Welcome back to our weekly anime series. This week, I was going through my MAL list thinking which anime I should pick. Then this popped up in front of my eyes and I remembered how awesome this anime was. Granted I watched it like 4-5 times to understand what was going on but here’s the thing, I never got bored.
You have read the title; you already know we are talking about Darker Than Black this week. Darker Than Black is a series full of action, plot twists, and a lot of complex stuff. Before we begin, remember that this is a recommendation and not a review hence there will be no negative points or scores for the most part. So let’s begin.
Introduction
Darker Than Black is a Studio Bones original anime. It has 2 seasons. Season 1 is 25 episodes long and Season 2 is 12 episodes long. Darker Thank Black also has a 4 episode special that acts as a bridge between both seasons. So I strongly recommend that you watch Kuro no Keiyakusha Gaiden (the special) before starting Ryuusei no Gemini (Season 2).
Darker Than Black is an action-oriented sci-fi mystery anime. It brings out the best of all these 3 genres and combines them in a really complex story. It has really detailed world-building which is usually missed because of all the weird stuff that’s happening.
Darker Than Black is somewhat like Evangelion but much less psychological. I am comparing it to Evangelion because you actually need to pay attention to what is happening and what people are saying to properly understand the story. And because you’ll probably need multiple rewatches to fully comprehend the series. It is really good for an original anime and my 2nd favorite original anime of all time.
Plot
I’ll try to explain the plot as simply as I can because Darker Than Black is really complicated. The series is set 10 years after the “Heaven’s Gate” appeared in South America and the “Hell’s Gate” appeared in Japan. The presence of these gates covered up the real sky with a false one. There is no moon in the false sky. Most of the series revolves around Hell’s Gate as Heaven’s Gate mysteriously “disappeared” 5 years ago.
I am not going into details too much here because otherwise, it’d end up like the Evangelion article I did. But yeah, Darker Than Black has a really interesting and deep plot. You will probably require multiple rewatches to fully understand what’s happening.
Characters
To go along with the complicated storyline, Darker than Black has some really good characters. Even if a few characters are emotionless due to being contractors/dolls they do have a well-written character. The protagonist, Hei is a rather unique character. He is someone who still has some emotions despite being a contractor and yet he keeps fighting.
Animations and Soundtrack
The animations are just awesome. The fights are a pure joy to watch. Bones really did its best on this since Darker than Black is their original anime and all. The soundtracks are really cool too; all of the openings are really good. The season 2 opening in particular will probably stick with you for quite some time.
Why you should watch Darker than Black
Quick pointers on why should check out this anime:
- A really detailed and complex plot
- Awesome fights
- Awesome animations
- Good openings
- Great characters
Conclusion
That is all for now. Let me know your thoughts and recommendation down in the comments. I will take my leave here. See ya!
