterly dull. Yes, I know Contractors are emotional voids, but hey, at least make them interesting in some way! Hei - he does things, for some reason apparently. Why - never explained. Why should we root for him - no reasons given. The talking hat, the Syndicate handler - they seem like mere distractions. Amber is merely a cheap shot at a C.C. ripoff. The Dolls are exactly what their name suggests. Any action scene is merely a flash in the pan and not thrilling at all. And for an action series, this is utterly criminal. Aside from some okay-ish animation, a flashy opening theme and a decent ending from Rie Fu (her work deserves much better use than on this seres), there's little to like.
Darker Than Black is a perfect example of how to fail at creating a good action series. At least we can learn from its numerous mistakes and hope others don't repeat them.
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2 of 5 people found this review helpful.
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|
Scamp |
2008-11-22 17:02:35 |
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Darker than Black is another Bones anime but it’s one of their few ones that focuses on adults rather than teenagers. Heck, 9/10 anime focus on teenagers, so when one decides to focus on people above that accursed age of 16, it really is a refreshing change. DtB doesn't really do anything radically different from any other anime, but it still manages to be thoroughly entertaining nevertheless.
I do have a problem with the lead in DtB. Hei/Li/BK201 is unbelievably cool and ferocious when he dons his mask. The lack of emotion the mask portrays is chilling. However he is just as emotionless when he doesn’t have the mask on. I found it very frustrating watching him at the start of the series do the extent that I considered dropping the thing. Luckily there are other characters who carry the show along, such as Yin and Huang (who makes a great character you love to hate). Hei does show a bit more emotion, particularly towards the end, but I still find he pales in comparison to the others
At the start, Darker than Black is confusing. Very, very confusing. Seriously, they don’t explain anything to you and leave loads up to yourself to figure out. This means the earlier episodes, while undeniably cool, are a bit overwhelming and may not leave you with the best impression of the show. But this is actually where this shows shines: its gradual revealing of the plot and the world of the contractors. With every episode more is revealed. You learn more about each character, which makes them easier to relate to and more enjoyable to watch as you find out what’s driving them. By the end even Hei has become a likable character, while still being the cold, ultra-cool killer he was at the start.
Darker than Black also has a great sense of humour. The episodes with the detective were the highlights of the first half of the series for me. I could tell when they were coming because the music changed to cool blues music, which was funny in itself seeing how the detective saw himself as the super-detective. Actually Darker than Black is a very cool series all round. Just watch some of the fights when Hei has the mask on and tell me this show isn’t one of the flashiest pieces of Japanese anime around. And watch out for the pizza hut advertisements. It's not just Geass!
By the time you’ve reached the last third of this show, you'll love it. It comes up with some of the most amazing stories in its time, the highlight probably being Yin’s double episodes. The effort and thought put into creating the world of Darker than Black is why it shines so much. Contractors are an ingenious invention, with their odd remunerations they have to perform. Every time I see a shooting star, whether it be anime, live-action or real life, thanks to DtB I always think "oh, a contractors' died".
Although it takes a while to warm up to the characters and you'll be hopelessly lost for a while, Darker than Black will suck you into it’s fantastically created world and you will be hooked.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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|
|
|
| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Darker than Black is a show that never quite lived up to its potential. We are introduced to an alternate earth that gave birth to such phenomena as gates, contractors, dolls and stargazers but are never told how or why they came to be. Instead of exploring the intricacies of this new world and incorporating it into the story, Darker than Black comes off as just another mercenaries-doing-dangerous-work-for-secret-organizations type show.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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|
|
| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| darker than black, in short, somewhat disappointed me. i think this is somewhat biased by the fact that i was expecting a lot from it.
in terms of animation, its not bad. but because it was somewhat 'set-up' by the FMA creators, i wasn't too particularly impressed. given the amount of time the anime had to create some sort of impressive fight scenes, it never really did.
and thats just the problem with darker than black overall. in a nutshell, its just an above average anime with no real significance. it did not excel in any particular aspect. there are just too many alternatives. for example, if you want powers, you should watch getbackers or hunterxhunter or something along those lines. if you want philosophy, you have death note. deepness, you have honey and clover. and etc.etc.
