Darker Than Black: Volumes 5 & 6

Introduction

It all looked so bleak two days ago. There I was, in the middle of Naruto filler, attempting to come up with a semblance of a review, and slowly teetering towards the position that all this anime stuff is a bit of a nonsense really. Surely a grown man can find something more constructive, and indeed appropriate to do with his time. Then the final instalment of Darker Than Black made its way towards my DVD player, and I got over my brief burst of insanity. As I enthusiastically decided in the previous review, Darker Than Black is just the sort of thing that I started watching anime for in the first place. I have been looking forward to these two concluding discs with an eagerness that is only matched by my reluctance for more Naruto. The only twinge of disappointment comes with the fact that these are the concluding discs, and as yet there has been no word from Manga, or indeed Funimation as to whether they have picked up or will pick up the sequel currently airing in Japan.

Ten years previously, the stars vanished from the sky, to be replaced with false stars. A massive wall appeared in Tokyo, enclosing an area soon to be known as Hell's Gate, and suddenly, there were Contractors in the world. Contractors are people with special abilities, superpowers, and they are somehow connected to the false stars. They are called Contractors as there is a price to be paid for their abilities, a contract that must be fulfilled, and it's different for each one. It may be a physical need, it may be a psychological compulsion, it may be benign or it may be debilitating, but it must be paid. At the same time Dolls appeared, soulless beings, linked to ambulatory spirits, through which they observe the world. It was decided that the world didn't need to know about this, despite the false stars and Hell's Gate, so it's useful that Hell's Gate yielded ME technology, which allows the erasure of memories, ensuring that the general populace know nothing about Contractors other than wild rumours. In the background of this world, a new super-powered arms race rages, a cold war fought by countries using Contractors. There are security forces ostensibly to keep an eye on Contractor activity in the city, special police such as Foreign Affairs Department 4 - Public Safety Division, although they usually have a hard time keeping up. A new star appears when a new Contract is made, and whenever a Contractor dies, a star falls from the heavens.


Darker Than Black tells the story of a Contractor team working for a mysterious syndicate. The two Contractors in the team are Hei, a masked figure who wears black, and is known as The Black Reaper. His ability is to use and control electricity. The other is Mao, whose ability is to jump between bodies, but since his original body was destroyed, he has been trapped in the form of a black cat. Yin is the Doll, the observer in the team who uses the medium of water for surveillance. Their human handler is a gruff sardonic man named Huang.

Manga Entertainment release the final eight episodes of Darker Than Black across two discs, along with some extra features to appreciate.

19. Dream Shallow, Uninebriated (Part 1)
20. Dream Shallow, Uninebriated (Part 2)
Huang wasn't always a Syndicate handler for Contractors. In another life he was a cop named Kuno, investigating odd crimes after the Event. He had a partner named Isozaki, and even had a chance of falling in love, when he almost arrested a pickpocket named Shihoko. Then it all fell apart. Shihoko turned out to be a Contractor, and Huang witnessed Isozaki being murdered. Even then, the principle was that anyone who saw a Contractor would have their memory erased, but for some reason, the Syndicate had their eye on Huang and offered him a deal. Now the bitter embers of memory are being raked over, when Hei is ordered to infiltrate a religious sect of Gate worshippers, and murder the sect's leader, Alma. There's already a Syndicate Contractor on the inside to make things easier, but things get complicated when they learn that a deal is going down with Amber's EPR group. On top of that, no one told Hei that Alma has a secret or two to hide. The mission looks to be spiralling out of control, and the order is given to eliminate the inside man before the Syndicate is compromised. The problem for Huang is that the inside man is Shihoko.


21. City Under Crackdown, Moist with Tears (Part 1)
22. City Under Crackdown, Moist with Tears (Part 2)
The EPR are back, with their most audacious act yet. They've kidnapped an eminent Gate researcher named Schroeder, and now it is rumoured that they will attack the US embassy. That rumour appears to be confirmed when the Public Safety Division capture a member of the EPR wielding a stick of C4. Unfortunately, he had his memories erased before he went on his mission, meaning there are no leads left. Misaki is put on the case, but when she tries to work with US embassy officials to beef up security, she gets cold-shouldered. No wonder, as far from targeting the embassy, the EPR is using it to interrogate Schroeder. The reasons behind the rumour become clear, when Hei is ordered by the Syndicate to break into the embassy and blow it up. At the same time November 11 is sniffing around the case, but this time it seems that he's doing it without his MI6superiors' sanction. Hei will encounter a couple of familiar faces when he tries to complete his mission, Contractors who tested him to the limit previously, but behind it all is a Syndicate conspiracy that may change everything he believes in.


