Review of Darker Than Black

This series is set a couple of years after the original; if you want to know what happened between the two series you need to watch the four OVA episodes; strangely these are on disc three of the 'Season Two' box set, at least they are here in the UK. The series starts in Russia where thirteen year old Suo lives with her father and twin brother Shion until one day their house is attacked. She assumes they have been killed in the attack and heads to Japan hoping to find her mother. She is accompanied by Hei, who has been badly affected by the loss of Yin, Mao who is now a flying squirrel and a doll called July. It turns out that Suo is a contractor; she can create an antitank rifle out of thin air! There are several contractors after her including one of her school friends who has the power to summon enough insects to kill a person or even derail a train! While Suo wants to find her mother Hei is keen to find Yin again; the problem is many people want to stop him believing a prophecy that suggests if they meet again it could be the end for all contractors.

While this series is quite different to the first I enjoyed it just as much; Suo makes a good protagonist and the season contains one long story arc rather than relying on several three or four part stories. While only a few original characters return it is good to see Hei, policewoman Misaki Kirihara, although she is now working for the shadowy 'Section Three, and Mao return. Over the course of the series Suo's character develops nicely and that development includes a couple of real surprises that I won't spoil here.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.