ConcreteBadger's Blog

This is soon to top my list of Most Rewatchable TV Shows - I can't really absorb the full meaning behind what happens here. Where to begin? With a

***SPOILER WARNING***

obviously.

The plot doesn't so much advance as leap forward into the unknown with a carrot the size of a baseball bat in front and a cattle prod behind. We've been treated to a wonderful amount of character study so far but this time it's all about plot development: the EPR and its likely intentions are set out, Hei finally meets Amber (with headtrippery as you'd expect from the Meteor Shard) and November 11 bows out in style.

That duality in Contractor personality gives me the cast-iron confirmation that yes, they're human. November 11 knew his end was coming and planned accordingly, but his demise was filled with pathos and a sense of loss. He died like a man...a human being. I'll miss him.

There was much double-crossing and politics here, which made for some fun Mao moments (the true Darker Than Black Lolcat) but also showed Misaki's professionalism and quick thinking in a crisis.

While the EPR was seen as some sort of terrorist faction by many, they seem to have a more meaningful aim in mind than mere posturing and 'Contractor Rights' campaigning. The consequences behind the Gates' existence, or ending therof, was the crux of it for me: they're fighting to preserve their very existence because, I'm guessing, Pandora's experiments on the Japanese Gate could threaten Contractor existence, as the destruction of the South American Gate would have done.

Is the life of a Contractor dependent on the Gates' existence, or is it merely the opportunity to become or be a Contractor at stake here? While they are feared, some people (e.g. the proprietor of Hei's favourite noodle bar) see the abilities that Contracts allow as a good thing. Are the Gates therefore opportunities for humanity to further its potential as individuals, and as such entities worth preserving, even using the force that the EPR is using?

The offhand comment from a minor background character suggested to me that some people want to be Contractors - even if the are not yet one - as well as my suspicion that for some the Contract is a worthy investment. I'm thinking here of why the Contract is entered into - some may see it as a means to achieve certain goals in life, which means the Gates are precious and worth defending from the point of view of these individuals. In which case, the EPR are an organisation working for the good of humanity! Or does Amber have more personal reasons that drive her on her quest...?

Anime Relations: Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha

After an arc that would make a bigger impact on a rewatch followed by what is essentially filler, this was just what the doctor ordered.

I've never liked Huang - he's a grumpy old bastard, and never really gave much reason for me to like him. What a change two episodes makes. It proves, really, that your opinion of a character such as his can make a complete pole reversal when you learn more about them. Huang, or rather Gus, wasn't always a heartless git and interestingly still isn't, to a certain degree at least.

The showdown between Hei and Huang after the former had met Alma was superb - DtB's character dynamics at their finest. It's interesting to suggest that, as you can find the occasional human who is devoid of conscience and feeling, there's no reason why a Contractor won't have those things. The main point here I think is that Contractors are still fundamentally people, so have the capacity to show compassion and emotion just like everyone else.

It makes me wonder where this 'heartless killer' reputation of Contractors comes from, and why so many do indeed back up this stereotype by coming across as killing machines. Hei isn't like that; nor was Alma and Shioko. Are redemption and something approaching a normal life options open to all Contractors?

The stand-off scene cast the stances of Hei and Huang into fantastic relief: the situation demanded an answer from both of them to the question "Can you show human compassion or are you a soulless killer for the Syndicate?" I was pleasantly surprised with the result, even if its after-effects were tragic. Funny how I can now say not only that I don't dislike Huang any more, but that I can also say I felt sorry for him.

It's great to have a full arc dedicated to fleshing out his character, and one I'm glad I watched for a number of reasons. The new OP by the way is pretty good - nice fast pace - but the end isn't so outstanding. The first end was lovely but this is just...a nondescript ballad-style end.

Another less memorable arc, but an enjoyable one nonetheless.

I was honestly expecting something tragic in the station at the end, but that's probably from watching Carlito's Way and inwardly screaming "WHY~?!" at the screen. Mercifully that didn't happen.

Are there Doll factories or something then? It was pretty chilling to see the Yakuza guys unpacking her from the box like a newly-acquired home appliance or something. Makes the ending all the sweeter, apart from the older 'brother''s death, obviously.

