Aug 15, 2016
Critical Review of Darker than black
Darker than Black is a show involving people who have abtained superhuman powers from a place called Hell's Gate. The show revolves around a medium-small cast of people which includes a contractor, a doll (also a product of Hell's Gate), a human, and a cat which was a contractor that lost his body. The shows arcs are generally 2-3 episodes long with an underlying main plot which flows throughout.
The start of the show is somewhat confusing with an unclear main plot and little to no character introduction. The first scene lends to the idea that the show will
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revolve around a dark city which has been plunged into a war that many of its people don't understand. As you go along in the first couple of episodes you learn of contractors and their powers as well as their remmumerations which is explained more clearly as the show progresses. As the story continues through its short episodic arcs, the viewer learns more about the individual characters and their unique atributes that seem to make their characters who they are.
Although the overall story is sometimes muddled, the way that it is told is very interesting as the world around the characters develops. The generally realistic character design with the darker backdrop of the world that they live in makes for a show with an almost perfect mix of action, suspense, and mystery. It also has points in its story where it breaks from its seriousness and presents a lighter story. The way that this lighthearted arc is set into the story does not seem unnatural and instead gives another side of the characters that cannot be seen if the scenarios they were a part of were always as serious as the story. This anime does a great job of creating meaningful action and adding it into its intricate episodic plot. There is never a moment where the action seems forced and each fight seems fresh. The animation of the action sequences is very well done as a high budget product of Bones studio. Each one of the protagonists contributes to the fighting in their own way and the viewer should never get bored of the fights. The OST does a decent although not amazing job of contributing the artistic appeal of this show. The OST involves many genres of music which seem to be implemented fairly well as you may hear jazz, orchestral, or even rock throughout the show.
Some of the drawbacks of this anime is that it is episodic and sometimes difficult to follow. At many points in the anime the main plot is not very clear and there is not really a set goal for its characters or a direction in which they must head. This is fleshed out towards the end of the show but may be hard for a viewer to sit through if he is not interested in any of the characters or artwork. Although this is not necesarrily a drawback, the structure of the show does not revolve around one singular character. Although Hei is often the focus, a two episode arc may switch to another set of characters with little to no influence from someone else. This may set a viewer off if they are interested in only one character as the show makes it a point to give plot to multiple influences.
As the story comes into its final 3 episode arc, the previous 22 episodes and their mini arcs tend to come together as the main plot finally reveals itself. All of the mini arcs do their job of presenting characters, scenarios, and background before the final arc pulls together everything that had been revealed prior to the arc and finally focuses on a core plot which revolves around Hei, Yin, Mao, and Amber. Without spoiling, the ending is very symbolic and the rest of the story was merely a lead up of tensions and backdrop for the finale to bring together in a wistful and heavyharted climax.
Overall, this receives a 9; if only for its artwork and pure enjoyment. There are some themes although they are not fleshed out very clearly. The characters each have an interesting and unique piece to them and character design receives an 8. The ending brings an otherwise secondary main plot into a riveting ending which garners the overall story a score of 8. This show should be watched by those who enjoy intense action sequences and somewhat dark subtext and plot.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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