Darker Than Black (2007–2010) User Reviews (28)

Watch up to and including episode 6 before you decide!

[zagsauce · 9/10 · 7 July 2011]

I'm going to have to agree with the majority of viewers; this is a great anime with a unique story...though it might not be for everyone.

I noticed that one of the reviewers had the most inane childish review, mentioning nothing about the actual anime and just saying it was "crap". Really? In fact, that reviewer said it was "just a typical anime filled with nudity---no male nudity either!---and filed with satanic themes". There is absolutely no nudity whatsoever--save for a 'nipple' (in silhouette only) in the first opening and one single episode near the end (which has no private areas displayed)--and I have no idea why that reviewer believed it was about satanism.

I'm sure it was a useless trolling attempt on their part, but some people might actually believe that garbage the reviewer said if they weren't sure themselves.

As for the show itself, the animation was well-done; the music was unique (especially the first ending theme and Kurosawa's theme), rife with deep mini-plots, light humor, dark humor, and genuinely likable (and hateable) characters.

I do agree that maybe at one specific point I felt I might be losing interest, but I honestly don't believe that was the anime's fault. And sure enough, something occurred within the story immediately after that definitely fixed that.

As a show with little focus on sexuality , and instead on the deep and painful cycles of life, death, relationship and happiness...I know many will enjoy it.

It will make you want more

[maryberrie21 · 9/10 · 14 November 2010]

I came across this anime accidentally, I do not watch a lot of anime, in fact I rarely find an anime that I can truly say I enjoyed immensely, but Darker than Black is definitely an exception to this.

I will admit after the first episode I wasn't completely convinced. It was vague and left me feeling a little jilted, but I found out the series runs in a two episode story arc, so of course I was confused. I watched the second and was intrigued. I had to know what happened next. I kept watching and I was left with the same feeling of anticipation. The good kind of anticipation when you know something really satisfying is going to happen.

Not only is the story great but the art and animation is fabulous. Very clean and smooth, the movements are fluid and fight scenes are very enjoyable to watch. The character designs are unique, even characters that look similar are distinct. The characters' designs are not the only good thing about them, they are also dynamic with their own personalities and almost every character is likable. I have to say it was actually the style of art that prompted me to watch this show, and it was a great decision on my part.

Although the ending may seem vague and leave questions unanswered, don't worry, the is a sequel on the way.

Overall, there is no lack of good things in this show. It is hard to describe which is something I find a good quality.

7.9 is very misleading.

[bretboonnofan · 9/10 · 12 October 2012]

I'd give a 8.5 if I could. This anime has one of the most cool characters I've seen in anime, Hei. The dude's attitude carries this show, but that's not to distract from the other characters. All of the main four, even the girl who rarely says a thing (I really enjoyed the episode focused on her) are a blast.

The series is done in hour long vignettes, something not normally done in anime... and it takes the creators a little bit to get used to it. The first 7 or so episodes of this show were average and forgettable, but give DTB time and it finds it's place. Keep in mind, the beginning episodes are still necessary viewing for the mood and background it sets.

So is the beginning rough? Yes. 7.9 worthy? Hell no!

I know many a anime viewer such as myself who see's a score under a eight and thinks the show is a pass, but listen up. DTB IS NOT A PASS. This shows has everything to love in a anime and the ending WILL leave you satisfied.

I love these characters, I feel the thought in the writing, it is complex and has a philosophical message. This one moment near the end delivers some of the best symbolism I've seen. Truly this show is a powerhouse; a world in it's own. Even characters who come in for a few episodes have a grand purpose in the study of Hei.

Do not miss this show, it will have a impact on you and entrance you in pure coolness.

8.5/10

Intelligent and well written

[imdb-19548 · 10/10 · 30 December 2007]

This is what the American series Hereos could have been like if it was written for adults.

It features super-powered people who are real people, their powers come at a real price and not a token moral price as is used in children's comics.

The story unfolds gradually with us getting to know more of the main character's back story from episode to episode.

