Customer Reviews

Descendants of Darkness - Vampire's Lure (Vol. 1)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Descendents of darkness... or more accurately its Japanese title Yami no Matsuei concerns two Shinigami's (Gods of Death) the affable, sweet toothed Tsuzuki and his new, surly at times partner Hisoka. It is their jobs to guide lost souls to their judgment while at the same time confronting their own dark pasts, which seem to revolve around a rather handsome, silver haired doctor.

Yami no Matsuei is definitely one of my all time favourite shows. Although short (13 episodes in total) it is a show many I have known described as special just because it is so beautiful. The scene in the church when Tsuzuki meets Muraki for the first time is particularly breathtaking.

Be warned though it is a show that is definitely not for kids (although for some strange reason it is only a +13 rating) it is violent, dark and deals with occultish themes. The main thing to be warned that it is YAOI!! Yes you will see men getting nice, romantic and angsty with other men ^_^ personally I have no problems with that but it is clear that some people do...

That aside I have no reservations about recomending this show, it is beautiful animated, funny and sweet at times, has an interesting storyline (which is presented in arcs...sets of 3 or 4 episodes) and wonderful characters.

Another plus is that the voice actors in this show are some of the best. Tsuzuki is wonderfully done by Miki Shinichiro but for me the real show stealer is Hayami Sho as Muraki Katazuka. He is perfect blend of sexy, sensual yet dangerously creepy at the same time.

I cant say I am not crazy about the name change, but hey as long as they are releasing it I am not complaining ^_^ My other qualm is how the english cast is going to match up to the japanes.

The only other thing I dont really like is the cover. Be warned I have only seen the sample cover and in the end (fingers crossed) I hope CPM gives it a much better cover as the artwork is so beautiful.

Summary: beautiful show,if you like bishonen (fans of X) and shonen ai (fans of Gravitation) buy this DVD you wont be dissapointed

This is one of the GREATEST series ever, in my humble opinion. I would have to admit though, that it probably won't find popularity with many guys. It's mainly aimed at chicks, and boy does it ever hit the mark. I was getting really tired of shows where a bunch of pretty-boys ran around and killed things, so Yami no Matsuei (Decendant of Darkness) is such a nice change of pace. Sure, ALL of the main characters are damn good looking, and that's half the fun. But beyond that, it's got an *extremely* good plot, and one of the most entertaining CONCEPTS of any anime out there. The premise: The hero, Tsuzuki Asato is an 'Angel of Death' responsible for bringing back souls that don't reach the afterlife, or solving cases involving mysterious or unliscensed deaths. This leads to an interesting cast of characters, and a VERY interesting look at some of the Japanese myths surrounding the afterlife, gods, etc. Not, I warn though, for the squeemish, or for those who have a problem with guys with...eh...*questionable* relationships with one another. i.e. - LOTS of fangirl service and a number of situations involving the main character and other (male) characters.

This is a true bishonen series. Which means a lot of tall, thin, very good looking but effeminate young men (just about any part with more than a 25 word part is male). Women are victims, villains (sometimes both), or somewhat lightheaded. The obligatory master villain is always dressed in white with white hair. And there is an underlying and not particularly subtle layer of sensuality that may make some US viewers uncomfortable. To enjoy Descendants of Darkness you may have to step around some prejudices. But if you are willing to do so you will find one of the best anime of its kind.

Tsuzuki is a detective working for a spiritual agency, the Guardians of Death, which is part of the Ministry of Hades. His task is to seek out the lost souls wandering the earth and guide them further on to the afterworld. It's a job he seems spectacularly ill suited for, since he is undisciplined, irreverent, and a compulsive eater of deserts. However, he also happens to be one of the strongest of the shinigami mages and can command twelve powerful creatures. So it is no surprise when he is assigned to track down a vampire that is terrorizing Nagasaki.

The surprise is that his new partner is Hisoka, a recently dead 15-year-old, who expired under suspicious circumstances. Hisoka is offended because Tsuzuki is so lackadaisical and the older detective is a bit nonplussed with the boy's inexperience. Arguing and grousing all the way they manage to create a partnership that teeters back and forth as both Hisoka and Tsuzuki fall victim to the plotting of Muraki who is the master nasty running the vampire. We get to learn quite a bit about Hisoka in the process, but it is Tsuzuki who is the real target.

The story telling and acting are excellent in both the dubbed and subtitled versions. The art is classic bishonen gothic with animation that is surprisingly graceful. I found the opening and closing songs a bit irritating, but the inner music is quite good as well. A great blend of genre, production, and writing (based on the manga series) that should appeal to a wide but mature audience.

So I went ahead and bought the box set..... and it was definitely worth every dollar. I've only watched the first disc as of yet, which is why I'm reviewing it.

After watching the first three episodes, I'm just about speechless. Yami no Matsuei is incredible. I even like the dub--which is saying quite a bit, as I was prepared to be unimpressed.

The animation and character designs completely blew me away. They were as good as--if not better than--that of shows like Full Metal Panic, which has pretty much set current standards in terms of artwork and graphics. One of the things that really struck me was how realistically and smoothly the characters moved.

