Darker Than Black: Series Review

It's been a few days since I finished Darker Than Black, and I now feel like I've had enough time to collect my thoughts about the show to go ahead and write a review. I'm going to make this as spoiler-free as I can muster, and this absolutely should be safe reading for anyone who hasn't seen the show.

I'm not sure why I never got around to watching Darker Than Black sooner. I have a pretty big weakness for superpowers, and not only is Darker Than Black full of them, but it injects new life into the concept with the introduction of payments. Half the fun of seeing new characters show off their powers each week was finding out what sort of price they'd have to pay for them. The writers got really creative with this, with payments that ranged from silly and lighthearted downright monstrous.

Darker Than Black was a pretty solid series right from the get-go, and by the time I'd watched the first 6 episodes I'd fallen in love with the slow. It's rare for an action series to spend so much time on character development, but it paid off bigtime for Darker Than Black. Scenes from older episodes were often given new significance, making this a great series to rewatch, and the series managed to have some really emotional moments. Yoko Kanno's soundtrack for the show was masterful, but I wouldn't expect anything less.

However, as much as I liked Darker Than Black, it was rarely everything I wanted it to be. The show frequently built up momentum and then didn't take advantage of it, and several of the show's story arcs seemed really oddly placed. I think if the series had had a little restructuring, it could've really been a masterpiece. As is, it's a throughly entertaining show, but it had the potential to be even more.

Now that I have some distance from it, I'm a little less satisfied with the ending than I initially was. If I had watched the show when it initially aired, I think I would have felt pretty disappointed. As I said, I'm not going to spoil anything here, but people who want all their questions answered might find themselves a little frustrated with the show.

All in all, Darker Than Black is still a pretty great anime. It has its flaws, sure, but diving into the green hued city the show was set in was a wonderful experience. A compelling plot, well-written characters, and terrific action scenes are a terrific combination. If you're a fan of anime, then there's a lot to like about this show.

Rating: 92/100