the story seemed too philosophical for the sake of being confusing and the characters seemed too 'cool' for the sake of being cool. Hei, for instance, was so hard to relate to personally because he seemed somewhat one dimensional. in terms of story, my roommate and i were consistently exclaiming "what the heck is going on?". the thing is, usually when you're saying such things as this, and then on the final episode you go "ohh, dang that was a good anime", things are ok. if you're still going "wait, what the heck is going on", only to find out that there were no more episodes left, you can't help but feel a bit betrayed by the story's progression.
in short, i feel like darker than black has nothing fresh or original to offer. it just feels too cool to be cool, and too 'marketable', in a sense that it lacks any real substance, that you can probably get elsewhere
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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|
Hikikomori |
(2008-01-01 23:30:20) 2008-01-01 23:26:32 |
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| This is one very well put together anime that caters to the viewer on several levels: aesthetically, intellectually and philosophically. I'm not sure how such a great series like this manage to fly under my radar or not manage to get much media attention but I actually stumbled across this series on one of those video websites like, YouTube or Stage6. But as soon as I saw it, I knew it would be a good one...and then read the reviews about it which confirmed it. And I too would most definitely recommend it to anyone who was interested in this show or to anyone who would like to watch a really awesome anime that delivers the perfect combination of lots of action, intrigue and humor.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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|
| Average |
8.5 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Contractors, individuals with superhuman powers, but have no emotions. The cost of human lives are meaningless to them.
The story of Darker than Black was an interesting plot. Hei the main character who is a contractor seems like any other contractor. As the story progresses, you find out there is more to it than what you've been hearing.
They did a good job of character progression, and their significance to the plot. The story though had a tinge of Cowboy Bebop, where they'd get an assignment and as they completed a mission you get an insight in the meaning of life, or see a glimpse of past of the main character.
They also did a great job on hooking the viewer to the characters. They all had complex personalities tied well with their pasts.
The only complaints I had about this series was the open-endedness of the ending, and the animation.
Overall it was a great series with great story, and character developement.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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|
|
|
| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| This is what the American series Hereos could have been like if it was written for adults.
It features super-powered people who are real people, their powers come at a real price and not a token moral price as is used in children's comics.
The story unfolds gradually with us getting to know more of the main character's back story from episode to episode.
The powers are interesting as is the background of fear and manipulation and the fact that it finishes in one series rather than dragging on to squeeze extra money out of the idea is appealing.
The plot is intelligent with no bad or annoying episodes and the ending is surprising and consistent, there is a small bit of comic relief but this is a dark story.
I hadn't watched any anime for a few years since everything I could find was poorly written and childish but this pulled me in from the first episode and doesn't let go.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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|
|
|
| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| This anime is a bit complex but it makes sense in the end. Its a mixture of ghost in the shell+matrix+x-men. There is no problem with the story, only that its a bit complex and like GITS you will not understand everything until the very end of it.
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0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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|
|
|
| Average |
6.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
| Darker than Black is a new anime using a safe formula. It's nothing new or refreshing. It's the kind of thing that doesn't involve any strong feelings or any real thinking. I don't know how you can really enjoy Darker than Black if you are hoping for anything except entertainment.
Once again it's the whole superpower stuff. The style was developed brilliantly with the 1999 series from Clamp called X. All the greatness of the roots behind Darker than Black is absent and feel empty. You will not find any real link between you and the characters, which is something strange for adult animation. There is nothing interesting and the action is absent, something totally unacceptable for a series that old it's grip on action at first. You will find the scenes to be short and irrelevant. Seriously, it's not a bad anime, it's just simply not that great if you seek something more sophisticated like me.
Let say that the characters are, until the end, dolls without emotions for peoples not supposed to have any emotions. What I means is they have emotions despite not been supposed to, but their emotions doesn't grab the watcher like it was intended to. For making it short, let just say that the producers were unable to bring the characters to life except for some occasions they should have explored more. For example, some memories of the past, some strong moments like a simple diner with neighbors and some reunions. All that is just thrown for 5 or so minutes and all the unimportant stuff is taking most of the time. Seriously, I think I will even lower the score even more after thinking about it. The strong points are only good, and the bad ones, really mediocre. Let's begin with the resume of the story.
