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Darker Than Black: Meteor of the Gemini (TV).


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egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 9:47 pm Reply with quote
Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor (TV)

Plot Summary: Two years have passed since Hei and Yin escaped the Syndicate after the events of the first season. Making their way to Russia, Hei encounters a young girl named Suou Pavlichenko, whose family is gradually pulled into the war between contractors and various intelligence factions. Meanwhile, Misaki Kirihara has quit her position in Foreign Affairs to begin her own investigations into Hei, the Contractors and the Syndicate.

So the second season of my favorite anime's finally arrived.

In season one, too many aspects of this show were left aside. Among them were the truth behind the gates, why was the real sky hidden behind a fake sky or the true meaning behind contractors and dolls' existence. But that's what made this show this fascinating.

In season two, I'm looking forward to knowing what exactly happened to Hei and Yin, did they join another organisation or could they be by themselves this time.

According to episode one, season two, the plot seems to be aimed at the very existence of the meteor which caused all of the events that came to happen to Earth during season one, including the gates, the fake sky and the contractors/dolls.
Most organisations are still intact despite all the events of season one.

Now it's your turn, tell us how you like or dislike this anime, how could they've made it better and let's have a good time enjoying a smart conversation about Darker Than Black: Ryūsei no Gemini.

Gaiden's discussion starts here.


Last edited by egoist on Sat Mar 27, 2010 11:42 pm; edited 2 times in total
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FLMikeATT



Joined: 17 Mar 2008
Posts: 58
PostPosted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 10:39 pm Reply with quote
episode 1...intriguing so far. I can't wait for the next episodes to come out.

spoiler[I was kinda disappointed though with the death of the blue haired ebony chick. I liked her Mad ]
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arachneia



Joined: 20 Mar 2009
Posts: 415
Location: On the wings of Bob Lennon
PostPosted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 10:51 pm Reply with quote
While not my favorite, DtB is definitely in my top five. After hearing that the sequel would focus on a tween biracial Mary Sue, I was petrified and convinced that the show would be heavily shojo-fied (like the first manga was).

That being said, I loved the first episode. The colorful setting of the Russian school and the carefree attitude of the children was a very welcome change in tone, and a good contrast to what was to follow without ever seeming gratuitously blithe and cheerful. The pacing was excellent - I did wonder at the amount of time they spent on the teen romance, but it didn't bother me at all, and Hei's appearances were spaced perfectly (though tantalizingly).

My only complaint is that the art is too basic. The backdrops are beautifully detailed, but the characters are drawn too simply. I also had this problem with the first season, so I guess it's not likely to improve. I don't know how I feel about the music yet. It certainly stood out as having some weird genres for typical tracks, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Once the action started (let's say the last quarter), I didn't notice the score (if there was one), so I cannot really comment on that.

My only question is about that thing that zoomed past on the highway. Was that supposed to be some kind of a flying vehicle, or was it just a weird instance of QUALITY?
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Skylark



Joined: 15 Mar 2007
Posts: 827
Location: ORE NO TSHIRT
PostPosted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 1:37 am Reply with quote
I actually like the really clean, basic art style - especially the "dead" nature of the eyes of contractors. It allows for more complex facial expressions and I think just adds some of the unique flavour that makes its predecessor great.

Of course, anyone who's read my top 10 knows that I love the first season to death, and the second season did not fail to disappoint. I already found myself transfixed (I love the new character, Suou) and Hei's entrance was pretty much perfectly timed at the point where you're thinking "give me HEI". When spoiler[April was told there was a black-cloaked contractor with a mask on] I was like "f**k yeah!" out loud which got some weird looks from my brother. Even so, I was a little disappointed with Hei himself - spoiler[I thought at the end of last season he was regaining his humanity, since he showed those qualities all through the first season.. Yet he showed no mercy in killing the professor, and then April (who was one of my favourite characters in the first season. Gay.]

Even so this show already kicks ass from episode 1 (just like its predecessor) and I'm really keen to see some questions answered from the first season and see how it all plays out. But it's going to be pretty hard for me since I've developed a crush on Suou already... by the end of it I might, who knows, marry her!

Sad
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BunnyCupCakes



Joined: 02 Apr 2008
Posts: 224
Location: The Sunshine State
PostPosted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 1:58 am Reply with quote
Skylark wrote:
Even so, I was a little disappointed with Hei himself - spoiler[I thought at the end of last season he was regaining his humanity, since he showed those qualities all through the first season.. Yet he showed no mercy in killing the professor, and then April (who was one of my favourite characters in the first season. Gay.]

