Add to My List Add to Favorites Alternative TitlesSynonyms: DTB Japanese: Darker than BLACK -黒の契約者- English: Darker than Black German: Darker Than Black French: Darker than Black More titles InformationType: TV Episodes: 25 Status: Finished Airing Aired: Apr 6, 2007 to Sep 28, 2007 Premiered: Spring 2007 Broadcast: Fridays at 01:25 (JST) Producers: Aniplex, Square Enix, Mainichi Broadcasting System, Movic, Myrica Music, Fonishia Licensors: Funimation Studios: Bones Source: Original Genres: Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi Theme: Super Power Duration: 24 min. per ep. Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity) StatisticsScore: 8.051 (scored by 442,837 users) 1 indicates a weighted score. Ranked: #5922 2 based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #174 Members: 966,784 Favorites: 16,624 Available AtResources |
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Nov 7, 2007 ElectricSlime Recommended Darker than Black, what an adventure it has been. Darker than Black takes place in a near future world where two gates appeared, Heaven's Gate and Hell's Gate. The mysterious appearance of these gates brought with them the Contractors. Contractors are people who have entered into a contract with an unknown force and gained a unique power in return. The nature of the contract however requires them to give back each time they use their power. Payment is anything from smoking a cigarette to writing a poem. The main story is told through an omnipotent point of view with the "camera man" being at the ... Read more Open Gift Report
Mar 8, 2015 ZephSilver Mixed Feelings •Cool-ass Chinese Batman protagonist in a Gotham-esque neo-noir setting? Darker and Black felt like a show that was onto something worthwhile but ultimately never got around to proving it. The ingredients to make something great was clearly there but by the end, all we got was a show with ambitious ideas that did nothing but let it dwindle away into nothingness. Does that mean it isn't worth the investment? ... Read more Open Gift Report
Apr 17, 2008 UserZero Recommended Ah, the age old question; what to do when certain people suddenly begin manifesting mysterious superpowers. Darker than BLACK responds with a classic solution found in series ranging from Witch Hunter Robin to X-Men: Form secret organizations to monitor and control these people. However, despite the similar theme, this show is anything but derivative. In the beginning of the series, the premise of the show is somewhat vague as little is known about where the powers of the contractors come from, or how they are related to the gates. As the series progresses more information is inevitably revealed, creating good plot exposition and allowing the story ... Read more Open Gift Report
Aug 2, 2007 Tsunami Recommended ==STORY== Read more Open Gift Report
Jun 22, 2010 -Naami- Mixed Feelings Darker than BLACK has grown rather popular on the net, gaining rave reviews, popularity by word of mouth and leaving trails across the forums and the net in general. With a show with such high acclaims it is only natural to expect a truly remarkable show. Funnily enough, it turned out to be one of the most unremarkable shows I have ever seen. Set in our time but in an alternate world where global warming isn’t the planets biggest threat but supernatural beings with unique powers are – these beings dubbed the name “Contractors”. They appeared the same time Hell’s Gate did; a mysterious force ... Read more Open Gift Report
Dec 10, 2014 Arsene_Lucifer Recommended What format is best for telling a story of an anime series; a narrative format that’s episodic or a format that has a continuing story from beginning to end? It honestly depends on who or what story is trying to be told if any at all. While episodic is easier to get into since the format can be better use for just entertainment. Thus you can eliminate the need of continuity, making it favorable for anyone to just jump into the series at any point. An overarching story on the other hand can build up to a greater or more disappointing outcome depending on the ... Read more Open Gift Report
Jan 11, 2008 Beatnik Recommended I decided to check out this anime based solely on Yoko Kanno's involvement. From the first five minutes, the Matrix vibe was so heavy I thought Trinity was going to show up any minute. After the opening 'homage', the Matrixy stuff is toned down and reduced to the landscape. It's a green-hued city populated by people with powers... There's also A LOT of annoying Pizza Hut product placements in nearly every episode. This anime also has one of the most annoying anime character types in the medium: I'm talking about the character in law enforcement that is just useless and who's only ... Read more Open Gift Report
Mar 19, 2011 Uriel1988 Mixed Feelings ‘’Darker Than Black’’ immerses the viewer in a fascinating world rife with cool superpowers, intrigue and mystery carried by beautiful animation and an evoking soundtrack by none other than Yoko Kanno. The actual series definitely boasts impressive animation and cool superpowers, but that which the series tries to pass of as a story full of intriguing mysteries is nothing more than a total mess full of inconsistencies and plot contrivances. Worse yet, it wants to be seen as a dark and serious story but nevertheless shoehorns in some anime-trappings to try and hook a bigger audience. Said story goes as follows: ... Read more Open Gift Report
Dec 1, 2007 Master10K Recommended Darker than BLACK is an exciting, heavily arc driven Sci-fi, Supernatural, Action anime; following the stories of various human beings, with various special powers, known as Contractors. ^_^ The plot of Darker than BLACK is somewhat confusing as you start but after a while you’ll become accustomed to the intriguing plot, though it does take most of the show to fully understand. For the most part of the story it is arranged into 2 episode length adventures/arcs, giving it and episodic feel. Unlike other episodic adventure anime series (Cowboy Bebop), that extra episode allows the characters to be developed far better. This helps give this anime ... Read more Open Gift Report
