Darker than Black

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This article is about the Japanese television series. For the Cage album, see
Darker Than Black (album). For the German record label, see Darker Than Black
Records.
Darker than Black
DTB DVD.jpg
Cover of the first English Darker than Black DVD volume, featuring protagonist Hei
DARKER THAN BLACK ???????
(Daka Zan Burakku -Kuro no Keiyakusha-)
Genre
Mystery[1]
Science fiction[1]
Supernatural thriller[2]
Created by Bones
Tensai Okamura
Manga
Written by Tensai Okamura
Illustrated by Nokiya
Published by Kadokawa Shoten
English publisher
NA
Yen Press
Magazine Monthly Asuka
Original run February 24, 2007 � November 24, 2007
Volumes 2
Anime television series
Darker than Black: The Black Contractor
Directed by Tensai Okamura
Produced by
Yoshihiro Oyabu
Ryo Oyama
Hiroo Maruyama
Osamu Hosokawa
Written by
Tensai Okamura
Shotaro Suga (#13� 25)
Music by Yoko Kanno
Studio Bones
Licensed by
AUS
Madman Entertainment
NA
Funimation
UK
Manga Entertainment
Original network JNN (MBS, TBS)
English network
SEA
Animax
US
Funimation Channel
Original run April 5, 2007 � September 28, 2007
Episodes 25 (List of episodes)
Original video animation
Beneath the Fully Bloomed Cherry Blossoms
Directed by Tensai Okamura
Written by Shinsuke Ohnishi
Music by Yoko Kanno
Studio Bones
Licensed by
AUS
Madman Entertainment
NA
Funimation
UK
Manga Entertainment
Released March 26, 2008
Runtime 25 minutes
Manga
Darker than Black: Jet Black Flower
Written by Tensai Okamura
Illustrated by Yuji Iwahara
Published by Square Enix
Magazine Young Gangan
Demographic Seinen
Original run May 15, 2009 � January 21, 2011
Volumes 4
Anime television series
Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor
Directed by Tensai Okamura
Written by
Tensai Okamura
Hiroyuki Yoshino
Mari Okada
Shinsuke Ohnishi
Shotaro Suga
Music by Yasushi Ishii
Studio Bones
Licensed by
NA
Funimation
UK
Manga Entertainment
Original network JNN (MBS, TBS)
Original run October 8, 2009 � December 24, 2009
Episodes 12 (List of episodes)
Original video animation
Darker than Black: Origins
Directed by Tensai Okamura
Written by Shotaro Suga
Music by Yasushi Ishii
Studio Bones
Licensed by
NA
Funimation
UK
Manga Entertainment
Released January 27, 2010 � July 21, 2010
Episodes 4 (List of episodes)
Wikipe-tan face.svg Anime and manga portal
Darker than Black, also known as Darker than Black: The Black Contractor (DARKER
THAN BLACK ???????, Daka Zan Burakku -Kuro no Keiyakusha-), is a Japanese anime
television series created and directed by Tensai Okamura and animated by Bones. It
premiered across Japan in April 2007 on MBS, TBS, and its affiliated broadcast
stations, with its satellite television premiere in Japan on Animax in May 2007.
The music for the series is composed by Yoko Kanno. The series has also been
adapted into two manga series, which are serialized in Monthly Asuka and in Young
Gangan.

A sequel titled Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor premiered in Japan on
October 8, 2009.

In North America, the anime was licensed by Funimation. In January 2016, it was
announced that Funimation no longer holds the license for the first season.[3]

Contents
1 Plot
2 Media
2.1 Anime
2.1.1 Season one
2.1.2 Season two
2.1.3 OVA
2.2 Manga
2.3 Music
3 Reception
4 References
5 External links
Plot
See also: List of Darker than Black characters
Ten years ago, a mysterious spatial anomaly now known as "Heaven's Gate" appeared
in South America, shortly followed by the opening of "Hell's Gate" in Tokyo
altering the sky and wreaking havoc on the landscape. The real stars disappeared,
replaced by false stars. During this time, people possessing various special
abilities�called "Contractors"�emerged, each capable of different supernatural
feats. Each Contractor has a corresponding fake star, which reacts to their
activities. As such, Contractors are usually identified by their star's Messier
catalogue number. Kept secret from the masses, these individuals are known to
murder in cold blood, smothering unnecessary emotions with logic and rationality.
Their incredible abilities, however, are gained at the cost of their humanity;
Contractors are thus named because of an involuntary compulsion to "pay the price"
each time their power is used, which can range from eating particular foods or
completing meaningless tasks, to self-harm or changing their bodies in peculiar
ways. Various nations and organizations around the world train and utilize
Contractors as spies and assassins, resulting in violent battles for valuable
objects and information.

