Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha

You really have to watch and pay attention closely to understand this story to the full. Although the first few episodes weren't captivating, afterwards you'll understand more about the ability of contractors. Only towards the middle/end will you learn about the protagonist and his background and how it will effect the future. I'm not the biggest fan of slow beginnings, but the more you watch the anime, the more you'll understand, and that will give you a reason to binge watch in one night;)

This is a review of both seasons of Darker than Black, by the way. Let's discuss Bones Studio. I have seen Fullmetal Alchemist, Soul Eater, and FMA: Brotherhood before this, and I liked them all a lot. The same goes for Darker than Black. If I had to choose a show that this reminds me of, it would be the second half or Fullmetal Alchemist. They have the gritty tone, the philosophy, and similar character moments. This makes sense; both the second half of Fullmetal Alchemist and Darker than Black are original works by Bones. Darker than Black is, like, part supernatural, part psychological thriller, part noir. In it are plenty of decent characters, great artistic writing moments, and a thoughtful commentary on what it truly means to be human. This is a very good combination of action show and philosophical art piece. The dub by Funimation is also pretty impressive. Jason Liebrecht, John Swasey, Alison Viktorin, and Kate Oxley all do good jobs. I would highly recommend checking this show out. Darker than Black gave other original works by Bones like Wolf's Rain and RahXephon higher priority on my Plan To Watch list.

First and foremost I have absolutely no idea what the title has to do with actual plot of the show. That said it didn't interfere with my overall enjoyment or ability to watch it. Story: Essentially taking the idea of assassins with superpowers going from there the plot of Darker Than Black is fairly interesting. Contractors, as they are referred to in the series, are the power wielding assassins working for a mysterious organization known as the Syndicate. As these contractors become more of a problem the Japanese police force assigns a special unit to investigate them. This show requires a lot of patience as the pacing in the beginning is a bit slow and raises more questions than it answers. For example the first good chunk of the show deviates from the bigger arc and follows a standard "opponent of the week" formula. It isn't until well into the back half of the series that the main arc picks up again and questions are getting answered. That said I still found the side stories fairly compelling. They also involve at least one of the main characters to some degree. Which prevents these side arcs from becoming meaningless filler. Art: BONES is a studio known for producing some really beautiful animation. Depending on the animation director you may notice similarities in character designs among the various shows they have worked on. In the case of Darker Than Black, I believe the character designs were done by Takahiro Komori, and based on original designs Yuji Iwahara who is best known for his work on King of Thorn. The art style overall fits the show. The character designs are simple but not so much they turn into blobs once they're in the background. Speaking of backgrounds both scenes of Heaven and Hell's gate were absolutely stunning in my opinion. I also must give credit to the action sequences. They utilize a variety of angles and perspectives, creating suspense at the right moments. Sound: MUSIC: The music and soundtrack was composed by Yoko Kanno, who composed the music for shows like Cowboy Bebop. So right there that should give a hint to the quality of this soundtrack. The opening theme for the first half of the series is "Howling" by Abingdon Boys School, and the ending theme, "Tsukiakari" (ツキアカリ?, lit. "Moonlight") by Rie fu. Both of which I found extremely catchy. In fact everytime I hear "Tsukiakari" it becomes stuck in my head for about three days. The second half of the series uses "Kakusei Heroism (The Hero Without a "Name")" by An Cafe and "Dreams" by High and Mighty Color for the opening and ending themes respectively. The background scores fit their scenes and help carry the story along. AUDIO: I have only seen bits and pieces of the original Japanese so I can't really provide much commentary on that as I don't have much to work with. The english dub is done by Funimation, a company known for producing quality dubs. Jason Liebrecht is absolutely perfect as both mild mannered exchange student Li Shenshun and Hei. He is able to move from one vocal range to another without sounding forced and allowing the two characters to remain more or less separate from each other. Also points to John Swasey who voices Huang. Swasey being another actor known for their diverse range. Finally MAJOR bonus points to Kate Oxley who voices Section-4 Chief, Misaki Kirihara. Prior to this show Oxley, being fairly new, was best known for her role as Momo Adachi in the shoujo anime Peach Girl. Kirihara being her first serious role, she absolutely nailed it. She was able to convey a serious tone without sounding too robotic and shy away from sounding too girly or young. Safe to say her performance here is most likely what lead to her being cast in Psycho Pass. Finally Brina Palencia is able to convey the necessary robotic tone of Yin without sounding monotonous and boring. Characters: Here's where the show's biggest weakness lies. The overall development of the characters is slightly inconsistent. The main character Hei isn't really given much backstory until MUCH later into the show and to certain extent the second season. He also has a tendency to float in and out of the story and randomly show up at the end of certain episodes regardless of his role in that episode's story. The other two main characters, Yin and Huang are given slightly more detail in their respective episodes than Hei is in the entire series. Even some of the supposed bad guys get more background info and many of them end up redshirts anyway lasting maybe an episode or two. This was all somewhat of an issue for me because I really wanted to know more about Hei and the Syndicate. Being what I assume is the somewhat anti-hero we're supposed to route for, I wanna be able to route for him! But it's difficult to do that when he's given little backstory and barely in the show for a good portion of the time. Overall Enjoyment: Despite it's flaws I really do like this show. In fact I own both seasons on DVD. On the upside the animation, music, and voice acting are all 100% solid. The overall concept is interesting enough on its own. On the downside the plot is extremely slow and poses more questions than it answers. And the ones that do get answered are not up until the very end. Character development is inconsistent as some major characters are given very little backstory and some minor characters are given more despite lasting a very short amount of time. I still consider this show a classic and it does have a special place in my heart mainly because at the time I watched it there really wasn't anything else like it to compare it to. Recommendation: If you're deciding upon watching it or not, I would recommend streaming it (legally!) first, form your own ideas about it and going from there. That said if you're a sci-fi fan including supernatural powers and mystery I say give this a shot.