Lee Sheng Shu is a contractor, someone with special powers of his own and also some contribution for their powers. A contractor retribution consist in something they didn't like in their past lives in order to use their powers at will. An odd event happened in South-America and now contractors are being employed by the syndicate to prevent the action of the EPR, who where behind the event in South-America. Lee is researching one of the key member who was working with him and his sister in SA. This person left the team and provoked the death of her sister.
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2 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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|
censored |
(2007-10-20 03:51:40) 2007-10-20 03:48:13 |
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| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Darker than Black... sounds cool on paper, not that great when you actually watch it. This was definitely a series I WANTED to enjoy and it showed so much promise, but I found it extremely difficult to enjoy with the pacing and confusing storyline. This series definitely has its moments in entertainment but other than that, it's just mediocre.
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1 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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|
Pakxenon |
(2007-10-15 04:32:35) 2007-10-15 04:28:18 |
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| Average |
6.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
3 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
| What do you get when a reputable production company starts on something fresh and cool and with momentum from the last timeslot and then the production manager runs away with the manuscript half-way through the series? Darker Than BLACK, riding on the waves of the previous season's TV timeslot fame, is a slick cool show from BONES, known for being the masterminds of Sunrise's golden works of the 90s.
DTB starts off with an interesting premise: Hei, aka the Black Reaper or the transfer student Li Shen Shun, is a hired assassin from the Syndicate and goes around the city stealing people's "Dolls" and killing boss members of interfering organizations. Three other team members make up this little party of which the anime focuses on, them and the ongoing story around them, revealed to be an overhanging plot of preventing the Hell's Gate from going kabloom.
You'd either have to be really interested in this show or have some concentration juice in you when watching this, because DTB is heavily saturated with dialogue, of which 99% of the plot can be found in. It is revealed there is not two or three, but many more organizations that are involved in the story, all attaining something out of this Hell's Gate and the hiring of the Contractors that resulted from this unknown phenomenon. I couldn't keep track everything that was going on, and not even detailed discussions on blogs could help me out. Throughout, I just accepted what happened and moved on to see the result, not once trying to do deep analysis of the metaphors this show is trying to imitate.
DTB does something a little unique in its storytelling - it does it in two-episode arcs (exceptions to the final three), each focusing on different scenarios that will all hold some sort of significance in the finale. But for some reason, there are FILLERS in these arcs, as if the plot wasn't complicated enough already. There are arcs that repeat what has already been shown in previous arcs that don't contribute to either the plot or the characters, and are one-off non-entertaining wastes of potential. In the finale, the anime is very unsatisfying, with two episodes of build-up that turned into a mess of plotholes, inconsistencies, and out-of-the-blue new villains. They spend too much time trying to look cool by giving us vague dialogues and revealing too much too late.
The characters are cool, though. Though Hei gets the most episodes, Mao, Yin, and Huang all have an arc for themselves, revealing their pasts and developing their character. Most of the villains are one-shot, but some come back and look cool doing that. Some people tried to pair up Hei with some other girls, but I don't quite understand why they'd do that in this kind of series - it's too slick for a love/romance relationship. Contractor abilities and renumeration were amusing, too. My favourite character is Mai, who, despite having one of the most generic designs, managed a sympathetic story and also returned in the final stages of the show.
For technicalities, BONES scores high as always. Animation is slick. It's too bad there weren't enough action scenes. Sound score is very good considering it's done by a famed anime composer (same one as Cowboy Bebop). All four intro and ending songs can make excellent additions to your music collection.
But would I rewatch this? Definately no. Do I recommend this? Also no. It will already turn off numerous viewers on the first two episodes with too many mysteries to ponder, and will disappoint everyone else who survived the dialogue torment at episode 25.
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1 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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|
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|
|
| Average |
9.2 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| A story about people with special power (called Contrators) vs normal humans. The story starts out with our main protagonist, Hei, completing missions for an unknown organisation. Gradually, we come to realise there're many other organisations and they're all using Contrators against each other.
As the story progresses, we come to know more about the characters, their past and their relationship with each other. Characterisation is one of the strongest points of this anime.
The mystery surrounding Hei's organisation and Hei himself hooks you till the end. I rather like the conspiracy revealed, as it adds poignancy to the story, amounting to the kind of emotion one experiences watching "Mushishi" and "Zegapain".
um, what to say? this anime has wonderful anime, matching sound, action, mystery, possible romance, emotive, thoughtful.
