Line #93 YMMV/DarkerThanBlack


1	* {{Adorkable}}: Li is so adorably inept, clumsy, kindhearted, and naive that you just want to hug him, and nobody would ever suspect he's secretly [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Black Reaper]].
2	* AluminumChristmasTrees:
3	** At one point, April tells someone to call the organization she works for the "Secret Intelligence Service," not "[=MI6=]." It sounds made-up, but ''that's the actual name of the organization''.
4	** The brand of cigarette November 11 prefers comes in a black pack with a white skull and the word DEATH on the front. You might think the show's creators are trying to make an {{Anvilicious}} point about smoking[[note]]Which, admittedly, they probably are; see WriterOnBoard[[/note]], but that's an actual British brand of cigarettes.
5	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
6	** Well, it's by Music/YokoKanno, so what do you expect? "GO Dark" and "[[AutobotsRockOut Deadly Work]]" in particular. The first OP is also impressive, even given the NarmCharm and MemeticMutation.
7	** The second OP isn't bad, either - it just has the misfortune of [[ReplacementScrappy turning up after]] ''[[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic Howling]]''.
8	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
9	** Suou Pavlichenko. One side of the fandom loves her for being a BadassAdorable who undergoes strong CharacterDevelopment, offers a fresh breath of air from Hei, and isn't quite as tension-breakingly overpowered. Others are not so kind to her, believing that she does not have a very distinctive personality and is often used as a vehicle for lolicon subtext and fanservice, which takes screentime away from focusing on established major characters like Yin, Hei, or Kirihara, and find her out-of-place for being a MagicalGirl in a gritty seinen series. A few would even go as far as to blame her singlehandedly for the failings of Season 2.
10	** Hei in Season 2, especially if you haven't seen the [[AllThereInTheManual OVAs]] that explain his sudden personality change. Some fans find him to be a JerkassWoobie with completely understandable reasons for his shift in behavior, and that it sets him up for a much more impressive HesBack moment. The rest just find him completely insufferable and the setup for his return to form utterly contrived.
11	* BestKnownForTheFanservice: In retrospect, it probably wasn't the most brilliant idea to make the episode where [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl November 11 lounges around naked]] be [[spoiler:the same one where he dies]] -- otherwise, you end up with [[spoiler:fan memorials]] that [[http://community.livejournal.com/darker_than/115727.html#cutid1 get a little mixed up]].
12	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Every time Suou summons her sniper rifle, since both the power and the over-the-top MagicalGirl summoning sequence are totally at odds with the series as a whole.
13	* CrackPairing: Hei/Hazuki. [[spoiler:Hilariously enough, the only shipping pair to actually get any action. [[IntimateHealing That remuneration]] sure is awkward, huh?]]
14	* CrazyIsCool: Playing chicken with an ''airplane''. [[spoiler:Hei. Genma. Episode 9.]]
15	* CompleteMonster:
16	** ''The Black Contractor'' (season 1):
17	*** [[MoleInCharge Director Yoshimitsu Horai]] and [[SmugSnake Eric Nishijima]] are secretly high-ranking members of [[TheSyndicate the sinister Syndicate]]. Overseeing the coverup missions assigned to their assassination teams, the Director and Nishijima regularly order witnesses to Contractor activity [[HeKnowsTooMuch silenced]], and have their own followers killed the moment they risk exposure for the organization. Constructing the Saturn Ring to destroy Heaven's Gate--which empowers the Contractors--the two then lure a Contractor terrorist group to Tokyo to stir up chaos and justify their [[FinalSolution genocide]] as being [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist for the good of humanity]], and when their plan is foiled, the Director murders Nishijima to cover up the incident and escape consequences.
18	*** [[SmallRoleBigImpact Decade]], a high-ranking member of the Syndicate, is a ruthless supervisor in [[UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService MI6]] who utilizes Contractor squads as assassins and operatives [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist ostensibly to benefit Britain]] but in truth has many murdered simply for the ends of the Syndicate. After having numerous people eliminated by his forces, Decade is revealed to be targeting all the Contractors by helping to initiate the Saturn Ring project, stating he planned to keep November 11 in the dark until the final moment when Contractors were completely exterminated.
19	** ''Gemini of the Meteor'' (season 2):
20	*** [[FauxAffablyEvil Genma Shizume]] is a disarmingly laid-back Contractor working for Section 3 who is in reality a brutal sociopath. Sent to chase after the young Suou Pavlichenko, Genma insinuates his want to sexually assault her, and when a group of Russian soldiers prove problematic to his mission of capturing her, he sets up a massacre at a public train station to deal with them. Secretly a mole for the UsefulNotes/{{CIA}}, Genma [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil brutally rapes]] and tortures one of his Section 3 teammates to death while extracting her memories and later mocks the woman's lover when he encounters her.
