Darker than Black
In a city walled off by a mysterious Gate, emotionless super-powered 'Contractors' do the dirty work of rival intelligence agencies; moody supernatural espionage.
Hell's Gate appeared in Tokyo, the real stars vanished and people called Contractors acquired supernatural abilities at the supposed cost of emotion. Each must perform a compulsive “remuneration” after using a power: smoke, break fingers, arrange stones or pay some equally peculiar cosmic invoice. Intelligence agencies immediately recruit them. Human resources has never feared an ominous category.
Overview
Bones' anime-original series centres on Hei, a masked operative known as the Black Reaper. He can manipulate electricity and works for the Syndicate with blind medium Yin, animal-possessing Contractor Mao and human handler Huang. His unassuming student identity and alarming appetite form another layer of cover.
The first series unfolds mainly through two-episode cases. Police, spies, scientists and Contractors cross paths around the Gate while Hei pursues a private loss connected to an earlier catastrophe in South America.
Why it matters
Darker than Black applies espionage logic to superpowers. Abilities are specialised tools with costs, and Contractors are treated as assets whose apparent rationality makes institutional exploitation convenient. The show gradually questions whether emotionless monstrosity is fact, propaganda or survival performance.
Its atmosphere is a major achievement: rain, wires, anonymous flats and Yoko Kanno's music turn Tokyo into a city where every alley may contain a covert war nobody has been authorised to notice.
What to expect
Expect assassinations, surveillance, power-driven combat and mysteries explained through implication rather than a welcoming orientation seminar. Early cases can feel detached until recurring details accumulate. The Gate is never reduced to a tidy scientific diagram, which will delight some viewers and send others to file a complaint.
Violence, suicide, experimentation and child exploitation feature. Hei's cool competence coexists with brutality; “Chinese Electric Batman”, a fan nickname, is a useful mnemonic but not an ethical clearance.
Adaptations and versions
The 25-episode first television series is the main foundation, followed by an extra episode. Four Gaiden OVAs bridge the story to the sequel, Gemini of the Meteor. Watching the sequel before Gaiden turns deliberate mystery into unnecessary bewilderment.
Manga versions exist, including stories that diverge from or supplement the anime. The property originated on screen, so they are alternate material rather than prior source.
Where to start
Begin with season one and allow its paired-case rhythm to build the world. Then watch Gaiden before Gemini. The first series also stands reasonably well alone for viewers who prefer its original balance and cast.
Verdict The SFcrowsnest take
Darker than Black is moody supernatural spy fiction that trusts shadows, consequences and viewers willing to connect evidence. Its later route divides opinion, but the first season remains a handsome piece of urban science fantasy. Use a power, pay the price; use bureaucracy, send the price elsewhere.