The powers are interesting as is the background of fear and manipulation and the fact that it finishes is one series rather than dragging on to squeeze extra money out of the idea is appealing.

The plot is intelligent with no bad or annoying episodes and the ending is surprising and consistent, there is a small bit of comic relief but this is a dark story.

I hadn't watched any anime in years but this one dragged me in from the first episode and I didn't regret it.

special anime

[kalotaable · 10/10 · 24 July 2013]

Darker Than Black is not an average anime. It has something special in it, the story, the characters, the music, the moral, and those feels. I have seen many anime over the years but, this ranks above every one of them. It is supernatural but it stay so close to reality that you get lost in it some how. "Every step is taken at a price, regardless of feelings it has to be paid."It echos in my ears and make me reconsider my actions. Being an anime it describes all the emotions inside a person, what he has to do in order to make the right decision. It is truly remarkable. The dialogs are so meaningful that they make you think about thing. I will always remember what Hei said "If you pretend to feel a certain way, The feeling can become genuine all by mistake." If you want to watch an anime, then i would definitely recommend you this. Darker Than Black?????? YES!!!! Evey life has something darker than black.

Good action anime

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 6 September 2010]

When I started watching this series on Funimation's YouTube Channel I wasn't sure if I'd like it or not but by the time I'd watched half a dozen episodes I was hooked, indeed I liked it enough to buy the series on DVD; at no point while watching the remaining episodes did I regret my purchase.

The world of 'Darker than Black' is different to our own; two meteorites have struck Earth, one in South America and the other in Tokyo. Around the impact sites two areas knows as Heaven's Gate and Hell's Gate appeared. Fives years previously something happened in South America and Heaven's Gate disappeared along with the surrounding land; people are worried that the same will happen in Tokyo. The Gates aren't the only strange things; some people have become 'contractors', people with strange powers who kill each other and other people. There is however a price to pay, each time a contractor uses his power he must pay a price; one must smoke despite hating cigarettes, another must eat and one must break a finger. The story follows one of these; a Chinese student called Hei, he is part of an organisation called the Syndicate. He was somehow involved in the Heaven's Gate incident and the authorities fear that something similar will happen in Tokyo.

There is an interesting array of characters besides Hei; he frequently works with Yin, an enigmatic and apparently emotionless girl; Huang, the human member of the team and Mao who is trapped in the body of a cat. As well as the Syndicate there is a policewoman who is investigating the contractors and a group from MI6 whose motives are unknown at first. The series is not as dark as the series suggests but it is a lot of fun; combining mystery, action and a touch of humour in an entertaining way. The animation looks good with good character designs and flowing movement. While it isn't too violent there is some which is quite bloody making it unsuitable for younger viewers although I doubt it would appeal to them anyway.

Really satisfying sad story with noir context and lonely hero style

[tailieuduocb · 10/10 · 26 May 2017]

Starting with some seemed separated stories but turn out to be a piece in the chain. The story line of contractor is really extraordinary when it deals with the basic problem of humanity, the equality and rationality of human race. Everything has a price indeed, and would we be able to sacrifice some people for the sake of all others, that is the true fact, and conclude with the most benevolent decision from the people who is thought to be a devil.

I have never watched such a good series before, to the point that I have to go up here and write a review about it. So excellent that it leaves me the sad feeling for months to go. Wonderful. I truly hope to see it again for a season 3 or something like that

The music, people might think it is not so good but in fact contain the main philosophy of the whole anime that we need to watch until the very end to understand its true meaning, really momentum at first when I got the idea behind.

Starts bad, but gets better.

[pablobg · 7/10 · 11 November 2010]

I got into Darker Than Black because of its creators- Tensai Okamura has made some real nice works before, notably Wolf's Rain. In that series, he also worked with Yoko Kanno, the composer of some of the best soundtracks I have heard in my life, most importantly Cowboy Bebop. However, this series isn't as good as those mentioned earlier, but it is still good.

