3/29/2024 0 Comments Best anime composerYes, that’s right not only is the comedy really out of place in this show it’s also flat-out dull. That is not a smooth transition! Almost all of this nonsense is driven by private detective Gai Kurasawa and his apparently mean spirited otaku assistant Kiko, neither of whom add anything to the story whatsoever except to periodically show up and be incredibly unfunny. One episode you’ll see a guy get cut in half and the characters learn a bitter lesson about trusting people and then BAM! Next time there’s a dumb/wacky story about a detective looking for a lost cat. In general this was a dark show but every once and while the tone will shift into slapstick. The only real complaint I had was the comedy bits. In fact there wasn’t all that much wrong with the show. The story had me glued to my seat and I more than once stayed up late watching it regardless of where I had to be the next morning. I’m just going to say it this is a really good anime. Basically Hei is very cool, and I do like how the character is portrayed compared to other Contractors but ultimately he is forgettable which is a shame because, were he a bit more interesting and complex, he might have been able to lift this show in Anime Royalty. The show basically keeps us guessing about which of Hei’s two personas he uses during the show is the real one the ruthless killer or the friendly and selfless young man, but by the time it becomes 100% clear the show’s damn near over. Hei on the other hand gets lots of attention but his character is so enigmatic that its hard to build a report with him. For example Yin may not be the emotionless husk she seems to be…but we barely scratch the surface of that plot point before moving on with something else. They each have their own distinct voice but don’t do very much of anything to make us care that much about them with a few exceptions. There’s Hei the main operative, Yin the emotionless doll who can locate people through water, Huang the grumpy supervisor who seems to actually hate Contractors, and Mao a talking cat. Now how much you’ll enjoy the four main characters will depend on your taste. The cast, and this is where comparison to Cowboy Bebop starts to fail, is not the most memorable. Hei and Amber's, um, "relationship" is a very complex one There was a lot of variety but I admit that there wasn’t a large amount of stuff that stayed with me but that might change after a second viewing. The music was pretty good, not revolutionary. They’re like X-Men mixed with Vulcans with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Plus, unlike normal humans, they are either emotionless or are always able to suppress emotions and use cold, analytical logic to make decisions, making them extremely creepy in the eyes of the Average Joe. This is the random price they must pay for their power, which is a really interesting take on have post-human abilities. Each with their own superpower they are compelled to do certain tasks every time they use them, from mundane things like kissing someone on the cheek to breaking their own fingers and similarly disturbing actions. The mystery and intrigue surrounding Hells Gate and the Contractors make up the majority of the action throughout the series and what we learn of them is pretty cool. The world crafted by the writers is pretty awesome. On the one hand if a show draws comparisons to something like Bebop and is not as good, and Darker Than Black is in no way as good, it can potentially been viewed as a pale imitator but things are pretty positive here it takes a lot of what was good about that classic anime’s formula and utilizes it as well as they can without being a total rip-off. It also shares Bebop’s habit of introducing one shot characters that are surprisingly well developed and likeable.but then also possesses Bebop’s capacity for dark mood shifts that can make things genuinely heartbreaking. Like Bebop this show focuses on small group of morally ambiguous character undergoing various jobs/missions and the guy we seem to see the most just happens to be a badass with a dark and mysterious past who may or may not be the person he acts like when everyone is looking at him. Actually I think it’s safe to say it is very much an anime in the same vein as that iconic show, and not just because Yoko Kanno was involved (Although it doesn’t hurt). In a lot of ways his format is reminiscent of Cowboy Bebop except there’s more of a forward moving storyline here rather than just being about a group of people making a living. Most episodes are two-parters but are more or less stand alone, sometimes furthering the main plot but sometimes not. Darker Than Black is a very episodic series for the most part.
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