Following the disastrous Heaven's War, the United States lost its dominant position
as a superpower to a mysterious organization named the Syndicate. The story
revolves around a Chinese contractor codenamed "Hei" as he undertakes various
espionage and assassination missions in Tokyo under the direction of the
aforementioned Syndicate. It eventually reveals a plan of the Syndicate to erase
the existence of contractors, and a resistance put up by contractors from the
Syndicate itself and various espionage agencies.

Media
Anime
Season one
See also: List of Darker than Black episodes
Darker than Black was conceptualized by Tensai Okamura and produced by Bones and
Aniplex. The series premiered on MBS TV and TBS Television's Thursday late night
anime broadcasting timeslot, replacing the Sunrise series Code Geass: Lelouch of
the Rebellion on April 5, 2007, and similar to Code Geass incorporated corporate
sponsorship of Japan News Network partners Pizza Hut and Nifty, where episodes of
the series was streamed every week during the series' broadcast run.[4][5] It
completed its initial run on September 27, 2007, and received its broadcasting
satellite premiere on Animax from May 8, 2007 to October 23, 2007.[6] The series
was also aired in English on Animax Asia, Animax's English language networks in
Southeast Asia and South Asia from December 2008 onwards.[citation needed] The
series made its North American television debut when it started airing on the
Funimation Channel September 6, 2010.[7]

The series has been released in Japan by Aniplex across nine DVDs, each containing
three episodes, except for the first DVD, which had only two.[8] The ninth and
final DVD included an original video animation, which expanded upon the romantic
relationships between characters.[9] The DVDs were released between July 25, 2007
and March 26, 2008 by Aniplex.[10][11] FUNimation received the license for the
series in Region 1 and has released one DVD compilation with two more coming in the
future.[12] The first English DVD was released on November 25, 2008 and the second
and third DVDs were released on January 20, 2009 and March 10, 2009 respectively.
[13][14][15] Volume 4 was released on May 5, 2009[16] with Volume 5 released on
June 23, 2009.[17] Volume 6 was released on August 11, 2009 and is now available.
In May 2010, Funimation released the entire first season in a complete box set; it
was originally released in March, but was recalled due to a defective disk.
[citation needed] The Blu-ray Box was released in Japan on September 30, 2009 with
a guidebook with several unreleased music tracks not available in the OSTs.[18][19]
The opening themes are "HOWLING" by Abingdon Boys School (eps 1-14) and "Kakusei
Heroism ~The Hero Without A Name~" by An Cafe (eps 15-23,25) and the ending themes
are "Tsukiakari" by Rie fu (eps 1-14) and "Dreams" by HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR (eps
15-24).

Season two
See also: List of Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor episodes
A document containing information about Bones staff and production details, was
leaked onto the Japanese filesharing site uploader.jp, within the Microsoft Excel
spreadsheet format, on July 2008.[20] Among other details, including confidential
contact information in regards to Bones staff members, it revealed that a second
Darker than Black and Fullmetal Alchemist series was in production and were being
directed by Tensai Okamura and Yasuhiro Irie respectively.[20] This information
regarding Fullmetal Alchemist, which had never been previously released, was later
proven to be true on January 2009.[20] In an official statement posted on Bones'
official website, co-founder and president Masahiko Minami claimed that the
document was not released by the studio themselves but by an unnamed third-party.
In a later statement, Minami also stated in regards to the two new series, "It
hasn't been decided yet. We are interested in doing them. As original science-
fiction works, they were extremely fascinating. With these kinds of dramatic story
lines, I feel that there's a lot we could do potentially."[21] Six months later,
however, the second series for Fullmetal Alchemist was confirmed to be in
production with Yasuhiro Irie as director, thus confirming the document's validity.
[20] The second Darker than Black series was confirmed in the 12th issue of Square
Enix's Young Gangan Magazine.[22] In the 14th issue of Young Gangan, the title was
revealed as Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor (DARKER THAN BLACK ???????,
Daka Zan Burakku -Ryusei no Jemini-). The sequel began airing in October 2009 and
ended in December 2009.[23] At Anime Expo 2010, Funimation Entertainment announced
that they had licensed the second season.[24] The opening theme is "Tsukiakari no
Michishirube" (???????????; "Guidepost of the Moonlight") by Stereopony (eps 2-)
and the ending theme is "From Dusk Till Dawn" by Abingdon Boys School.

