nanothestrange This series is one of my all time favorites. if you're someone who doesn't easily connect dots however, it is not for you. the story is incredibly captivating without needing to give you much information. A lot of the story is left open and the characters are incredibly dynamic. You spend the entire series trying to solve questions like what happened? What does that mean? what will happen next? The directors have a keen understanding of setting, narrative and foreshadowing. The series is different than most anime, as you aren't given all the details in some drawn out boring exposition speech. You are left to connect events through meticulous clues and hopeful symbols left by the writers. An expert use of dialogue as there is very little dialogue that is worth nothing. Every word is important to the overall story. Perfect and thought provoking. Got more attached to the main 3 contractors than pretty much any anime characters.

Zubacz This anime series has a brilliant premise, interesting characters, great animation, music and sound effects, engaging action scenes and well written dialogue. It would seem that those would constitute a great anime show. Well, Darker than Black is good but it could have been a lot better, if one thing wasn't missing: Character development. With the exception of episode 13 and 14 (the best ones, in my opinion) where we see a subtle, yet clear enlightenment of the side character Yin, there is very little character development in this series. The great titles like Death Note, Elfen Lied, Time of Eve or even the lighthearted Black Lagoon, always feature an emotional arc of one or more characters. They learn, they react, they change their attitude or moral stance because of the circumstances. We root for the characters, we empathise with them and we get closure when their character arc completes. This is missing in Darker than Black. The main character is conflicted but his attitude and behaviour stays almost constant throughout.If not for the above, this would have been an outstanding series. As it is, it's still worth watching, but don't expect the thoughtful and emotional involvement that the best anime give.

mary I came across this anime accidentally, I do not watch a lot of anime, in fact I rarely find an anime that I can truly say I enjoyed immensely, but Darker than Black is definitely an exception to this.I will admit after the first episode I wasn't completely convinced. It was vague and left me feeling a little jilted, but I found out the series runs in a two episode story arc, so of course I was confused. I watched the second and was intrigued. I had to know what happened next. I kept watching and I was left with the same feeling of anticipation. The good kind of anticipation when you know something really satisfying is going to happen. Not only is the story great but the art and animation is fabulous. Very clean and smooth, the movements are fluid and fight scenes are very enjoyable to watch. The character designs are unique, even characters that look similar are distinct. The characters' designs are not the only good thing about them, they are also dynamic with their own personalities and almost every character is likable. I have to say it was actually the style of art that prompted me to watch this show, and it was a great decision on my part. Although the ending may seem vague and leave questions unanswered, don't worry, the is a sequel on the way. Overall, there is no lack of good things in this show. It is hard to describe which is something I find a good quality.

Kareiyasu Let me start by saying, that many people will usually consider this "great" anime, simply due to the many years of hype and the studio backing it. Sporting some decent songs produced by the famous Yoko Kanno helps as well. With that knowledge alone, people will usually be expecting something the likes of Cowboy Bebop or Samurai Champloo. Unfortunately the biggest expectations usually tend to let us down quite frequently.As far as anime goes, Darker than Black is one that takes few risks and offers very little rewards. While you might hear or see that the series is "gritty" and "gory", it only really shares those two in very specific scenes and easily gets beat by other animes such as Elfen Lied, and while Datker than Black isn't here to give us a gore fest, it still provides with some decent scenes. The bad side?, they really only come sparingly.Many categorize the series as Noir or the abruptly formed, "neo-noir", and as a fan of such classics as Casablanca, The Big Sleep, and Gilda. I can't say I see it. Wearing a mask and a black trench coat, does not a noir make. There are zero silhouette shots, no femme fatales and the only person that smokes happens to be an uninteresting geezer with a bad case of the Mondays.The first few episodes are pieced together quite well, but eventually, the plot hits a fork in the road and becomes more about mysteries wrapped in enigmas, rinsed and repeated till they become cliché. At around this time two episodes usually contain the same plot as the director decided he needed two episodes to conclude a very short story.Ultimately, the characters aren't appealing and the lead (Hei) becomes as stiff as the rest of the cast. The character development is sluggish if at all any. Even the slapstick characters seem to just fall short. The fight scenes are worth the wait, but suffer from quick panels and don't really bring us in on the ride.Darker then Black feels average, I can't say I will recommend this anime to anyone who enjoys either Noir or animes altogether. Frankly, its too sub par to be considered "good", and in an age where the "next big thing" is still being wished for, DBT isn't even a tease.