Customer Reviews

Darker Than Black: Volume Three

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Though the shortest of volumes, (only including 4 episodes instead of the regular 5)this volume does serve to develop one of the series most mysterious characters, Yin. Furthermore, it serves to subtly define Yin and Hei's growing relationship as partners seeing as their trust for one another is strengthened with the events of the episode. It's a must have volume of the series and gives the audience a chance to become familiarized with the characters they are dealing with. I found this volume to be absolutely beautiful.

This is the 3rd DVD in the "Darker Than Black" series. Since this DVD contains epoisodes 11-14, I recommend starting on Darker Than Black: Volume One as there is a lot of backstory not explained in these episodes.

Unlike the first two DVDs, which had 5 episodes each, this one only has 4 episodes (two 2-part chapters) and includes some "extras" that I didn't find very interesting.

There is a lot more plot development in these two chapters and somewhat less action. We do see one of the more bizzar scenes near the end of "When You Recover Something Lost" (also some of the worst animation) and learn a lot more about Yin (The Doll) in "The Heart Does Not Sway On the Water's Surface".

As before, the animation ranges between very good to very bad.

What I really like is that the characters are becoming much more fleshed out as the story progresses.

Recommended! The next DVD is also available Darker Than Black: Volume Four

Darker Than Black continues to stay compelling, even though its storyline almost gets a little too complicated at times.

This DVD covers episodes 11-14, which consists of two two-part stories. The first, "Within the Wall, When You Recover Something Lost," involves Contractor Hei's infiltration into the PANDORA wall to look for the Meteor fragment. He befriends a scientist at the agency, named Nick Hillman. Nick has a telescope which can see through the fake night sky. However, he could be holding other secrets.

The second story, "On a Silver Night, the Heart Does Not Sway On the Water's Surface," circles around Yin, the silved haired doll working for Hei's syndicate. A rival Russian syndicate is spying on Hei and his crew--in fact, they steal Yin's observer spirit, which allowed her to spy on the city wherever there was water. Yin spends most of her time in this story coming to terms with her dark past.

At times, volume three almost packs in too much storyline in each episode. Certainly all the characters look excellent, by Studio BONES' standards. However, there were many times when I almost lost track of the story in "Within the Wall, When You Recover Something Lost." For example, how did Hei know that the female scientist was related to Nick? Why did Nick transform into a child who rode with his sister on a rocket?

At the very least, it is still entertaining. And Guy and Kiko return for more humorous dialogue in "On a Silver Night..." The pink-haired teenager, Kiko, has some funny scenes in which she grabs the wandering Yin and tells her that she is an excellent cosplayer. Kiko even finds a place for Yin as an actor in a kid's show. Don't ask how she came up with that idea--Kiko's just that type of eccentric.

In fact, I almost wish that Guy and Kiko had their own series. As creative and dialogue-packed as "Darker Than Black" is, Guy and Kiko are some of the funniest comic relief characters I've ever seen in an action anime. But the series so far is still going strong, with a solid storyline, even if it tends to get a little redundant and complicated.

As I stated in a previous review, ignore most of the extras in this DVD--the English voice actors are not that great, and they certainly don't deserve another commentary track. However, fans of the series might want this DVD for the clean opening and ending sequences.

I personaly don't like the art style for the show, but everything else I think falls into place nicely. Well except the animation... The animation quailty can vary quite a bit. I don't think it ever get's bad you're taken out of the world and it mostly gets the job done but some parts don't live up to the quality that Bones has produced before or now for that matter. If you're looking for some great over the top action/Fight scences, this isn't the anime for you. The real strength of the show is the Story...The structure is similar to cowboy bebop, where each episode the main character takes on missions, which usally last two episodes each. I've actully seen the enitre series already in japanese. The Dub is fantastic, I think the voices mach perfectly and if you're not into that the Jap dub is always good. I could go on and on but here's the bottom line, if you want to experience a good story give the first dvd a try. Do not buy this and expect it to have all kinds of crazy action. I know I've said that before but I need to stress that point for anyone expecting that.