Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
YamiLoon
Darker than Black had everything I usually enjoy: a mysterious world, supernatural powers, secret organizations, a badass protagonist, and an atmosphere that often reminded me of Gotham City. The visuals and soundtrack are still excellent, and Hei is easily one of the show's strongest points.
Unfortunately, the execution never matched the potential. The pacing is painfully slow, and the episodic two-episode cases rarely feel important to the overall story. Most of them ended up feeling like side quests rather than meaningful progression.
The characters were another disappointment. The series keeps teasing interesting backstories and mysteries but barely develops them or provides satisfying answers. By the end, I realized I wasn't emotionally invested in most of the cast because I never…
Read at the sourceSpider-Mate_MSA
Kill Or Be Killed
Honestly was expecting to like this show a lot, but it suffers a lot from simply being mostly lost in terms of overall plot and structure.
The show is episodic, with glimpses of a wider plot being revealed every now and then to keep you intrigued. At first, I was expecting a Cowboy Bebop style story where each episode was a contained story and the finale was gonna be a close to the main cast and their stories. Unfortunately, it wasn't that.
When Darker than Black stays episodic, it has some of the best episodes and stories I've seen. But when it starts to open up with a massive conspiracy and overarching plot, it's a big meh for me. I unfortunately probably won't be watching anything else related to the show, because while I did like aspects of it, I felt massively dis…
Read at the sourceTheBiggestAnime
The more episodes I watched the more I got into it. GODDAMN is this anime good.
Mystery is interesting , characters (depending on tastes here) are mostly stoic but have some traits to them , ost is fantastic , fights while few have surprisingly detailed movements and impact and the final 5 episodes are GREAT!
It's very episodic in nature and has some of the bad things Cowboy Bebop had where it introduced new characters in it's episodic arc (this time it's 2 episodes per mini-arc) only for the same character to be off-ed at the end of the episode. While it's not ALL characters, that trope from CB does appear and it can annoy a couple of people and in general not many can stand a show that's so episodic in nature (which is ME) which is why I am giving it a 9/10. But I think if a show coul…
Read at the sourceDaubeny117
I would describe Darker Than Black as a very imperfect anime, with about as much great flaws as it has great qualities, and definitely a product of its time.
It's a (as the name suggests) dark and moody neo-noir sci-fi show, much in the same vein as the excellent Wolf's Rain, with which it shares most of its staff : directed by Tensai Okumura and animated by studio Bones with music by Yoko Kanno, with the notable exception of Keiko Nobumoto (of Cowboy Bebop fame) as the writer, and we'll see how important that is later on.
(I know the review is pretty long, skip to the TL;DR at the end if you want to get my basic points summarized)
First and foremost, Darker Than Black is visually excellent. Its animation has great consistency as well as stunning highlights in the fight scenes, with d…
Read at the sourceFAKEANIMEGIRL
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Written October 29, 2016 2:22 am EST
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Well, I found this pretty boring. A total “less than the sum of its parts” show. I want to show it some base level of respect in that it was an earnest attempt at an anime-original series that at least seemed to have some ambition, but not really the wits to make it into anything of worth. It jams a bunch of interesting ideas into a single space but there’s a lot more to writing than a good premise.
In a nutshell, Darker Than Black (DTB) follows a group of four people working for “The Syndicate” (its only given name) who take on various secret missions involving contractors, a group of humans who suddenly awake to having supernatural abilities. There’s…
Read at the sourceKING3244
Darker than Black spuriously is good anime.
the only anime that my expectation was very low for some reasons I did not expect it to be worth my time, but in the end I end up watching the first episode which was ok so i watch the second which lead me in to the end of season one in just two days the anime is great and very masteries with so many secrets and good story that made you continue watch it all this in side and the characters designed are in the over side which made went to know the story of ever characters in the anime.
overall, the anime is amazing so if you have a time i recommend you to give it shoot.
Read at the sourceCiaran_Zagami
It's really good, a bit dark and edgy but that's how I like my anime.
Every episode is a two parter, so each arc is pretty self contained. Secondary guest characters get lots of time to be fleshed out which is nice. Even if they are killed off or thrown away at the end of the arc you still get time to come to understand and enjoy them.
