Holy crap, this episode was better than I could have expected. Bones really is on fire in 2009. Seriously, this was probably one of the best orchestrated action-scenes of the entire series so far. While that might just be my memory playing tricks on me, but I really like how the new series has gone into a completely new direction when compared to the first season: it really shows that this is more than just an attempt to milk out the franchise,
Darker than Black has always been known for its absolutely brutal fight scenes that spared nobody. That’s one thing so unlike 90% of all other anime, and it returns so well during the slaughter in this episode. There seem to be three parties after Shion: the organization that employed Hei, those old guys who turned Tanya into a contractor, and that other group of contractors. Because of that, there were so many things that happened at the same time : from Suou getting chased by a group of armed men to Nika getting killed off by Tanya, to that golem-guy suddenly launching a train at Hei.
This episode was also full of new plot twists. I’m not exactly what’s up with Suou going Utena, but her alternative personality really fits this series. It was also a big surprise to see July suddenly appear again, and basically provide the right coordinates for her to fire at. Mao indeed turns out to be the flying squirrel, like some people suspected already.
Also, the new soundtrack is very impressive, and it might even surpass the old one if this goes on!
Rating: *** (Awesome)
the organization that employed Hei is the CIA, those old guys who turned Tanya into a contractor are the local Russians, and that other group of contractors is probably the same organisation that Hei and the others worked for in Season 1.
An action packed episode indeed, I enjoyed it but feels anti-climactic after the second episode cliffhanger.
Things I dislike about this episode:
I’m getting tired of the moe and groping, naked girl scene.
3 ep and all being good so far. let see if they manage to keep this up
I am beginning to get the feeling that our feelings towards Darker than Black are complete opposites in two key areas.
First of all, I LOVED season one of the series. The best anime I have seen years! At least since Ghost in the Shell SAC. I can’t believe the subtle dissing of season one in every DtB post.
Secondly, the aggravating introduction of annoying teenage characters. The first season of DtB was a show for and about adults. No need to, nor attempt to, cater to the teenage demographic. But now? High Schoolers (like just about every other anime out there)! Shinji-like (from Evangelion) whining at least once per episode (arg!). And Marcek is right. I hope the moe and shameless fan-service isn’t a trend.
I am still going to watch of course. It is still Darker than Black, and it still is better than 99% of the other stuff out there. With the return of Misaki, and an impending return to Japan, I hope we can get back to the adult oriented season 1 style DtB goodness.
i wonder why Suou was able to see that dool ghost? isent it only contractors that can see them? also is it just me or does it look like hei cant use his power in that episode? mabye thats why his star disapered?
Great episode,but I almost forgot to watch the part of the episode after the ED,I hope you remember to watch it 🙂
Something that has been on my mind though,what happen to contractors that can’t pay their remuneration(for example if Tanya’s hair got shaved off,the kissing lady’s lips got burnt off)?Can they still use their powers?I kinda forgot cause it’s been a long time since season 1 :p
Seien: I think that somehow, that device transferred Hei’s powers as a special contractor to Suou, using that medallion-thing of hers. I think that’s why.
Alex: If I’m talking down on the first season, then this is purely sub-consciously. The first season indeed had its issues sometimes (with a few weaker arcs here and there), but overall I still consider it to be better, mostly because it was longer, while Ryusei no Gemini is only going to be 12 episodes long.
The reason why I’m praising this series for going into a different direction isn’t because I dislike the first season, but rather that I’ve seen so many sequels lately that just try to do more of the same. This usually ends up in a milked franchise, especially with this series, in which the second series probably wasn’t planned yet when the first series was was produced. I mean, think about it: if the second season whould be exactly the same as the first, would it still be as good? Or would the novelty have worn out at that point?
And come on, it’s not like the first season didn’t have any moe with Yin and that pink-haired detective.
@Seien: bk201 disappeared but didn’t fall indicate that Hei is not yet dead but he can’t use his power for the time being, maybe it’s the effect of the device, or it’s due to his mental towards Yin. You can foresee this when Suou saw a observation ghost and asked Hei what’s it. Hei turned back surprised because only contractor can see them. Obviously Hei didn’t see the ghost and he wondered why Suou could see them. And yes, Suou is a contractor.
well after i watched the extra after the ED i saw that Suou is indeed a contractor, but not special like hei (she still had to pay for using her powers) cant w8 for the next episode =O
@psgels:
regarding moe in the first season –
Touche! I guess I just blocked those bits out from my memory of season 1. Totally forgot about the pink haired P.I. And I re=watched the show just a couple of months ago…
Regarding “dissing” season 1 –
Well that was a very reasonable answer. I might be a little disappointed however because now I have a little less fodder for my inevitable rant on my podcast ;-).
However, I am still annoyed with the introduction of teenagers, and worried where the Suou arc could be headed.
The high school kid, getting super powers (or a mecha) and dealing with the related power issues.. its been done a thousand times – just about every Gundam and Macross series, and Evangelion just to name the obvious ones.