That took me by surprise too. I mean yeah he looked all cool & badass but I didn't think he'd take it that far Surprised
His character is going backwards.

But I have to say this was a brilliant episode. I think we all thought Suou was going to mess up the plot for DtB2 but that's not the case anymore ^^; She's actually pretty likeable and I really liked the slice-of-school-life factor put into it. The music was done quite well even though Yoko Kanno took no part in it ( I liked the song-insert )

Either way, I can't wait for more and hope this season doesn't disappoint :]
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Mister V



Joined: 15 Apr 2009
Posts: 1000
PostPosted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 5:11 am Reply with quote
As I said in another thread, the episode did a wonderful job of getting us back in the action (together with a punch in the face?). It would be too elaborate if someone else was wearing Hei's mask or whatever, but on the other hand, it doesn't look like something Hei (by the end of the series) would do. The cuts do not actually show him spoiler[killing April or the professor], but they do imply it strongly. However, we are intentionally left in the dark (the series lives up to its name I guess Razz ) about his motifs. He does seem to be extremely wearied and generally unkempt, and we don't see Yin anywhere, that may point to something. Whatever it is, life certainly wasn't easy for him afterwards.

The vehicle that zoomed past on the highway was an illustration to the sentence "change is coming". It's even complete with the classic antigrav hissing sounds, so that's definitely not a quality issue.
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egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:46 am Reply with quote
arachneia wrote:
My only complaint is that the art is too basic. The backdrops are beautifully detailed, but the characters are drawn too simply. I also had this problem with the first season, so I guess it's not likely to improve. I don't know how I feel about the music yet. It certainly stood out as having some weird genres for typical tracks, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I always liked the art, and I'd hate if they changed it. I'm not too sure about the new soundtracks yet, not as exciting as first season's. But I'm hoping they'll last only during Russia's arc.

Quote:
My only question is about that thing that zoomed past on the highway. Was that supposed to be some kind of a flying vehicle, or was it just a weird instance of QUALITY?

Now, here's something we should observe. If it was just your everyday anime, that street would've been full of flying cars, but it wasn't. They know that manufacturing so many flying cars in the span of two years is impossible.
Yes, that's a flying car.

Small details that nobody paid much attention to:
The cat that looked exactly like Mao.
During the ending, the image of the flowers from season one's ending.

Skylark wrote:
spoiler[I thought at the end of last season he was regaining his humanity, since he showed those qualities all through the first season.. Yet he showed no mercy in killing the professor, and then April]


That's exactly how Hei should be. We still get to see his cold hearted kills and his smiling and innocent mask while deceiving others.

Mister V wrote:
The vehicle that zoomed past on the highway was an illustration to the sentence "change is coming". It's even complete with the classic antigrav hissing sounds, so that's definitely not a quality issue.


Shion clearly stated that the world had changed greatly, and that the effects of the war were minimal in Russia. Which means, don't be surprised if you see a lot of flying cars in Tokyo.
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Kruszer



Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 7981
Location: Minnesota, USA
PostPosted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 3:30 pm Reply with quote
BunnyCupCakes wrote:
Skylark wrote:
Even so, I was a little disappointed with Hei himself - spoiler[I thought at the end of last season he was regaining his humanity, since he showed those qualities all through the first season.. Yet he showed no mercy in killing the professor, and then April (who was one of my favourite characters in the first season. Gay.]

That took me by surprise too. I mean yeah he looked all cool & badass but I didn't think he'd take it that far Surprised
His character is going backwards.

But I have to say this was a brilliant episode. I think we all thought Suou was going to mess up the plot for DtB2 but that's not the case anymore ^^; She's actually pretty likeable and I really liked the slice-of-school-life factor put into it. The music was done quite well even though Yoko Kanno took no part in it ( I liked the song-insert )

Either way, I can't wait for more and hope this season doesn't disappoint :]


Remember the Law of Masks though: "Just because it looks like him doesn't mean it necessarily is him, thogh it probabally is." Wink We haven't seen who's behind it yet. Although, spoiler[I think it was his voice actor if I remember right, but it's been years since I saw DTB and I'm too lazy right now to go look it up.]
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Mister V



Joined: 15 Apr 2009
Posts: 1000
PostPosted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 4:43 pm Reply with quote
egoist wrote:

Small details that nobody paid much attention to:
The cat that looked exactly like Mao.
[...]
That's exactly how Hei should be. We still get to see his cold hearted kills and his smiling and innocent mask while deceiving others.

