Darker Than Black Episodes 19 and 20: Dreaming Swallow, Uninebriated

And with this episode, Darker Than Black is right back where it needs to be. There aren't many story arcs left, and although this episode was terrific, I'm still feeling a little nervous for the future of the show. It's been back and forth in quality for so long, and there's not really enough time for the series to do any more stories that don't move the main plot forward at all. I suppose no matter what happens, there's still the second season to look forward to.

This episode finally let us see a little bit of Huang's backstory, and his character makes a lot more sense now. I think I'll have a new appreciation for a lot of scenes when I go back and re-watch them. During the first episode, I enjoyed the flashbacks a lot more than the main story, but the second episode of this arc was much stronger, and the story was at its best when the past and the present were running into each other.

In spite of my misgivings about the future of the show, there was some interesting set up that I hope they follow through on, and the episode itself had some beautiful scenes, especially near the end. If the series continues on an upwards path from here, I'm sure this season will go out with a bang.

Rating: 93/100

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Watch Darker than Black Online

If you've been following my Darker than Black recaps and are curious about checking the show out for yourself, you're in luck! Funimation has free episodes of Darker than Black available to watch on their site. You're able to choose from dubbed or subbed, and quite a few episodes are available. If you're already watching Darker than Black, fear not! There's lots more free anime on their website. Just go to the video section of Funimation.com. Have fun watching!

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Darker Than Black Episodes 17 and 18: A Love Song Sung with a Trash Heap

Darker Than Black has fallen into a weird little pattern, and it's starting to bother me. The show will start getting better and better, until I'm totally psyched up for whatever's coming next, and then the show drops in quality a bit and doesn't do much with the awesome storylines they have set up. Even the animation in this arc wasn't anywhere near as good as the last few episodes.

I enjoyed these episodes in spite of that, but it's really frustrating to keep going from amazing episode to stuff like this. I wish the show had had more of a slow build to awesome instead of this constant back and forth. If this episode had taken place earlier in the series, I think I would've enjoyed in quite a bit more.

That said, there were still some wonderful scenes. Mao didn't play a huge role in this episode, but he absolutely shone in his limited time on screen. I liked the continued development of Yui's relationship with Li as well as her interactions with one of this arc's new characters. I hope that we'll learn more about dolls in an episode soon, but I suppose there's always manga and the next season for that.

Rating: 89/100

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Darker Than Black Episodes 15 and 16: Memories of Betrayal in an Amber Smile

In case the picture didn't make it obvious, this story arc marks the triumphant return of November 11. He didn't get quite as much screen time as I would've liked, but he's still such an enjoyable character, and I loved every minute of it that I got.

The story seems to be heading in a bit of a different direction, and with that new direction comes a new opening and closing theme. I always have a hard time adjusting to new themes, but I'm very intrigued by the animation in the new opening. I wonder if it'll turn out to be at all spoiler-tastic. Openings do tend to be full of spoilers.

Things have really kicked into high gear by this point. My jaw dropped several times at the events in this episode, and I can't wait to see the impact that some things have had. It was so hard not starting up the next episode immediately after finishing this one. I still have so much I want to find out, and at this point in the series, that's a pretty perfect place to be.

Rating: 92/100

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Darker Than Black Episodes 13 and 14: A Heart Unswaying on the Water's Surface

At long last, we get a Yui centric episode, and it was well worth the wait. This was a really lovely episode, in more ways than one. There were some beautifully animated scenes, wonderful, touching writing, and some of the best music I've heard in this series so far. If you're a fan of piano music, I really recommend trying to track the music from this episode down. It's exquisite.

This episode introduced some interesting new characters and brought back some that I wasn't expecting to see again. While I didn't laugh at them as much as I did the first time, I felt that they worked better in small doses overall. I hope that they sneak them in again sometime, even if it's just for a scene or two.

While the series has been full of sad scenes, this episode really brought out the waterworks for me. The more stirring scenes really made me appreciate how well they've developed the characters thus far. They managed to be sad in a subtle way and without being at all emotionally manipulative. I really love that this show has turned out to be so character driven and isn't just another fun action show, and I hope it continues on that path.

Rating: 95/100

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Darker Than Black Episodes 11 and 12: When One Takes Back what was Lost Within the Wall

As soon as I saw this story arc's title, I knew it was going to be a good one. This was a bit of a change of pace from the usual missions we've seen The Syndicate take on, and was full of fascinating information about the strange version of the world that Darker than Black takes place in. This is another character backstory centric episode of well, with more of the blanks being filled in about Li.

This episode had a wonderful creepy and mysterious tone that the series hasn't had much of so far, and I really enjoyed it. There was a minor story arc that I found distracting and a bit annoying, but the episode had some really terrific moments in it, and really got me psyched up for all the things that the series still has to come.

The music in the episode was beautiful as always, and there was a tiny little moment at the end that I really loved. I think I've gotten to the point where I'm pretty attached to these characters. Knowing that there's a second season starting next month gives me some hope that they'll all be okay, but you never know with anime. Here's hoping I don't have any big watershed moments coming up soon.

Rating: 92/100

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Darker Than Black Episodes 9 and 10: The White Dress Stained with the Girl's Dreams and Blood

The backstory driven story arcs continue with Darker than Black's ninth and tenth episodes. This time Misaki is the one to get the spotlight, though Saito and Kanami get some nice moments as well. The syndicate is once again barely in the episode, with only Li getting any real screentime. I've enjoyed learning more about other characters, but I'm hoping to get back to more stuff like what I saw in episodes 5 and 6 soon, or better yet, some Yin or Huang centric stories. While I'm making a wishlist, I might as well add that I can't wait to see November 11 again either.

I'm not sure if my expectations for this show have gotten too high or not, because while I did enjoy this arc, it just doesn't feel like it was as good as some of the earlier episodes were. I'm not complaining yet, exactly, because I do feel like this arc in particular will probably make some of the earlier episodes even better upon re-watching, but I feel like I got so pumped up about this show and haven't gotten a really epic episode since. Here's hoping I don't have long to wait.

There was some lovely music in this one, and the new characters were intriguing and well done, as always. I hope to see more of Li and Misaki together soon- they make a fun pair.

Rating: 89/100

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