DARKER THAN BLACK - Black Contractor - Gaiden: Exploring the Depths of a Captivating Dark Fantasy

A full review and recommendation of DARKER THAN BLACK - Kuro no Keiyakusha Gaiden - Darker Than Black Kuro no Keiyakusha Gaiden

■ Public Media

OVA

■ Original Media

Anime Original

■ Release date

January 27, 2010 Aniplex January 27, 2010 - July 21, 2010 (1st - 4th)

*Included in the packaged Blu-ray and DVD "DARKER THAN BLACK -Ryuusei no Gemini- Volumes 2, 4, 6, and 8."

■Release and sales

・Distributor: Aniplex

■Frequencies

24 min

■ Number of Episodes

Episode 4

■Original Story

BONES, Tensai Okamura

■ Director

Okamura Tensai

■ Production

・Animation Production: Bones

■Works

©BONES, Okamura Tensai/DTBG Production Committee, MBS

■ Story

An unknown disaster, the Tokyo Explosion. There was a contractor who was working behind the scenes of the incident. The man known as the "Black Grim Reaper," codenamed "Hei." He, who caused the incident by opposing the "organization," was on the run with his fellow doll, "In." The two head south, fighting off assassins from the "organization." In this lonely escape with no end in sight, the only thing they could trust was each other. Under the summer sunshine, Kuro and Gin enjoy a brief moment of peace. But their happy time doesn't last long. A deep, cold darkness was quietly creeping up. Dolls are supposed to have no ego. But Gin begins to express his own will little by little as he spends his days with Kuro. He is confused and irritated by Gin's changes, but he doesn't know the true meaning of them yet. Gin himself is also tormented by his own changes. He wants to be with Kuro. But if things stay this way... And as the shadows of those who are after Gin begin to flicker, the seeds of a new battle begin to smolder. Kuro is once again forced to make a fateful choice. The curtain is now quietly rising on the tragedy that will soon tear the bond between the two apart.

■Explanation

It has been decided that a completely new series of 4 episodes will be produced, connecting the two years between "Black Contractor" and "Shooting Star Twins". The shocking events that have befallen Black and Silver since the end of the previous series are revealed...!!

■Cast

・Black/Hidenobu Kiuchi・Suou/Kana Hanazawa・Cat/Ikuya Sawaki・Gin/Misato Fukuen・July/Kiyomi Asai・Lebanon/Daisuke Kusunoki・Norio/Katsuto Nomura・Michiru/Marika Hayashi・Misaki Kirihara/Nana Mizuki・Genma Chinme/Kenta Miyake・Mina Hazuki/Mitsuki Saiga・Yoko Sawazaki/Kozue Yoshizumi・Claude/Tetsuya Iwanaga・Stray dog/Natsuha Inoue・Chen/Yoshirou Matsumoto・Young lady/Junko Minagawa・Madame Oreille/Kaho Koda・Gorou Kobayashi/Ryuzaburo Otomo・Dr. Schroeder/Iemasa Iegumi

■ Main staff

・Original story: BONES, Okamura Tensai ・Director: Okamura Tensai ・Scenario: Yoshino Hiroyuki, Okada Mari, Onishi Shinsuke, Suga Shotaro ・Character design: Iwahara Yuji ・Character design, chief animation director: Komori Takahiro ・Art design: Aoi Takashi (GREEN), Okada Ariaki ・Prop design: Yamada Takahiro ・Color design: Mizuta Nobuko ・Art director: Aoi Takashi (GREEN)
・Director of photography: Tsuyoshi Kanbayashi ・Music: Yasushi Ishii ・Sound director: Kazuhiro Wakabayashi (Fonisia)
・Animation Production: Bones

