It took me quite awhile to get this review out but finally I’ve returned with further thoughts on ‘Darker Than Black’.

The Story

In the next five episodes of this dark series three different story arcs will be completed. In the first episode of the volume, the arc that left fans hanging on volume 1 is concluded. Hei has kidnapped Havoc and begins torturing her for information while the police and MI6 are going insane trying to locate her once again. The search will eventually take everyone right to the edge of Hell’s Gate as Havoc searches for her memories and the return of her contractor powers.

In the next two episodes, ‘Darker Than Black’ takes a more light hearted (well, as light hearted as a bloody series like this can get I suppose) approach by introducing a film noir parody arc. In this story, the audience will meet a contractor working as a private detective named Gai Kurasawa. Kurasawa works with his high school assistant, Kiko, trying to keep the bill collectors away. When all of a sudden, she walks in; a beautiful, super rich woman with a hard luck story that only he can solve… her cat is missing.

Taking the case (it’s not like he had anything better to do), Kurasawa and his assistant begin the search for the missing cat with only their only lead being the dead husband’s ex-wife. Once he starts digging in though, Kurasawa begins to find all sorts of new twists: a series of executives working for her late husband’s perfume company has begun committing suicide one after another. Instead of a missing cat, Kurasawa will run into much more such as contractors who can jump from one body to another and more than a few dead bodies.

In the final story arc of the volume, the center of attention falls squarely on Kirihara and her investigation into yet another string of murders done by a contractor (anyone sensing a running pattern here?). This time the victims were all captains of the Hong Kong mafia but her investigation is being hampered by her father. A promotion has been offered to Kirihara if she wants it. After running into an old friend from high school, Kirihara will run face first into the lead that brings her investigation to a new level while she attempts to escape the birthday party from hell.

Good and the Bad

‘Darker Than Black’ is another series that wastes absolutely zero time in getting someone’s attention back. Bloody and gritty, this is a series that will refuse to let anyone turn away from the screen. It makes no difference if Kirihara is being boring or Lei is electrocuting someone, ‘Darker Than Black’ is engaging as it plays out.

In the first volume, ‘Darker Than Black’ sought to pull its audience in with bloody fight scenes and a mystery begging to be solved. In the second volume, the series begins its acceleration towards the end of the first half and spends time introducing new characters while keeping with the same short story arcs. While watching this volume, the short story arcs had immediate pros and cons almost right away.

Every story told thus far in the series has been very character centric. While there have been trips made to Hell’s Gate and mentions of it, the wall itself has already become more of a backdrop. With so much time spent on characters though, the audience is going to need strong leads to latch onto which is where ‘Darker Than Black’ has failed thus far. Now ten episodes into the series, these episodes have managed to create an intoxicating world filled with boring people. With every story arc only lasting two or three episodes, ‘Darker Than Black’ puts unneeded pressure on themselves to wrap up every story neatly in a very short amount of time while still finding a way to give the audience new character insights.

Instead what it creates instead are huge issues with pacing. All of the story arcs on this volume are interesting in various ways but always end much too quickly. Lasting only two or three episodes each, the stories that the series attempts to tell never get a fair chance to really dig in. From the moment a new story arc begins it is forced to hit the ground running then just as quickly, it slows back down to repeat the process. It’s not a breaking point at the moment as viewing this volume was hardly a challenge but it is something that I hope is gradually (or not so gradually) altered in the second half.  

Ironically, the detective arc in the middle of the volume is possibly the exception to this rule. Almost completely ignoring the dark themes it began on, ‘Darker Than Black’ uses these episodes to introduce a film noir parody arc. Complete with a private detective named Gai Kurasawa and a perky high school otaku assistant named Kiku; these episodes were comedy gold for the series.

As soon as the episode begins you know exactly what you are in for and the series does not disappoint on this front. Filled with cleverly cheesy dialogue, Kurasawa is a hilarious character backed up well by the hyperactive but ultimately more responsible, Kiku. Putting these two into the forefront of a more serious story along the way proves to be where ‘Darker Than Black’ takes a chance keeping Lei in the background for a couple of episodes. The risk ends up paying off big in this case. One can only hope that these two characters are going to play a larger role in the series later on.

Music

The music and audio quality that this series possesses continues to be a phenomenal asset. Continuing to do a wonderful job of filling the blanks, Yoko Kanno continues to deliver a strong score for the series in most places. Episode seven in particular stands out for the wonderful jazz riff that plays as Kurasawa is introduced into the series. With that music, it was instantly much easier to get into a less serious frame of mind and settle in for some laughs.

Haunting scores are still one of the specialties of this series though. Episode nine in particular features a wonderful melody that uses strings and piano. As Kirihara enters the conservatory, the music fits the light of the scene so perfectly. The glow put off in that scene just created a wonderful atmosphere and the music does nothing but compliment the atmosphere created.

Dub vs. Sub

Primarily listening to this release in English, the cast for this series have managed to fit into their roles for the most part. Brandon Potter in particular is amazingly fun to listen to as Gai Kurasawa but the biggest issue that I ran into while watching was Kate Oxley as Kirihara. Kirihara is an entirely serious character and very rarely during this series has there been a time when her tough exterior has been even slightly cracked. It would be difficult for anyone to bring a character like this into the foreground and create something truly likeable early on and Oxley just hasn’t found that yet. Always very deep in her tone and light on inflection, Kirihara just has yet to become a particularly interesting character. With so many stories resting on her shoulders that makes for lots of long stretches to get through.

Extras

Beyond the production artwork and clean animations, the only extra included on this volume is a commentary on episode 9. Sitting in on the commentary are Christopher Sabat (Saito) and Kate Oxley (Kirihara) talking about a lot of nothing in particular. This is the episode that introduces ‘The White Dress’ story arc which eventually gives the actors a bit more to talk about.  

Overall 

‘Darker Than Black’ has worked hard since the beginning to keep my attention. On many levels it has succeeded with its action and interesting character types. The hyper short story arcs make for constant stop points disrupting the pacing. Despite this, ‘Darker Than Black’ remains a series that I won’t be rushing out to finish. While it’s fun to occasionally pick up, it has failed to grip me as a series that needs to be completed. For now, it lands squarely in an interesting set up that just isn’t followed up on fast enough to keep me rabidly interested in learning more.