(Anime) Darker than Black

I've seen the title before, but passed it over. Still, making my way through subtitled options, I settled on giving this one a try.

The first season (and a full "season" of 26 episodes, at that) grabbed me initially with a good balance of action and mystery. As it went on, I came to appreciate more and more the distinctive pacing (while things develop through the series, each pair of episodes is a particular story) and the interplay between different characters and groups.

The story primarily centers around a small group of agents for a "syndicate," pulling thefts and assassinations and the like. They manage to grow and bond to an extent, even though "contractors" (people with supernatural powers) and "dolls" (personality-deadened medium/scryers) are regularly said to not have emotions like normal humans. It's fun to watch, even though these are "bad guys."

Which is why the second season (13 episodes) was so remarkably disappointing. The main character goes from being an intimidating, competent, and at least somewhat-moral assassin part of a team to a drunken, abusive lone wolf. While there's some justification for it in the 4-episode OVA series between the seasons, the simple fact is he's not nearly as enjoyable to watch. Add a little bit more fan service and a certain pervy/creepiness factor from some characters and situations, then take away the usual-but-effective pacing of the first season and you get something that's just sort of mediocre at best. I was invested enough to want to watch it, but it's just not as good.

So, at least, I can recommend the first season highly.

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