I will admit that the protagonist Hei is more than a little cliche but he's well written and voiced enough to still be emotionally resonant. Every other major character is fairly interesting and gets just the right amount of spotlighting, the entire show is supremely tightly written with fantastic pacing. The show also runs the full gamut of human emotion, some episodes are crushingly dark and sad while others are much more light hearted. So it avoids fee…
Read at the sourceMarBaws
I watched this show 10 years ago, so what I write now comes from a distant place and time. We follow our protagonist dark black-man with black hair, eyes and coat, because this is noir, and if the title wasn't explicit enough, here you go, he's all black, a silent guy named Hei (because chinese). He does stuff around the city, dark stuff, stuff you don't discuss with your children. He is accompanied by a silent girl, so they can be brooding together. A lot of people smoke, and one guy is even addicted to it (says he has to smoke, or something bad will happen, I think). They mostly solve crimes and ponder their supernatural status. I think there was an overarching plot, even.
Anyway, the best part of darker than black is when a naked fat guy hovers into the scene. In my memory, that was pa…
Read at the sourceorihihc
Darker than Black has got to be one of my favorite adult-oriented anime out there.
As the title suggests, this series deals with the morally grey, and dark parts of the underworld crime scene. DTB takes place in a dystopian world where certain people have powers, known as “contractors” and “dolls.” An important aspect of the show is that “contractors” don’t have emotions, and act as rational beings, however, our main character, Hei, seemingly has both powers and emotions.
The series is episodic, with each one bringing the viewer a step closer to understanding the implications of such people and appearances of powers in the world.
What makes this show shine is its characters, specifically Hei and Kirihara, but the recurring side characters also add charm to the show. The world-building…
Read at the sourcearais_demlant
I'll keep this brief and short.
This show redefined what anime was to me when I first watched it. This show really opened up the idea of what the medium could be, as a mature thought provoking medium. The characters I adored, the story and world were mysterious. The dub for this show was utterly fantastic, even though I almost exclusively watched subs. It's not perfect, it contains many flaws, but overall the package to me exceeds those flaws by some and then more. This show is not for everyone, especially these days, but it is my favorite of all time and will remain so.
Read at the sourceEvenWeirder
Darker Than Black is a tough one to review. I’d just tell someone to go watch it because it’s very good in a non-descriptive way. Not only because it’s hard to discuss without spoiling anything, but because the plot, the world, and the characters can’t be simplified.
The best way I can describe it is the world is akin to X-Men. People with supernatural abilities going through different struggles and working to achieve various deeds their groups are ordering them to do.
The main plot revolves around the mysterious creation of this world of X-men and the desires of the supernatural people to break out of this system.
The animation is exceptional, the music is noteworthy, and you really sympathize with the characters. Rather than make them cold killers, the show gave them a lot of soul and…
Read at the sourceMeanEYE
Watched this one long time ago and recently, due to really atrocious state of interesting shows to watch, I spent some time rewatching it. It's an old by now but it's still refreshing feeling when you run into adult themed anime which deals with emotion and is not afraid to create conflicts in the story and make you root for antihero.
Characters are easily the best thing this show has to offer. They are deep, well developed and interconnected in ways that are not immediately obvious. They have their own desires, conflicts and issues they must deal with. Whole arrangement gives viewer immense satisfaction in discovering more about this world whose sky has lost its stars. Everything else is pretty good at showing its age. Action is not awesome but serviceable. Art is good but so obviously o…
Read at the sourceDISKOWN
Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha falls into the realm of mediocrity, grappling with inconsistencies throughout its run. While the pacing remains steady, allowing for adequate character development, the animation suffers from uneven execution. The action sequences are visually appealing and dynamic; however, the remaining scenes are flat and uninspired, particularly when it comes to poorly animated vehicles that noticeably age the series. The character designs are rather plain, failing to leave a lasting impression. The narrative, while intriguing, builds up to an unsatisfying conclusion that fails to deliver and falls short of expectations. In summary, Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha boasts a commendable cast of well developed characters but comes up short in other areas.
