[Categories: Anime Reviews]
Darker than Black 6
A great conclusion to the Havoc arc, this. As promised with the detail thrown in at the end of ep #5, there’s some backstory to Hei filled in that sheds a little light on things. I particularly enjoyed the exchange between Havoc and Hei - initially it was the standard torturer/victim setup but the barriers begin to fall and the fact that they’d worked closely together in the past begins to show. In between the action, technobabble and gory bits, it’s always good to throw in some characterisation.
I actually feel a bit sorry for Havoc by the end. She tries to distance herself from her past but ultimately there’s no avoiding it: the pain she felt was almost tangible. It only left me more intrigued about the nature of the Contractors though - I’m speculating that they make a conscious decision to sign their contract, so maybe it’s not the inborn curse of supernatural abilities that I initially thought it to be. Additionally there’s more evidence on offer here that suggests that Hei is no ordinary Contractor either…if he’s not a Contractor at all, what the hell is he?
November 11 also runs rings around Kirihara and her men yet again, painting the MI6 agent as a slippery bastard overall (if R.O.D. is anything to go by, we Brits are all like this as far as the anime industry’s concerned). The battle between November 11 (what is the significance of that date??) and Hei was excellent however, and showed off their abilities to great effect. It only heightens my hopes that we will learn more about Hei’s motives and feelings: behind the cold Contractor exterior I reckon there’s a very human character who is looking for answers in the only way he knows how.
Darker than Black is still consistently awesome. There are some welcome explanations (not too many, I might add) and moments of character development before the inevitable removal of one of the characters from the scene just as I’m getting attached to them. This last point is still a bit of sticking point for me but otherwise this is a superb show that I’m continuing to follow this season. I still want that coat, dammit!
Posted on May 21st, 2007 @ 7:39 am
>>(what is the significance of that date??)
Britain remembering the anniversary of the end of WWII, check Wikipedia.
The battle this time was particularly awesome, when Hei wandered into MI6’s midst I was reminded of those old cowboy westerns.
Posted on May 21st, 2007 @ 7:22 pm
@Owen S: Apart from the Armistice of WWI, I can’t find anything UK-related that alludes to this date…I think you’re right about it having some historical significance though. Unless it’s a reference to the history of Hell’s Gate or similar…
Posted on May 22nd, 2007 @ 4:56 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day
Yeah, it was the armistice, but I mixed up WWII with WWI, apparently. My bad. I find it ironic that he’s named after Remembrance Day, which is all about peace, when he’s not exactly a pacifist himself.