Oct 26, 2007 Washi Recommended For a show with so much promise, Darker than Black is remarkably unremarkable, with a production as insipid as it is polished, and plot that tries so hard to be original that it ends up being turgid. I know there are hordes of fans of the show who will no doubt line up to disagree with me but, if the show had lived up to the expectations the names “Studio BONES” and “Yoko Kanno” conjure, I wouldn’t be here expressing my disappointment. But irrespective of expectations and potential, I couldn’t help but think of the show as dressed-up mediocrity, with only an added dash of ... Read more Open Gift Report
Feb 10, 2009 kiriska Recommended "Now I've lost it; I know I can kill. The truth is just beyond the gate...!!" STORY - For a series that essentially never explains anything, I'm actually extremely surprised I ended up liking it as much as I do. I'm not a fan of overt exposition, but I'm not a fan of dancing around all the obvious questions either, and Darker than BLACK does almost exclusively the latter. The majority of the series is episodic and comprised of two-episode mini-arcs; these episodes serve to explore the world and the characters, but any insight gained is limited and generally lead to more questions than answers. And ... Read more Open Gift Report
Mar 17, 2008 Venneh Recommended Title: Darker than BLACK Manga, Anime: Darker than BLACKdoes have an manga adaptation (who the author/artist is, I don't know, cause the information just isn't there). It began running in Kadokawa Shoten's Monthly Asuka magazine, and is currently up to four volumes. It has yet to be licensed Stateside. Darker than BLACK is a twenty-five episode series done by Studio Bones (famous for their work on Fullmetal Alchemist and Ouran High School Host Club), and directed by Tensai Okamura (famous for his work on Wolf's Rain). It ran from April 5th to September 28th, 2007 on Japanese TV, and has been licensed Stateside by ... Read more Open Gift Report
Sep 16, 2008 holdenn Recommended What do you get when you combine X-men and Cowboy Bebop? This. Ten years passed after the incident that gave birth to Contractors, people who manifested paranormal abilities. Nowadays agency's hires Contractors for their own use, seldom even use them as they see fit; giving in to darker emotions and abusing that power. But in exchange from gaining this ability, they must always fulfill their renumeration. Hei is a powerful contractor hiding under the alias of Lee, masquerading as a Chinese transfer student ... Read more Open Gift Report
Aug 24, 2012 Saiph Recommended --- 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” ... Read more Open Gift Report
Oct 12, 2009 SamFury Recommended ====== At the horizon of a bleak world stands an ominous wall, ‘Hell’s Gate’, it’s steel and cement arms spreading across the Tokyo skyline. The city itself is filled with curious characters borne with the Gate, Contractors and Dolls. Contractors are those that have gained supernatural abilities for a price, a penance they must pay for using their skills. Some have to overturn the shoes of their victims, smoke cigarettes or even drink the blood of young children. Dolls on the other hand are soulless mediums, who use various surfaces to track the ongoing of the city. Presented is a dark world ... Read more Open Gift Report
Jun 27, 2008 DuskShadowleaf Recommended Darker than Black is a very enjoyable show for most people. The storyline is extremely unique, with characters that show a level of depth not often seen. I never found myself looking at the artwork and wondering what the animators were thinking. Each of the characters has an appearance that looks realistic, but also unique. Everything looks extremely high-quality to me; Especially if you look at a dvd or .mkv version of the episodes, the level the artists drew on is very high. The music was at times a bit hokey, but it grows on you surprisingly fast. The creators ... Read more Open Gift Report
Feb 6, 2016 Aramir Not Recommended Darker Than Black is one pretty good ranked anime, the name is cool, the short videos are OK so I expected a good, thrilling SCI-FI dark action anime. The first few episodes of the anime are good and they can hook you to want more, but when you find yourself wanting more, this anime simply doesn't give you that. The plot is decent, but eventhought this anime has 25 episodes, it feels like it has a looot filer episodes and characters. The story is going good, but the anime gets you the ... Read more Open Gift Report
Apr 3, 2010 Mysteic Not Recommended Dark than Black was one of the worst I have seen. The entire show seems to have a created by committee feel to it. Several half decent ideas about characters, story, and development get jumbled together into a incoherent mess. The story is confusing due to lack of decent explanation for pass events which seem to have a lot to do with the current events. While at first this seemed to be trivial in the first few episode, all of the supporting characters keep bring up the pass like a weapon. Every time you think you have time to enjoy the hear ... Read more Open Gift Report
Sep 1, 2014 goshujin_sama241 Recommended What is truly Darker than Black? Enter 10 years after the "incident" and the emergence of "Contractors" and spirit mediums known as "Dolls". Darker than Black takes you into the mystery that is Hell's Gate. From the production studio Bones, the studio of such anime as Fullmetal Alchemist, Soul Eater, Eureka Seven, and Noragami comes one of 2007 best Anime. Darker than Black's anime adaption is one of original origin as the story line does not directly relate to the Manga. A risky move that is payed off with exceptional results as this was one fantastic series. Darker than Black focuses around Contractors, one in particular (BK201 ... Read more Open Gift Report
Dec 22, 2013 Link_of_Hyrule Recommended **SPOILER FREE REVIEW OF SEASON 1 ONLY** Darker than Black is a very cool, very unique show that is a great watch if you are looking for a nice change-of-pace anime. Darker than Black does not follow the traditional model of story-telling at all; in fact, it seems to create it's own rules. Rarely do you run into an anime that can balance its serious and depressing moments with light-hearted comedy so effectively all while being topped off with an intriguing plot, much like Fullmetal Alchemist. While it certainly has flaws (We'll get to those) and the FMA comparison is a bit generous, Darker than Black ... Read more Open Gift Report More Reviews |