I am worried that we are going to end up with Suou becoming a Shinji-like figure. Preaching non-violence, while being forced to use her powers.
But I thought DtB was better than that.
Did they really have to go back to the teenager well? You could have almost the same story, but with Suou being a new-ish teacher at the school, or a janitor for that matter… something different than every other show out there.
But look., in the end Suou and company are just one part of this awesome show, and am I still excited every week when it comes out.
@Duo, I just hope what you say is true. I would hate to see Hei permanently lose his powers. By the looks of things, Hei might just permanently lose his powers; Suou is, after all, the new and main protagonist of the series. He seems to be a support character. And I’m so happy to see Mao back, I didn’t expect him to be alive. I just wish grouchy Huang was still alive to complete it.
I’m usually unhappy when a sequel deviate from the previous season, but I’m actually happy with the direction that DTB- Ryusei no Gemini is taking. I also think it also has to do with the fact that most of the anime from this season have failed to impress me.
And now, we (okay, maybe just me in particular) have to suffer another week for the next episode. XD;;
But let me get this straight: excluding Hei, there are actually two groups who are after the meteor core: the local Russians and a mysterious gang of contractors?
By the way that guy in the preview with the dreads…wasn’t he that Yakuza guy from season 1?
Naw, Suou does not seem the type to preach of about non-violence. She’s just having problems attacking her friends and how contractors just kills people so easily. About the fanservice, I did not really take it seriously so I never thought it as fanservice. Seems people are being so uptight that a lot of things become fanservice. If you want to see fanservice, now take a look at Sora no Otoshimono. Personally, hate those types of fanservice that’s just in your face and so far I don’t feel that from DtBII. Also, saying that DtB is better than 90 percent of the show right now is a bit much since we only have seen a couple episodes of each series so let it draw out and see.
Oh to add, what’s awesome about this series is like you said, you everything is pretty much unexpected. I was actually really surprised to see April getting killed off too because she actually was pretty cool in a way.
I’m not completely sold on this series either. Sure, the first season had some moe, too, but not to this extent and not so blatantly – there wasn’t breast grabbing, naked loli wrestling, random shot of Kirihara pulling on her lace panties, etc. Plus the gothloli twins, I mean Yin was similar but she was at least alone and not so blatantly gothloli. (And Tanya has a very impressive rack for a 13 year-old.) And Suou so far is such an utter cliché.
And I don’t appreciate the way they keep killing off the characters. The magician contractor, for example, had an interesting power and was killed off in three minutes. This is not clever, this is annoying.
@pi – Well by my count there are 4 groups after
the meteor core.
1) The Russians – (contractors being that hamburger guy in episode 1, and Suou’s friend Tanya.)
2) The British – Mi6 – My favorite character, November 11 died in season 1 :-(, but this season we have seen his teammates April and July this season. Not to mention August (the magician). Another interesting character who seems to have died.
3) Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (Japanese secret service) –
the rock guy with the beard, and the kissing as renumeration women.
4) The CIA – Hei and company have been working freelance for the CIA (mentioned a couple of times so far).
@kuromitsu – psgels made a good point by pointing out that there was that pink haired private eye in season 1 who was definitely over-the-top.
But as you say.. the loli wrestling, the kissing-renumeration women…. we are only 3 episodes in. How much farther are they going to go with this?
If it was *just* the shameless Kirihara panty shot, I would say “thanks for the fan-service” and move on… but with everything else.. I don’t know.
Again, we are only 3 episodes in, but enough 13 year old loli nudity thank you.
This season definitely is weaker than the first season, but at least it still remembers to show us a wonderful story and very compelling characters. Suou so far was a great character in my opinion, she wasn’t very whiny, and I think we’re in for a treat once they develop her relationship with Hei. There are also a ton of questions needing answer, which makes this a compelling watch.
The teenagers indeed are a great flaw, but at least it seems like they’re not going be featured anymore, so I can overlook it as a way of showing Suou’s former life. At least they gave Nika a gruesome death. The loli nudity is very disturbing though, I hope they stop with it.
Kuromitsu said: “And I don’t appreciate the way they keep killing off the characters. The magician contractor, for example, had an interesting power and was killed off in three minutes. This is not clever, this is annoying.”
Yes! Why is it that MI6’s agents keep dying? They happen to be my favorites too, especially November 11. He had a cool James Bond flavor about him. August 7 (the magician) might have had a bit quality too, but it was a bit early to tell. April may or may not be dead… who is left in MI6? I just hope that Kirihara or Hei don’t get killed off!
Look, generally I don’t really mind characters getting offed in Anime. Keeps us on our toes as an audience. Tanya’s BF for example. I actually HOPE he is dead. But this show does it so often, that it is starting to lose its shock value! And you shouldn’t kill off *all* of your most interesting characters.
theres a golgo13 look-a-like in this ep lol
only 12 episodes huh? I guess that explains the intensity of the storytelling. I guess that’s also why they kill off people so easily this season. With so many parties involved, more people just means it’s harder to not make things look like they were just skimmed over.
oh yeah, about Hei’s powers, they aren’t actually his, are they? He’s not even a contractor.