23. God is In His Heaven
There's a rumour spreading around the city, that for one night only, the old stars will return. Everyone is preparing for it in their own way. Detective Gai Kurosawa has a job helping a boy complete his homework, the ultimate in PI chic. For Hei, it's an unexpected moment of peace, as he shares some reflective time with detective Misaki Kirihara. But as the city shuts down and looks heavenwards, the Syndicate have something more nefarious in mind, the removal of all Contractors. First they have to get the risk out of the way, and that means preventing a repeat of Heaven's Gate. That means erasing Hei's group. Meanwhile, Amber's EPR group have started their countermove, and the first thing they need is Hei.

24. Meteor Shower…
If the Syndicate succeed, Hell's Gate will be destroyed, and with it all the Contractors. If the EPR succeed, Japan will go the way of South America, and be erased from the map. Both sides need just 30 minutes, and in those 30 minutes, war comes to Tokyo. It's a veritable gallery of shooting stars, each falling mote signifying the death of another Contractor. All the while, Amber waits for Hei inside Hell's Gate, but as Hei and Yin travel into the forgotten depths below Tokyo, they are about to face betrayal. Meanwhile, Misaki Kirihara is about to learn the truth about the Syndicate, and just whom she has been working for all this time.


25. Does the Reaper Dream of Darkness Darker Than Black?
The stunning conclusion.

26. Beneath Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom…
There's more? There is this bonus episode, released direct to DVD in Japan, which injects a little comedy into the world of Darker Than Black, as it focuses on one of the minor supporting characters. Otsuka is a hardworking police officer by day, supporting Misaki Kirihara in her pursuit of Contractors, but by night, she's a committed anime and manga fan, and has even gathered an online following through her self penned doujins and fanfic. While the police and Hei's group compete to find a mysterious missing box, Otsuka suddenly runs smack bang into inspiration, when a enigmatic masked man rescues her from a naked chubby Contractor.

Picture

Once again, Manga Entertainment bring us a pretty attractive anime transfer. The 1.78:1 anamorphic image is clear and colourful throughout, with minimal NTSC-PAL conversion issues. The only real lack of smoothness is in the opening sequence, when the giant neon letters of the title scroll in every which direction, otherwise this is up with Claymore in terms of transfer quality. The animation comes via Studio BONES, the people behind Full Metal Alchemist and Wolf's Rain, so you won't be surprised at the quality here. Darker Than Black looks astoundingly well accomplished, solid, and with impressive characters, a well thought out and realised world design, and fluid, vivid action sequences that are just one step below theatrical quality.

If I do have an issue with the show, it's a minor, and probably personal one. I'm not too fond of the colour palette, which looks at odds with the emotional tone of the show. This is a mostly serious and for want of a better word, dark story, it explores some occasionally morbid themes, and the name is well deserved. However, the colour palette is bright, shiny and clean. There are plenty of primary colours, and the vivid clarity here wouldn't be amiss in a romantic comedy, or something a little more family friendly. With a title like Darker than Black, you'd be forgiven for expecting something, well dark. On the other hand, you don't miss any of the action because it's hard to make out or obscured.

Sound

You have a choice between DD 5.1 English and DD 2.0 Japanese, along with optional translated subtitles and a signs only track. The dub is pleasant enough, up to Funimation's usual standards when it comes to drama, and the surround sound is most appreciated for the action scenes. But guess what… It was the Japanese soundtrack for me again, and the stereo was nice enough alongside the original language. The big draw for me with this title is the Yoko Kanno soundtrack. The thing is, I didn't notice it at all. I was fixated on the story and the action, and the music just drifted by. A major reason for this is that in shows like Cowboy Bebop and Ghost In The Shell, Yoko Kanno used a lot of songs, and lots of 'big' music to emphasise action set pieces. In Darker Than Black, there are fewer vocal songs most certainly, but in terms of the music, it's a more traditional piece, with mostly instrumental music that supports or counterpoints what is happening on screen, but never stands above it, or appears overtly to be driving the emotional content. I had to go back and watch an episode again, this time ignoring the content and listening specifically for the music, and it is excellent, varied, imaginative, and sublime, just as you would expect from Yoko Kanno. It is another soundtrack CD to put on the list. From episode 15, there are new credits sequences for the show.

Extras

Both discs get static menus with the show's music playing, and there is the usual jacket picture for when the disc isn't spinning.

Disc 1

The commentary this time accompanies episode 22, and ADR director Zach Bolton joins writers John Burgemeier and Spencer Prokop as they talk about the difficulties and challenges in bringing this series to the English speaking world. It's a nice informative commentary to listen to.

There are 9 character bios to read through, 8 pages in the settings gallery, showing off some line art, and the textless credits to round things off.


