The story revolves around a phenomenon known as “Hell’s Gate”. Hell’s Gate is a impenetrable field which appeared 10 years ago. At the same time these psychics who wield paranormal powers at the cost of their conscience also emerged. These people are covert agents known as Contractors, they’re assassins, spies and other covert type agents who carry out dirty work and seemingly now lack a human conscience though they are indeed human. They thrive in the underworld and their loyalty is always in question because of their line of work. One of the Contractors is Hei, probably the most powerful and feared Contractor, along with his blind assistant Yin, works for one of the agencies trying to unlock the mystery of the Gate, while also trying to stay alive.
Hei is probably one of the most perfect fits for the job he has. Other shows try to make them more human, etc and the same is done with Hei but it just seems more realistic than most. Most shows probably don’t have 25 episodes to get that point across though so they have to rush the process where one episode the person is ’empty’ then the next they have a bunch of emotions. Hei’s progression seems more real. Yin also is a character who is lacking and that may be why they work well as characters, it’s almost a complete blank slate that they’re filling in.
This show has a bunch of other characters and I mean a bunch, it’s like a full ensemble. You have Hei, Yin and their faction which is only part of a bigger faction. You have side characters like a detective and his assistant who kind of add comedy to the darkness. There are law officials, political figures, etc who are all in to find the secrets of the Gate and also take out others who are trying to get the same answers. But you also have factions who are trying to trying to kill the Contractors.
Darker than Black is a good looking show with very fitting music. The imagery is something that is typical of the genre but for it’s time, it’s very clean and while the plot is a dark one (the name kind of makes that obvious), it does have scenes that take place during the day, etc. It’s more of a show that takes place in the shadows vs. just taking place at night as the name may indicate.
This show is one of my favorites so of course I think very highly of it. I think it does have some faults but nothing that stands out, they’re very minor but of course your opinion may differ. After this 1st series, you have a set of OVAs and a 2nd season. If you like espionage, mystery mixed with a bit of comedy to keep it from being too dark then Darker than Black is for you.
[yasr_overall_rating]
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