Darker Than Black

This anime is amazing.

Darker than black is a neo-noir esque, action-packed thriller about a world where super beings exist, known as "contractors," and the many organizations they belong too, some notably being the CIA, MI6 and Japanese government.

The first few episodes don't immediately draw you in, however the tension and plot builds up slowly to introduce the setting. Sometimes it can get confusing, and I had to pause to google terminology due to the fact that not everything is explained fully. However, the animation is clean & simple and the soundtrack is jazzy.

What I enjoyed the most about this series is how interesting the main character is. Hei is a powerful contractor working for a secret organization. His daytime identity is Li Shengshun, a Chinese exchange student. What's interesting about him is that although he is extremely bad-ass, he is also has an emotional side unlike most contractors and can make mistakes. He's not super-powered like some anime protagonists.

This anime is not completely centered on Hei, but more on the different organizations and groups and how they interact. Which also gives him an air of mystery, as we do not know what he is doing.

Overall, the anime is great, dark in tone and has a great plot. It's set of characters are very three dimensional (it's nice to have female characters that have actual personalities for once). The story doesn't focus on romance nor sexuality, but more on awesome fighting scenes and its mysterious plot.

10/10

This show hits many of the marks that would in hindsight classify it as a pillar in the anime genre. The show has character, style, atmosphere, and thrilling action sequences backed by a sleek killer soundtrack composed by none other than Yoko Kanno.

The issue with the show, however, is it comes short on a couple different axis', those being a cohesive narrative and lackluster character development.

While the shows starts off with episodic story arcs that finish and end per one to two episodes (which are imo the best parts about the show), around the second half of the season, the show then goes deep into this convoluted overarching narrative that in the end falls flat on it's face. By the finale, your left scratching your head at what had just happened exactly, as the show gives little time to dwell and explain what was happening. It's as if in Cowboy Bebop, the last 4 episodes they discover a plot that a government was trying to commit mass planetary genocide and they had to resolve this crisis in 3 episodes time.

Hei is our lead man in this adventure, and while his stoic and mysterious nature is interesting, some episodes it felt as if he had no personality at all. During the end of the season, they recap on his past and why he holds animosity towards certain other characters, it felt as if one issue resolves while another is just left with more questions than answers.

Overall, the show has all the style and character to get in the upper echelons of it's media contemporaries, but unfortunately falls short in mostly in substance and narrative focus.

Darker Than Black is not an average anime. It has something special in it, the story, the characters, the music, the moral, and those feels. I have seen many anime over the years but, this ranks above every one of them. It is supernatural but it stay so close to reality that you get lost in it some how. "Every step is taken at a price, regardless of feelings it has to be paid."It echos in my ears and make me reconsider my actions. Being an anime it describes all the emotions inside a person, what he has to do in order to make the right decision. It is truly remarkable. The dialogs are so meaningful that they make you think about thing. I will always remember what Hei said "If you pretend to feel a certain way, The feeling can become genuine all by mistake." If you want to watch an anime, then i would definitely recommend you this. Darker Than Black?????? YES!!!! Evey life has something darker than black.

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 is 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 in years but this one dragged me in from the first episode and I didn't regret it.

I'm going to have to agree with the majority of viewers; this is a great anime with a unique story...though it might not be for everyone.

I noticed that one of the reviewers had the most inane childish review, mentioning nothing about the actual anime and just saying it was "crap". Really? In fact, that reviewer said it was "just a typical anime filled with nudity---no male nudity either!---and filed with satanic themes". There is absolutely no nudity whatsoever--save for a 'nipple' (in silhouette only) in the first opening and one single episode near the end (which has no private areas displayed)--and I have no idea why that reviewer believed it was about satanism.

I'm sure it was a useless trolling attempt on their part, but some people might actually believe that garbage the reviewer said if they weren't sure themselves.

As for the show itself, the animation was well-done; the music was unique (especially the first ending theme and Kurosawa's theme), rife with deep mini-plots, light humor, dark humor, and genuinely likable (and hateable) characters.

I do agree that maybe at one specific point I felt I might be losing interest, but I honestly don't believe that was the anime's fault. And sure enough, something occurred within the story immediately after that definitely fixed that.

As a show with little focus on sexuality , and instead on the deep and painful cycles of life, death, relationship and happiness...I know many will enjoy it.