After watching DTB for the third time, I decided that it was time to write a review for a series that I feel is pretty underrated. Since this is my first time writing a review, I'll keep it simple. PROS Characters. Both main and side characters are a real pleasure to watch, complete with their own back stories and this helps viewers connect with them more. As you progress through the story, characters that you might have initially disliked will turn into ones that you can actually empathize with, or maybe even start to like. Plot. While the basic plot itself is pretty standard stuff (dystiopian future, special abilities, unknown forces, etc.), the side plots and little twists and turns are what make DTB a true pleasure to watch. Aside from the final few episodes, the first two halves of the series are divided into mini arcs which usually consists of 2 -3 parts. That doesn't mean the finale itself is not a good watch, for it is certainly an interesting finale to the series. Artwork. The scenes are really well drawn, and the atmosphere surrounding each episode suits the tone quite perfectly. Action scenes do not disappoint and are hugely entertaining. Music. I found the music very suitable for the tone of the show as well. Comical, dark, soothing, nostalgic, melancholic. The composer did a fantastic job. CONS The main issue I have with the series also involves its greatest strength, the characters. I found a few of the side and main characters lacking when it came to development, as if they used simply to evolve the plot, or to help the viewers gain insight into the overall story. OVERALL. A great series to watch, with extremely intriguing characters that serve to strengthen what was a pretty basic overall plot. But then again, how many original plots can we come up with until we run out of ideas, right? Definitely worth a watch.

Darker Than Black. What originally got me into the series was many people I knew speaking about it, which finally made me want to look into the series, and I'm glad I did. The story behind Darker than Black is based on a world where people with supernatural abilities known as Contractors exist, and how much life has changed due to their presence, organizations from around the world, ranging from the CIA to the MI-6 of Britain are competing for power, using Contractors to gain power. The story itself is interesting, and over the course of it you really grow fond of the characters, much of them being memorable, even side characters ranging from a crack pot, chain-smoking detective to an twisted man who uses his blood as a weapon. The art and sound worked well for the series; I found the art style to be very good, and overall enjoyed the series a lot.

