Yami no Matsuei

Even after death, life is full of paperwork and criminals. Tsuzuki Asato is a 26 year old, happy-go-lucky, and dorky shinigami (god of death) whose job is to makes sure that those who are dead remain dead and stay in their proper realms. Even though he's had this job for over 70 years, he is in the worst division with horrible pay. He also has a knack for not keeping partners (since shinigami work in pairs), but now he seems to have one that will stick around; stubborn, smart-mouthed, serious and defensive 16 year old, Kurosaki Hisoka. With each case they investigate, they come closer to the conspiracies of the serial killer Dr. Muraki Kazutaka. Tsuzuki's relationship with Hisoka is growing stronger and closer...but there is a dark past to how Tsuzuki died that will not give him peace.

(Source: ANN)

Muraki, Kazutaka Main

Hayami, Show Japanese

Tsuzuki, Asato Main

Miki, Shinichiro Japanese

Kurosaki, Hisoka Main

Asano, Mayumi Japanese

Yutaka, Watari Supporting

Seki, Toshihiko Japanese

Tatsumi, Seiichiro Supporting

Morikawa, Toshiyuki Japanese

Oriya, Mibu Supporting

Inoue, Kazuhiko Japanese

Minase, Hijiri Supporting

Takayama, Minami Japanese

Gushooshin, Ani Supporting

Nakanishi, Yumiko Japanese

Wong, Maria Supporting

Imai, Yuka Japanese

Narrator Supporting

Kosugi, Juurouta Japanese

Matsukura, Yuuji Producer

Moriyama, Atsushi Producer

Suzuki, Iku Episode Director

Okamoto, Hideki Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Jan 8, 2022

femaleTrouble

Recommended

Anime cognoscenti might sneer at this one. I can't swear to that but suspect this series mainly appeals if you enjoy shows that are a bit campy - or happen to be a 13-year-old who likes pretty homoerotic boys who never actually get it on and genre stuff mainly concerned with mood, characters, and style.

I love the cinematic art look of early '00s supernatural/sci-fi anime series like Blood - not that DoD is really in the same class (Blood's Viet Nam-inspired visuals were truly stunning), and DoD's establishing shots and cool, fast steadicam-type dashes down corridors contrast in a kicky way with the utter ... unreality of anime-world tropes. Also, as an earlier reviewer says, the universe has a fun, Beetlejuice-type of "omg, even AFTER we're dead?!?" comic universe, which for me works as further compensation for the sketchy plot. The Japanese voice actors are typically good, too... and who doesn't love shinigami?? Between this, Death Note, and Bleach, I've gotta say that the versatility and power of your average shinigami make Western zombies and vampires seem sadly limited and low-rent.

So, if you appreciate not-scary supernatural stuff on occasion, can dig yaoi-lite, and love impossibly pretty anime people (the leads' violet and green eyes are insane), this is great low-stakes fun. Having seen relatively little anime aside from super mainstream shows, I do know that DoD is not a Stellar Work of Genius, but sometimes it's nice to just sit back and know that the characters are always going to be Fine at the end.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Aug 30, 2021

RESOLVING_POWER

Mixed Feelings

I watched Yami no Matsuei, also known as Descendants of Darkness. Here are my thoughts:

This anime is basically a homoerotic supernatural anime about investigators of paranormal phenomena. The show has an interesting premise and a unique atmosphere. The protagonists are 'anti-heroes', which fits the theme. There are certainly some erotic moments. The plot itself though is quite dark and morbid.

Late-90s character designs and art style really suit the homoerotic atmosphere well. Although the animation itself uses stills a lot, stylistically the anime looked good.

Soundtrack was suitable. There was a fair bit of classical music, with plenty of violin and organ. I liked the use of ... choral music in particular. It definitely fit the atmosphere of the anime. That said, OP and ED songs were dreadful.

I'm kind of at a loss for words for evaluating this anime. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't that great either and I'm having trouble explaining why. Aside from the novelty of a homosexual horror story, the anime is mediocre. Maybe there's a decent story in here, but if so it's obscured by poor direction. Although I haven't read it, I imagine the manga does a better job fleshing things out. The premise of the show had a lot of potential, but the execution was disappointing.

The protagonists investigate/fight various supernatural threats. This can be cool and creative, but sometimes it also felt formulaic. It had kind of a monster-of-the-week-ish feel to it, which is a format I simply don't enjoy that much. Maybe I am biased in that regard. Sometimes the plot and character-focused stories felt incoherent, likely as a result of manga material being omitted from the adaptation.

Despite my criticisms, at the very least the uniqueness of the anime deserves appreciation. The style and atmosphere of the show are its most appealing elements, in my opinion.

