Darker Than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha - Anime - AniDB (2025)

Note: This review is based on sudo fansubs, which though lack in translation are of great 1280x720 HDTV quality. If you are not too picky about elegant English you should go with them.

Originally created and directed by Okamura Tensai (Wolf's Rain, Stink Bomb) Darker than Black[/b] is a story about a super power wielding hitman Hei, who works for an organization hidden so well, no one, including Hei himself, knows a thing about. Everything unfolds in the near future where the world is warped by some weird phenomenon causing imagination become reality, super power wielders called Contractors run around causing crime and government does its best to contain them, all the while hiding truth about their powers and phenomenons from the public eyes. Working as hitman Hei learns new things about Contractors, organizations and gets closer to the phenomenon itself. Though Hei is but a tiny cogwheel in the world scale turmoil, his significance to the future of the world is bigger than anyone could guess.

Though the show has both interesting premise and characters, it never exceeds in any categories, never turning itself into something really memorable. It offers various questions including what are the defining traits of a human, what is the best way to make decisions, or can humans co-exist with an intelligent life form different from them. However, it never really delves deep in any of the issues, leaving the viewer to make his own decisions and use his own answers, all while enjoying the good action and atmosphere of the show. Though it's not groundbreaking, Darker Than Black is an anime which retains its substance from the beginning to the end and never really disappoints. Be it up-par animation, fitting music or engrossing plot, there is little to actually call bad in this show, despite that, it will probably be forgotten after a few years of time, as it offers little, what other anime haven't offered before.

Animation: 8/10

The animation, just as you could expect from Bones (Wolf's Rain, Rahxephon) is done very well. Though it never surprises you with high tech cgi or artsy imagery, it always retains its stellar level of detail. You will never see Van Gogh in the backgrounds, but you will be content with the realistic feel they offer. Character designs aren't too different either, though main cast looks better, even the minor, expendable guys have a high level of detail. All people look realistic and there are very few details missed in mass scenes. Though sometimes people tend look alike and indistinct faces of the cast wont turn them into idols of anime world, the realism their designs offer rivals the movies, and considering the plot of this show - it's a good thing. Finally, the high production values can be best seen in fluidity of the animation, as everything, small or big things, move just the way you'd think they are supposed to. Fights, though slightly lacking in choreography, look awesome, explosions are cool and cars run just like real cars do. On the other hand, there is little, if any, distinctive direction in this show, so all you will get from those high values is a great sense of realism.

Sound: 7/10

I was really surprised to learn that one of my favourite composers Kanno Youko (Escaflowne, Wolf's Rain, Cowboy Bebop) composed the music for Darker Than Black. Unlike in most of her other works, music in this show is, at best, atmospheric. We have those rocky bad ass tunes during the fights, and we have those soft piano and lyre pieces for emotional moments. However, though few of those pieces indeed touched me, it was, at best, three times in whole 26 episodes, also I couldn't shake off the feeling that I have already heard them somewhere else. Either way, though background music does great job at maintaining atmosphere, it fails at being memorable. Though the music itself doesn't disappoint, it doesn't make you buy soundtrack either. And it made in Escaflowne.

On the other hand, the first opening/ending combination in this show is great. Howling by abingdon boys school is a very good light rock opening, perfect for the somewhat sinister action oriented nature of the show. While the simply great ending song Tsukiari by Rie fu not only makes you suddenly lose all the tension you've built up, it also makes you seriously think about the emotional significance this show presents. I might have never seriously liked Yin if she hasn't been the one, sitting there lonely in the ending animation. Unfortunately, the new opening and ending introduced in the second half don't quite follow the standards set up by the previous pieces. Though the second opening song Kakusei Heroism by An Cafe is still rocky and good, it never really sets the mood as good as the first one did, I didn't skip it even once though. On the other hand, the second ending song Dreams by High and Mighty Color falls so flat before the first ending it's sad. It's not really bad, it's just, well, average, and it makes it look so miserable next to Tsukiari. I really wish they never changed it.

Voice-acting in Darker Than Black is average for the most part. And it's no surprise, since many seiyuu had little experience voicing anything apart from this show, though they do a pretty good job at conveying their characters. Anyway, the best voice is probably the voice of Hei, the main character, who is voiced by Hidenobu Kiuichi (Monster as Kenzo Tenma). He does a really good job at both his "innocent" and serious, evil voice. It's strange that this voice-actor has relatively few roles under his belt, yet some of them are as "tasty" as Tenma. Then there is Kawaki Tomoko (Aria the Animation as Glory Athena, Air as Kurara Sayuri), whose voice I found distinctive, yet fitting Amber's personality. On the other hand, apart from these two I didn't find anyone's voice exceptional. Save maybe for the very minor character otaku girl Kiko who is voiced by Katou Emiri (Lucky Star as Hiiragi Kagami) and with her distinctive voice she sounds really refreshing around all the bland guys. On the other hand, she has very few appearances and lines, so I had little chance to listen to her. I remember noticing some good voice-actors in the episodic characters, but they don't count, seriously.