I have seen Darker Than Black (DTB) soo many times - ultimately because I love it. But my consistent return to the series has allowed me to deconstruct it, so let me continue wholeheartedly unbiased. Firstly, what I think makes me watch it over and over again, is the significant character development that flows evenly over the episodes. Normally I hate the episodic 'to each episode his own' presentation of storyline (i.e. Jigoku Shoujo), but DTB seems to take this in it's stride. Showing the narrative through other's eyes and experiences - as well as the main characters in rarity - allows new content to constantly engage us, adding an apt authenticity to the mix as the natural progression of events and characters are showcased in a very organic fashion. The dramatic irony of keeping the main characters out of the bigger picture also lengthens the charm, resulting in a mystery, unravelled unwittingly by the audience at their own pace. Every character transforms in this anime. I mean EVERY character. Whether it is the slow realisation of fate, or the quick yet influential paradigm shift between one episode and the next (a la Kenji's ball growing), adaptation is vital to the survival of dramatic veracity and cohesion of DTB. The art is another praise to the series. The neo-noir feel paints the city in palettes of browns, greens and purples, which is cleverly reflected in the costume of the Black Reaper. The characters are distinct, with their own tells and quirks, unique enough to stand on their own, but similar enough to synthesis a conglomerate of functional characters. I did however find myself wishing that the nationality of the characters was made more distinct (with the risk of stereotypes and racism it might have been good to avoid it) as I didn't even know Hei was Chinese til I googled it! That being said, Alice Wang/Wei were tastefully true to their culture, the ChiPao relevant, and I definitely appreciated that. The action takes the cake in this anime. It is so artful, engaging, creative, and fluid. Hei has a definite style, and this remains throughout. The opening always had me cheering, the snipets of fighting and art outstanding. The music was great, I found myself singing along to the themes (in Japanese, imagine my surprise), and the digetic sounds certainly sustained the tension and engagement. What I didn't like (it may seem unfair and anal) was the cheap narrative method to establish the situation - inner monologue explaining what has been consistent for years, whaaat, lack of background/orientation of the South American war, the overuse of deathstares, hit and miss comedy of Mao, Hei's sudden love for Yin, and the constant breaking of the "Contractors have no feelings" rule that we are reminded of incremently. The real detriment is the dialogue because of story purposes, rather than dialogue because that is how the Characters are likely to act. This is getting long-winded. Obviously I thoroughly enjoyed this season (I don't ever want to think about the second again!), even though it is generally not the genre I would pursue, my gamble paid off; and hopefully so will/did yours. I definitely recommend watching Darker Than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha, because on first glimpse, it is certainly flawless.

Darker than Black reminds me of the cartoons I use to watch as a kid, like batman beyond, static shock, and teen titans. It is an episodic anime based on a hero (anti hero in this case) who dose various missions each episode that loosely ties into the premiss of the show. The story of Darker then Black is actually pretty interesting and it would of got a 10 if there was actually a plot. However theres not and the story just gives background information and explanations for the missions. Most of the characters in this series are pretty bland or pretty generic. The main character Hei is interesting however his personality isn't really defined and he comes of usually pretty dull. Some interesting characters are introduced like November 11 and the detective but they become side characters that only appear in a few episodes. The show has some good action scenes however fighting is not as prevalent as you would expect from this type of anime. The art and animation is well done and the anime features one of my favorite openings. This anime is decent and i suggest action fans to watch it if they have time. Because the show is fairly episodic with mini arcs lasting no longer then 2 episodes it is a show that you can pick up and put down fairly easily. It will not make you insane to see what will happen next. Its a slow pass anime that you can watch at your own pace. It is not one of the best or most exciting amines I have ever seen and it is highly overrated however it is not a bad show and if you have some spare time I suggest you check it out.

Darker than Black is basically about a world where there are humans with special powers called Contractors, because after using their powers they have to pay a price.There is plenty of fighting scenes, so if you like to see people fight with special powers you should like this anime. not only that there isn't a lot of sub-plots so the whole 25 episodes are basically about the main story line. So give it a try and enjoy. Story: Darker than Black is about a world where two mysterious gates appeared, called Heaven's Gate and Hell's Gate. Along with the emergence of these two places people called contractors appeared. Contractors are people with powers from an unknown origin, but have to pay a price for using their power, hence the name Contractors. The price can be anything from smoking a cigarette to self mutilation. Along with the Contractors are a whole night sky filled with new stars, each star representing a contractor, so when a Contractor dies a star falls. Now in this society, Contractors are kept as a secret by all governments, and at the same time used to hunt each other down, since Contractors are mainly concerned with their own survival. Now the story might at first be somewhat confusing but it starts to makes more sense later on. It is rather quite fast and there isn't much sub-plot. There are plenty of action and fight scenes. After the first few episodes the story line is a lot easier to follow, so don't get stumped after watching like the first 3 episodes. Art: The story mainly takes place in a heavy populated city. The artwork of the background is pretty good. The artwork of the characters are rather nice, the fighting between characters seem somewhat believable, but there are some moments where it just seem like impossible. Sound: The sound is good, the soundtrack, especially the opening theme definitively fits the tone of the story. Characters: The story mainly focus on Hei, the Black Reaper. He starts of being a really cold hearted like person then slowly opens up. Which is really strange for a Contractor, even causing many Contractors to doubt whether if he was a real Contractor. The anime does have episodes that helps give more background information of each character, but again, it still ties along with the plot, so there is almost no stopping on the plot. Enjoyment: Overall I really enjoyed this anime. It was really good, the action was great and there wasn't so much blood and gore as I expected. The story line was quite great, I thought that it was well developed and pose a great scenario about that question "What if there were humans with powers? How would they be treated?" I thought it was quite interesting, it resembles the X-Men type of human with powers but can't be seen thing. But I thought it was way better than X-men. Then ending was quite interesting though, I had to watch it twice to kind of understand about what happened. Well give this anime a shot! Hope you enjoy it!