I always thought that the mask was some sort of symbology. There were several cases in S1 where he wasn’t wearing his mask(not by getting struck off), special situations nonetheless, like near the end. Now that it’s gone, along with his powers, I’m thinking it’s a symbology for his (fake)contractor identity.
Anyone have thoughts on this?
tanya is ridiculously hot
This is why I love this series. Every episode is just so damn good. All the characters are pro as well.
@Alex, ah ha! Thank you for the list! =)I dislike how they killed off MI6 so easily. I’m really sad to see November 11 dead. I highly though they will kill Kirahara though. And Hei.
Kamabito made a very interesting remark regarding Hei’s mask. I’m starting to feel iffy about the fact BONES’ going to release 12 episodes. We can always hope for them to extent it just a little–like in the first season.
Who says the magician is dead? You forget that he’s a magician… he’s supposed to do things that suprise you.
I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him.
@Chris – I don’t know..
the whole head-getting-smashed-in-blood-gushing-everywhere-coup-de-grace thing seemed pretty definitive to me….
Then again he is “the magician”, so I suppose there is always hope.
I hope I dont spoil you.
Hei has just rounded the circle.
It was pretty obvious that “his sister (aka his abilitys)” were absorbed into the “meteor” (damn you still dont notice that thing around her neck?) at the beginning of this ep/end of the last ep.
I love it. He has taken the place he most likely had before the first series started. The place of a “handler”.
The episode also pointed out what his sisters ability was. Episode 20 of last season showed that Hei was a handler and can kill a few contractors without abilitys, and a bunch of effort. He had a hard time with a few guys one time. He finally killed the last one and ran back to his sister and found she had killed far more guys than him. As a matter of fact she had slain more than 10 maybe 20 or more contractors (in one shot?) and he had major issues with 3 or 4. He thought at that point “her ability is mighty”. So later when he absorbed his sisters “star” his idea of “instant death” was her ability.
It was displayed as an electrical type ability, but it was explained at the end of last series as an ability to manipulate things on a molecular level.
That is still no excuse for the power thief to manifest as a little girl pulling a Big Fucking Gun directly from her chest(the amulet/meteor/sole). That was cheezy as hell.
But it highlighted that the ability was not an electrical ability. Its more of a “spawning” type ability. You can make sparks, you can make a barrier (remember Brazil), you can make a Big Fucking Gun.
“The Photographer” thinks contractors are one trick ponys. On “awakening” she did the same thing Hei did. Spawned the one shot kill weapon. The only one she knew. Hers is just way weaker than his was. And a big fucking gun. And she is doing origami because she thinks she needs to, not because she needs to. She is not a contractor. Just “connected” to one.
That actually sounds feasable…but what about her contracter state? (Well I guess Hei has one too so…I’ve answered my own question).
i am a bit confused as to how Mao get to Russia…i thought that he was with Hei all the time, but from their conversation it seems that it is not the case, as he didn’t know what happened with Yin.
@ Ilsa
I am a bit lost about Mao too.
I thought that Mao “possessed” (transfered his soul) to Suou’s pet squirrel before the cat got shot by the hamburger eating guy.
But then as you say, there was that talk of “back-ups” and not knowing what was happening with Yin.
Wasn’t it stated in season 1 that Hei was NOT A CONTRACTOR, and that his power is due to his sister Bai. Plus the numerature BK201 is Bai’s not Hei’s if I remember correctly. Suou does have a renumeration, which if folding paper cranes, but oddly she is able to keep her emotions.
What was Happening to YIN? Why Hei want to kill Yin ? i think hei loose his power and then go to the hell gates again to gain his power, and maybe there he’ll meet YIN too.
sure season 2 has naked awakening and kissing as payment but season one had a woman going around naked after teleporting (and kissing november 11th as way to take him with her) as well as amber looking like a chibi doll at the end
DtB has always been all over the map by mixing lots of things,that’s what I like abut it.
It is obvious that Hei did not see Yin’s observer spirit, in fact he didn’t notice it at all. The only reason he turned was because Suou gasped and stopped. If he did notice Yin’s observer spirit, there would have been more of a reaction. Remember, only contractors can see observer spirits and Hei has lost his abilities as a contractor.
And I doubt in episode 3? the ‘her’ Hei was referring to is Yin. Because clearly, he did not know that the goods in the box would be Yin. He had thought Genma was referring to Suou but became surprised when Genma clarified that it was Yin was Izanami.
The phone call Hei made to Madame Oreille makes me wondering if the ‘her’ Hei wanted to kill is Madame Oreille.
But nonetheless, I hope Yin doesn’t die in this season and will actually reunite with Hei. However, it seems like she has some special abilities. Her observer spirit has now a form and seems indirectly/directly involved in Norio’s mom’s death.