Darker than BLACK / First Impressions / OVA/Movie

Summary:

Sometime after the Tokyo Explosion incident, Hei had fought and defeated some Syndicate Contractors and had then fled with Yin to Okinawa. The two posed as newlyweds on their honeymoon, and Hei had tried to find a way out of the country. What began to bother him though was how Yin started acting on her own, including following him when he told her to stay put and arranging dinner for him at the inn. The two ended up not leaving by boat because of the ferry ticket lady’s warning about Yin getting seasick, and this led to Hei running into a woman at the hotel who looked exactly like Amber. Yin noticed this as well, and after seeing Hei talking with the woman and later feeling distant from him, Yin had made use of her observation spirit that night. Although Hei had woken up and stopped her from doing anything drastic, Yin saw enough to be able to say that the woman was not Amber but was indeed a Contractor. Yin had tried to suggest that he get out of there, however Hei had just hugged her and vowed not to leave her by herself.

The next day, as Hei was checking out of the inn, he heard from the manager that the person who looked like Amber was actually a man. Realizing that the woman he had seen was an illusion, Hei ran back to his room only to find Yin gone, and he subsequently got attacked by more Contractors. Hei survived and was able to track Yin down to an old building where he got attacked again, this time by the person who looked like Amber. This person’s ability was to control his opponent’s actions, but Hei was saved when this person suddenly turned the gun and shot himself in the head, with Yin’s observation spirit appearing behind him. Hei was then able to kill most of the rest of Yin’s captors and save her, and he told the remaining kidnapper to tell the Syndicate that he’d thwart whatever they conspired to do. Unbeknownst to him, the person who looked like Amber wasn’t dead and instead talked to a certain dog about Yin’s hastened evolution.

Preview

I hate to say it, but this episode was everything I wanted the second series to be. There was tons of action, some hints of romance, and then some plot twists and more action. The battles at the beginning and end of the episode were nice, but I actually enjoyed the sweet HeiXYin moments in the middle the most. It’s largely because I loved the music they used for those scenes which made them feel almost CLANNAD-esque. It was of course also great to hear Yin have more lines here than she did in all of Ryuusei no Gemini, and we’re finally seeing the beginning of how she became Izanami. Speaking of which, the new antagonists for this arc are certainly interesting. Claude (that’s the name listed in the credits) has a very useful ability, and the whole Amber thing caught me off-guard. The dog with the female voice was kind of creepy too and is in I imagine a situation similar to Mao. There was also that kid who was with the kidnappers who Hei wanted to pass his message to the Syndicate. I’m surprised that Hei let him live, and I’d guess he’ll play another role later on.

What gets me even more excited about this story arc is watching the preview for the next DVD episode on the official website. I’ve never seen so much emotion in Yin – she’s almost delightfully evil – and I can’t wait for it to come out March 24th.

65 Comments

  14. SWEET! Too bad its only 4 episodes. They could have gotten so far with this one compared to that weird shit in the 2nd season. Its kinda sad that Amber was eventually right when she said that in order for Hei to save all the contractors, he would end up alone – How many GD Ambers are there anyway, body-doubles or not.

    Megas
    Reply

  23. THIS IS THE REASON WHY THE SECOND SEASON WAS SUCH A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. I’m so glad they gave us these OVA’s. I want to wait for ALL the episodes to air before I watch but… Ughhh I don’t know… Anyways, thanks for blogging Omni! 😀

    Steph.
    Reply

  26. Hm. I haven’t watched the OVA yet, so I dunno if anything may contradict, but I have a personal theory about Yin.

    So. Evolution, and two Yins at the end of the second season.

    Evolution: Remember that contractor from the first season who could steal observation spirits? When he died, he realeased all of them. I think Yin may have absorbed them or gained a similiar power to that contractor, beacause after that episode Yin’s observation spirit seemed to have grown a lot stronger. For example, in Hell’s Gate, she was able to use the observation spirit without pain, something that only a large network of dolls can do. Her spirit also turned into a girl shape after that. In Season 2 ep. 12, we see Yin with a large numbus of spirits circulating around her, kinda like what happened when that contractor died. This may have been the begining of her evolution.

    Now, two Yins: Everyone generally believes Yin to mean silver…however it could also be Yin as in YinYang, the Daoism symbol. Thats the first thing I thought when I saw two Yins, one in black and the other in white. In YinYang, white represents the female, good side, and black represents the male evil side. Therefore, I hypothesize that Hei either killed or seperated Yin from Izanami, leaving only Yang. And Yang could therefore be that Boy wearing a black suit in the epilogue of Ep. 12, who oddly looks like Yin.

    This still doesn’t really explain what Izanagi has to do with it though…, but perhaps that a evil force still exists means a 3rd season or at least seomthing to conclude?

    Anyway, I believe that this is what happened, 😉
    And sorry for the huge write, I just had to get my thoughts out after watching that confusing 12th episode.

    Phantom
    Reply

  28. @ Phantom: it is nice to see someone trying to make sense of this ^^

    I assumed Yin meant silver, because she was named after her hair color which can seem silver-ish. I didn’t bother to try to make sense of things anymore. I feel like I was kind of rickrolled by DtB season 2. Sure, season 1 had it’s flaws too, but as a whole, it was okay. The Gaiden seem to be decent/good as well. However, season 2 *rant mode on*…

    Spoilers of the end of s2
    Show Spoiler ▼

    tiw
    Reply

  30. Oh and I meant that Yang would bet the good Yin, and Yin would be left in the coffin, since Yin means dark and Yang means light in Chinese.

    And after some reading, I think that Yin/Izanami sent the souls of the contractors she killed to the Earth copy. Because it was mentioned that something like ” Contractors who are made to commit suicide by Izanami are sent to Heaven.” The souls of those killed contractors would be sent to the new Earth, which would be like heaven to them since they would be able to live normal lives in a world with no gates or contractors.