When you watche the first episode of that anime, you know nothing. And it won't change so fast like in shounens, when everyone tells you everything. You have to slowly understand the hole thing, but don't worry, it doesn't mean that the plot moves slowly. there are a lot of things that happens suddenly, like in a real life. The main characters are dark(ptf, pretty obvious, if you have read the title) and don't seem to fully trust anyone. The whole series are brutal and real, so you can think "hopefully, my life isn't so bad as their". The things as you see, aren't the real ones. Full of secrets and mysterious, it's darker than black.

Darker than black is one of those anmies , you hear people raving and raving and raving about and in this case they happen to be 100% right. It does indeed live up to the hype. At heart , its a ' le femme nikita ' type of story and it captures the mood and the characters perfectly.The story writing is intelligent and insightful , with exquisite pacing and timing. The character development is first class , as the series progress more and more of the layers and levels of their stories (and the plot in general) are revealed The voice acting both Japanese and English were superb. I don't remember the last time ,I have heard voice actors in English who were so spot on perfect for their roles. Not one can i fault. The art was excellent, whilst not groundbreaking or totally new , it did indeed do the job. Enjoyment - yes i did , both the happy moments and the many bittersweet or just plain sad ones as well. The action is kick ass. The "cat" Mao was just so well voiced by kent williams and John Swaseys performance of Huang , was just so good that I would just listen to the dubbed version, just to hear those two. Another must see anmie. ps. Haven't yet seen the second series or manga , so i cant comment.

First of all I'd like to point out that this anime is better suited for the adult (and mature) audience rather than for children. Also if you are looking for an anime to relax and have a good laugh or enjoy some major fisting pumping, gun slinging action this is definitely not for you either. That said I thoroughly enjoyed this anime. It has a great plot and I liked how everything built up and set into place. Admittedly there were a few loose ends which weren't covered properly. The character were built quite well and voice acting was good too. Although I did say this wasn't for those looking "fisting pumping, gun slinging action" it doesn't mean there wasn't any action. The fight and action sequences complemented the storyline really well. In my opinion they had the perfect amount of action for a series of this nature. I'd recommend this to anyone who loves series with great plot build ups and if you are the type of person who enjoys series with a deeper meaning behind it than that apparent this is definitely for you!

I'm no super-anime-fanatic-guru, but Darker Than Black has to be one of the best shows I've seen. Not being your average high-school supernatural story, the plot is one to remember. If you like supernatural action anime, DtB is for you. The fighting scenes are awesome, though usually fairly short. To me the series seemed a little more serious than other shows of similar genres (though DtB is rated M/R I don't really think it's that bad, there is blood and finger breaking, but I don't think it's mature material, of course it depends on your own tolerance for blood). DtB seemed to be lacking "actual" humor, as in the characters don't do or say anything exceptionally funny. But it has its moments. The characters are ones you won't forget, not to sound cliche, but by then end of the series you'll really feel for them. I would defiantly recommend Darker Than Black to anyone who likes supernatural ass-kicking. (I prefer the original version versus the (English) dubbed one, so if you don't mind reading subs I would encourage that you watched the Japanese version)

In retrospect, and because I seemingly have an incurable urge to compare things, Darker than BLACK is reminiscent of a grimmer, anime version of Wild Cards (the books). While there are no superheroics, and even contractors (the super powered characters) are relatively rare, the sheer range of the various powers as well as the odd remuneration that their use demands reminds me conceptually of the jokers from Wild Cards. While on the surface Darker than BLACK is a grim action series it also examines some fairly complex issues, such as what exactly it means to be human. But it does so without the heavy handedness or the awkward self consciousness that other similar shows have exhibited. The main characters in Darker than BLACK are also extremely well realised and believable, while not all of them are likeable, nearly all of them are entertaining to watch. Also for those interested in such things the world that Darker than BLACK presents would be eminently playable as an rpg setting and should I chose to run non-traditional supers at some point in the future I would be sorely tempted to use the setting presented here (possibly seasoned with some material from Kaze no Stigma).