■ Main Characters

・Black (Hey)
A contractor who was once known as the Black Grim Reaper. As a CIA agent, he attacked Dr. Pavlichenko's laboratory and tried to steal Shion and the meteor core, but failed. He now works with Suou and the others, heading for Ikebukuro where Shion is believed to be.
・Suoh
A 13-year-old girl living in Vladivostok, Russia. Born to a Russian scientist father and a Japanese mother, she has a twin brother. She is an all-around athlete with a bright personality. She is stronger-willed than the boys. She is obsessed with taking pictures and has no interest in love.
・Cat (Mao)
A contractor who worked alongside Kuro on missions. He was once possessed by a black cat, but is currently possessed by Suou's pet flying squirrel, Pecha.
・Silver (In)
A Scandinavian doll who once served as Kuro's comrade on missions. She is currently known by the code name "Izanami" and is under the strict control of Organization No. 3. Kuro still seems to have strong feelings for Gin, but...
・Shion
Suou's twin brother. He lost one eye in the impact of a meteor core that fell from the sky, and became a contractor. To pay the price, he is forced to live in a wheelchair. Although he is usually rational and ruthless, he does seem to have some affection for Suou.
July
An MI6 agent. A boy doll wearing a brimmed hat pulled down over his eyes.
Kirihara Misaki: As the head of the Fourth Foreign Affairs Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Public Security Bureau, she investigated contractors and related cases, but after the Tokyo Explosion she left the division and is now pursuing the whereabouts of BK201, whom she is still unable to let go of, in her own way.
A member of the No. 3 Agency, Chinme Genma is a contractor who is a practitioner of ancient martial arts. He can harden his skin like armor plating, and his fists have the crushing power of a hammer.
Hazuki Minashi A colleague of Genma Chinme. A contractor with the ability to transform objects into white blades. A heroine who exudes an aura of lasciviousness in return for payment.
A member of Agency No. 3. An assistant to Genma Chinme and Mina Hazuki. She is innocent and cute with big breasts, so she is always at the mercy of the selfish two.
Madame Oreille: A merchant with outstanding information gathering abilities. Although the source of her information is a mystery, she uses various means to get close to people, freely changing her position. She travels around the world with her twin dolls, Ariel and Perennis.
Goro Kobayashi: Chief of the No. 3 Engine Division and the boss of Shizume, Hazuki, and Yoko. He personally scouts Misaki, who has left the Public Security Bureau, but his purpose is unknown.
Father of Suou and Shion. He is a member of a research group on the distortion of matter, time, and space that was predicted to occur on Earth, and is a leading researcher in ME (memory manipulation machines). After Shion became a contractor, a rift developed between him and his children.

■ Main robot items

・Gate A mysterious realm that suddenly appeared in Tokyo and Brazil. The gate in Tokyo is called <Hell's Gate>, and the gate in Brazil is called <Heaven's Gate>. Inside the gate, the laws of physics sometimes do not apply, and it also affects the human mind. On the other hand, it is also the source of technology and materials that go beyond the existing level of science, and research has been conducted mainly by the United Nations organization PANDORA. Various conflicts have arisen over the technology that originated from the gate, and as a result of the fierce war, <Heaven's Gate> became impervious to any physical interference and effectively "disappeared."
Contract holder
With the appearance of the <Gate>, people with special abilities have been confirmed to exist all over the world. Due to their powers, they are exploited by organizations, mainly intelligence agencies of various countries, and many of them operate secretly in the underworld. When their abilities are activated, their entire body is covered in a pale blue <Lancelnopt radiation> and their eyes glow red. After using their abilities, they must perform a specific act or behavior in return, called a <Price>, which differs for each contractor. They are said to have lost their emotions in exchange for their abilities, but their true nature lies in a "rational mental structure" that is not influenced by sentimentality, and in a sense, they can be said to be an evolved form of humanity.
Tokyo Explosion: A phenomenon that occurred around the Gate of Hell during a clash between a group of contractors called "EPR" and a faction within the "Organization" that was plotting to eliminate contractors. Originally, it was meant to be caused in order to "annihilate" the Gate of Hell along with the city of Tokyo, just like the Gate of Heaven, but in the end, Tokyo was prevented from being annihilated. It is believed that BK201 was involved in this, but the details are unknown.
With the appearance of the False Star Gate, the real starry sky could no longer be seen. Instead, the stars that appeared in the night sky corresponded to individual contractors, and it was said that when a contractor died, "the stars would fall" in response.
ME Technology/ME Squeeze: A technology derived from Gate that can manipulate human memories. Its application is the technique of sucking memories out of the brains of the deceased, known as ME Squeeze.
The Mitaka Documents are sometimes called "Memory of the Future" and are a type of prophecy. They are full of meaningful words, but are they really the path that leads to the end of humanity, or...?
・Izanami/Izanagi
A keyword written in the Mitaka Documents. It is believed that Izanami refers to silver, and silver, which is currently under the strict control of Organization No. 3, seems to have some special meaning. Meanwhile, the one referred to as Izanagi is Shion, the son of Dr. Pavlichenko. According to the Mitaka Documents, if Izanagi and Izanami meet, a great disaster will occur...
・"Organization"
A huge organization with members in national and public organizations around the world, including governments. Using contractors, it has been fighting with intelligence agencies from various countries over information and supplies related to the Gate. Black, Silver, and Cats were once members of the organization. Since the "Tokyo Explosion" incident, the "organization" has not been spoken of any more, and it has vanished into the darkness without its full details being revealed.
・An illegal Japanese intelligence agency established after the Third Agency "Tokyo Explosion". Officially it calls itself the "Statistical Research Department of the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications". It is the first organization in Japan to have contractors as members. It appears to act based on the descriptions in the Mitaka Documents, but there are many hidden aspects of its purpose and the actual state of the agency.
・Informant A legendary informant in the underworld, she is known as a mysterious figure who appears out of nowhere. Due to her extraordinary information gathering abilities, she is nicknamed "Madame Oreille" after the word "ear". She is so trusted by intelligence agencies around the world that she seems to have some kind of ulterior motive in the mystery of the Mitaka Documents, but her true identity, such as whether she is connected to a specific organization, has not been revealed at all.
A lens-shaped substance that fell on the Siberian plains on the night of the meteor nucleus "Tokyo Explosion." It is thought to be similar to the substance that originated from the Gate, which was once called "meteor fragments" and is said to have played a role in the creation of the "Tokyo Explosion."

