Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha

It has been 10 years since Heaven's Gate appeared in South America and Hell's Gate appeared in Japan, veiling the once familiar night sky with an oppressive skyscape. Their purposes unknown, these Gates are spaces in which the very laws of physics are ignored. With the appearance of the Gates emerged Contractors, who, in exchange for their humanity, are granted supernatural abilities.

In the Japanese city surrounding Hell's Gate, Section 4 Chief Misaki Kirihara finds herself at odds with an infamous Contractor codenamed Hei. Called "Black Reaper" in the underground world, Hei, like his associates, undertakes missions for the mysterious and ruthless Syndicate while slowly peeling back the dark layers covering a nefarious plot that threatens the very existence of Contractors.

From the mind of Tensai Okamura comes a sci-fi thriller taking the form of a subtle exposé on a war in which political positions and justice have no sway—a war waged exclusively in the shadows.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hei Main

Kiuchi, Hidenobu Japanese

Yin Main

Fukuen, Misato Japanese

Mao Main

Sawaki, Ikuya Japanese

Kirihara, Misaki Main

Mizuki, Nana Japanese

Huang Main

Ikeda, Masaru Japanese

Amber Supporting

Kawakami, Tomoko Japanese

November 11 Supporting

Inoue, Kazuhiko Japanese

July Supporting

Asai, Kiyomi Japanese

Havoc Supporting

Shindo, Naomi Japanese

Kurasawa, Gai Supporting

Matsumoto, Yasunori Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Harp, Clarine Producer

Maruyama, Hiroo Producer

Ooyama, Ryou Producer

Reviews

Jul 23, 2024

orihihc

Recommended

Darker than Black has got to be one of my favorite adult-oriented anime out there.

As the title suggests, this series deals with the morally grey, and dark parts of the underworld crime scene. DTB takes place in a dystopian world where certain people have powers, known as “contractors” and “dolls.” An important aspect of the show is that “contractors” don’t have emotions, and act as rational beings, however, our main character, Hei, seemingly has both powers and emotions.

The series is episodic, with each one bringing the viewer a step closer to understanding the implications of such people and appearances of powers in the world.

What ... makes this show shine is its characters, specifically Hei and Kirihara, but the recurring side characters also add charm to the show. The world-building is intriguing always leaving the audience wanting more, and ever so slowly revealing important missing pieces to the full equation of how and why the world came to be.

I first watched this show in my early teens, but even then, I could understand how this series showcased that animation is not just for kids and holds so much potential in adult-oriented genres. Having rewatched the show as an adult, I can attest that it is just as entertaining and even more intriguing than I remember. Take each episode to be a character study, showing us, rather than telling us, the way the world has and has not changed since the appearance of the “gates” and “contractors.”

All, in all, I never feel like I’m wasting my time rewatching the show, it has phenomenal pacing, timeless animation, and a great story. I admit not everyone will like this show, as it might not be their cup of tea, but I sure as hell did.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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May 25, 2023

DISKOWN

Mixed Feelings

Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha falls into the realm of mediocrity, grappling with inconsistencies throughout its run. While the pacing remains steady, allowing for adequate character development, the animation suffers from uneven execution. The action sequences are visually appealing and dynamic; however, the remaining scenes are flat and uninspired, particularly when it comes to poorly animated vehicles that noticeably age the series. The character designs are rather plain, failing to leave a lasting impression. The narrative, while intriguing, builds up to an unsatisfying conclusion that fails to deliver and falls short of expectations. In summary, Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha boasts a commendable ... cast of well developed characters but comes up short in other areas.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Feb 17, 2021

AnimeEnjoyer420

Not Recommended

Summary: Darker Than Black is a neo-noir crime thriller that has some nice pieces, but is held back by an incoherent story and a lack of progression in either the characters or the plot. It's structured as a series of 2 or 3 episode arcs, and many of the arcs are filler and don't link back to a single unified story, leaving the season as a series of floating, unconnected pieces that are fairly unsatisfying in the absence of a central story.

Positives:

+ Many of the arcs are strong individually. They're relatively compelling, if simple, crime thriller plots, and the action is good. ... Each arc will individually hold your interest for the most part.

+ Action scenes and animation look pretty good for the show being almost 15 years old.

Negatives:

- Unfocused plot. There's no real central story here, unless you count the final arc, which you can't really, since it only lasts about 4 episodes and is only vaguely alluded to before that. The show is basically a series of short stories that don't really connect to each other. A lot of things happen in these shorter stories, but it isn't really anything of significance. There are two separate arcs following the internal power struggles in minor gangs that are never once referenced outside of that particular arc. This kind of episodic storytelling can work in a show with stronger themes or by framing it around a strong main character, but Darker Than Black has neither of those, so it ends up largely being a collection of entertaining stories that don't mean anything or have a larger narrative when they're put together.

- Difficult to care about the characters. Especially early on, the main characters in the series are almost an afterthought. Even Hei, the nominal main character of the series, is sidelined for long stretches, only showing up to foil a bad guy at a critical moment after being largely uninvolved in the rest of the story. They almost seem tangential to the oneshot characters that are only in for their particular arc. A lot of energy and attention is put into making these temporary characters worthwhile, but it comes at the expense of the actual characters that will be with us for the whole series. Other characters, such as the private detective and his slacker assistant, could have been done away with entirely with virtually no impact on the show. They are also far too cagey about the main character, his past and his personality in particular. It's clear the intention was to make him a dark and mysterious Batman type figure, but it comes off as simply boring and unrelatable instead.

- Predictable storytelling. For a mystery/noir thriller, the mysteries in this series are not very entertaining. The plot twists will all be easily spotted from a mile away. It also has a bad case of Cowboy Bebop Syndrome, where it unceremoniously kills off its new character of the week at the end of their arc so the status quo is always preserved (Huang's lover is the most obvious example of this). After you start noticing this happen regularly, it becomes impossible to care about side characters that are virtually guaranteed to be in the ground by the end of the next episode at the absolute latest.

- Weak ending. Slight spoilers ahead, but I'll keep it vague. The ending is a real disappointment, teasing an impossible choice for the protagonist only to have him choose option 3, which is for everything to stay exactly the same and for him to not have to make the choice at all. In the end, we end up basically in the same place we started, only with a lot more people dead. It's an extension of the show's broader problem with a lot of things happening, but none of it ever really meaning much.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Darker than BLACK Episode 25 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Sobzob - Sep 27, 2007	302 replies	by Oasisfrmtokyo »» Sep 14, 3:28 PM
	Poll: Darker than BLACK - Kuro no Keiyakusha Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Faust721 - Apr 15, 2007	147 replies	by icyicy00 »» Sep 9, 2:03 AM
	Should it deserve a higher rating? Vesko_07 - Jul 24	7 replies	by KayKimii »» Jul 25, 7:20 AM
	Poll: Darker than BLACK Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) cyruz - Jul 1, 2007	141 replies	by red-tomato »» Jul 13, 8:03 AM
	Poll: Darker than BLACK Episode 24 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Faust721 - Sep 22, 2007	111 replies	by almightybismarck »» Jun 15, 1:38 AM

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