Better_TV I love this series. I'm someone who is always on the lookout for anime productions that aren't too weird and wacky, with ridiculous "fan service" and silly storytelling. This show fits the bill: it takes itself seriously and has a "Western" feel, in a similar fashion to other anime I enjoy like "Baccano!" and "Cowboy Bebop." Highlights include:-A phenomenal English dub - simply one of the best I've EVER heard. Every character is perfectly cast. Special commendations must go to John Swasey as the grizzled badass Huang and Jason Liebrecht as the befuddled Chinese exchange student-by-day, cloak-wearing electric-powered masked hitman-by-night named Hei. As Hei's daytime identity Li Shenshun, Liebrecht channels friendliness and warmth; as Hei, Liebrecht gives the character both a mysterious apathy and a subtle, smoldering anger that crackles underneath the surface of his personality like the electricity his body generates to assassinate targets.-A fascinating setup, where part of Tokyo is taken over by a bizarre spatial anomaly and the world's intelligence agencies employ individuals with X-Men-like abilities to do their dirty work; each time these contractors use their supernatural abilities they have to "pay the price" in some fashion, whether through an OCD-style tick or some form of self-harm.-Great side characters, including a variety of MI-6 operatives from the UK, one of whom is probably one of my favorite anime characters ever: the suave, sarcastic blond British hitman/contractor named Jack Simon, codenamed November 11. Troy Baker gives such a great performance.-A wonderful narrative arc during the first season, whereby each fascinating member of the main cast, which also includes detectives with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and a private detective named Guy Kurasawa, is given an episode focusing solely on them. This is an anime with very strong episodic writing; there's a lot of emotion to be found in the stories of these mysterious, broken individuals, and it's one of the only anime series I've ever seen that actually earns its angst.There's a second season too, which isn't as good as the first and introduces new characters. The first season is where it's at. This is an anime to treasure and savor - one of my absolute favorites.

tracylitl This anime is amazing. Darker than black is a neo-noir esque, action-packed thriller about a world where super beings exist, known as "contractors," and the many organizations they belong too, some notably being the CIA, MI6 and Japanese government. The first few episodes don't immediately draw you in, however the tension and plot builds up slowly to introduce the setting. Sometimes it can get confusing, and I had to pause to google terminology due to the fact that not everything is explained fully. However, the animation is clean & simple and the soundtrack is jazzy. What I enjoyed the most about this series is how interesting the main character is. Hei is a powerful contractor working for a secret organization. His daytime identity is Li Shengshun, a Chinese exchange student. What's interesting about him is that although he is extremely bad-ass, he is also has an emotional side unlike most contractors and can make mistakes. He's not super-powered like some anime protagonists. This anime is not completely centered on Hei, but more on the different organizations and groups and how they interact. Which also gives him an air of mystery, as we do not know what he is doing. Overall, the anime is great, dark in tone and has a great plot. It's set of characters are very three dimensional (it's nice to have female characters that have actual personalities for once). The story doesn't focus on romance nor sexuality, but more on awesome fighting scenes and its mysterious plot. 10/10

Breitschleif The anime's story is interesting and unique, the animation is great as well.Unfortunately the protagonists remain somewhat flat and uninspiring, the beginning of the show feels very "rushed" and confusing. The audience is just tossed into this world without pretty much any explanation until later episodes about what "Hell's Gate" actually is or even looks like which was kinda annoying to be honest.Instead of providing the really interesting elements or focusing more on the supernatural powers and happenings the creators decided to add quite a few boring filler episodes with a totally irrelevant side story and boring characters towards the later midsection of the show as well. Those felt totally unnecessary and almost made me stop watching the show since it felt like such a waste of time at that point.Overall I didn't hate the show and watched it all the way through but quite frankly: I would probably not recommend it to anyone over other great shows that are in the same genre but just more superior in the way of story telling and action.5/10

sun-goku The story takes place two years after darker than black. The feeling is no longer the same. After finishing the first series, people would want to check the sequel out. I would recommend watching the four ova's first before watching the sequel. For those of you who haven't seen Ryusei no Gemini and loved the original and its main character, i have some bad news for all of you out there. As much as it looks that Hei is the main character, he is actually not. This series does involve Hei and completely explains the gap that has been left in the original and the ova's,however, Hei is only the supporting character. The story is actually about this Russian girl who is the copy of her brother. Her brother is a contractor since birth and has the ability to make things out of nothing. Somehow that involves making copies of anything. Due to certain events getting unfolded, She ends up traveling with Hei,who is searching for Yin,toward Tokyo to find her brother who is secretly creating another world in which his sister can live in. That is practically the importance of the series.But like i said. It does explain a lot more and ends the series in a happy tone. 6.5 out of 10 and no more sequels please :)