Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha

In Tokyo two worlds exist, separated by a need for secrecy to shield unknowing humans from a group of special humans called Contractors, people who possess supernatural abilities to control their surroundings. An event ten years ago started this phenomenon. The real stars disappeared and were replaced by fake stars that correspond to each contractor. Since then, various organizations around the world have been vying for power by secretly using the contractors as spies and assassins. One of these contractors is Hei who works for a group called only by the name Syndicate. He works with a team of four to try to crack down the mystery of the Hell's Gate, one of the two gates (the other, Heaven's Gate at South America, disappeared some time ago) that appeared ten years ago.

Contractors are labeled as nothing more than violent murderers and objects to be used and controlled. Hei however seems to be a different sort of contractor.

From left: Yin, with Mao on her lap, Huang and Hei

Members of the Foreign Affairs Section 4 in-charge of investigations on contractors

This 25-episode series has a rich back story which is both an advantage and disadvantage depending on how the narrative was handled. For those who don't have the patience, it is a challenge trying to guess what's actually going on by extrapolating from the bits of information provided uncharitably throughout the series, unless you have read a summary beforehand. I don't really mind how the narrative was handled but sometimes too much mystery and guessing on the part of the audience takes away the interest that it was supposed to generate. If that isn't a problem however, I think you will enjoy the mysteries and the pace of the story. If the narrative is unsatisfactory, I think Hei and the fight scenes are worth watching. It is difficult to place him in just one category because he does not conform to any of them alone. You can't guess his motives right away and he's not the typical hero who goes out of the way to change everything because he has the power to do so.

Besides the good fight scenes, the animation isn't bad and the supporting cast are interesting enough. The overall mood of the series fits the title. There are a few funny scenes but mostly the series allows the audience to contemplate the difficulty of being in a position to choose between freedom by being selfish and other people's happiness at the cost of one's misery.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10