The problem with DTB is that it starts bad. It's just confusing, we don't know what's going on and we don't know the characters, so it's hard to care about them. Not only that- what I expected that would save the series, the music (I believe that music is as fundamental as anything else) wasn't that great either. Kanno's music just didn't stand out, and even the opening and closing themes weren't hers.

However, if you have patience, there's a point where we get to know the characters. Some story arcs get really interesting and when a episode ends, you will want to see the other to know what is going to happen. And it gets fun and turns out to be a nice experience. However, I would only recommend it to anime fans- not the general public. There's still a lot more series in the same vein of DTB that are much better and you should see them before this one.

Loved it. Great anime.

[tracylitl · 10/10 · 7 September 2015]

This anime is amazing.

Darker than black is a neo-noir esque, action-packed thriller about a world where super beings exist, known as "contractors," and the many organizations they belong too, some notably being the CIA, MI6 and Japanese government.

The first few episodes don't immediately draw you in, however the tension and plot builds up slowly to introduce the setting. Sometimes it can get confusing, and I had to pause to google terminology due to the fact that not everything is explained fully. However, the animation is clean & simple and the soundtrack is jazzy.

What I enjoyed the most about this series is how interesting the main character is. Hei is a powerful contractor working for a secret organization. His daytime identity is Li Shengshun, a Chinese exchange student. What's interesting about him is that although he is extremely bad-ass, he is also has an emotional side unlike most contractors and can make mistakes. He's not super-powered like some anime protagonists.

This anime is not completely centered on Hei, but more on the different organizations and groups and how they interact. Which also gives him an air of mystery, as we do not know what he is doing.

Overall, the anime is great, dark in tone and has a great plot. It's set of characters are very three dimensional (it's nice to have female characters that have actual personalities for once). The story doesn't focus on romance nor sexuality, but more on awesome fighting scenes and its mysterious plot.

10/10

Now I've lost it...I know I can kill...

[Real77 · 7/10 · 27 November 2008]

Some titles are misleading, as such is 'Darker than Black'; though the series is graphic throughout, the story is considerably less 'dark' than many other of anime. I cannot really 'genre' it either; there are elements of the supernatural which are used so for 'Darker than Black' to feel very much like a super-hero story (I can't really stress that though). It's another sort of anti-hero tale which I can suppose one may even compare with 'Death Note'; again, it's a little less 'dark' than most other anime ('Death Note' included), and of the anti-hero concept used, the show uses it without abusing it. The show also has such stereotypical characters, but I can say that these characters do the subject matter justice (the character of Hei dose not seem totally without reason to be angsty). The subject matter in question is thoughtful and it fuels very interesting conflicts.

This is a decent series and I suggest that any fan of anime (or of the TV show 'Heroes') should give this overlooked series an attempt.

7/10

Really enjoyed this anime!

[mercfma · 9/10 · 2 May 2014]

The first few episodes are a bit, wtf is going on but it does explain more in depth after several episodes. This show is basically about emotionless people with abilities that have to pay a price to use those abilities and vary greatly person to person. This show is a sorta dark show, i guess compared to what everyone these days thinks of a "normal" anime then yeah it is dark, but to me I've seen much darker lol. There is lots of blood, action, and excitement. My only complaint with season 1 was the last episode(26). I believe it was an OVA but none the less it just didn't match the series at all, for example episode 1-25 is pure logical thinking, no emotion to killing a person for what ever reason they have to kill them. In episode 26(it also takes place before episode 25 id say 23-24)the group of contractors(basically assassins) are all OMG BUDDY YOU CAN'T KILL THAT PERSON YOU COULD GET HURT!?! Its far to dangerous, don't do that, Oh my goodness thank god your OK. It basically just changes there personalities 100% of what they've been for 25 episodes and doesn't make cents lol Other wise season 1 was very good.

