Darker Than Black - Gemini of The Meteor Season 2 [DVD]

Here it is! The sequel season to what was in my opinion 2009s best release! And I guess its no surprise I've layed 5 stars down for this one. But here are my reasons why!

This second season of Darker Than Black kicks off a good while after the events of season 1 with the infamous Black Reaper seemingly gone solo.
In this season Hei spends a fair amount of time doing 2 things-
1. Searching for Yin who for unknown reasons has seperated from Hei.
2. Bonding with our newest protagonist, Suo, a young girl seperated from her family after her house is raided and her father seemingly murdered by the Black Reaper himself!

It's an interesting setup putting the girl with the man who she hates most in the world.... the twos relationship develops in a very interesting fashion as they quickly realise they need to stick together to survive. Slowly some uneasy bonds are formed and its all very interesting to watch as the pair try to survive and uncover various mysteries surrounding them.

When things get dangerous and our protagonists are forced to face enemies (everyone from the military to contractors to shady secret agencies) the action kicks in, and the fightscenes follow a similar philosophy to the origional series... and that is that theyre short and sweet.
Action always kicks in at just the right moment and the animation is just staggering, it is leaps and bounds beyond its predeccessor and that really is saying something. This show is simply fantastic to look at.

The music used here is also brilliant. Alot of tracks are reused over and over but in all honesty I don't mind that as it still sounds great and accompanys the animation/ story perfectly.
You have the choice of wether to opt for subtitles or dub as is expected these days really.
Ive only watched the dub so far and I loved it, with all actors putting in above average performances.

If I had to be picky and decide on some flaws with the show I guess I would say that maybe the fightscenes leave you wanting a bit more, simply because I found that they finish just as quickly as they begin.
All the same they are still fantastic, so dont be too put off by that.
My other issue is the ending, I mean theres nothing wrong with it... but given the amazing standard of the rest of the series I had expected something truely memorable which I'm not 100% sure this series delivered. None the less its a kind of open ending meaning that Darker Than Black may not be through just yet! (although no plans for follow up series have been reported at the time of me writing this)

You even get the awesome 4 episode OVA that bridges the gap between seasons! This expands upon Hei and Yins relationship and will help you put things nicely together once the series has reached its conclusion.
Good value for your money or what!

All in all this is a fantastic series, and if you havnt seen the origional I recomend you go and buy that right now... then move on to this, obviously.
This is the sequel I had been waiting for and it delivered in almost every respect. Big thumbs up from me, so go for it!

Thankyou for reading!

As a fan of the first series, this was a must have when released. And in alot of sense it wasn't much of a let-down. But however there were three things that didn't get it's five stars.
1) Action is plenty but sometimes the chatty parts take up more of the fights, also the fights sometimes end pretty short, making me wanting more.
2) The entire second series was shorter than the first one, making me also want more out it when season 1 was 25 episodes long.
3) The ending also seemed something of a let down, it seemed rushed which also leaves one or two new questions for me. But interesting enough also leaves it wide open for possibly another series.

However, the animation is noticably better with smoother framework on the action scenes. The music soundtrack in my opinion is also a winner, it blends in well with the scenes. Remarkably the English dub hasn't dropped its performance from the first series. The new characters involved also shows the series has no limits of imagination here, where Suo (a new main character) fills the gap of becoming a contractor and also shows Hei isn't completely heartless.

I highly recommamend watching the OVA episodes before the series as it fills the gap and makes it a better understanding. All in all a great series to watch, and hopefully sometime there might be a third series (although none is planned at the moment as I write this).

The feel of this season, is much different to that of season one, in honesty, it feels like a completely different series, that is not to say however, it wasn't amazing.
My advice when watching this, would be not to be expecting a follow on from the feel of the first season, but to look at it as a series in its own right. I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys anime as I was certainly hooked!