Ranked #1796

Yami no Matsuei

Note: This review has been updated to be consistent with my changing views on anime.

Descendants of Darkness is based on the manga of the same name. It follows four major story arcs of the manga. Three episodes comprise each of the first three arcs while the last four episodes focus on the fourth. Since the anime leaves off where the manga caries on (the manga isn't finished either), the ending doesn't really offer a true conclusion and a lot of questions are left unanswered. Fans of the manga might also be disappointed that a lot of the manga's characters are either left out or shoved into the background.

Despite these unfortunate circumstances, I think that the anime more than does the manga justice. In fact, I find it to be an improvement over the manga. While some of the humor and silliness are there, the anime takes on a more serious tone, capitalizing more on the angst, mystery, and supernatural element of the story. The art and music are also absolutely beautiful! Descendants of Darkness has a superb soundtrack which is well worth downloading or even buying! Aside from the characters being beautiful, the monsters and magic are also magnificently rendered. Even though it isn't really a fighting anime, the action sequences should be awesome enough to please those who would otherwise be bored with the drama.

The series consists mostly of fairly mediocre characters, yet it has what I consider to be one of the greatest villains in anime history. Tsuzuki and Hisoka are the protagonists of our story. They are likable characters overall. Tsuzuki is a real sweety despite being a little bit dense and childlike at times. Hisoka has a little bit of an attitude problem at first, but once it becomes apparent where he is coming from, you can't help but sympathize with the guy. Watari and Tatsumi are minor characters who had significantly larger roles in the manga. For the most part, they are just there. They don't really add that much to the anime, but they don't detract from it either. The Gushoshin twins are the only characters that could really be considered annoying. This is mostly because they seem a bit out of place (being two cutesy little talking birds in an otherwise human cast).

Our antagonist Dr. Muraki gets his own paragraph since no couple of sentences could possibly do him justice. He is the subject of much admiration as well as loathing from DoD fans, and he deserves every bit of both. Practically everything he does is just horrific and despicable, but he is so cool and gorgeous and entertaining that you can almost forgive him for being the monster he is. He desires Tsuzuki's body both carnally and scientifically. The scientific reason is revealed later and it gives Muraki's character quite a bit more depth, though you are longing for much more once the anime ends.

While the show isn't technically shounen-ai (gay male romance), it contains a lot of hints and fanservice. It is very easy to read in an attraction between our two heroes. I personally believe in this attraction, but other fans are free to form their own interpretations. Muraki is much less ambiguous and regularly molests Tsuzuki. This lust Muraki has for Tsuzuki is clearly one-sided, but it makes for some rather hot homoerotic material (even though nothing overtly sexual actually happens).

The show masquerades a bit as a mystery series. In reality, the mysteries aren't really any big puzzle. As the audience, we basically know that Muraki is behind everything (with the exception of episodes 4-6). And while the story isn't particularly imaginative as far as anime goes, the characters and the art make it more than worthwhile. All in all, I can't think of any reason to dislike this series unless you're either homophobic or a hardcore manga snob. But we can't please everybody, can we? read more

The first anime I watched with a light yaoi feel, hahaha..Funny enough the fact that it has a slight touch of yaoi makes this anime a bit more interesting than the usual agents-from-the-afterlife-theme series. The opening music is amazing and suits it well, with cool guitar and electronic mix and lyrics that matches the series itself. Its a mixture of dark and humor -- centering on Tsuzuki and his co-shinigamis, who are in charge of keeping the balance in the afterlife by making sure that those who die go to their right place and investigating situations that threatens that balance caused by mysterious deaths that occurs in succession. Alhtough I prefer the manga version more which is longer, this anime is very well done and all the vital chapters are included. Although it has funny situations, the dark side of each characters are shown -- each with their own reasons for becoming a shinigami, whether its for finding one's dark past or for atoning for their mistakes. The antagonist Dr. Muraki is very effective, he's darker than dark, yet charming and comes across as very likeable. For anyone who wants a different yet familiar series to love, this should definitely be on your list. read more

Descendants of Darkness, also known as Yami no Matsuei, is a show I've seen multiple times, yet have not finished it. Which is a real shame, because I cannot review the conclusion. However for all anime I have the belief that the journey is more important then the destination, because some of the best anime ever made, have outright terrible endings. So without knowing how it ends, the journey is great! What a series. On to the review!

Plot: 8/10

While it's not exactly original, I really liked the story. This anime is about a group of shinigamis or Gods of Death, who deal with problems releated to the recently deceased human beings. The problems range from vampires, to mysterious murders, to issues in the main characters past. There is a overarching story, with a great main villian, but it's slowly developed, even though this is a relatively short anime. With only 13 episodes, it still takes it time with the main plot. An approach I liked, but could discourage many. If you didn't like the way "Witch Hunter Robin" handled it's plot, stay clear of this series.