Story: 6/10

The setting of the show is pretty interesting. Those human versus super powered beings stories are nothing new, but that phenomenon, which makes your imagination come reality is pretty interesting stuff. Rather than in the fact that it's producing contractors, I was more interested in how does it make possible for people to walk buildings diagonally or how does it produce that memories into reality stuff. Unfortunately, they've never really bothered to explain that part, hiding under the fact that no one of the cast didn't understand anything about it either. Well, just as it goes, it was a tool to make series more interesting, but I still wanted for it to have some deep meaning or idea, as it did have the potential. For example the fact that all Contractors have to do that "renumeration" thing of theirs after using their powers, which mirrors their personalities or past sins when they were still humans, was an interesting philosophical medium, but it was never given any depth.

The plot itself, though takes really long to kick in the main line, is never boring. Almost twenty episodes are sacrificed to the two episodes long episodic cases, which either give depth to one of the characters or reveals some significance behind Contractors and those fishy organizations. Though at first I was seriously scared that it might start and end in its episodic nature, I soon noticed those, at first sight, not coherent episodes, add a lot of background to everything and build up for good finale. I guess I should credit the fact that the main character is always mysterious and so thin between sinister and kind, that I could never really guess if he is going to save, or end the life of a particular person he sat his eyes on. Once the main story line kicked in, I was all ready to cry for deaths and cheer for victories. It has its emotional moments and the ending is well rounded up, though still leaves room for a sequel (and I didn't mind if they explained the Gate in it), but it never really shines in one place or another to become unforgettable.

Oh yeah, I have to mention the awesome episode previews this show has. I usually don't watch these things, but this time I made an exception. Each episode is "previewed" by something what sounds like a poem reflecting its nature. Kind of reminded me of those great previews in Berserk.

Characters: 7/10

Darker than Black never delves too deep into its characters. Though most of them aren't one dimensional and particular episodes which focus on their past give them some depth, they never really become something you could write an essay about. The best character in the show is probably the main character, who is mostly to blame for all the best moments in starting episodes. He kind of reminded me of the protagonists in Persona games, who despite not having a real personality, made their presence big. Just like them, he seems to change his attitude, depending to whoever he is spending his time with at that moment, easily becoming their best friend or potential lover. And then he betrays them, tricks the stuff out of them and leaves them to die, it's his job. However, despite doing all those sinister things he sometimes shows a kind heart and saves somebody from their miserable fate. Even though it's told over and over that Contractors aren't supposed to have emotions, he sometimes seems influenced by them, making him into an irregular. Either way, it was really fun to observe him and always guess which path, evil or good he will choose to deal with his mission this time. The funny thing is that exactly his ambivalence is what decides the finale of this show.

Other characters include a completely emotionless Yin, whom I thought was there just for looks, until I've seen the episode dealing with her past, and an easy going future reading Amber, who goes for both heroine and villain roles in the show, scheming something nobody knows about, always killing lots of people in the process. She never appears evil though, and for a reason. It's kind of hard to tell villains or good guys apart there, because the line between them is really bleak. Even the main character fights for various reasons which wont necessary bring well-being to humanity. The third character going for heroine's role is the high ranking police official Misaki, who is zealous about her job and will do anything to catch the killer BK-201, oblivious of the fact that his real identity is that of her friend Li she secretly has romantic feelings for. However, none of the heroines come close to becoming full fledged, maybe Amber is the closest choice for that role since she has known Hei for many years prior to the time-line of Darker Than Black. Well, the show is not for romance, so I guess there is little use for a full fledged multi dimensional heroine, and they are indeed better than those sad one dimensional girls in shounen anime. Though I still wish they'd made Yin play a more important role than scouting for enemies in the vicinity, as she has little chance to do anything apart from that.

The side cast, if you discount the expendable episodic villains who are really generic, consists of quite a few characters both from police and the sinister syndicate Hei works for. Though Huang and Mao have enough depth and are indeed charismatic characters, they serve little role apart from leading the plot, but since they do a pretty good job at that, it's good. On the other hand, many officials from police and syndicate are given so little screen time that I kept forgetting who the hell they are. And once the secrets and hidden villains started to leak out at the end, I was quite surprised to see many characters, I didn't notice the existence of before, take the roles of villainous masterminds. On the other hand, for the first time in a serious anime I have actually found a comedic relief character exciting, which is the pink otaku girl. I rarely see otaku girls in anime so it was really funny to see her act all zealous about moe stuff.

Either way, though there are no awesome personalities in this show, it doesn't pose morbid developments, nor it makes its characters stand for something symbolic, it has a realistic cast which, though relatively normal, does its job well in moving the plot and entertaining the viewers. Though I doubt there will be people shouting their names aloud after finishing the show, the viewers will at least be content as long as they'll be watching it. Attractive, if unmemorable.

Myers-Briggs personality type indicator:

Value: 6/10

Though the episodic nature kind of scares me off from re-watching, cool action, attractive characters and a story which actually leads somewhere might make me re-watch Darker than Black one day. It's not too original, but I did like it.

1. Conclusion[/u]:[/b] Suitable for anyone who is over 13 years old Darker than Black is a good, if not exceptional, show. If you don't have anything good to watch at the moment, check it out and you wont be disappointed. It doesn't break the limits, but it does well at following them. As long as you are not scared of action and bleak, nor evil, nor good leads, you should give this show a chance, it wont become your favourite, but it will probably make your day. Other shows of interest - Ghost in the Shell S.A.C., Wolf's Rain.[/ol]