Darker than Black

Mysterious gates appear in Tokyo and South America. The unexplained phenomena results in the disappearence of the sky,untold destruction and the emergence of super-powered individuals known as “contractors.” In a race to acquire technology and weapons from these supernatural Chernobyl-like sites, governments and organizations hire contractors to engage in espionage and assassination to gain domininance. The series follows one such contractor, Hei, as he leads the double life of a mild-mannered foreign exchange student and a murderous spy. As the story progresses, Hei developes empathy for his targets, grows closer to his comrades and begins to question his employer, the Syndicate. Each arc is broken upinto 2 parts and functions as a means of exploring characters who fall into the orbit of Hei and his comrades. His team is comprised of Yin, a young medium, Huang, an ex-cop who acts as their handler, and Mao, a contractor stuck in the body of a cat who handles recon. Their backstories and motivations are given the spotlight on numerous occasions. Likewise, the police and rival contractors are given a sizable amount of screen time. The attention to developing a large ensemble cast of characters adds a lived-in quality to the world. Ambitious in its’ scope, the narrative balances multiple perspectives through the 25 episodes. While everything is not explicitly explained, expository information and visual storytelling provide a mostly fleshed out narrative. Darker than black rewards repeat viewings. Concepts and character motivations that could be perceived as obtuse become more clear upon revisiting. Tensai Okamura, the director, plays a large role in the creation and execution of Darker Than Black. Starting out as an animator, he rose to the role of storyboarder and episode director under the tutelage of Hideako Anno. He would later refine his storyboarding skills while working on Cowboy Bebop. In interviews, Okamura cites spy fiction, superheroes and Sanpei Shirato’s 1960s ninja manga as inspiration for his work. Okamura combined these elements together when he got the chance to create Darker than Black at studio BONES. While he seems to have given freedom to Shotaro Suga to handle the bulk of the series composition, his influence on the show is unmistakable. The somber tone and moody quality brought to previous works like Android Kikaider the Animation and Wolf’s Rain is a clear throughline. Atmospheric framing and tragedy pervades Darker Than Black. Thankfully, it is not an entirely self-serious affair. In many instances, the series shifts to a more humorous tone. Especially in the few episodes that focus on a bumbling detective and his otaku assistant. By and large, it is mostly edgy crime/noir stories but there is enough levity to balance the darker aspects. Darker than Black is a great show. It explores a world of violent, superpowered spies with intriguing backstories. It’s not super deep but it does touch on some interesting themes. The idea of prejudice and the perception of a group of people versus the more complicated reality. Contractors are presented as cold, logical people who appear to have trouble communicating (autistic ninjas?). It helps to view contractors through the lens of the ninja who often view the ends as justifying the means. They feel emotions but their outward expression doesn’t always match average expectations. On the technical side, the animation is very good. Bones Studio C, known for their work on Fullmetal Alchemist (2003), produced the series. Many of the key animators for the previous production of FMA return as animation directors. In particular, Takahiro Komori comes back to pull multiple responsibilities. He adapts Yuji Iwahara’s original character designs for animation as the Chief Animation director and took charge of animation direction duties on multiple episodes both correcting and animating scenes. Another standout animation director is Ikuo Kuwana. His involvement in episode 18 features a lot of visually striking drawings and stands out as a slight stylistic departure from other installments. Takashi Aoi provides art direction that favors green neon lighting with purple contrasts that are very evocative. In general, fight scenes are animated fluidly with clear thought put into the blocking. Not every episode is incredibly polished but it looks great most of the time.