Darker Than Black – Episode 22
1 September 2007
Just when I thought my internet patched itself up, it broke down again. My saviors go by the names ‘NETGEAR(1)’ and ‘tanuki’, providing me incredibly slow, but functunal internet service. I did manage to download the newest Darker Than Black episode before Roadrunner kicked the bucket, thank God for that.
It was a busy episode to say the least, some extraordinarily fast-paced plot development. A lot of talking, a lot of action and a lost of mysteries unsolved that left me gaping. I went back and watched it twice, because I just couldn’t get my head around some parts and I just couldn’t get enough of watching Hei eat noodles.
So, in short, Schrober, the overworked professor from PANDORA gets kidnapped by a naked lady that teleports, who’s in cahoots with Amber. Darker Than Black’s own Creepy Thin Man (Charlie’s Angels, anyone?) Wei, returns with shorter hair, an even stranger stereotypical Chinese outfit, and a hideous scar where half his face should be. Suddenly, the Americans got dragged into the mess and discovered some secret regarding Hell’s Gate. That’s six organizations total – EPR, the police, MI6, the ever elusive Organization, the Russians (Itzhak and Berta?), if they’re still in the game and now, the Americans. There’s a bit of November 11-Misaki before he goes off and, presumably, enlists in the EPR. The EPR, apparently, wants the existence of Contractors made known to the public. And then, Amber scares Mao to death in a tree.
The November 11 and Misaki bit was pretty interesting. Ever since that first EPR arc, the showdown with the heterochromatic kid, the possibility of November and Misaki as a pairing has been floating around in my head. It was also during that arc that I stopped hating November 11 to pieces for killing Havoc. He’s turning out to be quite the character and I’ growing quite fond of him. So, he spills some information about the Americans to Misaki, as a thank you for last time. Taps her on the head, saying that he couldn’t resist such a large wrinkle and tells her that from here on out, there will be no enemies or allies and to trust her own instinct. That scene was rather amusing, watch Misaki and Saito’s reactions. Such a large wrinkle, poke! It also explained his actions later on, asking to meet Amber and all. November’s joining the dark side, getting a new black suit in the preview, as well as making Misaki cry, though I’m not too sure if its him she’s crying over. Previews, previews.
It was also interesting to note that, possibly for the first time, Hei and the rest of the team are working together. After Huang’s arc, pretty much every member of team has made peace with themselves and their teammates. I liked the embassy infiltration bit, from Huang scouting out the place with cameras, Mao being the decoy, to Yin guiding Hei into the building. Every gear in the machine was turning, giving the whole thing a nice feeling of unity and coherency. I also liked Saito, Misaki and Yutaka working together. It’s the first time in a while I’ve seen Yutaka, was wondering what happened to him. The red bean bun and milk was hilarious. Recycle, recycle!
The Chief of Public Order, Hourai worries me, slightly. Who did he make a phone call to after he talked to Misaki. Why does he always wear gloves? That’s a question that’s been bothering me as well. It’s all just speculation, and it’s most likely wrong, but what if the man’s a contractor? What if the Chief of Public Order is a contractor working with Amber?
Anyway, EPR’s true intentions are finally coming to light. The fact that Harris tells Brita (naked teleporting lady) that he’ll make her forget, as always, sounds to me like he’s responsible for wiping the memories of the contractors Misaki captured. Maybe even Schroeber, since Wei said something about his memory being tampered with. And regarding Professor Schroeber, the man’s found of a way of making the gate unstable by firing accelerated electrons in meteor fragments, maybe that’s why Amber kidnapped him.
There wasn’t a lot of Hei, but that scene in the noodle shop was hilarious, the expression on Hei’s face was priceless. The line between Hei’s personalities are blurry, but nonetheless there. There’s Li, naive, innocent, clumsy and always hungry, the second he steps out of that shop and sees Mao, he slips into being the Black Reaper, cold, calm and menacing. Looking at the way things are now, I’m starting wonder which personality is real and which is fake, or maybe Hei’s a bit of both.
Next episode feels like the ultimate showdown between Hei and Wei (names, XD). This whole arc, actually, is like the calm before the storm. All the pieces in place and waiting for that final pushes that sets everything in motion. There’s also a lot of Mao in the next episode, his facial expression are so adorable and funny. When Ambers surprises him in the tree, that expression was priceless as well. Looks like we’re also going to get some answers from Professor Schroeber. With that said, there are only four more episodes left, just four, just four…
LOL thanks for your review! I was distracted while watching it, so I didn’t catch a lot of things. I do agree with you that Hei is both the Black Reaper and Li-kun. Sometimes I think Li-kun is more real than the Reaper. The Reaper is, after all, more a facade than anything more.
I love Mao with his cute expressions. Who says contractors are all inexpressionless and unfeeling statues? Mao is sooooooo cute. Love the scene with him and Amber.
The other complexities went straight over my head. I think I need to rewatch it. So many organisations!
I still think Misaki will be good with Hei. 😀 But then, I think everyone’s good for Hei, like Yin and Amber. (not Huang. I’m adamantly against the two of them. 😛 )
@Briar – It all went by so fast, I was surprised I could make sense of it. Not to mention my mother was running around the house making noise. I watched a couple scenes over just to figure out what happened. XD
I think Li-kun is probably Hei’s real self, something like what you said. The more I learn about Hei, the more unrealistic the Reaper feels.
And Mao is so cute! Kitty! Kitty! XD That scene at the end was great. His face in the preview was hilarious!
I want Hei to go with Yin, but you’re right, he’s good with everyone. For a while, all the women he met were in love with him. And Huang, no! O_O!
The previews always lie. There have been a few that have been edited to tell a different story, so I wouldn’t put too much on 21’s preview. :Þ
After Yin and Huang’s arcs respectively I thought it was obvious that Hei can’t be his name, and that Li’s a real person. No? Seeing how Yin and Huang both had different names at some point. I get how you feel about noise while watching anime, my mum can be rather noisy at times, too, which is why I always watch DtB at night. Almost always.
@Owen S – I never understand previews anyways, they’re all vague and confusing and half the time they don’t even make sense.
Maybe the Organization gave them codenames or something. Li might actually be his real name, he might actually be Chinese. O_o
My mom drops dead at night with the TV on, thank God I have my own room. I always watch anime when I’m alone, for some reason. I get pretty annoyed if I’m interrupted by like a phone call, that’s just me though. XD
Haha, good to hear I’m not alone. I really like to watch my anime in a quiet place/setting in case anything ruins the “mood”, so I usually do it at night with almost all the lights off. And yeah, those phone calls can be quite disturbing.
@Owen S – Yeah! The mood is probably the most important thing for me when it comes to watching anime. I also make it a point to turn off my lights and every other possible light source in my room. I hate the fact that my computer can’t handle some of the HD files and messes up. I should be the one that’s glad. There are people out there who understand! Rejoice! XD