21	*** "The Doll Sings to the Wind Flower...": [[SerialKiller Ilya Sokoloff]] is a Contractor working for the FSB with a history of being a serial killing {{sadist}} behind him. Having slaughtered numerous women, including the niece of his own boss Repnin, Ilya eventually grew out of these tendencies as a Contractor having decided it was best to murder his victims by [[DeadlyGaze asphyxiating their brains]] to make their deaths "relaxing". Killing many more people, Ilya attempts to abducts Suou Pavlichenko and July while murdering others as he desires.
22	** ''Gaiden'' {{OVA}}: [[FauxAffablyEvil Claude]], real name Shichi/Xi-Qi, is the BigBad who stands out from the normally amoral superpowered Contractors by his [[FantasticRacism outright hatred of normal humans]]. Claude torments his enemies before killing them by using his [[MasterOfIllusion powers]] to masquerade as one of their loved ones and seeks to turn Yin into the PersonOfMassDestruction Izanami. Claude is even callous enough to turn her into Izanami when she is in a base of Contractors, knowing that this would mean that her powers would kill everyone on the base, showing he cares nothing for his own kind even while trying to make a world where they rule over regular humans.
23	** ''Flower of Darkness'' manga, by Tensai Okamura:
24	*** [[ManipulativeBastard Harvest]] serves as an EvilCounterpart to Hei, replacing Hei's respect for humanity with [[FantasticRacism contempt]], considering them to be weak and pathetic. Harvest possesses the titular "[[DealWithTheDevil Flower of Darkness]]", which can be given to a person to grant them powers, but sadistically forces the recipient to kill their best friend in return for power, also giving the best friend a Flower to entertain himself with the struggle. To prove his superiority to Hei, Harvest distributes Flowers to all of humanity in an effort to prove to himself that there is no such thing as morality, then pettily tries to destroy the whole planet when his plans are foiled.
25	*** The girls' academy volleyball coach, [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters Daisuke Mioka]], is a handsome, charming man who takes advantage of his young students by seducing them and secretly making videos of the sex to sell on the internet. When one student finds out, Daisuke tries to win back her trust by having a group of his friends rape her, before sweeping in to act as the hero who saves her. Daisuke also promises his friends that he will be "a little late" so that they can begin violating her before he arrives.
26	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
27	** November 11 is [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff quite popular with North American fans]], at least partly due to his [[Film/JamesBond classy bearing]] and sense of humour.
28	** Goran, who in his less than half-episode of screentime managed to acquire a veritable real-life {{Instant Fan\|Club}}dom.
29	* FanNickname:
30	** Yin's [[spoiler:OppositeSexClone from the season 2 finale is often called "Yang"]].
31	** For Hei: Chinese Electric Batman, for pretty obvious reasons. In the second season, with the addition of WildHair and PermaStubble, he has been dubbed "Hobo Hei". Or "Heibo", if you're one of those informal types.
32	** For Suou: Mary Sueoh.
33	** For Mina Hazuki: Japanese Lesbian ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}, due to personality and style similarities to Hei and the fact that she's a PsychoLesbian.
34	*** Also, Lightsaber Lesbian.
35	** For Goran: [[TrademarkFavoriteFood Burger-kun]] or Russian Burger Flash.
36	* FanficFuel: Several of them. Some include...
37	** How the Gates appear in the world.
38	** What the characters in the series do before, during, and after the Gates show up and also what they did prior to the start of the show.
39	** Some write fics that do not take Gemini of the Meteor into account.
40	** [[HeroOfAnotherStory Others include Contractors/non-Contractors who try to take on the Syndicate and other like-minded factions.]] While some work together with Hei/Yin and Misaki.
41	* FanonDiscontinuity: The finale of Season 2, for being needlessly [[DownerEnding depressing]] and [[GainaxEnding confusing]] to the point of the utterly nonsensical and for accomplishing nothing in the long run. Some extend this to the entirety of the second season due to its huge change in tone and perceived inferiority.
42	* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments:
43	** [[DarkerAndEdgier Not much]], but Huang [[FantasticRacism slighting]] Mao into near-hissing only to be [[InsultBackfire verbally drowned in vitriol]] by [[DeadpanSnarker absolutely calm]] Hei might count. And there's the PrivateDefective team... "I'll totally sue you."
44	** Kiko's very existence serves as a comedy relief element for the series. Other than Mao's [[SweatDrop nervous sweat-beads]], she's the only other character who's frequently prone to over-exaggerated anime emotions, such as WingdingEyes whenever an opportunity to make money comes around, and ExpressiveHair.