Now onto season 2, right off the bat i'd say its far less dark, theirs still tons of violence and blood but unlike in season 1 there is a lot of hesitant killing or mercy for the opponents which doesn't really match up with season 1 but it's still very good overall. When i was a little over half i felt i liked season 1 better but after i got finished(includes the 4 OVA episodes, this basically wraps up a ton of questions and explains the gist of season 2) i definitely like season 2 a little bit better.

Overall review: 4.5/5 Why not a 5/5, well there are some serious questions that could have been given at least a vague detail.(like payments, and what happens when there not made. Or how they even know what there payments are). There are plenty other questions but this is just one example. I also think there is plenty of room for a 3rd season, because with all the things they left blank theirs more then enough room to do another season possibly two, i really hope they do i wouldn't mind at all! But don't misinterpret what i said about blanks, the series ends very good with a lot of questions but not enough that it makes the show not make cents or bad in anyway.

The show is worth the watch :)

A decent sequel. Not as good or dark as the original.

[sun-goku · 6/10 · 22 December 2011]

The story takes place two years after darker than black. The feeling is no longer the same. After finishing the first series, people would want to check the sequel out. I would recommend watching the four ova's first before watching the sequel. For those of you who haven't seen Ryusei no Gemini and loved the original and its main character, i have some bad news for all of you out there. As much as it looks that Hei is the main character, he is actually not. This series does involve Hei and completely explains the gap that has been left in the original and the ova's,however, Hei is only the supporting character. The story is actually about this Russian girl who is the copy of her brother. Her brother is a contractor since birth and has the ability to make things out of nothing. Somehow that involves making copies of anything. Due to certain events getting unfolded, She ends up traveling with Hei,who is searching for Yin,toward Tokyo to find her brother who is secretly creating another world in which his sister can live in. That is practically the importance of the series.But like i said. It does explain a lot more and ends the series in a happy tone. 6.5 out of 10 and no more sequels please :)

It had potential, but...

[Breitschleif · 5/10 · 15 November 2014]

The anime's story is interesting and unique, the animation is great as well.

Unfortunately the protagonists remain somewhat flat and uninspiring, the beginning of the show feels very "rushed" and confusing. The audience is just tossed into this world without pretty much any explanation until later episodes about what "Hell's Gate" actually is or even looks like which was kinda annoying to be honest.

Instead of providing the really interesting elements or focusing more on the supernatural powers and happenings the creators decided to add quite a few boring filler episodes with a totally irrelevant side story and boring characters towards the later midsection of the show as well. Those felt totally unnecessary and almost made me stop watching the show since it felt like such a waste of time at that point.

Overall I didn't hate the show and watched it all the way through but quite frankly: I would probably not recommend it to anyone over other great shows that are in the same genre but just more superior in the way of story telling and action.

5/10

A new protagonist but Hei still features

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 21 February 2012]

This series is set a couple of years after the original; if you want to know what happened between the two series you need to watch the four OVA episodes; strangely these are on disc three of the 'Season Two' box set, at least they are here in the UK. The series starts in Russia where thirteen year old Suo lives with her father and twin brother Shion until one day their house is attacked. She assumes they have been killed in the attack and heads to Japan hoping to find her mother. She is accompanied by Hei, who has been badly affected by the loss of Yin, Mao who is now a flying squirrel and a doll called July. It turns out that Suo is a contractor; she can create an antitank rifle out of thin air! There are several contractors after her including one of her school friends who has the power to summon enough insects to kill a person or even derail a train! While Suo wants to find her mother Hei is keen to find Yin again; the problem is many people want to stop him believing a prophecy that suggests if they meet again it could be the end for all contractors.

While this series is quite different to the first I enjoyed it just as much; Suo makes a good protagonist and the season contains one long story arc rather than relying on several three or four part stories. While only a few original characters return it is good to see Hei, policewoman Misaki Kirihara, although she is now working for the shadowy 'Section Three, and Mao return. Over the course of the series Suo's character develops nicely and that development includes a couple of real surprises that I won't spoil here.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

Top of the Pile in Anime! May contain Spoilers.

