I discovered Darker Than Black in my recommendations in Netflix last summer. I started it to try to fill the void filled by my finishing Bleach and ended up liking it quite a bit. The story is pretty interesting, if not a bit difficult to understand at first because of all the complex terms. I enjoyed this anime while I watched it, and would recommend it to those who like sci-fi, mystery, and action (and something short, it only 2 seasons).The story revolves around Japan after a explosive disaster. This disaster created humans with powers of sorts, called contractors. They are called this because they must endure some sort of punishment or perform an action every time they use their power. This can be something as simple as smoking a cigarette, or as complicated as getting several years younger each time. The story revolves around a particular contractor named Hei, who has the power of electricity, but for some reason does not have to perform an action in return. Hei is part of an illegal organization and performs jobs for them. The story also follows the cops that try to track down this infamous criminal and other contractors. The story gets more and more crazy as we discover the truth behind the events that created the contractors and find out who Hei really is.
There are lots of interesting characters in this story, especially the bad guys and Hei, with whom you can’t really determine his moral compass. I really liked the “doll” characters because they look like humans but have certain purposes. This makes things interesting because certain dolls behave more like humans or aren’t simple-minded creatures as the humans assume.
I really liked the fight scenes in this anime, and it was really fun to watch, but it left a couple things to be desired. I was very confused about the contractor system in the beginning and I never really got a clear explanation about what dolls were about. I also thought the final explanation of all the events that occurred was bit rushed and a little confusing, but all in all the plot was understandable. I would recommend this anime if you are into action and feeling bored. I would give it a 3/5 for my anime review.