The basic concept of the afterlife as a bureaucracy reminded me very much of Yu Yu Hakusho (particularly when those cosmic chickens appeared... talk about random). Interestingly enough, Tsuzuki's summons have the same names as YYH's Saint Beasts. I'd like to learn about the mythology behind that.

Anyway, although the shonen-ai aspects certainly appealed to me, I think I would have loved this show even if, say, Hisoka were a girl. I can't wait to watch the rest.

I don't know where on earth a series based on shonen-ai manga got the budget to pull off such perfect CG and special effects.... but I'm very glad it did.

Lastly, ignore the previous review which blathers about on about the NA. I'm positive that absolutely nothing was cut. There's a slim possibility that the dub altered some dialogue during translation, as often happens in anime.... so if you want to avoid that, just watch the subtitled version.

There is a wealth of beauty to be found in this series. The characters, in all of their effeminate glory, go beyond lovely. The undercurrents of sexuality flow steadily throughout, and add a layer of luster to an already dazzling story.

The story revolves around the Ministry of Hades, which is kinda like the CIA of the afterlife. The Ministry of Hades handles cases which involve people who were supposed to die, but for some reason continue to live. Tsuzuki has been an employee at the Ministry of Hades for 70 years. He appears to cherish food above all else, and he is both wonderfully childish and wantonly compassionate. Hisoka is Tsuzuki's newest, and somewhat unwilling, partner, a 16 boy with a tormented soul. Hisoka has joined the Ministry of Hades in the hopes of finding his murderer. Hisoka and Tsuzuki quickly form an unspoken bond, which suggests romance even when in the third volume the plot steers Hisoka towards a girl. It's weird, but you do find yourself wanting these two beautiful men to hook up.

On the demonic villain side we have the cruel Muraki who is enamored with the gorgeous Tsuzuki (Tsuzuki's completely hot, so who wouldn't be) and who also wants to destroy him, at first Muraki seems somewhat handsome and intriguing, but when you look into his eyes his true ugliness shows itself. I won't get further into the plot, as I don't want to ruin it for you, but I will tell you that it gets better in each episode. I loved this series, but I know that Descendents of Darkness is not for everyone. Even in 2003 homophobia tends to still overshadow the American desire for broader horizons, but those with open minds and a eye for the mystical will be enraptured by this dark tale.

Descendants of Darkness [Yami no Matsuei] is a wonderful story revolving around two Guardians of Death, whose job it is to investigate untimely deaths and murders all the while taking the viewer on a trip through their dark pasts and leaving you wanting a bit of food, yet strangely satisfied. EXTREMELY great soundtrack, beautiful music. Some of the best-suited music in anime, of all time. Descendants of Darkness is worth twice its price, and has its light moments, dark moments, and beautiful moments. And to the person who said guys won't enjoy, that's incredibly not true, I'm a guy, and I enjoyed it very much! Us guy fans of yaoi don't get much credit, but hey, Descendants of Darkness is great, so check it out.

An online friend actually got me into this and I found myself searching constantly for information on this series. Having touched some of the first Manga volumes and seen this DVD, I was immediately fascinated by Yami no Matsuei in less than a month. A lot of people say the Manga is better because there are more details (and that this is a rip off of X and Tokyo Babylon) HOWEVER don't be discouraged, please. There's no harm in watching an Animé series based on its Manga. Besides, you can see these characters in colour and hear which Seiyuu lurk behind the screens.

Anyway with the bright colours, amazing animation, supernatural appeal and talented Seiyuu to accompany the characters what's there not to like on this series? You might think the episodes are choppy but I suppose it is the same for Weiss Kreuz perhaps. Also if you are not a fan of male x male implications this may not suit you at all. It's best to stay away from series like this.

This DVD volume is a round up of the first Manga volume. There's a vampire on the loose and is under the control of a particular villain ~_^ (this vampire type is different and is one that can walk in sunlight -- that's rare; unless you have a special jewel on you, right? OK I'm thinking Buffy). Tsuzuki is like Vash the Stampede in the 'goofy yet keeps his past a secret' sense and has a sweet tooth. Despite his slacking off on the job, Tsuzuki is compasionate and hides a lot of pain behind that carefree demeanour. His new partner is Hisoka who is the newbie in the Ministry of Hades and quite a distant boy who is a strong empath and whose death is mysterious -- reason is discovered in episode 3. You are also introduced to the main villain Muraki (a misunderstood SEMI-villain IMO) who seems to have a 'thing' for Tsuzuki.

If you're someone like me who is obsessed with voice actors well you may recognise the dubbed voice actors as well as the Japanese Seiyuu. The former are the guys who did Pokemon and Yu Gi Oh. OK I have trouble thinking of Yugi with a sweet tooth here. You see, Dan Green does Yugi/Yami and Tsuzuki ('I summon Suzaku in attack mode. Suzaku attack Muraki's life points directly' LOL). I am so used to Dan Green as Yugi/Yami Yugi and think he's better as these two than Tsuzuki ^^;;
Watari's dubbed voice actor is Eric Stuart who does Seto Kaiba, Brock/Takeshi and James/Koijiro. I find it strange to why these guys put Watari with an English accent though. I'll assume it's to make his accent different since Watari speaks in Kansai dialect. You can watch the dubbed version of the series if you want to try and recognise some of the English voices but it kind of detracts the excitement.

