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Back to ConcreteBadger's BlogConcreteBadger's Blog
04-08-09, 9:55 AM
Darker than Black #5 and #6
Anime Relations: Darker than BLACK - Kuro no Keiyakusha
Mmm...delicious helpings of backstory. This arc is less harrowing, perhaps mercifully, but at least introduces one of the coolest villains in recent memory.
I wish Alan Rickman were available for the dub of this because November 11 is the worst (and therefore the best) kind of villain that only good old Blighty can create, and would demand an actor of that calibre. If being a suave Bad Guy were an olympic sport, we'll clean up when we host the 2012 games, honestly.
Kirihara is one of my favourite characters from the series too, and this arc reminds me of why. She's sharp and dedicated - good at her job, as far as her influence is allowed to go - but it seems as though her talent is wasted on an organisation that is incompetent and/or is being manipulated by the Syndicate or some other higher-up organisation.
Hei's portrayal never ceases to fascinate me. All-iris-no-pupil aside, he's an interesting mix of conflicting motives and behaviours that prevent me defining a classification for him. A Contractor without an obeisance but with a conscience? A merciless assassin whose hatred for other Contractors is matched by his occasional bouts of mercy and his desire to find his lost sister? A man who breaks a woman's fingers and cooks her dinner afterwards?
I think we're so used to characters developing during the course of a story it's refreshing to be presented with someone who is already well-rounded personality-wise before the very first outing. The viewer's challenge here is not to see him change, but to speculate and examine how his present image was accomplished; as in so many aspects of this show, I feel like I'm always one step behind...but don't mind that one bit.
I wish Alan Rickman were available for the dub of this because November 11 is the worst (and therefore the best) kind of villain that only good old Blighty can create, and would demand an actor of that calibre. If being a suave Bad Guy were an olympic sport, we'll clean up when we host the 2012 games, honestly.
Kirihara is one of my favourite characters from the series too, and this arc reminds me of why. She's sharp and dedicated - good at her job, as far as her influence is allowed to go - but it seems as though her talent is wasted on an organisation that is incompetent and/or is being manipulated by the Syndicate or some other higher-up organisation.
Hei's portrayal never ceases to fascinate me. All-iris-no-pupil aside, he's an interesting mix of conflicting motives and behaviours that prevent me defining a classification for him. A Contractor without an obeisance but with a conscience? A merciless assassin whose hatred for other Contractors is matched by his occasional bouts of mercy and his desire to find his lost sister? A man who breaks a woman's fingers and cooks her dinner afterwards?
I think we're so used to characters developing during the course of a story it's refreshing to be presented with someone who is already well-rounded personality-wise before the very first outing. The viewer's challenge here is not to see him change, but to speculate and examine how his present image was accomplished; as in so many aspects of this show, I feel like I'm always one step behind...but don't mind that one bit.
Posted by ConcreteBadger | 04-08-09, 9:55 AM | 1 comments
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Leuconoe | 04-08-09, 10:46 AM
I have a feeling (not substantiated by any research) that the limited, corrupted nature of law-keeping institutions is a common feature of noir stories. It provides an equally good backdrop for the good cop hero (as in Kirihara's case) or the private detective who has to work around/outside the institution's systems.
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