Disc 2

The commentary once again features ADR director Zach Bolton. This time, Peter Hawkinson, recording engineer, and Kent Williams (Mao), join him to talk about the final episode. It's a comedy episode that gets a suitably frivolous commentary track.

One final time, there are 8 character bios to read through, 4 pages in the settings gallery, showing off some line art, and the textless credits to round things off.

Conclusion

December is upon us, and with it the conclusion of Darker Than Black. This is the point of the year where I, tentatively, begin to come off the fence, and venture an opinion as to what my favourite anime of the year may well turn out to be. With provisos and reservations of course. Can't be too careful. Having said all that, Darker Than Black is most likely the best anime I have seen on DVD this year. I may have been relatively noncommittal about it with the first two volumes, but as the show progressed, and the second set of discs arrived, I was barely restraining myself from trotting out the 'best thing since sliced bread' cliché. This final set of two volumes is even better than the previous two, and with it, my induction into the 'Darker' side is complete. Here's another well-worn cliché for you. If there is just one anime you are going to buy this year, make it Darker Than Black.


The initial misgiving I had was with the two-episode per story format. The stories themselves were great, the additional time allowing the tales to be developed with far greater intricacy, and allowing for character development of the sort that appeals to someone looking for a little more maturity from anime. Not only are the stories entertaining, exciting and action packed, but they also exercise that grey muscle inside your skull. But there seemed to be a lack of interconnectivity between the stories, they felt very standalone. Those were the first two discs. Last month when I reviewed volumes 3 & 4, I realised how misleading that was. There is a great deal of interconnectivity between the episodes, as they build on characters and situations introduced earlier in the series. Also there is a lot of hinting and suggesting going on in the background, plenty of world building going on almost subliminally, as you enjoy the action taking place in the main story. Darker Than Black is a show that doesn't hit you with all the facts, it's up to you to work it out for yourself, gnaw at it and worry away at it and piece things together. It's a smart way of doing things, but may not be appealing to those who want a quick hit of anime action and would prefer to let the brain run on idle for twenty minutes.


Then, with this final set of two discs, all that intricate world building and character development pays dividends, as we get eight thrilling episodes that put all of it together, get to the heart of the story, and deliver a very worthy conclusion indeed. Volume 5 initially seems to continue in the same vein as before, offering two 2-part stories. And indeed, the first of them does veer a little away from the main storyline. It can be forgiven though, as it fills in the background of the last remaining Syndicate operative in Hei's team, Huang. He's a curious character, committed to working with the Syndicate and with Contractors, yet despising them all the same. We learn just what has resulted in this attitude, and we also see the resolution of a character arc for him. If at the end of volume 4, we saw Hei's group on the verge of falling apart, through mistrust and betrayal, this is the story where those interpersonal issues are resolved, as they are assigned a mission that reawakens Huang's past. Of course Amber and her EPR group make an appearance, and their intent and actions here, lead directly to the next story, and consequently the finale.


The next, and final two-part story is all about revelation, as we get to see what the Syndicate is really about, and just what Amber is hoping to accomplish in Hell's Gate. It's also a time of revelation for some of the supporting characters, particularly Misaki and November 11. While they may have just seemed like minor cast members when they were introduced, Darker Than Black has been amazingly successful in developing the supporting cast as well, and it turns out that while the interest lies with Hei, Yin, and Amber, there is almost as much emotional investment in seeing how Misaki and November 11's character arcs are resolved.


That two-part story can be seen as the start of the final arc, and on volume 6 we get three more episodes that continue and conclude that story, and a good five episodes to do so equates to almost a feature film worth of animation. It's a great conclusion as well, resolving many of the series' questions, providing answers that will leave the viewer satisfied with having invested in the series, but also holding just enough back, and also setting up new questions and situations, that will have you eager for more. I often lament that it's never the good shows that get sequels. In this case however, more is out there. Darker Than Black: Gemini of the Meteor is currently airing in Japan. It may take a few years, but if someone doesn't licence it, I will be very surprised. Of course then there is the final, bonus episode, which is a delightful, charming, and funny way to end the show, injecting a note of levity after a serious and dramatic finale.


I have absolutely adored Darker Than Black. Manga Entertainment have to be commended for bringing it to the UK, and bringing it in a form largely unaltered from the original Funimation release. They also deserve plaudits for releasing it in an extremely wallet-friendly two-disc format. Where the US got the series in six individual volumes, we in the UK had just three releases to collect at a price which would have netted you only half as much a couple of years back. If even this is too much for you, Manga have the collected series scheduled for next spring. But why bother waiting. If you enjoy action anime, you would be daft to delay on this one. Darker Than Black is anime entertainment at its finest.