Story: The first 22 episodes of the series are made of eleven 2 episode story arcs, each focusing on one or two characters. These stories are undoubtedly the best part in the darker than black franchise. 2 episodes give just enough time to tell a well developed story, and I'm always surprised how much the series be accomplished in merely 2 episodes. The content of each arc are never repetitive and have something new to offer each in arc.
The last 2 episodes of the series that deal with the final showdown are rather disappointing in comparison, and left a lot of unawsered questions , and the second season does little to help and add more to the mess. The back story of Hei was only briefly touched on through segments of flashbacks, even though it was essential to understanding the character. The anime had perfect chance in episode 23 for flashbacks, but instead we were given a "day before war episode" where nothing really happened.
Characters: The main character Hei has the cold distant deameanor all slick assasins in anime have, but combines depth and sensititvity while keeping his coolness intact, making him easily one of my favourite anime Characters. Even though his persona as a kind, introverted partimer completely differs from his persona as a ruthless assasin ; his action makes you realize they are undoubtedly the same person.
There is also a large cast of supporting character, and most of them are surprisingly fleshed out given the amount of screen time they had. Personally, I find it hard to dislike any of them. The anime never waste anytime when it comes to characterization, despite being an action anime, the series focus more on the character interaction instead of fighting.
One thing that deserves mentioning is how easily characters die in the show, which is pretty fustrating. Just when you start to sympathisze with the characters, they get stabbed to death by ice pricks, dissapear into dreams or bleed to death on the street. I don't know if it's to show the unpredictabily of death or if the producer are too lazy to deal with accumulating amount of side characters.
Action: As most reviewers will tell you, DtD have great action scene with fluid animation, that are well choreographed. Compare to other contracter hei's electrical power are less spectacular, causing him to be overwhelmed most of the time during a fight. Forcing him to act like a genuine assasin using his wit and stealth. preventing the fight scene from degenerating to mere comparison between power level.
Overall DtD is a very enjoyable anime, despite it's disappointing ending. You might have to watch twice it to know what's exactly going on in the story, but the character interaction and fight scene itself are very enjoyable even if the story is hard to follow. If you enjoy dark anime, that does not dwell into the realm of emo-ness and melodrama, definitely give this a try.
