Audience reviews
16 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
femaleTrouble
Anime cognoscenti might sneer at this one. I can't swear to that but suspect this series mainly appeals if you enjoy shows that are a bit campy - or happen to be a 13-year-old who likes pretty homoerotic boys who never actually get it on and genre stuff mainly concerned with mood, characters, and style.
I love the cinematic art look of early '00s supernatural/sci-fi anime series like Blood - not that DoD is really in the same class (Blood's Viet Nam-inspired visuals were truly stunning), and DoD's establishing shots and cool, fast steadicam-type dashes down corridors contrast in a kicky way with the utter unreality of anime-world tropes. Also, as an earlier reviewer says, the universe has a fun, Beetlejuice-type of "omg, even AFTER we're dead?!?" comic universe, which for me works as fur…
Read at the sourceRESOLVING_POWER
I watched Yami no Matsuei, also known as Descendants of Darkness. Here are my thoughts:
This anime is basically a homoerotic supernatural anime about investigators of paranormal phenomena. The show has an interesting premise and a unique atmosphere. The protagonists are 'anti-heroes', which fits the theme. There are certainly some erotic moments. The plot itself though is quite dark and morbid.
Late-90s character designs and art style really suit the homoerotic atmosphere well. Although the animation itself uses stills a lot, stylistically the anime looked good.
Soundtrack was suitable. There was a fair bit of classical music, with plenty of violin and organ. I liked the use of choral music in particular. It definitely fit the atmosphere of the anime. That said, OP and ED songs were dre…
Read at the sourcePuiorette
I gave myself a quest for 2020 : watching every shonen-ai and yaoi out there (that I didn't already watch) and reviewing them.
Overall: 7/10
Yami no Matsuei is that kind of edgy looking anime of the 2000's. I'ts quite fun to watch it now, but it kinda feels like a bad fan-fiction.
Story: 6/10
The story is kinda cliche and rushed. Sometimes the characters are so useless that it's unbearable... And... Seriously, if they're supposed to protect human from non human creatures, aren't they supposed to hide their identity ? Just some inconsistencies that got me out of the story.
Art: 7/10
I'm quite in love with the late 90' and start of the 2000's art. Eyes aren't too big and male character all have some king of a triangle body shape. They actually put some effort in the presentation sequence…
Read at the sourceephemerry
Yami no Matsuei is a very, very cringe-worthy series that I used to be into―back when I was in middle school―and then recently decided to revisit as an adult, and, oh boy! This series is badーlike really, really bad! To start out with, the most glorified character in the series is a serial killer, pedophile, scientistーwhose entire motivation for committing all of his heinous, degenerative crimes is to get revenge on his deceased brother by… making him immortal, so he can kill him for all of eternity? The series mentions briefly that Muraki’s parents were killed and his brother was some type of evil, Luciferian sociopath, but what kind of insane devotion is that? Especially when Muraki is a psychopathic killer himself! The irony!
• Another strange thing about the murderous diddler (Muraki)…
Read at the sourcetaemiu
This anime first peeked my interest when I was on the lookout for shounen-ai/yaoi mangas with the hope to have watched them all one day in my mind.
Now, a few years later, I have re-watched it for the 3rd time and I would definitely do it again! If that doesn't already speak for itself - the anime is super interesting and digs deep into the sensitive topic of death and life, accompanied by quite humorous and cute scenes.
The main characters are unique and one starts feeling a connection to them quickly. I just wish the yaoi part were more spicy and explicit, but that's more of a personal thing rather than critique haha. That's why I would have loved there to be more episodes that also reveal more details of every important characters' past.
To sum it up, a must watch!! Although the arts…
Read at the sourceMaryann_Mathai
I actually love this anime. It's right now one of my favorites. It's such a great story and so much fun to watch. The music for the show is amazing. And I love the shounen-ai implications also. I really like Tsuzuki's cutesy and funny character. He's just too cute. =^.^= I also love the group he works with-they were really nice and caring. Plus, the mysteries they explore were actually interesting mysteries even though they were pretty obvious about who the actual criminal is. It has kind of dark theme throughout the story not like one of those super bright cheerful animes. The end kind of gives off an uncompleted feel and I'm hoping that a Season 2 will come sometime soon so we can continue where they left off. The series is so good that I'm probably going to read the entire anime now.
Read at the sourceDreary-Deary
I watched this show not only for nostalgia purposes but also curiosity. I remember watching this show many years ago but didn't remember the ending! Although I could remember some incredible moments, l didn't know how it ended. Reason being, it wasn't a memorable ending.
Turns out all those years ago I did finish it. I think it says something that I was still interested in finishing it again anyway. The ending is one of those 'read the manga' types and that's ok. I'm sure we're all used to them. Never the less, I really did have a fun time re-watching this series.
The story full of mystery and very interesting characters makes me want to know what happens next. For as short as it is, and as long ago as I saw it, the things I remembered from it will always be remembered.
Read at the sourcektulu007
Yami no Matsuei is a fantasy, horror, supernatural, mystery created by Matsushita Yoko. It was published in manga form from 1996 to 2003, when it was put on hiatus for eight years, resuming in 2011 and still going. In 2000 J.C. Staff took four arcs from the manga and adapted them into a thirteen episode series. So, how does the anime hold up?