    Phantom
    Reply

  33. @ Satoida: Haha, I know xD
    I miss Hei and his dorky faces.

    I still haven’t finished S2 and hearing that it was pure WTF-kery convinces me even less to do so.
    But I REALLY want to see this OVA ;__;

    Bunny
    Reply

  37. Ryusei no Gemini left me flabbergasted. I really hate Bones idea of making Ryusei no Gemini come out first before this bridging OVA series. If Yin is really dead (in Ryusei no Gemini), which I hope it’s not, it’s just weird seeing Yin alive here again.

    sotandem
    Reply

  39. I’ve been wondering how and why yin killed all those people in ryusei no gemini.
    I just couldn’t imagine her doing so, voluntarily and unprovoked at least..

    Glad to see it was just because of some hastened evolutionary shit…
    And now I see why Hei feels that he was the one responsible for Yin changing like that….

    JLee
    Reply

  40. It’s always a pleasure to see Hei in pre-Gemini’s period. it’s even more so when I can see Hei and Yin together. After the Gemini series and the ongoing (4 episodes?) OVA, I’d really hope to get a REAL Season 2 of DTB and answers to questions raised from the Gemini’s ending.
    BSS torrent is available now…Just in case, you didn’t know.

    Shinjiro
    Reply

  41. Has anyone read the Darker Than Black manga: “Shikkoku no Hana”? Apparently, the story takes place a year after Darker Than Black, but I don’t know if it is its own story or it actually goes along with the anime story and if it does go along with the anime, where would it be in the time-line? Before Gaiden?

    Just curious, props to anyone who clarifies this for me.

    Anyway, back to the OVA. I have to agree with Omni on this one, the first episode alone was better than the enter 2nd season. I can’t wait to see more of Yin and speaking of Yin, doesn’t it seem that the creators thought the OVA is the perfect place to dress up Yin in an assortment of outfits? As always, Hei is one badass dude.

    De.Lazy.1
    Reply

  44. Very sweet and tender moments between Hei and Yin this OVA ep, though the (fake) addition of Amber kinda threw me off too (illusion, booooo). Plus it was nice seeing Okinawa being presented with some authenticity; the music and food especially look spot on. Brings back fond memories when I was over there.

    As for the preview on the Web site… man, evil Yin is just a scary sight to behold. Even Hei is freaked out, the Black Reaper!

    Drawing Yin taller shouldn’t be so strange. I’d assume a few months have passed at least since the events of Season 1, so it’s not surprising Yin would have grown some (she is a teen, after all, doll or not).

    Reiter
    Reply

  45. @De.Lazy.1

    Ryuusei no Gemini takes place two years after the the Tokyo incident. The manga takes place one year afterwards. I would assume the OVA is around 1.5 years afterwards.

    The manga is standalone but is canon; it doesn’t really contradict anything in the main series.

    ZeroFive1
    Reply

  46. Now this is what I’am talking about!! Bones has redeemed himself (so far), it wasn’t as epic as I thought it would be (maybe because the length of the ep) but this first ep definitely made me remember why I became a fan of DTB.

    Shuffleness
    Reply

  47. aww… poor babies. still whining about ryuusei no gemini. wah wah wah. sheess… give it up. it’s not the series’ fault that you never really understood what happened. it was titled dtb ryuusei no gemini for a reason you know.

    nhoo… can’t believe we have to wait another month or so for the next one. ugh! i wish there was a bit more of the fight in the hotel between bk201 and that dark-ball-material-eating conjurer dude.

    “There was also that kid who was with the kidnappers who Hei wanted to pass his message to the Syndicate. I’m surprised that Hei let him live, and I’d guess he’ll play another role later on.”

    hei has never killed a doll, i think. that’s what that kid was.

    kyuzo
    Reply

  52. Perfect set up episode. So everyone knows about Yin’s evolution and apparently its due to Hei. We get a new animal, but with a female voice and next stop Hong Kong! The lag between eps does suck, but it seems that it is totally going to be worth based off the first ep.

    Sunburn
    Reply

  54. @ koeix
    Often with many shows, some work is outsourced to other animation studios to lessen the load. In this case it seems J.C. Staff were involved.
    Not a huge shock since they’re a good studio and BONES kinda have their hands full with weekly episode of FMA, which naturally take highly priority than DVD/BD exclusive episodes.

    Back on topic, quality episode. The combination of Hei and Yin made DTB what it is. That’s kinda why the second season didn’t live upto the original. Anyway, some really touching moments between the two, showing some good emotional progression from Yin. Also helped that the action was top notch and Hei was as badass as ever.
    Can’t wait for the next OVA ep and if they do a season 3, I pray to god it’ll be in a similiar vain to this. 🙂

    blinx01
    Reply

  55. I’m not sure if this is just the subbers, but Yin refers to her observation ghost as a “she.” It’s the part where Hei is warning her not to act on her own; that the place might not be safe. And Yin replies that it’s safe. But then she looks at her observation ghost and says “she says it’s safe too.”

    I’m beginning to wonder if the ghost is separate from Yin? Maybe this explains how there’s two Yins at the GEmini finale: one is Yin, the other is her observation ghost?

    K
    Reply

  62. Wow that was awesome. I agree that the whole second season would have been a lot better if it had been like this. The only bad thing is I know this is going to have a sad ending what with Yin becoming all evil and Hei becoming an alcoholic. 🙁

    Keiga
    Reply

  65. Oh my, I just watched this today and I hecka liked it. Cant wait till the next episode and does anyone know the ending song? Been trying to figure it out but to no avail T__T

    ryomax
    Reply

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