This was something of a filler arc, yet I still can't bring myself to call it bad. I can't recall the details but it left a warm fuzzy feeling, compensating for contributing little to the bigger story. It was cool to meet Hei's neighbours though.

Anime Relations: Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha

I've never liked Huang so it was satisfying to see Hei knock him down a peg or two. That's just an aside though - the figure I saw at the end of episode 12, who I suspected was Nick's younger sister, is actually someone even more interesting: the Contractor known as Amber.

There isn't actually a lot I can say about this arc in a characterisation sense because it feels like the beginning of a wider-reaching plotline and leaves things on a bit of a cliff hanger. What exactly IS the link between Hei, Amber and Pai, as the flashacks suggest?

For whatever reason the end of Amber's Doll the juvenile Contractor didn't have the impact an event of that tragic magnitude ought to have done, but then this is a story that's following on from Yin's arc - what I call the Songs of Faith and Devotion Effect*.

Still, we do get to see November 11 again, which is always good. His role is less of a villain and more...ambivalent. There are several factions involved in the story at this point, which means there isn't anything as simple as 'good' and 'bad' characters.

Plenty of action and questions, but less dorama and certainly no answers...The jury's still out in other words.

*that is to say, NOTHING could have been as good as Violator.

Anime Relations: Higashi no Eden

Whoa...when was it that I last watched one episode and made up my mind IMMEDIATELY that it's excellent? Production I.G.'s aesthetic and the political thriller backdrop (which was no doubt aided by Kamiyama's experience in GitS SAC) give it an overall feel of Toyko Marble Chocolate crossed with the Bourne trilogy. Hyperbolic fanboying/fangirling is justified for once this time.

Yeah, the Jason Bourne reference had me grinning so damned hard it made my face ache...if I didn't love those movies would I get as many lulz out of this? There's plenty of room to go all deep and dark: while world events in recent years have affected Western media this feels like the first genuine 'post 9/11' anime show to me, SAC 2nd Gig exempted.

I don't really think this going to be a thoroughly dark and angsty show though, not until the last few episodes at any rate. It has a playful and vivacious vibe that I love - the backgrounds, vehicles, weapons and so on were very lifelike but the anime-esque facial expressions were a slice of fried gold. Hell, even the Engrish was good. Not just passable but actually convincing. Kudos.

The chemistry between Saki and Akira is brilliant - when he whips his thing out in front of a stern-looking female American police officer and casually walks away was priceless (one of several excellent screencaps that are begging to be used in my first proper post on this series). Yeah, it had me thinking "Seriously...what the hell?" but the character-derived comedy carried it I think.

This could be all-out fluff and silliness, but it's a different kind of fluff and silliness to, say, K-On!, which also covers subject matter that's Relevant To My Interests.

Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a winner for the season.

P.S. there's even a SD .avi option for the subbed edition, which means it's actually, y'know, viewable on my clunky old 1.6GHz machine and its puny 768MB RAM (which is even punier than Akira's Wedding Prospects on an overcast Washington afternoon).

Anime Relations: Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha

Getting the obvious out the way first: can Dolls feel emotion? It certainly makes you think, especially after the possibility that Contractors can. e.g. Hei's remarkable shows of humanity at various points, not to mention that shown by the other Contractor (after all, a soulless killer can't write poetry. Not in my opinion, at least).

There were little details dropped in before that question the validity of Yin's perceived 'emptiness'...hell, we saw a Doll in the very first arc retain some memories and feelings she had in life. I particularly loved her own 'moonlight sonata' - as I type this I'm falling back on a bit of Ludovico Einaudi, who incidentally is one of my favourite songwriters and bears some remarkable similarities to Kanno's efforts here.

Y'see, the BGM for this arc is very reminiscent of his piano-orientated work, which sounds a lot like the stuff that Yin - sorry, Kirsi - was playing on the piano. I immediately thought "Bloody hell! It sounds like Einaudi!" and proceeded to shed a Manly Tear because 1. it was brilliant marriage of sound and imagery and 2. I was alone in the house with only three overfed cats to witness my look of pained understanding. Music is a powerful thing...'food for the soul' and all that.

