Darker than Black: Awesomer than Good

Posted by tsubaki | Filed under Anime

I did mention briefly a while back about how fantastic Darker than Black is, but I didn’t think that post really justified how awesome this series is.

It’s definitely a worthy contender to pick up the prime airtime slot after Code Geass, and there’s just so much potential Darker than Black can push, in terms of narrative, plot and developments.

Hell, there seems to be a trend of awesome animes with senseless engrish.

There’s quite a lot of strong elements in Darker than Black. From how the stories slowly unfold bi-episodic, to the incredible OP and ED, to the rather high level animation and fluidity, this anime scores high on my watch list. Having finished the 2nd episode, I can comment about a couple of praise worthy things about Darker than Black.

Storytelling in Darker than Black is very slowly but the explanation is well crafted. Instead of bombing you with the usual heavy dialogue narrative to explain the world and how things work, information about these stuff are slowly released to you visually. And it works extremely well for this anime.

The pace does not feel slow at all, because the details are released at a pace where you absorb the information and slowly make assumptions on your own. Also, each episode is nicely peppered with action sequences that help keeps the tension up.

An example of what I meant by the details being slowly released is how the Contractors and Dolls powers work. While there are conversations going on talking about them in between characters, these conversations contain very little detail and are spoken at the “as you know it” level.

This sorts of leave you out of the loop, but instead of feeling alienated from their conversations, little bits and pieces of crumbs are feed to you and you slowly understand the picture.

This form of storytelling is highly engaging and it’s been a while since an anime made me think beyond what is seen.

The concept in Darker than Black is pretty high level. I particularly enjoyed the premise of how the ‘Hell Gate’ mysteriously appeared in Tokyo, causing it to lose its sky, as well as the appearance of people with powers, otherwise known as Contractors. But what’s interesting about these Contractors is how they are required to perform a set of action as a form of repayment after using their powers. Examples of such could be the breaking of ones finger, to the alignment of stones in a particular motion or eating flowers.

But what’s interesting at this point of time is that nothing has been mention about Li Shunsheng’s repayment. At the moment we only know his powers- A dagger with an extendable wire from his belt which allows him to send his powers over to kill his foes, and a long black coat that becomes bulletproof when he wears it.

Oh and I find it quite amazing that the lead character in this anime is a Chinese national. Never would I have imagined that an anime with a Chinese lead male could ever grace a prime airtime slot. I wonder if there’s a national uproar over this.

But anyway, if I really have to gripe about this anime, it would probably be how uninteresting and bland Li Shunseng looks. But then again, after considering how Contractors are people who lack emotions, I suppose the blandness that he has makes sense.

Not that I really care, since the female cast here is pretty awesome. Yin, the light blue haired loli with that water surveillance ability is pretty hot. Misaki Kirihara, the police Chief is damn sexy as well. A sophisticated Meganeko, in the position of power is quite an attractive character. For the note, I’m not into the whole dominating female thingy.

Even Chiaki Shinoda, who appeared only for 2 episodes was hot. It’s a damn waste they had to knock her off. I was hoping she became Li’s sidefuck, er… I mean sidekick or something.

The OP and ED for Darker than Black is fantastic as well. The OP, ‘HOWLING’ by abingdon boys school rocks. I still can’t decide whether I like D.Gray-man’s ‘Innocent Sorrow’ better, but HOWLING is still a good song from abingdon boys school. Hopefully we will hear more of them.

Rie Fu’s back with ‘Tsukiakari’ for the ED. It’s your usual Rie Fu style of singing, so if you enjoy her songs like I do, ‘Tsukiakari’’s pretty pleasant to the ears too.

Gah. I can go on talking about how awesome Darker than Black is, but I think watching it speaks more for itself. So go watch it if you have not tried this series yet!