Overall rating: 6/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Nov 8, 2018

JuneNephthys

Not Recommended

Informative

Yami no Matsuei is a very, very cringe-worthy series that I used to be into―back when I was in middle school―and then recently decided to revisit as an adult, and, oh boy! This series is badーlike really, really bad! To start out with, the most glorified character in the series is a serial killer, pedophile, scientistーwhose entire motivation for committing all of his heinous, degenerative crimes is to get revenge on his deceased brother by… making him immortal, so he can kill him for all of eternity? The series mentions briefly that Muraki’s parents were killed and his brother was some type of evil, Luciferian ... sociopath, but what kind of insane devotion is that? Especially when Muraki is a psychopathic killer himself! The irony!

• Another strange thing about the murderous diddler (Muraki) is that the series practically ships him with the main character (Tsuzuki) who is immortal, but happened to die and become a spirit-realm detective, for some reason? And while Muraki is set on using Tsuzuki’s decapitated body as his brother’s vessel, it is implied that he actually loves him, or something? Everything in this series is cryptic, not explained, and doesn’t make a bit of sense; the first episode expects you to know that the main cast work for a spirit judiciary, police force without telling you… it only mentions that there’s a spirit councilーin a short narration before the opening theme.

• Another weird connection between the central cast of characters is that the main character’s partner (Hisoka) was tortured, raped, and murdered by Muraki, but this is rarely mentioned―outside of the main arc, despite Muraki being the glorified Joker-type character and practically what the entire series revolves around! The most that happens is that he scowls whenever Muraki comes around, because, you know, it’s not like you would want to murder or attack the person that LITERALLY raped you to death or anything! I hate to mention this, but shounen-ai and yaoi series are really bad at emphasizing the seriousness of sexual assault, in fact, it seems like a weird kink in most cases. I played the DRAMAtical Murder visual novel and the plot fetishized Mink spiking Aoba’s drink and date-raping him… and in both the Sekaiichi Hatsukoi Movie: Yokozawa Takafumi no Baai AND the first episode of Dakaretai Otoko 1-i ni Odosarete Imasuーthe protagonist gets drunk, ends up naked in bed with a guy he just met (who’s supposed to be the love interest), and subsequently gets blackmailed into dating him! BL series’ have a strange standard of what’s socially acceptable in a romantic relationship…

• There are a few other characters that get little to no screen time and don’t have a purpose to be in the series other than being the passed over, potential love interests that only exist for doujinshi fodder. There’s an accountant that acts as Tsuzuki’s secretary, a scientist that makes useless inventions, a duck mascot character that’s just there for exposition, a female character that it only shows once (whose only purpose is to buy Tsuzuki donuts), an old department manager, Muraki’s kimono-clad friend (it never really explains their relationship or how they met), and an invisible Phantom of the Opera copy-paste who has a zombie butler and no real purpose, other then to perversely fawn over Tsuzuki.

• The abysmal storyline is one thing, but the animation is another. For the most part, I think the character designs look really clean, especially for a series made at the beginning of the 21st century; especially with the prevalence of low-quality OVAs during the period that this series airedーsomething that people knew anime for, at the time, since it was something that you could rent from Blockbuster Video and have a short love/hate affair with for the duration of 1-3 episodes. When things like Urotsukidōji permeated through the culture and diluted the public’s consensus towards anime. With that being said, the animation in Descendants of Darkness is appalling! Characters slide across the screen, teleport, and if a character caresses another’s face or wipes away a tear―it looks like a person is dragging a cursor across a screen! Terrifyingly bad! I would prefer ugly character designs to animation that’s THIS freaking bad!

• The scripting is poor, nonsensical, and even laughableーat times. The characters are the worst exaggerations of yaoi stereotypes that you can possibly imagine. The animation is some of the worst I’ve ever seen. The only credit that I can give this show is that the character designs and imagery aren’t the worst. Overall, I give this convoluted mess a 2/10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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	Poll: Yami no Matsuei Episode 13 Discussion Lia4ever - Dec 23, 2008	18 replies	by KASUKIKI-KUN »» Sep 1, 1:20 PM
	Poll: Yami no Matsuei Episode 6 Discussion stand - Mar 27, 2013	10 replies	by ok_daddy »» Mar 10, 12:55 AM
	Poll: Yami no Matsuei Episode 7 Discussion YandereYuuya - Mar 19, 2013	6 replies	by Tarke21 »» Aug 9, 2022 2:45 PM
	Poll: Yami no Matsuei Episode 12 Discussion DarkBlue - May 1, 2009	8 replies	by Disapeared_Ghost »» Aug 14, 2021 10:22 AM
	Poll: Yami no Matsuei Episode 11 Discussion stand - Mar 30, 2013	5 replies	by Disapeared_Ghost »» Aug 14, 2021 10:22 AM

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