[Anime Reviews]

2007 in 12 day 3: Darker than Black

Posted by Martin  [Tags: ABC, Darker than Black, Twelve days of Christmas]

Hell’s Gate!

My viewing of Darker than Black was cut temporarily short at its licencing but from what I’ve seen it climbs right up to the top of my DVD wishlist. I can’t say I was surprised at how this, effectively a Wolf’s Rain staff reunion of sorts, grabbed my interest from the get-go; my only reservation being the frustratingly short nature of each story arc (some would have easily filled the alloted two-ep segments several times over with ease).

Tensai Okamura first came to my attention with his darkly comic Stink Bomb feature but I feel he came into his own with Wolf’s Rain; Darker than Black takes the more serious approach of the latter for the most part, although the The Gardenia Shoots the Fragrance in the May Rain… arc flips into screwball comedy at times. What I especially enjoyed was how Okamura’s sci-fi/fantasy themes blended with a Chandler-esque film noir aesthetic and mystery subplots, especially concerning the nature of the Contractors and Hell’s Gate…not to mention the delightful Kirihara…

[9 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Darker than Black 8: that’s all from this for now

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Darker than Black]

Thanks to my unintended hiatus, this was the last episode I could download before Funi staked their claim on it so this will be all until next year. Fortunately it was an even-numbered episode so I saw the arc through to the end, which was a pretty decent one if not outstanding. Now that we’re learning a bit about Hai, his companions and the DtB universe in general, I was a little impatient to get past the humourous stuff and get into the meat of the story. Oh well.

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[Anime Reviews]

Darker than Black 7

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Darker than Black]

Darker than Black takes a decidedly comedic turn as a private eye and his pink-haired teenage assistant are sent by an attractive widow on the trail of a missing cat. This change in tone would be bad news for many shows but in this case the end result is really entertaining: the parody aspect raised many a smile while still progressing the story.

[6 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Darker than Black 6

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Darker than Black]

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.

[3 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Darker than Black 5

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Darker than Black]

This episode begins with a lengthy pre-credits intro sequence that introduces a new character in the form of the very English-named(!) Jack Simon, who is trying to clinch a deal with some shady types and ends up getting the info he needs with the help of a Contractor and what appears to be another Doll. The subject of all this snooping around is Havoc, a Contractor who has been off the radar for some time - intriguingly known as being one of the ‘Lost’ - but whose knowledge (be it real or presumed) is in great demand.

[1 Comment]

[Anime Reviews]

Darker than Black 4

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Darker than Black]

Bloody hell, this show can be downright brutal when it feels the need to be! This episode delivers some pretty visceral scenes in which hapless police officers get scliced up and some innocent souls get burned alive; the perpetrator of the latter event did not even intend to do so. In a rare moment of levity, Kirihara tells a friend/associate about the nature of the Contractors; it’s not surprising that Mai turns out to be one such person. Kirihara and her fellow officers are not aware of the Contrator’s identity however, and what results is a succession of really nasty scenes in which Mai inadvertantly lets her powers loose to devastating effect.

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[Anime Reviews]

Darker than Black 3

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Darker than Black]

A new arc, a new character…this time it’s a high schooler named Mai who has been suffering from memory lapses. Hopefully she’ll last a bit longer than the previous character did when she suffered similar symptoms because Mai could explain a lot about what the devil is going on. She’s also a pleasant sort of lass who doesn’t really deserve the trouble she ends up in.

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[Anime Reviews]

Darker than Black 2

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Darker than Black]

This ep wraps up the events of the first one but in doing so delivers a nice twist in its second half. Hei (a.k.a. Li) is trying to help his new lady friend Chiaki escape Jean and the other Contractors but they are proving impossible to shake off.

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[Anime Reviews]

Darker than Black 1: First Impressions

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Darker than Black]

Nope, Darker than Black isn’t the name of the new Metallica album (unfortunately). It is however the most impressive opening episode of this season’s new shows. Titled The Star of Contract Flowed…Part 1, ep #1 had my eyes glued to the screen, thinking “This is great!” without knowing exactly why. I love it when that happens.

[1 Comment]