Darker Than Black

Wednesday Afternoon Anime

That Was a Joke

Darker Than Black, created, directed, and written by Tensai Okamura and animated by Bones, is set in an alternate Japan that exists on the edge of a no-man’s land called Hell’s Gate. Hell’s Gate appeared about ten years prior to the beginning of the series, and with it’s sudden, mysterious, and chaotic arrival, some humans began displaying special abilities. These superhumans are called called contractors, and they are segmented in society, neither acknowledged by the public nor given full rights as humans. Much of the conflict stems from the efforts of humans to control and even eliminate the contractors.

Marginalized as they are, contractors have to look for alternate ways to make ends meet, and that’s where much of the story happens. Hei, the main character, and most of his cohort work for a variety of shadowy organizations, some legal, some not, doing all sorts of things that are often very much illegal. Hei and his partners are employees of a Chinese crime syndicate, but that doesn’t make anyone around them more noble. It’s hardly surprising that Hei, the conflicted criminal, often seems the best of them all.

(image source: AnimeBox)