Really Muraki doesn't sound as cool in the dubbed version. In the Japanese original sound, Hayami Sho makes him sound suave, evil and seductive. Woo hoo. Plus this guy was Wolfwood from Trigun. Praise him, people. Miki Shinichirou is sweet as Tsuzuki (I thought he was amazing as Allen Schezar and Larva) :). To conclude this review, I say if you're not against gay implications then this shouldn't be a problem to watch. You may need to get some tissue or a bucket ready in case you drool much more later on since some of the main guys are handsome :P

I want to start off by saying that I hadn't read the original manga of this, nor had I heard anything about "Descendants of Darkness" before I purchased it; so I went into viewing this as non-biased and not expecting too much. I've been hesitant to make purchases of anime these days, since the recent saturation of the market makes it harder for a person to decipher what's going to be quality and what just isn't.

That said, I took a leap of faith in purchasing this DVD, and I ended up being pleasantly surprised. It's not 100% perfect or ground-breaking, but it IS pretty damn enjoyable. And although this first volume begins pretty weakly, it actually gets better as the series progresses.

In the first episode, we are somewhat hastily introduced to our main protagonist Tsuzuki Asato, a likable, goofy guy who works for a detective agency--of Death(?) This isn't made too clear in the first episode, which I think was a weak start for this series, but over the next episodes we learn more about his occupation and what it entails. We also meet his new partner Hisoka, a young man who died of mysterious causes and now works for this agency. It was pretty confusing to someone who hadn't read the manga, and I feel that this factor added to episode one's weakness. Another gripe of mine are those "chickens" who work for the agency--I've never been a fan of cutesy mascots, and the fact that their existence was never explained or even questioned was another added weakness.

I was a little put off by episode one, but I kept with it. Yes, it indeed got better, and I found myself entranced by the end of this disc. Over the next episodes we learn a little more about Tsuzuki and Hisoka, and we are introduced to the sinister villain Muraki--and this is where the "yaoi" element really comes into play. Yes, it seems as though all of the characters are gay, which I found to make the series all the more intriguing. This is probably why the series won't appeal to everyone, especially straight guys, but I thought it was handled well and not done in a way that was insulting to its gay characters (or gay members of its audience, for that matter). This volume covers a complete story arc involving a series of vampiric murders, and provides an insight to Hisoka's dark past.

The series deals with some dark subject matter like death and rape, but overall there is a pleasant lightness to the show and the characters are all surprisingly likable--I say "surprisingly" because it's hard to view and anime these days and not be annoyed by at least ONE character.

Overall, I really like this show and I'm going to make sure I view the entire series. So why only three stars? While enjoyable, the show isn't perfect (this disc in particular). The music, for one, is particularly grating. From the score to the ending and opening theme songs, the music is hard to take. By volume two it improves a bit, but the music on this volume is sometimes intolerable. The overall look of the show and the animation is hard to adjust to as well. It almost looks like it was done in the style of the show "Yu Gi Oh!"--brightly colored cel-animation badly mixed with CG. However, again, by volume 2 this improves considerably. And finally, since the show got off to a weak start, I had to deduct a star.

"Descendants of Darkness" is an enjoyable series that improves as it progresses. I would recommend it to anyone who likes yaoi (I include myself in that audience), light comedy, action, a bit of drama, and occult themes. So, even if you're a nit-picky, jaded anime viewer like me, it might be worthwhile to give this series a try if those themes appeal to you. And did I say this allready? "It gets BETTER."

This is one of the GREATEST series ever, in my humble opinion. I would have to admit though, that it probably won't find popularity with many guys. It's mainly aimed at chicks, and boy does it ever hit the mark. I was getting really tired of shows where a bunch of pretty-boys ran around and killed things, so Yami no Matsuei (Decendant of Darkness) is such a nice change of pace. Sure, ALL of the main characters are damn good looking, and that's half the fun. But beyond that, it's got an *extremely* good plot, and one of the most entertaining CONCEPTS of any anime out there. The premise: The hero, Tsuzuki Asato is an 'Angel of Death' responsible for bringing back souls that don't reach the afterlife, or solving cases involving mysterious or unliscensed deaths. This leads to an interesting cast of characters, and a VERY interesting look at some of the Japanese myths surrounding the afterlife, gods, etc. Not, I warn though, for the squeemish, or for those who have a problem with guys with...eh...*questionable* relationships with one another. i.e. - LOTS of fangirl service and a number of situations involving the main character and other (male) characters.

I love this series and it took me forever just to find the DVDs. I'm glad I have them now. The anime really caught my attention the first time I watched it. I can't think of anything bad to say about it except that they need more episodes.