[dunvarna-407-336276 · 10/10 · 26 January 2014]

I ran across this by chance and was immediately hooked. Its starts out slowly developing the characters, plot and slowly introducing background

This is an adequate amount of action, humor and a bit of childishness, which may be possibly Japanese culture humor?

In any case, the choreography of the fight scenes, the character development, the background, the pretense each characters flaws, etc are spot on in my opinion.

I won't go into much detail in regards to the series, suffice to say there is a good deal of fighting, dying and blood letting.

The premise is that some cataclysmic event caused the whole scenario to start....present day Japan is the timeline basically..

Humans-Contractors-Dolls, those are the three classes of society, whilst the first class, humans, is not supposed to really know the contractors and dolls exist. I suggest buying all the series, getting a lot of popcorn..and watch them all back to back,then wonder why in the heck did they not make more episodes???

Incredible writing

[a_sad_cow · 10/10 · 9 December 2020]

I think it was Vonnegut who said their are only 12 story arcs, it's just a matter of how well you tell them. This show brilliantly smashes them all, while developing characters in unconventional ways. A mysterious alien presence grants powers to seemingly random individuals, with a certain price for said power. What's brilliant is how little people care for reality, and willingly settle for the propaganda. For instance, the stars are replaced with different stars, but how often does the average person even look up at night? It's a trivial rearrangement for most people, despite the cosmic implications. "Contractors" and "dolls" have some solid stereotyping, yet we see distinct moments where those stereotypes are both true and false. Couple this with emotional events that span entire lifetimes, and a myriad of brilliant characters, and I find myself just rewatching and rewatching.

Oh, and it really helps that the animation is brilliant, and the dubs are flawless. It seems they spared no expense on this, and I sorely wish it were revisited by the original crew.

After a slow start, it becomes pretty good

[glumski · 8/10 · 20 May 2023]

I'm honestly quite conflicted about Darker Than Black. While the overall premise is interesting and fairly unique, I found the first half of Season One utterly unremarkable. I did not manage to connect to the characters (partially because most of them are 'Contractors' who don't have any emotions are thus as vivacious as wet cardboard) and found the plot mildly entertaining at best. Funnily enough, while the series was mediocre, it was at least consistently so: I rated every episode a 7/10; none were particularly outstanding, neither in a positive nor in a negative way.

Thankfully, the second half of the first season finally turned into a consistent story, and the final quarter is truly outstanding. Why the rest of the season wasn't written in the same way, I'll never understand.

Season Two is a complete change of pace. The protagonist switches from a cold-hearted mercenary in his twenties to a preteen girl, yet becomes much darker in the process. Funnily enough, I found it much easier to emotionally connect to that preteen girl (perhaps because she had actual emotions), and the entire season features a consistent plot that advances with every episode. While not every episode is consistently fantastic, the second season of Darker Than Black is at least consistently entertaining.

Then there is the final "movie", a four-part OVA. That one is solid gold. Set between the two seasons, it finally explains how the drastic shift in tone and characters of Season Two came to place.

In my opinion, the production value mirrors the quality of the storytelling. I was not particularly impressed by the animation, dialogues, or even soundtrack (despite being written by Yoko Kanno) in the first half of Season One, but I felt like it became much better later on. Season Two and the OVAs are great in every regard. I watched the English dub, which is good throughout the entire series.

All in all, I'd recommend Darker Than Black if you don't mind sticking through the first twelve or so episodes. If you're looking for instant gratification, perhaps you should look somewhere else.

Good but could have been a lot better

[Zubacz · 7/10 · 23 June 2014]

This anime series has a brilliant premise, interesting characters, great animation, music and sound effects, engaging action scenes and well written dialogue. It would seem that those would constitute a great anime show. Well, Darker than Black is good but it could have been a lot better, if one thing wasn't missing:

Character development. With the exception of episode 13 and 14 (the best ones, in my opinion) where we see a subtle, yet clear enlightenment of the side character Yin, there is very little character development in this series. The great titles like Death Note, Elfen Lied, Time of Eve or even the lighthearted Black Lagoon, always feature an emotional arc of one or more characters. They learn, they react, they change their attitude or moral stance because of the circumstances. We root for the characters, we empathise with them and we get closure when their character arc completes. This is missing in Darker than Black. The main character is conflicted but his attitude and behaviour stays almost constant throughout.

