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--- Warning: Contains spoilers ---

Stories of people with superhuman abilities have been around practically since the dawn of time. Ever since DBZ set the bar for “power levels” consisting of blowing up planets however, more and more modern series have teetered on the edge of colossal scales at some point or another. Then you have Darker than Black, which can stand out among a handful of those with more reasonable (or rather comprehensible) scales in the post DBZ era.

Darker than Black starts out by introducing these things known as contractors, people with special abilities like many series out there, who must pay a “price” ... for using their power ranging from things like writing poetry to breaking a few fingers. Aside from contractors we have dolls, which are basically emotionless mediums with no real personality, who send out things known as “observer spirits” that work like mobile security cameras.

We quickly meet our main character Hei, a contractor with electric abilities who seemingly has no price unlike the other contractors out there. Working with a doll named Yin, a talking cat named Mao, and a man named Huang who seems like your typical 1930s mafia average joe, the group takes on missions from an organization simply referred to as “The Syndicate”. This organization is apparently vast in scope, as it easily networks Hei into a variety of odd jobs necessary to gather intelligence and work his missions, even in the midst of organizations with top notch security.

For the first half of the series, we actually don’t learn much about this group, but rather we uncover a variety of characters, their motives, and their back stories as Hei goes on various missions. Although these are well done and quite gruesome visually at times, none of these really seem to be tied together or have importance beyond just another day at the office, making the series fairly episodic in the beginning for the most part.

The arcs in Darker than Black generally tend to consist of two parts, mostly pertaining to “Hell’s Gate”, a wall around a supernatural zone that appeared some ten years ago in Tokyo as the stars in the night sky were replaced with those representing the lives of contractors. Unless you like unstable realities that laugh in the face of physics and induce mass hysteria, this probably isn’t the type of area you would like to stroll through on a Sunday afternoon.

It’s easy to see from the beginning, that there is a feeling akin to that of a mafia series. Everything from the way Huang obtains information to Hei’s execution of missions to the way the group explains their relationship with each other fits the bill for a futuristic mafia. As such, they keep their profile as low as they can manage while avoiding failures that may make them live out their usefulness to The Syndicate. Of course, this means you will also get your fair share of enjoyable action as the group carries out The Syndicate’s dirty work.

Perhaps one of Darker than Black’s most refreshing attributes though is the protagonist Hei. While not particularly rare, Hei is strong but not overpowered. Many modern series have protagonists that are simply too strong in comparison to the antagonists, leaving for boring lackluster fights as they easily beat their opponent. Hei is realistic on the other hand, and many times throughout the series the help of an ally saves him instead of his own strength. For those of you who prefer the ridiculously strong heroes, you might see this as a weakness on his part, but I quite enjoyed giving importance to what has become the oft forgotten role of “right hand man” in today’s lineup of do it yourself heroes.

Unlike most protagonists though, Hei is rather silent. When he talks, it’s usually only a brief response to another character consisting of maybe a few lines. Compared to other protagonists out there that are always shooting their mouths off and the like, it’s nice to see one speak more through actions than words for once. Sometimes though, this does leave Hei taking a backseat for supporting characters as they become the central focus. In hindsight this is primarily seen in the beginning arcs, but this may end up making it difficult for some people to form a strong enough attachment to the series to see it out to the end when there is more focus and clarity on our main character.

Despite his rather limited dialogue, Hei still clearly develops as a character. Initially seeming nothing more than the stoic murderer contractors are pegged for completed by his feared moniker “The Black Reaper”, we see that this is only to maintain appearances for his job. It’s not really until the second half of the series that we get to see this other side of Hei, notably when Yin becomes a target for their enemies. When The Syndicate deems Yin possibly harmful to their interests, they order Hei’s group to kill her, to which he defies the order and saves her instead. More difficult orders come down from above as time goes on, and Hei becomes increasingly defiant as he comes to his own realizations of the path he wants to pursue.

This arc also introduces the growing relationship between Hei and Yin, and despite that both are about as conversational as a rock, they do gradually grow fonder of each over time in their limited communications. Their relationship reminded me much of Roger and Dorothy from Big O, though definitely more realistic considering Yin is actually human unlike Dorothy. It is important to note they don’t always clearly communicate through language, as Yin simply sending out an observer spirit into the gate to check on Hei during one arc clearly meant a lot to him, and it is later noted that this is actually quite painful for a doll to do. Even by the end however, this relationship is still really only a stern fondness. Some audiences may be left unsatisfied that more development wasn’t given here while others may feel that there wasn’t enough directness in their relationship to make for a convincing enough development.

Around the same time as Yin’s arc, the main and only real plot of Darker than Black begins to emerge with the appearance of a character named Amber. Amber is a contractor codenamed “February”, who apparently betrayed Hei as a member of his group, which also happened to include his sister Pai, in a South American War over a similar zone to Hell’s Gate named “Heaven’s Gate”. Spearheading a group of contractors by the name of Evening Primrose, Amber begins bombing the town and making a nightmare of Hei’s life like a bad ex-girlfriend when she also kidnaps Yin. Don’t forget she leaves behind the courtesy “FU” letter written in that girly handwriting complete with the little hearts and all.

The story here actually bridges a lot of elements from the beginning arcs together, in a way that makes you realize that while it had the kick back feeling of an episodic series initially, they were conveniently busy weaving the main plot underneath many of these stories unbeknownst to the audience. The realization at the end in how these stories connect to one another is quite a nice touch, but not to the level of being spectacular at the same time.

By the end, Amber eventually exposes the truth of the Syndicate and the nature of contractors to Hei, and it is then we really see him as the ideal hero. Hei struggles with the hard moral choices and his limitations as an individual that are in ways reminiscent of heroes like Batman. His final decision on how to resolve the ending conflict speaks strongly towards justice, as he makes the world his enemy to do what he feels is right despite concerns from Amber.

Abandoning everything he had previously known except Yin, Hei moves forward with his choice to try and get humans and contractors to coexist. Previously having been kicked from the Syndicate, the ending is left rather open with the implication he will begin a whole new life as the Syndicate hunts him down to no end. In many senses, Hei’s journey is only beginning and this series is a prequel to setting that event in motion. While many people prefer their definitive endings, I felt it was rather fitting for the series to leave the ending open instead of attempting an abrupt halt to the nice developments the series brought forth just to manage a definitive end.

Top the series off with a fitting OST and fluid combat scenes, and Darker than Black becomes a very enjoyable action series definitely worth the watch. The characters were all explained nicely by the end with their developments, even a majority of the supporting cast. Overall this series is best summed up as a “Chinese Electric Batman”, which as it sounds, is just plain awesome.