■Subtitle

・Episode 1 (2010/01/27)
・Episode 2 (2010/03/24)
・Episode 3 (2010/05/26)
・Episode 4 (2010/07/21)

■ Related works

・DARKER THAN BLACK: The Black Contractor ・DARKER THAN BLACK: The Black Contractor Unaired Episodes ・DARKER THAN BLACK: The Shooting Star Twins

■ Evaluation and recommendation

DARKER THAN BLACK - Kuro no Keiyakusha Gaiden - was released as an OVA and is an essential piece for fans of the series. It depicts the two-year gap between "Kuro no Keiyakusha" and "Ryusei no Gemini" and delves deep into the relationship between Kuro and Gin and the details of their escapades. Below, we'll go into detail about our review and recommendation for this work.

Story and Characters

The story of this work revolves around the escape of Kuro and Gin. Kuro escapes from the "organization" and heads south with Gin, but they face various difficulties along the way. As a doll, Gin is not supposed to have an ego, but as he spends his days with Kuro, he gradually begins to express his own will. This change causes confusion and frustration for Kuro, but at the same time it also deepens their bond. While the story centers around the relationship between the two, it also depicts the conflict with those targeting Gin and the seeds of a new battle, maintaining a sense of tension as it progresses.

The character portrayal is also excellent, and the relationship between Kuro and Gin in particular is the most deeply depicted in the series. Kuro's conflict and Gin's growth leave a strong impression on the viewer, and the tragic ending in which the bond between the two is torn apart symbolizes the theme of the entire series. In addition, the backgrounds and abilities of each of the other characters are carefully drawn, adding depth to the story as a whole.

Visuals and Music

In terms of visuals, Bones' high quality shines through. The character designs are by Komori Takahiro, and while they faithfully retain the atmosphere of the original work, they also show the attention to detail that is unique to OVAs. The background and prop designs are also intricate, and the presence of the gates and the visual depiction of the contractors' abilities when they are activated are stunning. In particular, the pale blue light emitted by Lancel Nopt when Black's ability is activated, and the depiction of the false starry sky are visually stunning.

The music was composed by Yasushi Ishii, and plays an important role in enhancing the atmosphere of the entire series. The music is used skillfully to match the development of the story, with powerful orchestral music used in tense scenes and gentle piano melodies used in the quiet moments of black and silver. In addition, the sound effects by sound director Kazuhiro Wakabayashi and the performances of the voice actors also help to deepen the worldview of the work.

evaluation

"DARKER THAN BLACK - Kuro no Keiyakusha Gaiden -" is a must-see for fans of the series. The story, characters, visuals, and music are all of high quality, making it an important piece in deepening your understanding of the series. It is especially recommended for fans who want to know more about the relationship between Kuro and Gin and their escape. It is also a work that will allow viewers new to the series to fully experience the charm of the series.

Recommendation

The reasons why I recommend this work are as follows:

1. **Give a deeper understanding of the series**: This work depicts the two-year gap between "Black Contract" and "Ryusei no Gemini" and is an important work for deepening your understanding of the series as a whole. By learning the details of the relationship between Black and Gin and their escape, you can gain a deeper understanding of the series' themes and character development.

2. **High-quality visuals and music**: Bones' high-quality visuals and Yasushi Ishii's music are important elements that enhance the worldview of the work. In particular, the visual expression when the contractor's power is activated and the depiction of the false starry sky are stunning, making it a visually enjoyable work.

3. **Deep character portrayal**: The character portrayal, centered on the relationship between Kuro and Gin, is the deepest in the series. Kuro's conflict and Gin's growth leave a strong impression on the viewer, and the tragic ending in which the bond between the two is torn apart symbolizes the theme of the entire series.

4. **Suspenseful story**: The story revolves around the escape of Black and Silver, and progresses while maintaining tension. The conflict with those who are after Silver and the seeds of a new battle have the power to draw viewers in.

For these reasons, we highly recommend "DARKER THAN BLACK - Kuro no Keiyakusha Gaiden -" not only to fans of the series, but also to viewers who are new to the series. We hope you will enjoy the world of "DARKER THAN BLACK" through this work.