Darker Than Black Episode 23: God is in His Heaven

Darker Than Black's first single parter episode is one part sweet and wistful, and one part action packed. The pacing on this episode overall was really wonderful, and it made me wonder how some of the weaker past episodes might have benefited if they hadn't had to stretch their story across two episodes. The writers of this show can clearly fit plenty of events and character development into 22 minutes or so.

Things in the Darker Than Black world seem to be headed pretty quickly towards a climax, and it certainly seems like the next few episodes will be pretty interesting. I am worried that a few things aren't going to get addressed before the season's end, but that's when I have to remind myself that there'll be plenty of time for wrapping up loose ends in season two.

I particularly liked the moments between Li and Misaki in this episode. One of the things I enjoy most about Li as a character is that I'm never sure how much of what he says is an act and how much is really him, and their time together kept me guessing. You really get the sense of what the world must have been like before the Hell's Gates events in this one, and I imagine that'll add quite a bit of emotional weight to the stories yet to come.

Rating: 94/100