DVD Re-release: Darker than the X-Men, that's for sure

In May of this year, Funimation re-released the first season of "Darker Than Black" in a box set.

This anime is a creative show that sucks viewers into a dark, noir world of supernatural battles between humans and contractors.

Think of this show as the Japanese version of the "X-Men." The story focuses on the lives of contractors, people who are allowed to use special powers as long as they pay a price. For instance, the main character, Hei, eats tons of food in order to pay for his ability to expel electricity from his body.

These contractors all come from different organizations. The British secret agent service, MI6, has three contractors who battle with Hei from time-to-time. An unknown syndication gives each agency different missions to assassinate people and to kill rival contractors.

Our main hero, Hei, takes on the identity of the Black Reaper. He's satisfied with his life as a contractor. However, he has a secret lover who he struggles to come to terms with. His former girlfriend, Amber, is hatching a destructive plot that could eliminate Japan.

These two lovers were part of some mysterious scientific experiments held by a company known as Pandora. They received their strange new powers through these research operations. However, they eventually get forced to endure the most daunting mission of their entire lives. A mission that literally reaches past the boundaries of heaven and hell.

This series certainly has its share of conspiracy theories. The characters receive very little knowledge about why they have to follow the syndicate's orders. The contractors live dangerous lives, where they must kill others before they get killed themselves.

Yet, the story all comes together in a strangely euphoric whole. To tell the truth, "Darker Than Black" doesn't make too much sense unless you look at the entire series as a whole. The storyline is very similar to the film "The Sky Crawlers." These characters are part of a gigantic life-threatening competition, but they must find a way to cooperate with each other when their lives are on the line.

Is there a way to defy the rules of society? "Darker Than Black" will definitely open your mind up to the possibility of a world where everyone lives in harmony. In the wake of a frightening genocide, it offers the promise of a new beginning. As imperfect as this show is, there is almost nothing cooler than this series.

Well, you could mention "Neon Genesis Evangelion." With all that said, the Evangelion director couldn't possibly come up with a script as poetic as this series. No one could ever replicate the sly, chilling tone of "Darker Than Black."

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DVD Review - The City Gets Darker

Volume three of "Darker Than Black" provides two fascinating episodes taking a look inside the gigantic wall and two exciting and dramatic episodes about Yin's past.

The first two episodes cover parts one and two of "Within the Wall, When You Recover Something Lost...", in which Li Shengshun (a.k.a. Hei) undertakes an investigation inside the Pandora agency, which is scientifically studying the phenomena of Hell's Gate, whatever that is. He's searching for the Meteor fragment, a large lens with mysterious power. He befriends Nick Hillman, a scientist who has a telescope which could see the stars through the fake night sky. But he also has other secrets.

The other two episodes cover both parts of "On a Silver Night, the Heart Does Not Sway On the Water's Surface." In these episodes, someone from a rival syndicate steals the observer spirit of Yin, the silver haired girl who has the power to spy on people wherever there is water. We learn that she is actually a lifeless doll who was once a pianist in Finland. Her piano instructor visits her, ready to take her back.

This anime has a great storyline which looks further and further into the disaster which led to the creation of Hell's Gate and the Contractors. Hei's infiltration into Pandora as a janitor is one of the more perplexing stories, involving Nick and his mysterious sister, who is a spy for Hei's syndicate. Certainly the Meteor fragment had made Nick's own wish come true, as shown at the end of episode 12, but at the expense of his life in the real world.

More fascinating, though, are Hei's memories of the aftermath of the creation of Hell's Gate, which obliterated the entire city within the wall. Scientific examinations in Hei's mind also introduces a mysterious girl with green hair in a flashback. Could this girl be Hei's sister, the girl shown briefly in the introduction of episode 12?

Probably the most emotional episodes were 13 and 14, which circle around Yin, the silver haired girl in Hei's syndicate. As the syndicate's field supervisor, Hei keeps Yin merely as a doll with an observer spirit, to spy on the city. However, when a Russian Intelligence contractor steals Yin's spirit, Yin wanders aimlessly around the city, recalling her life as a piano player and her dark memories of her parents.

Although this part of the series almost too much storyline in two episodes, it still manages to remain surprisingly emotional. Huang is all too eager to kill Yin for exposing herself to other syndicates, until he discovers that Yin has emotions.

However, we still don't know exactly what PANDORA is, or what the hell Hell's gate is. Hopefully the series ties up these mysteries soon.

Image courtesy of bj0rn.animeblogger.net