45	*** One great Kiko moment was when she and a friend were complaining about AdaptationDecay of some unnamed series.
46	--->"I can't let that writer live!" * Pulls out pen with an [[MundaneMadeAwesome over-the-top]] sword sound effect* "[[Manga/DeathNote I'm writing his name in my notebook!]]"
47	** And, after Mao [[spoiler:wakes up in Amber's headquarters]], he gives a long, dramatic monologue about how contractors always do the logical thing. When he get caught by the others for trying to non-chalantly walk out of the room, he tries to logically respond with a [[spoiler:"Meow"]].
48	** Then there's the time when Hei was infiltrating a restaurant and a violent, drunk customer decided he had a problem with the waiter. Result: Huge tough guy trying to beat up a cute, skinny little waiter who [[CoverBlowingSuperpower isn't doing that great of a job of hiding his epic ninja skills]].
49	** The time when a couple of [[KnockingOnHeathensDoor door-to-door missionaries]] went after Hei. "Um... I just want to put away my groceries..."
50	*** '''"NI HAO!!!"''' (Cut from the dub)
51	** "[[AlienSky The stars are pretty.]]"
52	** Most of the {{O\|riginalVideoAnimation}}VA. It's basically an [[BonusMaterial omake]] parodying the main series, particularly mocking Hei's ChickMagnet status and the fact that a WhiteMaskOfDoom and [[BadassLongcoat a change of clothes]] really shouldn't be ''that'' effective of a disguise. Highlights include slightly loopy {{fangirl}} Mayu crushing on him due to his "sexy collarbone" and writing him into her yaoi fanfic (which ''[[CovertPervert Yin]]'' reads), and what is possibly the absolute silliest ResetButton in the history of fiction.
53	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The North American fanbase loves November 11.
54	* HarsherInHindsight: For Troy Baker, who said in a Funimation commentary that at the time he played November 11, he had recently chose to quit smoking. However he also took it in stride and joked about it.
55	* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: A lot of the last episode of the first season, [[GainaxEnding assuming you can make any sense of it]]. And then there's episode 14... [[spoiler:"Kirsi..." "No. Yin."]]
56	* HoYay:
57	** Shichi enjoys [[MasterOfIllusion pretending to be a woman]] who was in love with Hei a little too much.
58	** Episodes 11 and 12. Hei and Nick became close ''very'' quickly, spent a whole night watching the stars together (and made plans to go watch them again afterward), and Hei [[spoiler:looked really sad and heartbroken after Nick "betrayed" him]].
59	** Female example: Buckets aimed at Misaki. She doesn't reciprocate much, though. In all fairness, pretty much every character has at least a little attraction for her, not just the women.
60	%%* IronWoobie: Havoc.
61	--> '''Havoc''': Promise me one thing, though. If... If I revert back to [[EatsBabies my former self]], kill me right away.
62	* JerkassWoobie: [[TheHandler Huang]] [[spoiler:was a cop until his best friend was horribly killed... by the woman Huang loved, who he discovered had just been using him to get to said best friend. He was left with no choice but to join the Syndicate or have his memories wiped, which he feels would be like killing his friend all over again]]. This resulted in Huang being a [[NobleBigot bigotted]] {{jerkass}}.
63	* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Poor Hei gets shipped with ''everyone.''
64	* LessDisturbingInContext: Just ''try'' to explain that the show isn't {{Gorn}} to someone who walks in on Havoc's "[[EatsBabies blood of children]]" line.
65	* MagnificentBastard: See [[MagnificentBastard/DarkerThanBlack here]].
66	%%* MemeticBadass: Hei, definitely.
67	* MemeticMutation:
68	** Post the first line of the first OpeningTheme on /a/ and see what happens.
69	** If [=YouTube=] is any indication, "UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ" has become one in reference to Gemini's trance-filled OST.
70	*** So it's become the musical equivalent of [=Candleja=]''UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ''
71	*** Yeah, that's exactly i-UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ
72	** [[FanNickname Chinese Electric Batman!]]
73	** Veteran's Day (11/11) has been commandeered in honor of November 11. [[http://omaemo.dasaku.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/november-11-tribute.jpg Naked pictures]] [[BestKnownForTheFanservice are inevitably involved.]]
74	** [[PerverseSexualLust I wish Hei'd rape me. ;_;]]
75	** Hei will die. But his soul will choose to go back in time, the time when he was happiest, and he will be at season 1 first episode. Suou who loves Hei wants to be with him too and wants to be in a time when Hei'd love her, but since he already loves Yin she'll go back in time before Hei is born, and become his mother.[[note]]This copypasta jokingly places Hei, Suou, and Yin in the roles of three primary characters in the ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'' series. Said explanation is a note because it's also the [[spoiler: ending to the ''second game'']].[[/note]]
76	%%* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome:
77	%%** See TakingYouWithMe and DyingMomentOfAwesome. Since Hei lives and breathes pure awesome, though, it can be hard to pick out specifics.
