Anime Review : Darker Than Black

RANDTed: gungrave1988 at 3:23:00 PM

Sorry for not posting for a while. After watching Comrade post about anime, it sort of struck me than I have to post something since someone else is posting anime (which is something that I promised to post about when I first entered RANDTS). So I'm gonna review about an anime called "Darker than Black"



Darker than Black is an anime television series produced by Tensai Okamura & the anime studio "Bones". It was released recently in Japan & so far there latest episode is episode 3.

The story is set in an alternate reality of the Japan that we know. In the city of Tokyo, things are not what they seem. People with strange powers start appearing. People are being murdered.And the government is try to cover it up. It all started with the construction of the wall surrounding the city known only as Hell's Gate which causes the city to lose it's original sky.

In the first episode, we are introduced to a guy in blond hair who seems to be running from the cops.

As he finds a dead end, the cops rush in to arrest him. Just when the cops think they have the upper hand, the guy uses his special powers....

...and manages to escape. The police then realized he is a Contractor, people who posse special powers which they gained ever since the construction of the wall, Hell's Gates. The police did some researh & found out his identity. He is known as Rui, an agent that was connected with the French foreign affairs department. His ability is to control gravity. His Messier Code is known as GR544. He manage to fly to a building & decided to lay low for a while

* I haven't really gotten the facts right but it seems that all contractors have to sacrifice something in order to obtain their powers like losing their emotions or doing a certain task. Once they made their contract, when they use their powers, it seems that a star in the sky will appear & the stars represent the user. If the person dies, it becomes a shooting star. Taking Rui as an example, every time he uses his powers, he has to break a finger in order to seal the agreement.

*Rui about to break his fingers. This scene really looks painful.

*Rui glad that its all over...huh...huh..

Just when Rui was about to take a break, he head a voice saying "So that's the price you have to pay for you contract, huh?. It must be tough" Rui turns to look around & noticed that he was being watched by a Doll, a similar version of a Contractor only less human emotions. He tries to escaped but then another contractor shows up. Rui tries to use his powers agains him but he fails to hurt the contractor & gets pin down.

After Rui gets pin down, the contractors asks him where is the "stuff" but Rui refuses to tell. Then the contractor decides to give Rui some pain by hitting the guy at the same place where he just broke his finger. Finally he mentioned that the stuff was with a woman & said that if the contractor told him who was he working for, he might be able to get the stuff for you. (basically he was trying to buy himself out) Then the contractor gave him a punch in the face & demands that he tell him where is the women.

The contractor then ask the doll whose name is Yin how long will the police arrive. Since the police was about to arrive soon, the contractor whose name was Hei decided to kill Rui as he despised Contractors. Don't know why he hates contractors since he is a contractor himself.

*Yin, the Doll

Hei : I despise Contractors...{sound of breaking skull}

Once the police arrived, Rui was dead & the contractor was long gone. In the board room of the police station, they discussed about Rui, his background & the mysterious contractor known only as BK201 or the cursed Contractor. Then they found out the identity of the girl Rui mentioned. Her name was Shinoda Chiaki whose been missing for two weeks & they stole some important information regarding Hell's Gate. In their book, the existence of the Contractors & the truth behind Hell's Gate must not be told to anyone especially the society. Anyone who knows about it will have their memories erased. The task of finding the girl & this cursed Contractors is in the hands of a detective named Misaki Kirihara who is determined to solve the case.

*Shinoda Chiaki

*Inspector Misaki Kirihara who has a strong sense of justice

Meanwhile the cursed Contractor known as Hei is living a double life as a pleasant & innocent looking foreign exchange student from China by the name of Li Shunsheng. He decides to rent an apartment where the missing girl Shinoda Chiaki happens to be hiding. Both of them meet but all they could do was nod their head as a greeting. The reason the police haven't found the girl yet because she has disguised herself & worked at a night club serving beers to the customers.

*The exchange student from China, Li Shunsheng

*See the difference between the picture above & below? Women sure look different after they put on their make up. Wonder is that true?

Although her disguise was perfect, soon the police manage to find her. She then escapes the policemen & stumbles upon Li aka Hei who was watching the stars. Li noticed she was in trouble & thought of a good idea to keep them from searching...by pretending to be lovers & making out by a tree....

*Making out XD

Once the police left the area, Chiaki thanked Li & immediately left. Li just stared at her with cold eyes as she left. Somehow the police still manage to find her & she was on the run again. {Not again!} When she was hiding by a crate, someone came from behind & grabbed her. She wanted to scream but she realized it was Jean, who is a partner of Rui, the other Contractor who died earlier. Chiaki wanted to ask about Rui but Jean said that we have no time to discuss & asked where is the stuff. Chiaki said that she promised Rui to never tell anyone, not even Jean. So Jean suddenly grabbed her & smothered her with a chloroformed cloth. Fortunately Li was there & hit Jean with his telescope & ran with Chiaki. The ran until a bridge & stopped for awhile. Chiaki was gonna ask why did Li save her but before she could get a straight answer, Jean shows up. To her surprise, Jean was a Contractor! Jean makes an entrance & knocks Li off the flyover to get run over by the train. Then he continues what he did to Chiaki earlier & she lost consciousness....

