Darker Than Black – Episode 17
31 July 2007
VLC hates me and refuses to play correctly the .mkv files, but they’re not hard subbed so it’s easier for the screens. Not really if the thing malfunctions every two seconds. Anyways, I got a couple of screens. The more I watch Darker Than Black, the more I like it. It’s just so good. Gah!
Opening “Kakusei Heroism ~The Hero Without A Name~” by An Cafe Since I failed to blog about the previous arc, I’m going to make my little comments about the new opening here. A lot of people, actually the majority I think, didn’t take too well to the new opening. I rather liked it, the song and the animation. Though the bit with the multiple Hei’s was a bit strange. The first few scenes, the one with the car, I thought was pretty neat. These guys pay a lot of attention to detail and the animation, even the opening, is gorgeous.
Impression I’m going to be lazy and skip the summary. I sure no one reads it anyways. Anyways, this episode was pretty hilarious and lighthearted. I really enjoyed the humor. It’s interesting to note that DtB is a strangely international show. There’s a lot of Chinese guys (Li, Alice and Wei), a bunch of British spies (November’s gang, Amber, even if she just worked for them) and now, the tenants at Li’s place (Filipino, Israeli). The landlady speaks seven languages! You’re going to need a top-notch UN translator to get through the show! It’s pretty satisfying, that Misaki Kirihara arc, the qi paos, yeah. The wide variety of characters and the attention given to them adds to the overall intricacy of the show, makes it feel tangible.
Or, maybe it’s because I live in New York City. To quote from that ever popular NYC joke “Your doorman is Russian, your grocer is Korean, your deli man is Israeli, your building super is Italian, your laundry guy is Chinese, your favorite bartender is Irish, your favorite diner owner is Greek, the watch seller on your corner is Senegalese, your last cabbie was Pakistani, your newsstand guy is Indian and your favorite falafel guy is Egyptian.” (And just for the record, no matter how racist it may seem, my last cabbie was Pakistani, my newsstand guy is actually Indian, and my falafel guy is definitely Egyptian.)
The scene at the restaurant reminded quite a bit of Spike. Playing dumb, but taking on the bad guy at the same time, that’s just like Spike. In fact, the relationship between Kenji (the Yakuza kid) and Hei is strangely reminiscent of Waltz For Venus. Kenji would be Hei’s Roco. Kenji’s a really nice guy, he’s not cut out of the mafia no matter how much he tries. Maybe I’m reading too much between the lines, but the rest of his Yakuza buddies dress in black suits but he’s the only one in white. I’m glad he took the initiative and ran off with that doll, even it jeopardizes his own safety.
In any case, we’re back to the side stories, everyone picking up the pieces of Hurricane Amber. Apparently, Evening Primrose has been dubbed a bunch of terrorists and has taken full responsibility for the bombings. From the looks of it, Amber caused the gate incident that wiped South American off the map, betrayed Hei and got his team killed. I’m having a hard time liking Amber as a character. For one thing, her hair and her cloth bother me. For another, she betrayed Hei, that’s marginally unforgivable. She’s also in love with the poor guy, and then you start wondering why she betrayed him in the first place.
Ending “Dreams” by HIGH and MIGHTY Color I also really liked the ending. Though, I have to admit, Tsukiakari had a greater impact and suited better a series like Darker Than Black, but Dreams isn’t that bad. In particular, I like the ending animation. It’s so cute! Little Hei and Bai on the beach, and Yin, and Mao. It’s adorable.
Darker Than Black just looks and feels so damn nice. I can’t drive yet, but I’m assuming it’s like driving a Porsche. There’s sentimental enjoyment to cruising down a highway at forty in your parent’s Ford, but there’s a kick to being in a Porsche. The animation is drop dead gorgeous, I can’t get enough of Hei. The own atmosphere of the show shifts like the weather, from being inexplicably serious to comedic amusement, it’s so seamless a transition, just like Hei’s shifts between being a contractor and a Chinese student. I really want to see how all of this ends. It’s like sitting and enjoying a really good novel.
I really liked it too–but bg’s were beautiful as always and the cars were wonderfully rendered. The fbf animation though seemed downgraded more so in this episode than any other.
@Skaijo – So it wasn’t just me! I’ve noticed that the animation wasn’t quite as good as before. I thought I was just seeing things and being too critical, but some of the scenes were a bit weird. O_o…