Bones does a fantastic job with the Darker Than Black series in creating a dark fantasy world where humans and "contractors" with supernatural powers are at odds with each other over not just control/power but also the right to exist. The MC, Hei, is so intriguing with his constant struggle between his human and contractor side (not to mention that he is a complete badass). The rest of the crew including Yin, Mao and even Huang make a very dynamic team and each has a very dark and complicated past. Even the other supporting characters get fleshed out pretty well. The first season is an absolute thrill and I couldn't stop watching till the very end. It does a great job of having individual arcs (that are each 2 episodes long) which introduce us to tons of great characters while slowly delving into the deep and satisfying overarching story. There's a ton of plot twists and you honestly don't know where everyone's true intentions and motivations lie. The quality is great throughout and the action and anticipation keeps on building until the very last episode. However, the second season (Gemini) and OVA (Gaiden) are definitely not as strong as the first season (I mean it's a tough act to follow) but are still enjoyable nonetheless even with their flaws. Particularly, I just wish that Hei was a bit more of the focus in the second season rather than Suo. Also, the season 2 ending... The action is awesome throughout the entire series and you see a good variety of different powers amongst the many contractors that we meet in this series. You can tell Hei is a badass but he isn't super over-powered compared to the enemies which makes the battles more entertaining. The dub is pretty solid for this series with Hei rocking his best impersonation of the Christian Bale Batman voice. I'd definitely recommend at least watching the first season as it is a staple of the darker action/thriller anime genre for a reason. You won't be disappointed in this Bones work. And I just gotta say that I still love me some Misaki.

this is one of the best series ever done, **a must watch.**

Totally weird and confusing concept and plot on start but grows on you as you watch it

Interesting contractor-power premise undercut by a structure that prioritizes episodic mystery over the moral complexity it gestures toward. Hei's detachment is the most compelling element; the surrounding plotting doesn't fully match it. Solid genre entry — atmospheric without quite reaching the depth the concept promises.

Unfortunately, "Darker than Black" really disappointed me. I think the character design of the main character and the fight scenes are nice to look at, but apart from that the anime doesn't really have a story. You have 1 or 2 aspects that are picked up again and again and the main character also has a personal goal, but that is rarely mentioned. The majority of season 1 actually consists of showing different "missions", each of which consists of 2 episodes. I didn't see the second season anymore because I had to fight my way through the first one and even fans of the first season say the second season is much weaker. Originally I only wanted to give 6/10 points, but I'll give it one more because season 1 has found a more or less satisfying ending.