If not for the above, this would have been an outstanding series. As it is, it's still worth watching, but don't expect the thoughtful and emotional involvement that the best anime give.

A Fantastic and Emotional Action Show that is Woefully Underrated

[Better_TV · 8/10 · 24 April 2018]

I love this series. I'm someone who is always on the lookout for anime productions that aren't too weird and wacky, with ridiculous "fan service" and silly storytelling. This show fits the bill: it takes itself seriously and has a "Western" feel, in a similar fashion to other anime I enjoy like "Baccano!" and "Cowboy Bebop." Highlights include:

-A phenomenal English dub - simply one of the best I've EVER heard. Every character is perfectly cast. Special commendations must go to John Swasey as the grizzled badass Huang and Jason Liebrecht as the befuddled Chinese exchange student-by-day, cloak-wearing electric-powered masked hitman-by-night named Hei. As Hei's daytime identity Li Shenshun, Liebrecht channels friendliness and warmth; as Hei, Liebrecht gives the character both a mysterious apathy and a subtle, smoldering anger that crackles underneath the surface of his personality like the electricity his body generates to assassinate targets.

-A fascinating setup, where part of Tokyo is taken over by a bizarre spatial anomaly and the world's intelligence agencies employ individuals with X-Men-like abilities to do their dirty work; each time these contractors use their supernatural abilities they have to "pay the price" in some fashion, whether through an OCD-style tick or some form of self-harm.

-Great side characters, including a variety of MI-6 operatives from the UK, one of whom is probably one of my favorite anime characters ever: the suave, sarcastic blond British hitman/contractor named Jack Simon, codenamed November 11. Troy Baker gives such a great performance.

-A wonderful narrative arc during the first season, whereby each fascinating member of the main cast, which also includes detectives with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and a private detective named Guy Kurasawa, is given an episode focusing solely on them. This is an anime with very strong episodic writing; there's a lot of emotion to be found in the stories of these mysterious, broken individuals, and it's one of the only anime series I've ever seen that actually earns its angst.

There's a second season too, which isn't as good as the first and introduces new characters. The first season is where it's at. This is an anime to treasure and savor - one of my absolute favorites.

so far so good

[daez888 · 6/10 · 4 December 2013]

I like the uniqueness of the story of this anime. This anime is full of mystery but in some aspect I feel bored because of some boring conversation in some episode. The animation of this anime is good because they used some HD graphics on it. But the color and the style of the anime is like old school.

The plot of this anime is kinda creepy. not totally creepy. It gives me creeps because of my excite on what's next.

. In episode 2-5 I ask to myself that what is a doll or contractor. they didn't deeply explain some unknown words in the anime so that some of the audience gets confuse.

I recommend this anime if you are looking some psychological, mystery and paranormal anime.

Darker than Black, the deepest show ever made

[nadimgebrael · 10/10 · 11 August 2015]

This is probably one of my favorite shows. HEI IS A BEAST OF A CHARACTER. He is constantly switching personalities from that of a silly exchange student to the serious contractor he is which is so easily depicted by his eyes whenever he is done pretending to be happy they drain from all life and it really just makes you wanna curl up into a ball and do nothing forever. If you are looking for a show to really just give you an existential crisis then Darker than Black is your show. CHARACTER ATTACHMENT IS CRAZY. It is so deep as well as very smart and emotionally draining. After watching it for the first time I proceeded to show it to my sister who watched it in one day and was left with no idea what to do with life. This series is so dark (the title is very fitting) with the creator having no conscious which is what makes it so good. You will also find a huge attachment to the characters that remain constant and even those that are temporary. Only thing I wish was different was that there was more to watch, really an amazing show.