Story:
Our narrative opens with a meeting of Shinigami. There have been unusual deaths in Nagasaki in which the victim’s have been drained of blood and left with twin puncture marks on their necks. The shinigami in charge of that sector, Tsuzuki, is sent to rendezvous with his new partner, Kurosaki Hisoka, and investigate. They find out that there's a lot going on that isn't readily apparent and have their first encounter with the villainous Docto…
Read at the sourceanim64
I loved watching the relationship between Tsuzuki and Hisoka develop. They were sooo cute (heart). The story was quite unpredictable in many ways and much of the story didn't become clear until much later. Since I haven't watched that much anime, I'm not sure exactly how this compares to other ones, but I really enjoyed watching Yami no Matsuei.
I had some issues with the music. I didn't like the intro and closing music that much. The music during the episodes was alright. However, the best music ever was when an epic unexpected heroic thing happened. After re-listening to the Tsuzuki Asato OST I do appreciate the music more, however the lyrics and the singing voice were a distraction. The music I really enjoyed is at the end of episode 3 when Tsuzuki summons suzaku.
I felt that the sto…
Read at the sourceMalcadicta
I don't know manga, so comparing it to anime is, in my case, impossible.
So I'll talk straightly about anime. Art isn't amazing, but what counts in this case is story. Story is interesting, you will follow it with excitment. Characters in my opinion are fine, but only fine. Exept of our main villain. He's sadist, insane and obviously evil, but that's what am I looking for. He's playing with his enemies, has an aim, which you don't exactly know (ok, it wasn't clever, because his real aim... Ok, I won't complain because it would be spoiler).
It's not a horror even if's written it is, but it's kind of dark.
Art is also fine - not anything you can adore, but we have to remember it's not the latest anime.
And one important thing for the and. If you don't like shounen-ai don't start watching…
Read at the sourcesr467
ANIMATION : The character designs are good, but what really stands out is the overall artistic style of the scenes. Some individual images presented in this show are downright captivating, such as the blindfolded and bloodied corpse of a kimono-clad woman found inside a box during the third arc. Describing it in words makes it sound gruesome, but the show was able to present the image in a rather beautiful way without sacrificing its macabre nature.
SOUND : Overall, I found the voice acting and BGM to be quite decent. A bit overwrought at times but nothing that stood out as particularly bad.
CHARACTERS : Much like the story, the character angle in this show starts out on a good note.Fans of angsty, tormented, bishounen will likely eat this stuff up, but other anime fans are likely to be…
Read at the sourceSpiney
This my first review, so don't be to upset if I don't do this right. But just a warning, I tend to be very short and sweet. So don't be expecting some deep rooted analysis of this series XP
Story: 3/10
The story is nothing original and as I will say throughout this review, it was OKAY. I like the idea that the after world is just this one huge giant office setting but I mean, how many people worked there? From my count, I really only remember like, five...or six. So, where are the rest of the billions of people who have died? I don't remember if they explained this or not but I wish they would have as it would have given the setting little more depth. But for what it is, the story worked. But I do have to add, the part with Muraki and Hisoka? That was unnecessary and awful and really, th…
Read at the sourceDynamicDylan
Descendants of Darkness is the story of a man named Tsuzuki. He works for an organization of people called Gaurdians of Death. Basically his mission is to go out and solve supernatural mysteries.
The story is very unique and interesting. It's fun to watch and see if you solve the mysteries yourself. And some of them aren't easy to solve. I was thrown for a loop a couple of times.
The art is also very good, but not amazing. The animation can seem a bit odd at times, but it's still good.
The script could have been better. The problem is, the voice actors had to adapt the script themselves due to bad translations. So at times someone will say something that doesn't seem to fit the situation.
The characters were good, but one of them annoyed the hell out of me. And that was Hisoka, voiced…
Read at the sourceshadowfireflame
In a kind of purgatory between heaven and hell, the Bureau of Hades solves supernatural crimes by sending agents to earth in human bodies. One nasty serial killer named Muraki is causing all sorts of headaches for head Guardian of Death Tsuzuki and his new partner, recently-deceased 16-year-old Kurosaki.
Okay, first of all, Descendants of Darkness wins for funny world-building details. Death gods want to go to earth to eat dessert, use credit cards, and flirt with girls (in addition to doing their job of sorting out souls or something). This anime also covers a ton of psychological ground, dealing with death, rape, suicide, murder, illegal organ transplants, homosexuality in both a bad and a good way, and trying to move on after extreme trauma.
My favorite character is Kurosaki, who has…
Read at the sourcedarkadonis
Note: This review has been updated to be consistent with my changing views on anime.
Descendants of Darkness is based on the manga of the same name. It follows four major story arcs of the manga. Three episodes comprise each of the first three arcs while the last four episodes focus on the fourth. Since the anime leaves off where the manga caries on (the manga isn't finished either), the ending doesn't really offer a true conclusion and a lot of questions are left unanswered. Fans of the manga might also be disappointed that a lot of the manga's characters are either left out or shoved into the background.
Despite these unfortunate circumstances, I think that the anime more than does the manga justice. In fact, I find it to be an improvement over the manga. While some of the humor and si…
Read at the sourcezeru02
The first anime I watched with a light yaoi feel, hahaha..Funny enough the fact that it has a slight touch of yaoi makes this anime a bit more interesting than the usual agents-from-the-afterlife-theme series. The opening music is amazing and suits it well, with cool guitar and electronic mix and lyrics that matches the series itself. Its a mixture of dark and humor -- centering on Tsuzuki and his co-shinigamis, who are in charge of keeping the balance in the afterlife by making sure that those who die go to their right place and investigating situations that threatens that balance caused by mysterious deaths that occurs in succession. Alhtough I prefer the manga version more which is longer, this anime is very well done and all the vital chapters are included. Although it has funny situat…
Read at the source