It did, but then Mao is more or less spoiler[dead since the end of the first season].

If it's how he "should be", where does the character development from the first season go? I'm not saying he wouldn't do it (in fact, he did look pretty ghastly under the mask, - if it was him, - which would support the theory that life wasn't exactly a walk in the part during those two years - maybe he and Yin have been hunted by everyone, so he didn't even notice whom he killed), but there has to be a strong reason. So far, however, they have explained most things, I guess we should just wait. Just goes to show how great that was for a first episode, the intrigue and all.
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Clodus



Joined: 25 Dec 2005
Posts: 497
Location: Kansas
PostPosted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 6:27 pm Reply with quote
Kruszer wrote:
Remember the Law of Masks though: "Just because it looks like him doesn't mean it necessarily is him, thogh it probabally is." Wink We haven't seen who's behind it yet. Although, spoiler[I think it was his voice actor if I remember right, but it's been years since I saw DTB and I'm too lazy right now to go look it up.]

Did you watch after the ED? spoiler[The mask broke from the water attack and it showed Hei's face with April's dying words BK201.]
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Kruszer



Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 7981
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 8:23 pm Reply with quote
No I wasn't really interested in the Ending sequence so I just closed the file.
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egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 8:45 pm Reply with quote
Clodus wrote:
Did you watch after the ED? spoiler[The mask broke from the water attack and it showed Hei's face with April's dying words BK201.]


You're missing one thing there. April doesn't know BK201's true identity, unless the Syndicate decided to share some of their intelligence with MI6, which is very unlikely to have happened.

Mister V wrote:
It did, but then Mao is more or less spoiler[dead since the end of the first season].


I certainly said it looked like Mao, but I never said it was Mao. Besides I didn't even consider that possibility.
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Dorcas_Aurelia



Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5344
Location: Philly
PostPosted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 9:22 pm Reply with quote
egoist wrote:
Clodus wrote:
Did you watch after the ED? spoiler[The mask broke from the water attack and it showed Hei's face with April's dying words BK201.]


You're missing one thing there. April doesn't know BK201's true identity, unless the Syndicate decided to share some of their intelligence with MI6, which is very unlikely to have happened.

It's not a good view of his face, but we see it. Now, spoiler[killing April, I can kind of understand. Contractors kill each other with no qualms, even if Hei isn't a normal Contractor. Suou's dad, though, as far as we know, is just a normal human; there doesn't seem to have been a reason for Hei to kill him.]

Quote:
Mister V wrote:
It did, but then Mao is more or less spoiler[dead since the end of the first season].


I certainly said it looked like Mao, but I never said it was Mao. Besides I didn't even consider that possibility.

Maybe Mao got out of the body before it was killed. (It really did look like him, black cat with the red collar and little bell). Remember what his ability is? I'm guessing that's why the cat was at the window looking at Suou's pet squirrel (?) Pecha. Mao was doing recon on her or her brother or the lab in general.
We don't really know what happened to Mao at the end of the first season. spoiler[He didn't die, he just kind of freaked out and ran away.] Unless I'm remembering wrong.
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egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 9:39 pm Reply with quote
I watched that scene twice.

Quote:
spoiler[Suou's dad, though, as far as we know, is just a normal human; there doesn't seem to have been a reason for Hei to kill him.]


Not really. Not much was said about him, so it's too early to decide if he deserved that or not. But if I had to guess it'd be that he knew too much, and that was inconvenient for Hei, or he could be connected to the Syndicate, which would make him Hei's enemy.

Quote:
Maybe Mao got out of the body before it was killed.


If that was Mao, then I'd say they are trying to keep more secrets than they ought. But let's not forget that Mao depended a lot in the system to keep himself from completely becoming an animal, which makes me doubt that he would sacrifice his original(the body with the system implanted) body.

IsurehopeCtimene'sLoverwon'tfindthistopic!

Maybe that's Hei's evil twin brother after all! Razz
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arachneia



Joined: 20 Mar 2009
Posts: 415
Location: On the wings of Bob Lennon
PostPosted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 11:50 am Reply with quote
I thought it was the cat that used to house Mao's brain before it was disconnected from the database...
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