OVA
These OVAs, also known as Darker than Black: Origins (DARKER THAN BLACK ??, Daka
Zan Burakku Gaiden), are set in the time between the two series. Hei and Yin have
left Tokyo and are on the run from the Syndicate. In the first episode, conflict
ensues in Okinawa, where the agents from the Syndicate attempt to abduct Yin but
are eventually unsuccessful. Hei and Yin then leave for Hong Kong. There are 4 OVAs
in total, filling the gap with Hei and Yin left between season 1 and 2. The ending
theme is "DARKER THAN BLACK" by Yasushi Ishii.

Manga
A manga, illustrated by Nokiya, was serialized in Monthly Asuka. Naoshi Komi
released the series to two tankobon on August 8, 2007 and January 26, 2008
respectively.[25][26] The series has been licensed for a North American release by
Yen Press.[27] A second manga, illustrated by Yuji Iwahara, the original character
designer for the anime, finished serializing in Square Enix's Young Gangan seinen
magazine under the title Darker than Black: Jet Black Flower (DARKER THAN
BLACK ??????, Daka Zan Burakku -Shikkoku no Hana-) in March 2011. This is a
separate one from the first and it is a new story taking place one year after the
events of season 1 and it replaces the events of both the OVAs and season 2
completely.[28]

Music
Anime soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Yoko Kanno
Released July 25, 2007
Genre Anime soundtrack
Length 54:00
Label Aniplex Inc.
The original soundtrack was composed by Yoko Kanno in 2007 and contains a total of
20 tracks including the first opening and ending themes performed by Abingdon boys
school and Rie fu. Other non-instrumental songs were written by Tim Jensen and
performed by Mai Yamane (tracks 8, 10) and James Wendt (tracks 14, 19).[29] It
peaked at number 57 on the Oricon albums chart.[30]

Soundtrack
No. Title Length
1. "Go Dark" 3:14
2. "HOWLING � TV size ver." 1:29
3. ""High-Heel Runaway" (??????????, Hai Hiru Ranawei)" 3:28
4. "Tenderly" 2:19
5. "Sid (??, Shido)" 2:04
6. "Was" 4:08
7. "Outside" 2:36
8. "No One's Home" 2:43
9. "Guy" 2:02
10. "ScatCat" 2:02
11. ""Contractor" (??????, Keiyakusha)" 3:34
12. "Shadow" 2:45
13. "Black (??, Kuro)" 3:38
14. "Deadly Work" 3:36
15. ""Stargazing" (????????, Tentai Kansoku)" 0:45
16. "BlueCat" 3:08
17. ""Moonlight" (?????-TV size ver., Tsukiakari TV size ver.)"1:32
18. "Water Forest" 2:11
19. "Blend in" 3:14
20. "Yin's Piano (??????, In no Piano)" 3:11
Reception
The series has received positive reviews, with praise directed at its use of noir
themes and plot development compared to other action anime. The anime also was
awarded Best Original Anime of The Year by GoGoplex, a popular magazine for teens.
[citation needed] In the 2007 Japan Media Arts Festival, it was one of the jury's
recommendations from the category "Animation Division/Long Animation."[31]