*Chiaki surprised by appearing

*Chiaki about to pass out

*Li saves the girl & escapes together with Chiaki

*Jean makes a shocking but cool entrance

*Li gets thrown off the fly over by Jean

When Chiaki regained consciousness, she noticed she was in a room with three other guys. Jean explained to Chiaki that Rui was dead & he was a Contractor like him. Jean was about to force her to tell him where is the stuff when the lights when out. The security lock on the door short circuited & Chiaki manage to get out. They tried to go after her but they were distracted by a cat who attacked them for no reason. She manages to escape & happen to stumble Li again. Their eyes meet & they embraced.

* Three guys around a square table having a chat & probably a cup of tea?

*Light go out & security lock gets short circuit

*Bad guys get assaulted by a bad ass cat

*Chiaki feels relieved & embraces him

Overall the first episode was quite interesting. It has a very dark & mysterious atmosphere through out the anime. It left the viewers with lots of questions about what is the secret about Hell's Gate & what does it have to do with the Contractors & Dolls. The animation is also well done especially all the special powers that the characters execute. Can't wait to see the second episode. Hope that this series will be a great one to remember & worth being a collection. Till my next post, I wish everyone will have a great day & leave a comment if your not too busy. (^__^)

   

Labels: Anime, Brian's

10 mad rant(s):

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1. Albert said... April 29, 2007 at 7:46 PM

   Nice anime! I love its dark atmosphere and tortured characters. I thought it was an old anime with too few episodes on Fansubs the last time I stumbled upon it. I'll download this anime for sure now. Now I'll have another dark anime added to my collection.
   
   BTW, the animes I currently watch are Claymore, Code Geass: Lelouch Of The Rebellion, D.Gray-man, Heroic Age and Kaze No Stigma. Pick the anime you want me to review Brian.*grin*
   
   ~multum in parvo~  

2. gungrave1988 said... April 30, 2007 at 4:32 AM

   Try reviewing about Code Geass : Lelouch of The Rebellion. Since the first season is about to come to an end with just two more episode, it will be a good idea tu review it before the season finale. (^__^)  

3. Albert said... April 30, 2007 at 6:52 AM

   Alright, Code Geass coming right up. Give me a couple of days and I'll be done. This anime is really good.
   
   ~multum in parvo~  

4. gungrave1988 said... April 30, 2007 at 7:45 AM

   Did you really started watching anime recently? You sound like you've done it for years! Haha. You sound more like an otaku than me! LOL (>.<)  

5. Anonymous said... April 30, 2007 at 10:01 AM

   Haven't gotten around to watching this one yet, the premise seems alright and I've heard the characters have a lot of potential. But I have an overflow of shounen type anime on my plate already =(
   
   I'll probably watch it sometime over the summer. Great summary though XD Very thorough, I probably shouldn't have spoiled myself by reading it all, orz. Oh well ^^  

6. gungrave1988 said... April 30, 2007 at 11:21 AM

   [shirukii] Hei, thanks for dropping by. If you have some free time, check out the review on Claymore by my friend Comrade Cripple at http://myrandts.blogspot.com/2007/04/anime-review-claymore.html Sorry for spoiling the episode for ya. (T__T) I'm sure you will enjoy this anime as much as I do. Hope to hear more from you in the future. I'll definitely check out your blog every once in a while to see any updates. (^__^)  

7. hwen said... May 1, 2007 at 9:57 AM

   Hey Brian!
   
   I am not a fan of anime, but I don't hate it either. It's just that it doesn't fall in my bag of interests for the moment haha, but I have to say that this anime sounds interesting to watch (the graphics are cool).
   
   *sighs* Unfortunately, I don't live in UTP. Otherwise, I can watch it! (Read: Hui Wen doesn't want to spend extra money on other things when her camera is a few hundred away!)  

8. gungrave1988 said... May 1, 2007 at 10:40 AM

   [thwen] Hello thwen!
   
   I can understand how you feel. I've seen dozens of people who have the same feeling as you do. U don't have to be in UTP to watch this. In fact, you don't have to pay a cent to get it. Just download it from www.anime-eden.com . You just need to register & you're good to go. (^__^)  

9. hwen said... May 3, 2007 at 12:30 PM

   Download? *laughs* I'm afraid to say that if I download anything else, I can't use Photoshop as it will crash REGULARLY, haha!
   
   Well, if I live in UTP, it's more fun, isn't it? Watching a movie, or in that case, anime is even more fun with company. =) Agree?
   
   Anyway, I shall bookmark that site.It may come in handy, hehe. Thanks!  

10. gungrave1988 said... May 3, 2007 at 2:34 PM

    Oh, I get you point. I had trouble like that too. Too much download & I won't be able to do other work on my laptop. If you ever need to ask me anything about anime, you know where to ask.You could probably ask Comrade Cripple as well since he's starting to watch anime too. (^__^)  

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