Being a fervent BONES fan, I greatly enjoyed Dark than BLACK. But I seriously admit that I often had no idea what the hell they were talking about with the gate and stuff. The reason I liked Darker than BLACK so much was because it had a lot of style. And I like style! Not to mention Hei was an interesting character who also had style!! A very good anime. The fighting scenes had great choreography, and I just wish it had more action scenes. Intense storyline too. Since it's only 25 episodes, I recommend people give it a watch and see for themselves.

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.

I got into Darker Than Black because of its creators- Tensai Okamura has made some real nice works before, notably Wolf's Rain. In that series, he also worked with Yoko Kanno, the composer of some of the best soundtracks I have heard in my life, most importantly Cowboy Bebop. However, this series isn't as good as those mentioned earlier, but it is still good. The problem with DTB is that it starts bad. It's just confusing, we don't know what's going on and we don't know the characters, so it's hard to care about them. Not only that- what I expected that would save the series, the music (I believe that music is as fundamental as anything else) wasn't that great either. Kanno's music just didn't stand out, and even the opening and closing themes weren't hers. However, if you have patience, there's a point where we get to know the characters. Some story arcs get really interesting and when a episode ends, you will want to see the other to know what is going to happen. And it gets fun and turns out to be a nice experience. However, I would only recommend it to anime fans- not the general public. There's still a lot more series in the same vein of DTB that are much better and you should see them before this one.

It starts of with kind of a slow pace, and begins the world building early. The plot isn't explained much until mid-way through which was fairly annoying but the story was put together nicely. The animation was smooth and clean, made it easier to get through the slow parts. The characters had limited development, but were all memorable and had their individual quirks and styles around them, which made up for the lack of development. The soundtrack had times which was amazing, and then others that were just average. Never bad, however. The fight scenes were very quick and had intense action, but didn't last very long in most cases. It would have been better for them to be more intricate and drawn out, maybe replace some of the slow paced dialogue. I would recommend this to anybody who needs an dark action show to fill the time, it certainly isn't bad.

Okay, firstly this anime rocks. I'm not joking, it's one of the most gripping and thrilling animes (for me) to date. Written and directed by Tensai Okamura and produced by Bones, this anime tells us the story of what happened as a result of a certain anomaly at 'Heavans Gate' in South America. As a result, at the opposite side of the world in Japan, 'Hells Gate' was opened and massive changes happened to the country. The night sky is a reoccurring theme in this series. The real stars were replaced by false ones due to the opening of Hell's Gate. With these fake stars came the Contractors. These are people [not sure if you can call them people as they have no emotions whatsoever but meh that's your decision] each have a different 'power' and a different price for that power. They have no emotions, they don't feel, they can only think rationally and what's in their best interest. As well as this, each Contractor has a corresponding star in the fake night sky, which allows the normal humans to track what each contracted is doing. Throughout the anime, the humans (that know of these Contractors) refer to them by their star names (eg BK-201 is the name for Hei). [getting a bit complex right?] Hei is a member of an organisation known as 'The Syndicate'. This organisation is considered to be some underground group with no real motif. But as the series progresses it becomes apparent that it's operatives work with Contractors in order to regain peace in the world and they strive for the destruction of Hells Gate. In my opinion these is a lot of background knowledge needed to fully understand this anime, maybe rewatching season 1 before progressing to Ryūsei no Gemini would be more sensible than blindly binging on this show. The characters really become noteworthy and it was a pleasure to watch this show. I personally didn't enjoy that I had to watch the episodes over and over again to fully understand it but I guess that's the beauty of it. There's a fair share of humour, especially from Mao (a cat who talks) who's sarcasm is unrivalled but on the other side of the table, there are copious amounts of genuinely heartfelt moments (mainly between Hei and Yin) that you as a viewer can really relate too. Please note that I neither have the energy, nor the words to fully review each and every character in this show.. Mainly as I'd give away quite a bit but also it's open to personal interpretation.. In my opinion this is a rare anime that should remain a favourite of mine for years to come. Overall rating for this anime is a solid 9. It did get boring at times and it was somewhat predictable in places but my god was it brilliantly written. I think that it's the kind of anime that you watch on a rainy day (mainly as there's A LOT of rain in this anime, I dunno maybe it's just me) Animation: 8/9 Music: 8 Storyline: 9 Rewatchability: Medium to High I hoped you enjoyed reading this review as much as I did watching this anime, if not, tell me why in the comments or pm me to discuss it further - I'd love to hear from you lot! Give me suggestions for what to watch next, I want to keep these reviews regular! Next on the list is Kill La Kill… Peace and Love, Shvdowd

