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

Mar 5, 2008

darkadonis

Recommended

Note: This review has been updated to be consistent with my changing views on anime.

Descendants of Darkness is based on the manga of the same name. It follows four major story arcs of the manga. Three episodes comprise each of the first three arcs while the last four episodes focus on the fourth. Since the anime leaves off where the manga caries on (the manga isn't finished either), the ending doesn't really offer a true conclusion and a lot of questions are left unanswered. Fans of the manga might also be disappointed that a lot of the manga's characters are either left out or shoved ... into the background.

Despite these unfortunate circumstances, I think that the anime more than does the manga justice. In fact, I find it to be an improvement over the manga. While some of the humor and silliness are there, the anime takes on a more serious tone, capitalizing more on the angst, mystery, and supernatural element of the story. The art and music are also absolutely beautiful! Descendants of Darkness has a superb soundtrack which is well worth downloading or even buying! Aside from the characters being beautiful, the monsters and magic are also magnificently rendered. Even though it isn't really a fighting anime, the action sequences should be awesome enough to please those who would otherwise be bored with the drama.

The series consists mostly of fairly mediocre characters, yet it has what I consider to be one of the greatest villains in anime history. Tsuzuki and Hisoka are the protagonists of our story. They are likable characters overall. Tsuzuki is a real sweety despite being a little bit dense and childlike at times. Hisoka has a little bit of an attitude problem at first, but once it becomes apparent where he is coming from, you can't help but sympathize with the guy. Watari and Tatsumi are minor characters who had significantly larger roles in the manga. For the most part, they are just there. They don't really add that much to the anime, but they don't detract from it either. The Gushoshin twins are the only characters that could really be considered annoying. This is mostly because they seem a bit out of place (being two cutesy little talking birds in an otherwise human cast).

Our antagonist Dr. Muraki gets his own paragraph since no couple of sentences could possibly do him justice. He is the subject of much admiration as well as loathing from DoD fans, and he deserves every bit of both. Practically everything he does is just horrific and despicable, but he is so cool and gorgeous and entertaining that you can almost forgive him for being the monster he is. He desires Tsuzuki's body both carnally and scientifically. The scientific reason is revealed later and it gives Muraki's character quite a bit more depth, though you are longing for much more once the anime ends.

While the show isn't technically shounen-ai (gay male romance), it contains a lot of hints and fanservice. It is very easy to read in an attraction between our two heroes. I personally believe in this attraction, but other fans are free to form their own interpretations. Muraki is much less ambiguous and regularly molests Tsuzuki. This lust Muraki has for Tsuzuki is clearly one-sided, but it makes for some rather hot homoerotic material (even though nothing overtly sexual actually happens).

The show masquerades a bit as a mystery series. In reality, the mysteries aren't really any big puzzle. As the audience, we basically know that Muraki is behind everything (with the exception of episodes 4-6). And while the story isn't particularly imaginative as far as anime goes, the characters and the art make it more than worthwhile. All in all, I can't think of any reason to dislike this series unless you're either homophobic or a hardcore manga snob. But we can't please everybody, can we?

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Mar 12, 2012

Spiney

Mixed Feelings

This my first review, so don't be to upset if I don't do this right. But just a warning, I tend to be very short and sweet. So don't be expecting some deep rooted analysis of this series XP

Story: 3/10

The story is nothing original and as I will say throughout this review, it was OKAY. I like the idea that the after world is just this one huge giant office setting but I mean, how many people worked there? From my count, I really only remember like, five...or six. So, where are the rest of the billions of people who have died? I don't remember ... if they explained this or not but I wish they would have as it would have given the setting little more depth. But for what it is, the story worked. But I do have to add, the part with Muraki and Hisoka? That was unnecessary and awful and really, that's one of the reasons why I gave it such a low score. I would have given it a 5/10 if it wasn't for that.

Art: 5/10
It's okay, in terms characters design is,er, okay? I didn't find anything wrong with them...really. Settings were nicely drawn and for the most part, the color scheme seem to fit whatever situation the characters were in. I didn't see too many places where there obvious mistakes. So, it was okay.

6/10: Sound (I am refering to the Japanese voice actors here...the English is like at a -1000/10).

The voice actor Dr. Muraki is by far the best thing about this entire series. He delivers his lines so well, making Muraki stand out as the evil, possessive, intellectual doctor that he is. Some funny trivia, the same voice actor also plays Aizen from the Bleach series. As for the other voice actors, they did a good job I think. They didn't stand out like Muraki did but they were decent enough.

Characters: 4/10
The characters, in my opinion were just okay. The doctor was pretty funny (expect he does something that really was in my opinion, very unnecessary to the plot and disgusting) and like I said, the voice talent really made him stand out. Tsuzuki is really the typical hero, although he becomes more kiddish as the series goes on. REALLY kiddish. He does this in the manga too and I felt I liked him better when the kiddish moments were kept to a minimum and he was much more serious. I thought he could have been a tough shinigami cop who just happened to have a sweet tooth. But for what he is as a protagonist, he works well for this sort of genre. And Hisoka...er...he had a gun. And an interesting power...I think. I don't actually remember his power being explained in the anime. Really all I remember about him is that...er...incident between him and Muraki. But after that, he was just there to be the love interest of Tsuzuki and he didn't have much of a role.

Enjoyment: 8/10
So, you might be wondering "you basically just said entire series was medicore and okay, why on earth does it have an 8/10?" Here's my response: it's a guilty pleasure. While overall, I don't think it is a very good series with uninspiring characters and boring stories, the stuff that I did like about it kept me interested enough to see it through to the end. And I can see why people who like this genre more than I do like this anime so much. Would I re-watch it again? I would probably re-watch the cruise ship saga, as I found it the most enjoyably funny. But you know, try to remember that just because I really like the series doesn't mean you wouldn't. There are two other reviews on here praising the series so there is obviously something there for people who like this sort of death cops meets shounen-ai (or yaoi, not sure what this one would be), you'll really enjoy this. Unlike me, where I just find it to be funny and nothing more.



One quick note: I would like to point out that while I find the anime just to be funny, people who like this series should probably read the manga too. And while I do admit to not have read the entire thing, I liked it a little more than the anime. I felt like it had a lot more substance and yeah, it had a few more light hearted moments. The best example of this: episode 7, the part with Muraki/Tsuzuki. Watch that than go read the manga chapter too it. I liked the manga much more b/c it actually had a funny line from Hisoka and it didn't make it so melodramatic like the anime did.
It was sorta funny XP
Ps-sorry for any mistakes...o.o

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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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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