Now this is a dark, gothic series, and I have a soft spot for those types of things. But I really enjoyed this show. From the first episode to the last episode I saw I can say I was never bored with it Now it's not fast paced, or action packed, but instead a character driven drama, with a very thought out plot. The writing is pretty strong though out, and the direction was decent too. Now there are some great action scenes, but this series is not based on action. Some of the scenes are very funny, and it's used to balance out the darker and more dramatic scenes very nicely.

I like the way this series handled the afterworld. It's a complex government bureaucracy, filled with lots of rules, guidlines, and red tape. An interesting take on what's to come once we are no longer of this world. To think after living a life in this world, what awaits us is some more government bureaucracrats! It's a little like the american Live Action movie "Beetlejuice" in that respect. I also liked how it shares similarities with police dramas and mysteries. Perhaps that's why I liked this show so much, two genres I love put together (Gothic Horror and Police Drama!). A lot of the show is devoted to solving the "cases" of the dead, and this leads to some longer-then-you'd expect archs, but they are all well worth the ride.

Now this is a yaoi title. The first time I saw this series, I was in denial for the entire time. As a straight male that sort of thing does not really interest me. However I was not repulsed at all thoughout the entire show. In fact I though the slight yaoi tendencies added to the show. It did not feel like it was pandering to the fangirls, but in fact just part of the show. I still feel like they slipped yaoi into this show without me noticing it half the time, and the other half of the time thinking it made the show more interesting, yet a little unsettleing. I mean what's worse then a villian who wants to kill you? How about a guy who wants to kill you, but first have sex with you? That would scare me to death!

Art/Animation: 7/10

Overall I found the art to be a disappointment. The backgrounds were nice looking but not detailed enough. The animation just didn't flow to well during scenes too. However the character designs were great! I really thought they put a lot of work into desiging each and every character. They look original and interesting looking. My only problem with the designs is one of the main characters, Hisoka Kurosaki, is supposely 16 years old, but looks much older. This was probally intentional however due to some of the more edgy scenes in the anime. The animation really improves during the short action scenes or fight scsnes, and it is during these times that everything on scene is really impressive. CGI is used from time to time, most notably in the Opening Sequence, and while dated by todays standards, looks really good. It looked even better years ago, and in my opinion gives it a nice edge to it other series of it's time didn't have. Still I think it could have been much better, given it's lenght. But it apparently did not have a huge budget. Still I can live with what we got in terms of animation.

Sound: 8/10

Music

The music in this series ranges from average to above average. While nothing too great, everything is listenable. The background music is really good at times, and fits. The opening theme song is really good in my opinion, and very original sounding. The ending theme was a disapointment though in my opinion.

English Dub

I thought the dub was pretty good, but not without it's problems. First let's adress the acting. This anime is very well acted. Dan Green and Liam O'Brien really outddid themselves with this one. They are some of my favorite voice actors, and this is why. They really pull off every line with expertise. The other actors do a great job, or at least about as much as we can expect. So if the acting is not the problem what is you say? The casting and some accent/vocal decisions made. Some of the actors seem very miscast in their roles, while easy to overlook does not help the production. However my bigest problem with the dub is the accents and vocal decisions. Soem characters speak with a faux british accent which sounds stupid most of the time, and a few of the characters sound like Mickey Mouse and Miney Mouse, or sound scary! While I can't blame them do to the designs of the characters (who do look very cartoony, as they aren't people but do act like people), I have to wonder if there was maybe another way these characters could have sounded. It's not a whipe though. I found it to be pretty good overall, but marked by bad casting decisions and vocal/accent decisions. I place the blame more on the ADR director then the actors however. Still if you enjoy dubs there is no reason not to listen to this one. It's a decent New York dub, very refreshing, but not without some problems. But if you like your subs, your probally better off sticking with them on this one.

Characters: 9/10

All the characters are interesting enough.While it does sort-of fall into the trap non-original characters for it's background cast, it's not really a bad thing in my opinion. The two main characters are likeable and a mystery to us at first. Which means we start to wonder how they got to where they are today, and eventually leads to us careing abou them. Which makes learning about their pasts much more interesting in my opinion. Mr. Tsuzuki is a cool dude, who likes his sweets! The viewer will probally associate with him, more then the angsty teen, Hisoka Kurosaki (I mean unless your an ansgty teen of course :P ). While Mr. Tsuzuki can be childish and playful at times, he is still a mature adult, and it's nice to see such a lead character. He's even a little admirable. Hisoka while angsty, is not anoying. Some may not really like him completely, but I found his history to be very interesting, and well though out. It helps explain his character, and why he is who he is. But the real star of the show is the main villian, Dr. Muraki . He is charismatic, yet creepy. Powerful yet has a weakness. Interesting, yet your scared to learn more about him! Easily the best villian in anime since Vicious in "Cowboy Bebop", and King Hamdo in "Now and Then, Here and There"! He's that good! This guy is freaken nuts, but in a way you think he's totally sane! Well worth watching this show just to see what totally disturbing and morally unsettling thing he does next.

