As for the shows I’m not going to blog:
– Sasameki Koto has some interesting points, but after two episodes it looks too much like it’s going to turn into an endless “will they won’t they” storyline.
Anyway, the reason why I didn’t blog the first season was simply because it aired in what I consider the best season ever: Spring and Summer 2007; it was simply overshadowed. For some reason, I also didn’t like it when it first started out, but reading back some of my past comments, I have no idea what the heck I was thinking back then.
I watched this episode with AoShen’s subs, but I wouldn’t exactly recommend them. Their translations are way off at times and in one scene they make Hei look like a rapist. They’re really those obnoxious people who think they’re funny, but ultimately aren’t.
In any case, I really like the second season so far. Darker than Black’s premise is so rich that it can create a ton of different and interesting storylines, and that’s exactly what they did here: instead of continuing with the tried and true formula of the first season, you can see that the creators are currently exploring new territory, and yet they don’t forsake the things that made the first season so enjoyable.
The most controversial difference is of course that there are now teen-agers present, but Suou is pretty likable. She is impulsive, but this episode showed that she is in a good way: she’s willing to take action to get herself out of problems, instead of continuously getting saved like a damsel in distress. Especially in a setting in which she’s surrounded by contractors, she’s a very brave kid.
The fights in this episode were again well done, and I still love the concept in this series in which the smartest are the ones who usually win their fights, and the penalties are a very nice touch to balance these powers out, like in this episode, in which that woman needed to kiss men (yes, KISS, not “sexually interact”) in order to use her powers.
The whole mystery behind this series seems pretty interesting at this point. Shion should not have been able to walk if he indeed was a contractor, and yet he walked. My guess would be that his penalty as a contractor was just something else, and he pretended to have lost his legs in order to fool people, but the why and how is still a bit of a mystery.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
Keep in mind that Shion said at one point near the end of the previous episode, “my renumeration is finally complete” implying that it took this long to finally repay it for some reason
I’m glad the story is going well. 🙂 Hopefully it will get even better, and the quality is as good as it was in the first season.
I really like her character and I’m very glad how they used the camera in this episode. Hopefully there will more camera action. That riffle by the way…I thought you couldn’t fire that one without getting a serious kick from it. 😮
I’m gladly how good this can go. ^_^/
Hei must loose the beard and get a grip. Hopefully we will see Yin again.
Thank you for blogging.
Try BSS’ subs, psgels. They’re an excellent group and they’re doing it, so.
Sasameki Koto: three volumes of the manga and still no sex. Or kissing, even. Definite progression, though. As yuri goes, I’d say it’s about average/above average.
I think Shion’s renumeration is “to remain seated” or something. I think it doesn’t have to be in a wheelchair, could be anywhere and having known contractors this could just be an effect. I could still be wrong though but I’m already loving the second season.
4th paragraph I’m guessing it should be “exploring NEW territory” instead of “exploring NET territory”.
OMG…
What did they do to Yin now?!?! *Sobs*
Are they so determined to kill off most of the female characters from Season 1?!? *Cries*
Hei is such a pro. If you notice in the first fight versus that woman, I don’t think he used his powers once. He mostly just uses it as a finisher movie and instead relies on his own skills to best his opponents.
He has been training and fighting for a long time after all. It was a cool fight and it’s he uses his head so much in battle too. 😛
I quit their sub group exactly because of your reason. Anyways, this won’t be overshadowed this season and hope it shapes out to be good.
hummm, remember first season guys, contracts can be paid entirely, they normally dont because the price is to high. Like the black cat in first season, he lost his body, wich make his contract be paid entirely.
Hm… Which series exactly overshadowed Darker than Black? The only 2 that come to mind that could possibly be as good as Darker than Black are Seirei no Moribito and Bokurano… And maybe Toward the Terra, though I didn’t watch that one…
This was another nice episode. I’m positive that Mao is alive and is in Suou’s squirrel, Pecha. After all there’s no other explanation to the voice that sounded like Mao whispering to Suou to escape, and suddenly jumping on the Japanese contractor’s face… Maybe the cat that looked like Mao last episode is a hint? If all this is true, I REALLY hope it’s handled well, the last thing this anime needs is dead characters coming back from the dead…
WTF happened to Hei at the end? His star “disappeared” and didn’t fall…did he lose his powers?
I really like the battles in this season. Much more smart and realistic. Especially the head on/deception tactic. 😀
“Hm… Which series exactly overshadowed Darker than Black? The only 2 that come to mind that could possibly be as good as Darker than Black are Seirei no Moribito and Bokurano… And maybe Toward the Terra, though I didn’t watch that one…”
At the time DtB was airing Kenichi, Gurren Lagenn, Higurashi(maybe, its hard to remember, but im pretty sure I was still raw hunting for that show at that time, I think it was second season “nice boat?”),Potomayo, Morbito, Claymore and Lucky Star were airing. I think Death Note was second season or had just ended.And Zetsubou Sensei was airing but had horrifically slow 2-4 week long subs. Thats seven or eight posts, most anime bloggers do one a day. Most disregarded DtB.