Read at the sourcerosivjr
Darker than Black it's a different anime than what we're used to, maybe it's hard to understand how the world works in the first episodes, but if you give it a chance from episode 2/3 the anime begins to walk, Hei is a protagonist quite different from the people who are in the same "group" of him, it is noticeable that he evolves his way of acting and thinking with the next episodes,and this was not supposed to happen, due to his situation, so it ends up being something that arouses curiosity in those who are watching. The anime script is understandable, there are not so many coincidences, the protagonist's partners are well developed, as well as other supporting characters, their objective becomes clear with the episodes, the anime has fights and a good animation , besides a good opening…
Read at the sourceJoe_Devaney
Note: This will be a review of the series in its entirety (both seasons and the Gaiden OVAs).
Overview:
Anyone who's seen "Watchmen" or any of the recent "Batman" movies likely knows that the superhero genre and film noir make for a surprisingly effective combination. Such films take away the glamour normally associated with superheroes and place them in dark, gritty scenarios that they would likely find themselves in a more realistic world. "Darker than Black" is essentially the anime answer to such a concept, taking the superhero/film noir combination and marinating it with the flavour of "X-Men" or the "inFamous" video game series, and the result is a very original and highly intriguing show, even if the quality is far from consistent.
Story (7.5/10):
Set in a alternate version of mod…
Read at the sourceMrMirai04
Pure and simply one of the best Anime I have watched. I was enjoying it lately every day after work. Darker than has a Gotham-like atmosphere to it that I like. It blends more serious topics and themes with supernatural elements and occasional comedic relief. Hei is an interesting main character, and as the story progresses more of his past is gradually revealed, which adds a mysterious touch to the story.
I liked also how his life was portrayed as a member of the "syndicate". How he completed his missions was in such a way that I kept wondering 'There must be more behind his being a contractor.'
Conclusively a nice Anime, which I consider watching again sometime in the future.
Read at the sourceErunezu
It's a very good anime and the story is very very excellent and saying it's just good is like an insult, the art is pretty good considering this anime is in 2007 and the characters are very well made and the more you know their story, the more you like the character even if they are an enemy of the main character, my enjoyment on this anime is really over the top and I really get to feel the burden and accomplishment of the main character, the sound of this anime is just fair, overall this anime really makes you really feel like a contractor with remuneration.
Read at the sourceArkonBlade
Its alright but could have been so much better
I like the concept of people with powers but to use them they come at a cost, which gives it a nice little twist. I just rewatched this and its been about 13 years since ive seen it so I had forgotten most of it and was pretty much watching i for the first time again.
After rewatching it, i found out why I don't remember much of any thing about it. While this series has some cool ideas it never really comes together with all of it to make any thing really great. It feels like ideas that are good but are jumbled about. The story never feels like it has any solid foundation and just kind of meanders about.
Has some decent characters which helps a bit but the story never grabs you to want to know what happens next because its to all over the p…
Read at the sourceRainy666
[EN]
Darker Than Black is amazing, initially it seems to be a generic shoujo where the protagonist only goes out doing mission, but in the course
of history we know characters with remarkable personalities in which we cling. well the anime goes following the cliche model of the episode until the middle, where there is an insane plot twist that holds you in the anime, from now on the story is incredible.
The openings are a milestone in the anime, clearly an opening that entered my playlist of incredible openings, the same for the remarkable soundtrack.
On average, it's a great anime regardless of the first phase and after the plot twist, which needs no comments.
[PT-BR]
A obra é incrivel, incialmente aparenta ser um shoujo genérico onde o protagonista só sai fazendo missão, gadão de organiz…
Read at the sourcePhoenixDasMe
Darker than Black is an expertly crafted work of art. A neo-noir story of inhuman sociopaths that questions society's, and their own, interpretation of how they really are.
Over 25 episodes (all but the last being in bi-episode format), contractor Hei takes up various cases by the Syndicate (a shady organization formed after these superhuman contractors appeared) that near him closer to his mysterious and tragic past. Each episode pair focuses on a unique scenario with fresh characters (many of whom appear later in the series), and perhaps the most surprising aspect of the series is how well this works.
Every arc feels as if it's deliberate character development. Within the first six episodes the show delves into the ethics of human bodies without souls, parental abuse, and PTSD. These t…
Read at the source
