STORY: Darker Than Black is a perfect mixture of action, mystery, and superpower fiction. It takes place in a world much like our own, except there was an incident leading to the existence of "Contractors" who are imbued with powers like electrical blasts, possession, freezing, weather, etc. Each contractor must pay a price after using their powers - which can range from fun (like drinking), nothing major (baking), annoying (smoking for a non-smoker), or terrible (drinking the blood of children). The Contractors are also said to be purely rational, although it is difficult to see that 100% the case and one ends up wondering if it is more of an initial manifestation state that is later reinforced by expectation. There are also "Dolls" that are emotion-less telepathic like entities that can monitor Contractors but do not seem to exhibit any personality. The story starts off as a mission-of-the-week type series involving the protagonist who serves a mysterious, seemingly-criminal entity called the Syndicate, but evolves into a Contractors v. Normal main series that is quite enjoyable. The story line is meant to be dark, but not existential bleak dark. Think instead dark but fun.
Art: Top notch work by Bones. This studio tends to put out the best stuff. The fight scenes are great!
Sound: Great, as it follows the storyline - whether action packed or melancholy perfectly.
Character: Almost all of the characters are well developed, not just the protagonist. Even characters that originally seem like a one-note get fleshed out nicely and usually surprisingly.
Enjoyment: This is my all-time favorite anime series. In my view it beats everything I've seen. I've been looking for a better anime series, and after watching Geass, Gundam, Eureka 7, Gurren, Phantom, Bebop (saw it before), NGE, and others I have yet to find one. If Bones decides to stop after the OVA's it's currently putting out I'll be bummed.
Overall: The best of what anime has to offer, don't miss this one!
