stats
also known as: darker than black – kuro no keiyakusha
# episodes: 25, apr 2007 – sep 2007
anidb rating: 8.34 (1798 votes)
my rating: 8.00
thoughts
the first thing that struck me about this anime was – yeah, i know it’s not that uncommon anymore nowadays – that it has superb artwork. i liked the way they used cg effects that blended nicely with the drawn characters! however, the biggest weakness of this anime is its story – numerous things weren’t really well explained, and also i wasn’t satisfied with the character development of the side cast.
the arc-based storyline of this anime makes it really hard to understand what really is going on in this alternate present-day world – on top of my head, i can list down a number of stuff that i felt wasn’t explained well, or wasn’t even touched upon during the show.
what’s hei’s remuneration? for 24 episodes i thought it was his massive apetite (but i was puzzled with the fact that his appetite doesn’t correlate with his using of his abilities. in episode 25, the bombshell was dropped – hei doesn’t have a remuneration as he acquired his abilities from bai! and bai’s powers are massive (in geekspeak: imba). so what’s stopping him from taking over the world.. or something?
how did yin become a doll? she had an arc devoted to her story, and yet it wasn’t revealed how she transformed from a tensai pianist to an emotionless (ok, not quite) doll. as dolls feature quite a lot in the whole anime, why are we still in the dark about how dolls emerge?
hoshimi-sama. who the hell is she, besides an obasan who only mutters random stuff prior to the unfolding of cataclysmic events? she seems to be immune to amber’s time-stopping powers – why?!
the syndicate – who, what, why, where, when, how? it’s ok if we aren’t told everything about the syndicate – it’s adds to the mystique surrounding it – but if we don’t know a single thing about it, and when it seems to pervade even the police force itself, then it’s NOT ok to explain at least why or what it is!
regressors – heck, contractors themselves – who are they, and how did they arise? the only known regressor is havoc, and it’s not known how she lost her powers..
amber – why can’t she kiss better? sorry, guess i’ve overdosed on romantic shows.. i recoiled in horror when i saw this. amber, if this is your last kiss, i mean, can’t you put more feeling into it..?
this anime features a huge cast – contractors, dolls and humans inclusive. thus it’s not surprising that i can’t seem to recall most of the names of the side characters – from the police force, i only remember kirihara misaki; from mi6, november, april and july; from evening primrose, amber; and from kurosawa detective agency, gai and kiko! some felt that these two characters wasted screen time, but i feel otherwise – gai injected some much-needed comic relief in the middle of the show, which did make me more keen to watch the next few eps of darker than black!
this anime was definitely worth the watch, but it would have been much better if more explanations were given for events and characters..
ps nugget of biological info: does mao hate water? not really, i think. i don’t keep cats, so i wasn’t sure whether they can swim or not – but apparently, cats native to hotter areas are fond of water, as it cools their bodies. cats that are naturally inclined to stay away from water can be trained to get used to baths. i guess mao’s terrified more because he’s in danger of getting drowned, and not because of him hating water =)