References
Scholes, Sandra (August 5, 2009). "Darker than Black Vol. 1&2 (Advance Review)".
activeAnime. Archived from the original on April 29, 2015. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
This anime is a series of twists and turns that will keep anyone watching as it
twins sci-fi with mystery and weaves it into a strange and promising series.
Ellingwood, Holly (November 20, 2008). "Darker Than Black Vol. 1 (Advance
Review)". activeAnime. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved
June 24, 2020. Darker Than Black is a supernatural thriller that captivates
immediately with its mature storytelling.
"Funimation's Darker Than Black License Expires". 2016-01-22. Retrieved 2016-01-
22.
"DARKER THAN BLACK ?????" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2007-04-16.
Schilling, Mark (2007-03-29). "Nifty adds free content to site". Variety.com.
Retrieved 2007-04-14.
"DARKER THANBLACK?????". Media Arts Database. Agency for Cultural Affairs.
Retrieved October 11, 2015.
http://www.funimationchannel.com/schedule/2_e037.htm. Retrieved 2014-07-07.
Missing or empty |title= (help)[dead link]
"Darker Than Black � Kuro no Keiyakusha - 1" (in Japanese). neowing.co.jp.
Retrieved 2009-01-19.
"Darker Than Black � Kuro no Keiyakusha - 9" (in Japanese). neowing.co.jp.
Retrieved 2009-01-19.
"DARKER THAN BLACK-?????- 1 (???)" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved 2009-01-
19.
"DARKER THAN BLACK -?????- 9(???)" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved 2009-01-
19.
"Funimation to Release Love Hina, Jyo Oh Sei, Darker than Black, XXXHolic, more
Tsubasa, more Negima". Anime News Network. 2007-07-01. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
"Darker Than Black, Vol. 1". Retrieved 2009-01-19.
"Darker Than Black, Vol. 2". Retrieved 2009-01-19.
"Darker Than Black, Vol. 3". Retrieved 2009-01-19.
"Darker Than Black: Volume Four". Retrieved 2009-06-22.
"Darker Than Black: Volume Five". Retrieved 2009-06-22.
"DARKER THAN BLACK -?????- Blu-ray BOX" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2009-10-27.
"Amazon Japan's Darker than Black Blu-Ray Box Page" (in Japanese). Amazon Japan.
Retrieved 2009-10-28.
"New Fullmetal Alchemist Anime's Staff Confirmed". Anime News Network. 2009-01-11.
Retrieved 2009-02-15.
"Bones Studio Addresses Allegedly Leaked Document". Anime News Network. 2008-07-
06. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
"Darker than Black Tv Anime Sequel Green-Lit". Anime News Network. 2009-06-03.
Retrieved 2009-06-03.
http://pds15.egloos.com/pds/200907/02/50/c0052350_4a4cc679d3803.jpg
"Funi Adds Live Action Moyashimon Live Action, More". Anime News Network. 2010-07-
02. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
DARKER THAN BLACK-????? 1 (1) (????????DX) (????) (in Japanese). ASIN 4048541153.
DARKER THAN BLACK-????? 2 (2) (????????DX) (????) (in Japanese). ASIN 4048541498.
"Yen Press Adds Kobato, Darker than Black, Romeo x Juliet Manga". Anime News
Network. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
"Darker than Black, Seikishi, Seitokau no Ichizon Get New Manga". Anime News
Network. 2009-04-29. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
"Sony Music Shop". Retrieved 2007-08-09.
"Darker than Black OST peak rank". Oricon. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
"2007 Japan Media Arts Festival Jury Recommends Works". December 25, 2007.
External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Darker than Black
Official homepage (in Japanese)
Official homepage (MBS) (in Japanese)
Animax's official homepage (in Japanese)
Darker than Black (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
vte
Works directed by Tensai Okamura
vte
Works of Bones
vte
Gangan Comics
Categories: Manga series2007 manga2007 anime television series2008 anime OVAs2009
manga2009 anime television series2010 anime OVAsDarker than BlackAnime with
original screenplaysAniplexBones (studio)Darkness in fictionDiscrimination in
fictionEspionage in anime and mangaFiction about urban legendsFunimationGangan
Comics mangaKadokawa Shoten mangaMainichi Broadcasting System original
programmingMasks in fictionMystery anime and mangaScience fiction anime and
mangaShojo mangaSeinen mangaSupernatural thriller anime and mangaTokyo Broadcasting
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