Enjoyment: 10/10

I have to agree with the fangirls on this one! This is a very enjoyable and watchable show! While not groundbraking or remarkable, it's damn good entertainment! I really enjoyed watching this series, and hope to one day buy it on DVD ( I saw it multiple times on Anime Selects On Demand) and finish it finally. Shoujo horror (Hell Girl, Ghost Hunt, Red Garden, Vampire Princess Miyu, etc) always apeals to me for some reason(even though I'm a guy, go figure!), so this review is a little biased. Not to mention I love urban crime dramas. But still I think this show would be enjoyed by anyone, as long as they are not against seeing some slight yaoi. And as long as you don't need action scene followed by action scene, or riveting fast paced series you probally will enjoy this. If you like a good drama look no further then this well written little gem!


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Descendants of Darkness is the story of a man named Tsuzuki. He works for an organization of people called Gaurdians of Death. Basically his mission is to go out and solve supernatural mysteries.

The story is very unique and interesting. It's fun to watch and see if you solve the mysteries yourself. And some of them aren't easy to solve. I was thrown for a loop a couple of times.

The art is also very good, but not amazing. The animation can seem a bit odd at times, but it's still good.

The script could have been better. The problem is, the voice actors had to adapt the script themselves due to bad translations. So at times someone will say something that doesn't seem to fit the situation.

The characters were good, but one of them annoyed the hell out of me. And that was Hisoka, voiced by Liam o' Brian. His lack of emotion in certain situations really got on my nerves. If a little girl got killed wouldn't you feel a little depressed? Not Hisoka! I think this is mostly due to bad voice acting. Liam really could have done a better job conveying emotions than he did in this series.

Overall, I enjoyed this series. It's a nice, short, shonen-ai series, with good mystery and suspense. If you want a short mystery anime, I recommend this one. read more

This my first review, so don't be to upset if I don't do this right. But just a warning, I tend to be very short and sweet. So don't be expecting some deep rooted analysis of this series XP

Story: 3/10

The story is nothing original and as I will say throughout this review, it was OKAY. I like the idea that the after world is just this one huge giant office setting but I mean, how many people worked there? From my count, I really only remember like, five...or six. So, where are the rest of the billions of people who have died? I don't remember if they explained this or not but I wish they would have as it would have given the setting little more depth. But for what it is, the story worked. But I do have to add, the part with Muraki and Hisoka? That was unnecessary and awful and really, that's one of the reasons why I gave it such a low score. I would have given it a 5/10 if it wasn't for that.

Art: 5/10
It's okay, in terms characters design is,er, okay? I didn't find anything wrong with them...really. Settings were nicely drawn and for the most part, the color scheme seem to fit whatever situation the characters were in. I didn't see too many places where there obvious mistakes. So, it was okay.

6/10: Sound (I am refering to the Japanese voice actors here...the English is like at a -1000/10).

The voice actor Dr. Muraki is by far the best thing about this entire series. He delivers his lines so well, making Muraki stand out as the evil, possessive, intellectual doctor that he is. Some funny trivia, the same voice actor also plays Aizen from the Bleach series. As for the other voice actors, they did a good job I think. They didn't stand out like Muraki did but they were decent enough.

Characters: 4/10
The characters, in my opinion were just okay. The doctor was pretty funny (expect he does something that really was in my opinion, very unnecessary to the plot and disgusting) and like I said, the voice talent really made him stand out. Tsuzuki is really the typical hero, although he becomes more kiddish as the series goes on. REALLY kiddish. He does this in the manga too and I felt I liked him better when the kiddish moments were kept to a minimum and he was much more serious. I thought he could have been a tough shinigami cop who just happened to have a sweet tooth. But for what he is as a protagonist, he works well for this sort of genre. And Hisoka...er...he had a gun. And an interesting power...I think. I don't actually remember his power being explained in the anime. Really all I remember about him is that...er...incident between him and Muraki. But after that, he was just there to be the love interest of Tsuzuki and he didn't have much of a role.