"One of the easiest formulas to execute in the supernatural genre is each relevant character having a specific skill from berth. Each time we see a new character we are introduced to a new gimmicky skill set that our hero’s balanced ability has to overcome somehow. Its really handy because you only have to explain how everyone gets these abilities once and it applies for everyone. Darker then Black is one of the best examples of this formula." Darker than black is a very solid series that’s quality degrades the closer you reach the end.The series starts out strong with good characters and a diverse setting. As the end nears the pace begins to ramp up steeply. By the end we lose sight of the characters and their motivations. Despite how well made and diverse it is, Darker than Black is a series that falls apart right when it matters most. Darker Than Black follows your typical supernatural setting. A cataclysmal even created false stars in the sky and gave creation to supernatural beings with powers that vary greatly. Its biggest strength in this regard is its diversity. Rather then head the elemental route, Darker Than Black offers some truly unique abilities. A fat opera singer with deadly volume, a man with explosive blood, we are presented with an array of abilities that diverge far from the standard pokemon type chart style abilities. Combine this with a rich cast of interesting characters and you have the backbone for a solid B+ series. The first fifteen episodes or so are mostly about becoming acclimated to the world. Much of what happens is to flesh out the characters that will be in play and what our hero’s motivation is. Many of these episodes are simply filler type episodes that have random side quests and world building tours. From there on the speed of events begins to quicken very hastily. Most episodes consisted of individual events or missions. The last third however is a tangled series of events that stream out at a rapid pace very dissimilar to the rest of the series. As the climax approaches Darker Than Black introduces a new antagonist. We have no prior exposition to these people and, despite having ties to the protagonist prior to the series beginning, they feel as if they come out of nowhere. From then on there’s little time left to cover everything that is going on. By the end our protagonist is presented with a choice that comes out of nowhere and a decision that makes no sense. There is a major change in character that occurs without any foreshadowing or explanation. A switch gets flipped and everything is changed. Then it ends. Darker then black confused the crap out of me. Everything was very manageable and controlled. Then a green haired chick appears and Hei stops acting like himself. We never get a complete explanation of what happened. The next series jumps ahead multiple years to a completely broken Hei. Did we witness the shattering of his character or what? What happened to Hei was framed as a breakthrough of enlightenment but when you step back it makes zero sense and leaves the ending to Darker Than Black in shambles. This series could have been much better has it take the time to explain itself. Source :http://lumbercrack.tumblr.com/post/80738651529/darker-than-black

Note: This includes a review for the Second season and Gaiden OVA as well Bones does a fantastic job with the Darker Than Black series in creating a dark fantasy world where humans and "contractors" with supernatural powers are at odds with each other over not just control/power but also the right to exist. The MC, Hei, is so intriguing with his constant struggle between his human and contractor side (not to mention that he is a complete badass). The rest of the crew including Yin, Mao and even Huang make a very dynamic team and each has a very dark and complicated past. Even the other supporting characters get fleshed out pretty well. The first season is an absolute thrill and I couldn't stop watching till the very end. It does a great job of having individual arcs (that are each 2 episodes long) which introduce us to tons of great characters while slowly delving into the deep and satisfying overarching story. There's a ton of plot twists and you honestly don't know where everyone's true intentions and motivations lie. The quality is great throughout and the action and anticipation keeps on building until the very last episode. However, the second season (Gemini) and OVA (Gaiden) are definitely not as strong as the first season (I mean it's a tough act to follow) but are still enjoyable nonetheless even with their flaws. Particularly, I just wish that Hei was a bit more of the focus in the second season rather than Suo. Also, the season 2 ending... The action is awesome throughout the entire series and you see a good variety of different powers amongst the many contractors that we meet in this series. You can tell Hei is a badass but he isn't super over-powered compared to the enemies which makes the battles more entertaining. The dub is pretty solid for this series with Hei rocking his best impersonation of the Christian Bale Batman voice. I'd definitely recommend at least watching the first season as it is a staple of the darker action/thriller anime genre for a reason. You won't be disappointed in this Bones work. And I just gotta say that I still love me some Misaki. 8.5/10