Not much story and disappointing, but some aspects are good.

[Lukasmj · 7/10 · 18 November 2022]

Unfortunately, "Darker than Black" really disappointed me.

I think the character design of the main character and the fight scenes are nice to look at, but apart from that the anime doesn't really have a story. You have 1 or 2 aspects that are picked up again and again and the main character also has a personal goal, but that is rarely mentioned.

The majority of season 1 actually consists of showing different "missions", each of which consists of 2 episodes.

I didn't see the second season anymore because I had to fight my way through the first one and even fans of the first season say the second season is much weaker.

Originally I only wanted to give 6/10 points, but I'll give it one more because season 1 has found a more or less satisfying ending.

So Dark, its average.

[Kareiyasu · 5/10 · 23 September 2010]

Let me start by saying, that many people will usually consider this "great" anime, simply due to the many years of hype and the studio backing it. Sporting some decent songs produced by the famous Yoko Kanno helps as well. With that knowledge alone, people will usually be expecting something the likes of Cowboy Bebop or Samurai Champloo. Unfortunately the biggest expectations usually tend to let us down quite frequently.

As far as anime goes, Darker than Black is one that takes few risks and offers very little rewards. While you might hear or see that the series is "gritty" and "gory", it only really shares those two in very specific scenes and easily gets beat by other animes such as Elfen Lied, and while Datker than Black isn't here to give us a gore fest, it still provides with some decent scenes. The bad side?, they really only come sparingly.

Many categorize the series as Noir or the abruptly formed, "neo-noir", and as a fan of such classics as Casablanca, The Big Sleep, and Gilda. I can't say I see it. Wearing a mask and a black trench coat, does not a noir make. There are zero silhouette shots, no femme fatales and the only person that smokes happens to be an uninteresting geezer with a bad case of the Mondays.

The first few episodes are pieced together quite well, but eventually, the plot hits a fork in the road and becomes more about mysteries wrapped in enigmas, rinsed and repeated till they become cliché. At around this time two episodes usually contain the same plot as the director decided he needed two episodes to conclude a very short story.

Ultimately, the characters aren't appealing and the lead (Hei) becomes as stiff as the rest of the cast. The character development is sluggish if at all any. Even the slapstick characters seem to just fall short. The fight scenes are worth the wait, but suffer from quick panels and don't really bring us in on the ride.

Darker then Black feels average, I can't say I will recommend this anime to anyone who enjoys either Noir or animes altogether. Frankly, its too sub par to be considered "good", and in an age where the "next big thing" is still being wished for, DBT isn't even a tease.

Amazing

[a_sad_cow · 10/10 · 29 February 2016]

Every time I watch this, I want to add another star. It's a shame it stops at 10. There's so many layers of genius on this, I don't know where to start. The characters are so varied, yet I can identify with each of them. As different from our world as this one is, it's crazily so similar, and the reasons why are so brilliant and logical. For instance, if we lost our ability to see the stars, how many normal people would actually care? It's cutting, how deep that simple point hits.

The only bad part for this entire series is how quickly it ends. This needs 10 seasons, and it gets 2.5. I just keep rewatching instead of going to something of lesser quality. Help.

A captivating dark mystery

[nanothestrange · 10/10 · 10 October 2017]

This series is one of my all time favorites. if you're someone who doesn't easily connect dots however, it is not for you. the story is incredibly captivating without needing to give you much information. A lot of the story is left open and the characters are incredibly dynamic. You spend the entire series trying to solve questions like what happened? What does that mean? what will happen next? The directors have a keen understanding of setting, narrative and foreshadowing. The series is different than most anime, as you aren't given all the details in some drawn out boring exposition speech. You are left to connect events through meticulous clues and hopeful symbols left by the writers. An expert use of dialogue as there is very little dialogue that is worth nothing. Every word is important to the overall story. Perfect and thought provoking. Got more attached to the main 3 contractors than pretty much any anime characters.