78	%%** He pulls some seriously awesome stuff in the last episode, though, and there's some more clear-cut moments in the second season.
79	* {{Moe}}:
80	** Yin. Seems to come with the territory when you're an EmotionlessGirl.
81	** Amber, played up deliberately.
82	%%** Meena
83	* MoralEventHorizon:
84	** Daisuke posting web porn of his conquests whilst they remain ignorant of it. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking With badly blocked out faces.]] [[spoiler: Then hiring a gang to rape Azusa '''AND''' Kyouko, with Kyouko as an unwitting accomplice, just so he can "rescue Azusa" or so she can't tell on him.]]
85	** Claude's massacre of a group of Contractors who just wanted to live in peace. Particularly since given [[MasterOfIllusion his powers]], he had [[ForTheEvulz no real reason to do it]].
86	** If you [[LaughablyEvil somehow]] still harbored any sympathy for Genma, the throwaway comment in the last episode that [[spoiler:he was the one who killed Youko and the implications of having raped her prior or even worse; after her death]] pushes him straight into total bastard territory.
87	* NarmCharm: The GratuitousEnglish lines at the beginning of the first opening should by all rights sound stupid. Instead, they're ''awesome'', in an over-the-top, MemeticMutation kind of way.
88	* NightmareFuel: Mai's pyrokinesis burning her friend and her dad to death. Followed by the two police officers being sliced to pieces.
89	* OneSceneWonder: Goran was on screen for maybe five minutes.
90	* RetroactiveRecognition: November 11's dub voice is Creator/TroyBaker, better known these days as [[VideoGame/TheLastOfUs Joel]] or [[VideoGame/FarCry4 Pagan Min]].
91	** Kimberly "Kim" Matula as Corinna Moku, who's known as Hope Logan from the Bold and the Beautiful and Veronica "Ronnie" Messing in LA to Vegas.
92	* RootingForTheEmpire: Compared to the Syndicate and Pandora figures, Amber's far more likable and charismatic.
93	* TheScrappy: Norio, for being a {{w\|angst}}hiny, semi-delusional and just generally annoying paedophile stalker PlayedForLaughs and [[StalkingIsLove (attempted) sympathy]] who gets hit with NotBadassEnoughForFans ''hard''. This is even lampshaded by the voice actors in the Darker than Black radio.
94	* {{Sequelitis}}: The second season is generally seen as inferior to the first. Various reasons cited include: Suou being seen as a much less compelling protagonist, Hei's personality change making him completely unlikeable, Yin's removal from the main cast taking away a great deal of pathos, a gratuitous uptick in [[HotterAndSexier sexual themes]] including {{Squick}}y lolicon fanservice, the mysterious atmosphere giving way to confusion for confusion's sake, and an overall decline in animation quality.
95	* SpiritualAdaptation: If somebody made an anime out of ''Film/{{Scanners}}'', this is probably what would be the result.
96	* StoicWoobie: It sucks to be Yin. Or Hei.
97	* TooBleakStoppedCaring: Go figure. The show's love of the DevelopingDoomedCharacters trope makes it hard to get attached to anyone who shows signs of character depth.
98	%%* TooCoolToLive:
99	%%** [[spoiler:August 7. Or so we thought.]]
100	%%** [[spoiler:November 11.]]
101	%%** [[spoiler:Huang.]]
102	* TearJerker: Yin's nightmare. She keeps quietly saying Hei's name... which you quickly realize is the EmotionlessGirl equivalent of screaming for help.
103	%%** More than you'd expect. Episode 14 is a big one.
104	%%** The end of Episode 4, too.
105	%%** Hei's NotSoStoic moment in the Gaiden. The worst part is that [[spoiler:if you've watched the second season, you know she ''does''.]]
106	%%** Despite being a major MindScrew, [[spoiler: what happens to Nick in episode 12 is also oddly emotional, especially when you remember what his dream was.]]
107	* ToyShip: Suou/[[spoiler:July,]] who's [[EmotionlessGirl somehow]] fond of her.
108	* TheWoobie:
109	** Havoc. Not bad for a reviled mass murderer who literally [[EatsBabies drank the blood of children]].
110	** In season 2, Genma invokes the trope in hopes that it can apply to him ("Hey, having an unfortunate past can score me some {{Moe}} points!"). [[note]]That'd probably work better if Hei didn't have the DarkAndTroubledPast thing cornered and Amber, Suo, and Yin weren't covering the {{moe}}.[[/note]]

Context YMMV / DarkerThanBlack