Darker than Black Anime Review
Darker than Black premiered originally in 2007. It was written by Tensai Okamura, and animated by Studio Bones. A second season, Ryuusei no Gemini, was released in 2009. The series also has several OVAs; a 4-part series that ties season one to two, and two alternate/non-story episodes. This is somewhat unique as far as an anime series goes, to have no media formats before it and premiering solely as an anime. Two manga series were written after the first season, however.
The setting of Darker than Black is Tokyo, with two noticeable twists: the Hell's Gate, and the fake sky. Prior to the beginning of the series, it is explained that an area in South America known as "Heaven's Gate" appeared, and a similar area in Tokyo, the "Hell's Gate", and many mysterious events happened before each zone disappeared altogether, leaving a wasteland. Above Tokyo, the fake sky began to populate with stars, as more and more people became contractors.
Darker than Black is essentially a sci-fi action thriller, featuring an emphasis on stylized espers called "contractors". Contractors correspond to a star in the sky and are devoid of all emotion. They gain a particular power, and each contractor must perform a remuneration as payment every time they use their power. This is somewhat of a unique property of Darker than Black when compared to other animes. Their need to constantly pay for use of their abilities underlies a sense of balance, that contractors are limited by what they can afford, in a sense, figuratively and literally, as some payments can only be made a preset amount of times.
Altogether, Darker than Black is very gritty, very realistic despite it's setting, and mature in it's outlook and mission. It almost seems more like a live-action TV series than a typical anime. These attributes combine to make a very compelling series, though. Darker than Black really reaches into an alternate universe, where things like contractors can exist naturally, and makes you think about society from their point of view. There is something also very subtle and unique about Darker than Black, where another anime of it's type would appeal to a crowd by using straight-forward tactics, the subtlety in presentation really creates a familiar and yet foreign atmosphere. Things like a contractor's remuneration, the lifelessness of dolls, and character interactions really accomplish this. This is definitely an anime to watch, if you like action, if you like powers, if you like a solid storyline.
The main character is a contractor named Hei. His contractor ability is very powerful, and between that, his appearance, and style choice, he is nicknamed "Chinese Electric Batman" by the fanbase. Hei initially is simply a pawn of the mysterious Syndicate, doing jobs as they come, but as events unfold, the story reveals a secret political war, fought by the Contractors. The series explains many things directly and indirectly relevant to contractors, as well as dolls, beings with an ability typically used to track or communicate, and which possess very little sentience of their own -- they are usually subservient to contractors or other organizations.
8/10