This was the most ;_;-worthy arc of the series since Mai's (#2 & #3), partly because of the wonderfully evocative music score and partly because it throws a fundametal idea out of the window...a bit like The Time of Eve when we realise that those robots have been suffering in silence all along. I managed to carry out the shift in perception I'd been waiting for in terms of the Dolls and got a better grasp of the true nature of their status.

It was interesting here to see not only Hei run to Yin's aid, as I half-expected him to, but even gruff old Huang go dere-dere for her when he realised "even Dolls can cry." It wasn't just me who had a 'perception shift' then. It seems the guy who won't think twice about pissing off Hei and Mao to follow Syndicate orders is now in their bad books too.

Hei's rebuff to Huang's vocal disdain was a neat alternative viewpoint - while Contractors are allegedly cold-blooded killers, another way of looking at it is that any humanity they do have has to sit alongside the fact that they, more than anyone in the Syndicate, are on the front line, risking their lives and carrying out obeisances in order to fulfil their duty. Does this make a Contractor such as Hei more courageous? Or was he merely riled up by Huang's criticisms? I'll have to wait and see I suppose.

Anime Relations: Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha

"I see myself reflected in you."

Or words to that effect. Details concerning Hell's Gate and how it's linked to the Contractors aside for a moment, I absolutely loved the line that Nick Hillman delivered to Hei. By the end of ep #12 we see the full ramifications of this - it suggests to me that Hei may not be as much of an abberation as I initially thought: Contractors Have Feelings Too and all that.

It's a shame that things ended the way they did, if I'm interpreting the trippiness in Hell's Gate correctly: assuming Nick's sister is indeed still alive, she's lost her brother while he attempts to do some risky and deplorable things for her sake. And yeah, the similarities between Nick and Hei are uncanny; I suspect Hei's status as a Contractor, and many of his motivations, have much to do with his own, as-yet unseen, younger sibling. Two men who are looking up at the same sky...

I got some vague Wolf's Rain-esque flashbacks in Hell's Gate - Bones' creative department once again get the opportunity to stretch their wings a bit and give some fantastic post-apocalyptic psychedelic imagery. Interesting to see how the Meteor Fragment looks a lot like a telescope lens...

Anime Relations: Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha

Action-packed or what? I know the combat scenes usually take second place to characterisation (and rightly so, I think) but I can't deny the entertainment value in seeing Hei in Contractor mode going all-out against the bad guy.

This is as much Kirihara's arc as anyone's though, as we see what makes her tick and how. I really like her character because she's so different from the usual female lead in, well, most series. There's a shortage of 18+ anime heroines with a genuine spine and personality - she ticks pretty much all the boxes in being a worthy lead character, without ever grating on your nerves.

The Kirihara/Hei dialogue exchanges were among my favourites of the series so far - her tenacity and fortitude makes the contrast of his clueless everyman act all the more interesting - and amusing on some levels. There's going to be a brilliant dynamic between them from here on in - wisely avoiding a sappy romantic subplot, I can see a mutual respect and rivalry developing, holding emotions respectfully at arms length.

Anime Relations: Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha

The speculation between Owen and Hige backs up my suspicion that Hei is not only an unusual case as a Contractor but may also be a character whose physical being is out of the ordinary. I wouldn't rule out the idea that he's another 'body hopper' like the Contractor in this arc but suffice to say I enjoyed this part of the series for the details about the mechanic of it all being tossed in. This was as far as my original viewing of the show went though, so it'll be 'watching' rather than 're-watching' after this point.

Normally I don't like comedy of this type because it's formulaic, irritating and often passes itself off as a lame excuse for lousy animation quality. The first time around I watched this around the time I was reading a lot of Raymond Chandler so the genre it was making nods to was fresh in my mind.

Even now it seems to be an affectionate homage to the whole film noir thing - in the same way that Gai's fourth wall-tapping narration draws you in, these two episodes are so intentionally crammed with cliches and moments of knowing pastiche, it seems like a two episode-long tribute to where the writers must have got some of their inspiration from. On that level I loved it, which made up for the fillerish-ness of the story itself.

Of course, I'm still convinced that even when it's goofing off like this the story is still drip-feeding the viewer details that may be important later on so I can't call these two episodes a waste of time.

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.