7.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A new and deadly breed of covert agent walks the streets. Known as Contractors, these assassins and spies wield bizarre supernatural powers to carry out the dirty work of others. They thrive in the underworld, between rumor and reality, their loyalties always in question. One among these operatives is more mysterious than the rest - the masked killer BK201, the Black Reaper. His true identity and intentions remain unknown, but as his path weaves through the shadows and alleys of Tokyo, blood is spilled on both sides of the law. It's a new age of confusion, and the rules of engagement have changed.
Starring: Hidenobu Kiuchi, Misato Fukuen, Masaru Ikeda, Nana Mizuki, Takeharu OnishiAnime | 100% |
Foreign | 93% |
Sci-Fi | 9% |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Japanese: Dolby TrueHD 2.0
Same as LE combo.
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Darker Than Black is filled to the brim with various conspiracies and extraordinarily powered individuals called Contractors, all jumbled together in a kind of dystopian future (is there any other kind in anime?) where espionage or other circumspect activity is the order of the day. With an at times overly dense storyline and (as so often seems to be the case) series specific terminology that needs to be siphoned through in order to extract an “everyday” meaning, one might assume that would be enough to hook audiences and keep them intrigued. Maybe some superpowered Contractor whose special skill is time traveling decided to up the ante by throwing potential audiences for a bit of a loop, however, for in one of those weird strategies that sometimes unfolds in the wild and wooly world of American releases of Japanese animated offerings, Darker than Black: Season 2 + OVAs appeared almost four years ago (!) on Blu-ray, while the first season is only now being released by FUNimation. Even more bizarre, as was detailed in one of the commentaries on that first season release, there was evidently some kind of hangup at FUNimation years ago which prevented the English language version from being recorded all in one fell swoop, with quite a gap between sessions for the first and second seasons. Are these signs of some vast conspiracy at work behind the scenes? Had FUNimation better check their staff roll call to see if there are any strangely named folks (like "Hei," for example) who might be machinating to keep certain top secret situations under wraps?
The basic plot of Darker Than Black deals with the sudden appearance of a phenomenon known as Hell’s Gate, a bizarre occurrence that devastated Tokyo while replacing the real night sky with a false one, one evidently tied to the sudden appearance of the mutants known as Contractors. The series is largely focused on one of these Contractors, Hei, a young man who appears to normal humans to simply be a typical Chinese exchange student, but who possesses the power to conduct electricity. Hei is unusual in the world of Contractors in that he actually seems to still possess a modicum of human emotions and a conscience, making some of the things he ends up doing in his guise as a Contractor problematic for himself. Hei is aided by a sort of zombie-like automaton spirit known as Yin, a blind “Doll” (as her kind is referred to in the series) who is able to perceive entities through water.As confusing as joining the show with the second season may have been, there’s still a certain sense of befuddlement in the early going of the first season, and indeed even the premiere episode, of Darker Than Black, as it plops the viewer down in media res, with some repeated voiceover by policewoman Misaki Kirihara helping to bridge some of the narrative gaps. A bug eyed guy is evidently being chased by the authorities, but it soon becomes evident that he is one of the Contractors, one whose special power is an ability to defy gravity. Not only does he levitate one of the cops trying to take him down (literally), he himself flies off in a kind of display of “super parkour” powers. In the world of Darker Than Black, each Contractor has to “pay the piper” (so to speak) each time they use their special powers, and evidently this guy’s contract involves him breaking his fingers after each flight. That pain soon pales when the guy, who thinks he’s escaped, is suddenly confronted by a masked guy, evidently another Contractor, who pretty much beats the first guy to a bloody pulp in order to get the gravity defier to spill the beans about where some mysterious package is being hidden.
Darker Than Black: Complete Season 1 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This second volume (albeit first season) of the show retains much of the excellence of Darker than Black: Season 2 + OVAs, though is perhaps just slightly softer looking at times. That relatively minor difference aside, this first season offers generally very crisp and solid line detail, as well as the same array of gorgeously saturated colors that typified the second season at least intermittently (the first season is probably a bit more colorful overall than the second). Unlike some anime, Darker Than Black doesn't skimp on detail even when characters are in the background, and this anime will, for example, offer full facial features even when characters are fairly deep within the frame.
Darker Than Black: Complete Season 1 features the original Japanese language track delivered via Dolby TrueHD 2.0, and an English dub available in Dolby TrueHD 5.1. As has been the case recently with FUNimation releases, it's only possible to select audio tracks, with subtitles appearing automatically with the Japanese language track instead of being a separately accessible item (I personally prefer having the ability to turn on subs even when listening to the English language track.) The 5.1 track certainly opens up the soundfield in the series' battle sequences, where effects like Hei's ability to "charge" his adversaries provide a bit of sonic oomph. There's excellent immersion in these moments, while other sequences, like Hei's life at the boarding house, tend to be somewhat more reserved in surround activity. Dialogue is very cleanly presented and well prioritized. The series' enjoyable score is also nicely spread through the surround channels.
Disc One:
- Hei - Jason Liebrecht (1080p; 00:55)
- Kirihara - Kate Oxley (1080p; 00:44)
- Mao - Kent Williams (1080p; 00:26)
- Yin - Brina Palencia (1080p; 00:45)
- Huang - John Swasey (1080p; 00:28)
- Chiaki - Colleen Clinkenbeard (1080p; 00:51)
- Mai - Cherami Leigh (1080p; 00:43)
- Tahara - Mike Stoddard (1080p; 00:27)
- Havoc - Luci Christian (1080p; 1:17)
- November 11 - Troy Baker (1080p; 00:52)
- Misuzu - Julie Mayfield (1080p; 00:18)
- Opening "HOWLING" (1080p; 1:32)
- Opening "Kakusei Heroism" (1080p; 1:32)
- Closing "Tsukiakari" (1080p; 1:32)
- Closing "Dreams" (1080p; 1:32)
Stylistically interesting from the get go, Darker Than Black takes a few episodes to really hit its stride (despite jumping feet first into the action from the premiere). While some elements of this series are fairly derivative, the characters are uniformly interesting and the overall mythology of the show quite intriguing, especially once certain baseline elements have been put into place. Technical merits are very strong, and Darker Than Black comes Recommended.
Combo Pack
2009-2010
Limited Edition Combo
2009-2010
2009-2010
Anime Classics
2009-2010
鋼の錬金術師 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST
2009
コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ / コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュR2
2006-2008
2008-2009
Limited Edition | バッカーノ!
2007-2008
Anime Classics
2005
Classics
2003
2010
Combo Pack
2010
Anime Classics
2011-2012
Classics / エルゴプラクシー
2006
2011
2009-2010
2005
Anime Classics / フルメタル·パニック!
2002
Extra Edition | Standard Edition
2013
ソウルイーター
2008-2009
2010
Classics
2004
2006
Evangerion shin gekijôban: Ha
2009