It's not just senseless killing, but explores human emotions and issues of morality. Quite an enjoyable anime. The ending is a bit lacking though, but that might be because of a possible second season.
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2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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|
chris |
(2007-09-27 18:21:58) 2007-09-18 18:44:30 |
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| *Edited September 27th*
Having seen up to episode 24, this is what I have been able to conclude so far about Darker than Black. I'm jumping the gun a little early here, but I'd like to get my 2 cents in before the series is complete, and perhaps give a final rating next month.
It's no surprise that this series came from the same studio who brought us Cowboy Bebop and Scrapped Princess. Bones works hard on their projects, and it shows.
The series starts out with a basic plot/storyline; a "contractor" - one with special abilities - takes on jobs from a syndicate for a living, while appearing to the public eye as a normal college graduate. Main characters are introduced, as well as other run-ins with "contractors". This continues on untill about episode 16 or so, (there are some major plot moments between 1 - 16, but they are fairly tricky to pick up on) at which point the main plot begins to reveal itself more gallantly.
I won't spoil anything at this point, but I will say that this series is immensly entertaining and has caught my attention more than any anime I've watched since Monster. It's sometimes tricky to follow and figure out whats going on, but it is worth the watch 10x over.
Definetly recommended to those sick of typical shonen type animes like Naruto, One Piece and Bleach.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Well, well, what do we have here... A shonen anime that borrows planning and pacing from mainstream American TV shows? That's certainly a new one for me.
Let's get the basic stuff out of the way first. It's Bones... so solid animation all the way through. Nothing extra spectacular, just average in a good way. I thought the music was particularly nice, fits the tone of the show perfectly without being overpowering. VAs also perform superbly.
The story is nothing new: bunch of guys with random powers who do stuff. Before talking more about the storyline though, I'd like to expand on my comment about the format of this anime. First of all, while DtB does have overall direction, the individual episodes are done by a writing team. Therefore, each episode has its own subplot, which usually loosely ties into the main plot. Furthermore, there's always a part 1 and part 2 to each subplot, which essentially makes DtB "episodes" one hour long (and I like that much, much better). It's these format changes that largely offset the rather lackluster focus on an overall story arc.
If you've had any experience watching TV series, then the storylines in DtB will pretty much be standard fare. Each subplot typically visits a particular area within the DtB setting. And then you have tidbits here and there which carry over and make up the main plot. The individual episodes run the gamut from outright boring to dramatic to tense action. So on one hand it can be refreshing but on the other hand it's also kinda random. Because not much is really known at the beginning, the show progresses with a sense of discovery and understanding rather than surprise.
The characters of DtB are quite well done. The development of specific characters was a primary focus of each episode. So, while the story itself isn't terribly fulfilling, DtB characters will probably grow on you as the series progresses. The focus on characters is a more realistic choice imo. I don't think many people can relate to angels invading earth and giant robots fighting and all that. But certainly a lot of people can relate to human emotions, sacrifice, and stuff like that.
The particulars about being a "contractor" does lend itself to some very obviously character developments. But the way they are very consistently portrayed in the beginning, especially the main character Hei and the British agent November, creates genuine credibility towards said obviously developments. Anyways, I'm also a sucker for heartstring pulls, so DtB got me good. Despite being episodic, DtB manages very slow, deliberate character development that I can say rivals some of the best current Amerian shows.
Overall, if you like shonen anime you definately won't be disappointed with DtB. If you haven't seen a recent primetime American TV show, the format of DtB will probably be fresh and interesting. DtB is a high-quality series that unfortunately doesn't get the recognition it deserves.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
10.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| This review is based on the first 8 episodes. Darker Than BLACK is the next series in the late night MBS/TBS block, following Code Geass: Lelouch of The Rebellion, and done by the famous Studio BONES, known for such works as Fullmetal Alchemist, Eureka Seven, and Rahxephon. Despite the fact that they are two completely different series, I wasn’t exactly sure how well it would follow up the greatness that is Code Geass. The scans I originally saw in Newtype didn’t exactly grab me at first in terms of designs, and there weren’t enough plot details to really get me interested. That quickly changes a few months later as new information was reveled, and even more so when it actually aired. At the moment, this science fiction spy thriller has me by the balls, and it’s my favorite show of the spring season, followed by Toward The Terra and Gurren Laggan. Overall, its highly recommened!
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