Enjoyment: 8/10
So, you might be wondering "you basically just said entire series was medicore and okay, why on earth does it have an 8/10?" Here's my response: it's a guilty pleasure. While overall, I don't think it is a very good series with uninspiring characters and boring stories, the stuff that I did like about it kept me interested enough to see it through to the end. And I can see why people who like this genre more than I do like this anime so much. Would I re-watch it again? I would probably re-watch the cruise ship saga, as I found it the most enjoyably funny. But you know, try to remember that just because I really like the series doesn't mean you wouldn't. There are two other reviews on here praising the series so there is obviously something there for people who like this sort of death cops meets shounen-ai (or yaoi, not sure what this one would be), you'll really enjoy this. Unlike me, where I just find it to be funny and nothing more.



One quick note: I would like to point out that while I find the anime just to be funny, people who like this series should probably read the manga too. And while I do admit to not have read the entire thing, I liked it a little more than the anime. I felt like it had a lot more substance and yeah, it had a few more light hearted moments. The best example of this: episode 7, the part with Muraki/Tsuzuki. Watch that than go read the manga chapter too it. I liked the manga much more b/c it actually had a funny line from Hisoka and it didn't make it so melodramatic like the anime did.
It was sorta funny XP
Ps-sorry for any mistakes...o.o
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This anime was one of the most romantic I've ever watched. The character Muraki Kazutaka had a lot of pervertedness added to him, but Tsuzuki was kind-of not serious about being a Shinigami. My favorite arc in the story is when the character Maria was introduced. She pointed out to me that Muraki was, in fact, vampiric. I'm still watching the series, but out of order. Over-all, I thought that Yami no Matsuei was an enjoyable series! =3

In a kind of purgatory between heaven and hell, the Bureau of Hades solves supernatural crimes by sending agents to earth in human bodies. One nasty serial killer named Muraki is causing all sorts of headaches for head Guardian of Death Tsuzuki and his new partner, recently-deceased 16-year-old Kurosaki.

Okay, first of all, Descendants of Darkness wins for funny world-building details. Death gods want to go to earth to eat dessert, use credit cards, and flirt with girls (in addition to doing their job of sorting out souls or something). This anime also covers a ton of psychological ground, dealing with death, rape, suicide, murder, illegal organ transplants, homosexuality in both a bad and a good way, and trying to move on after extreme trauma.

My favorite character is Kurosaki, who has to decide whether to make his afterlife about revenge or about friendship, and his journey is very convincing, though the protagonist Tsuzuki also interested me.

However, while it was definitely enjoyable, I can't say this one was one of my favorites because I wasn't a huge fan of the art and there were way too many unexplained instances. It was also very stereotypical in its dealings with gender, which always irritates me. read more

I don't know manga, so comparing it to anime is, in my case, impossible.

So I'll talk straightly about anime. Art isn't amazing, but what counts in this case is story. Story is interesting, you will follow it with excitment. Characters in my opinion are fine, but only fine. Exept of our main villain. He's sadist, insane and obviously evil, but that's what am I looking for. He's playing with his enemies, has an aim, which you don't exactly know (ok, it wasn't clever, because his real aim... Ok, I won't complain because it would be spoiler).
It's not a horror even if's written taht it is, but it's kind of dark.

And one important thing for the and. If you don't like shounen-ai don't start watching it. There isn't anything... you know, but certainly it has this part. read more

ANIMATION : The character designs are good, but what really stands out is the overall artistic style of the scenes. Some individual images presented in this show are downright captivating, such as the blindfolded and bloodied corpse of a kimono-clad woman found inside a box during the third arc. Describing it in words makes it sound gruesome, but the show was able to present the image in a rather beautiful way without sacrificing its macabre nature.

SOUND : Overall, I found the voice acting and BGM to be quite decent. A bit overwrought at times but nothing that stood out as particularly bad.

CHARACTERS : Much like the story, the character angle in this show starts out on a good note.Fans of angsty, tormented, bishounen will likely eat this stuff up, but other anime fans are likely to be annoyed, or worse, bored by it.

OVERALL : In many ways, the test of a show of this nature is not whether it will win over its target audience but whether it is strong enough to entertain the average anime fan, and while the high quality animation makes a strong starting point for just that, the weak plots and fanservicey character development doomed its chances with me. Shounen-ai fans will likely be in heaven with the character designs, melodrama, and unrelenting innuendo, but I would only recommend this to other anime watchers if pretty visuals are more important to you than a cohesive story and if you like your character development REALLY melodramatic. read more

I was so disappointed in this anime. It was good at first, but it started to suck. Don't watch it in English, but I couldn't understand the characters' motives anymore! There were maybe three good scenes. I can't believe. It's poorly written and not worth it.