For example: most folks last season were all keen on Cannon, but totally ignored Phantom even tho it was far better from the start and the whole way tru (personal opinion). This is not to say DtB was better than the shows that were on at the same time, its that the bar was high, and it forced to do pole jumping in the Olympics when it only trained to swim. It cleared the pole, but only barely.
I did mention that Gurren was airing that season?
Regardless, that was the season of heaven, when all animation was good, all ideas were fresh, and some anime that is “just the anime version of “Heroes”” is going to get shoved to the side.
Im happy for the revival of DtB, I just hope they do a good job. I really like some of the things they did back then.
perrin: that season also aired Saiunkoku Monogatari, Toward the Terra, Dennou Coil, Kaze no Shoujo Emily, El Cazador and Oh Edo Rocket, not to mention that Les Miserables also carried over from another season. Despite how good Darker than Black was, I still consider all of thsoe to be better.
Oh I missed a series. Dennou Coil aired around the same time. The date on my ep 01 is april 30 2007 and is most likely late, im not going to look it up.
Dennou Coil is on the same lvl as DtB. Good production, good story, good concept. Not awesome in any area. But it is still “good” in many areas, not “awesome” in one and “good” in a second and “feh” in all others.
Denou Coil was also totally ignored spring 07.
Nice ep. Btw, they made Russian surroundings rather good. Most of signs are correct and that type of chips with red caviar flavor do exist in reality lol. Though those caps with tails was so wrong. And I hate Hei for killing April. Never liked him anyway.
-Perrin4869
hmm nice insight, that cat definitely look like Mao, red collar and bell… could have transfered to the squirrel before he got shot or something. But Mao didn’t actually die in previous season… maybe the cat’s original consciousness took over for that brief moment Mao was weak?
Anyway it seems like Hei has lost his contractor powers from that weird device set trap for him, they made it clear his star “disappeared” rather than fallen.
For those that try not to watch previews…. Apparently at the end of each episode of this series they add a short 15-20 sec continuation of the current episode after credits. Hate it when they do that, meh. In this they showed Kirihara stargazing and witnessed BK-201’s star(Hei) has “disappeared”.
I take back my statement of a few hours ago. I watched a few eps of Dennou Coil and I can really only rate production values at “awesome”. The story is a bit lower than “good”, it balances.
Anyway back to DtB: I still hope our chibi photographer picks up the big gun she tossed away this ep and plants a bullet in Li Shun Sheng. Simply because he was apparently a “bad guy” for 96% of this eppisode. He may have turned a new leaf but if I were her I would think “he still cant be trusted, plug him”.
But then again looking at her life from the porthole I have, almost all of the guys in her life are “bad guys”.
Of the only males I have seen so far that she knows and trusts one was her brother who is unusually friendly for someone who “only acts logicly”, so his interaction must be something that gains him a profit of some type. Oh, and he totally ditched her, she has no idea where he is.Her father is physicly rough, and mentaly dominateing, but gives her a place to live, and consumeables.But he is dead, why even mention him. The third male, she kind of has a crush on, but he likes someone else, and is so weak that he cant defend against a bag full of grasshoppers in the middle of the winter.
Then there is that guy with the mask who kills everyone simply by touching them. And he seems to kill everyone except “me” (our photographer).
I forsee a crush, then a bullet in the back of the head for our masked antagonist/kidnapper/”murderer of my father”.
Oh crap wait, that dude is the protagonist.
Damn another theory blown…
Oh, and the thing he was molesting her over was obviously hanging by a chain around her neck.
That masked kidnapper/murderer/molester dude needs to die!!
Oh, wait, thats the hero?
Damn…
In the first season, the Meteor Shard was about 6inc in diameter, I don’t know how it shrunk to that amulet, but of course Hei wouldn’t know.
I do believe that’s just a pendant, I noticed that everyone was calling Suou, Shion. and Hei didn’t realise Suou was not Shion until he “molested” her while looking for the meteor fragment. So I believe the meteor fragment is with Shion, not Suou.
Well, Hei was pretty deadly bevore he gained access to his sister’s powers, so he should be alright. I’m looking forward to seeing what they did to poor Yin and what’s the main plot this time 🙂 *just marathoned the first season and found it surprisingly good*
i’, sorry but i like hei.. i like him if he’s wid yin.. so i’m hopin to see her soon… do you think she’ll be in the next episodes??tnx
i wanna see yin too coz thn hei can stop being a hobo and get his life back on track. but didnt yin die or somethin?