Darker than Black (Japanese: Darker Than Black ー黒の契約者ー, Hepburn: Dākā Zan Burakku ーKuro no Keiyakushaー, "Darker than Black: The Black Contractor"), is a Japanese anime television series created and directed by Tensai Okamura and animated by studio Bones. Twenty-five episodes were broadcast on MBS, TBS and their affiliated stations from April to September 2007. The series is set in a world where a spatial anomaly identified as "Heaven's Gate" appeared in South America and was followed by "Hell's Gate" in Tokyo, altering the sky and wreaking havoc on the landscapes. People with special abilities labeled as Contractors emerged shortly afterwards. The series follows agent Hei and his comrades in the Syndicate organization, operating in an vastly altered version of contemporary Tokyo to uncover the mysteries of Hell's Gate.
The series was adapted into two manga series, which were serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Monthly Asuka and Square Enix's Young Gangan, respectively. A sequel to the anime series, Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor, was broadcast for twelve episodes from October to December 2009. In the sequel, Hei trains new Contractor Suo Pavlichenko and searches for his former ally Yin. DVDs of the series included original video animations titled Darker than Black: Gaiden exploring Hei and Yin's relationship between the first and second seasons. In North America, Darker than Black was licensed by Funimation.
The series was created by Okamura, who was inspired by ninja and spy stories based on ideas he had after creating Wolf's Rain. In contrast to Wolf's Rain heroic cast, Okamura wanted flawed and violent heroes such as the Contractors. While Okamura penned most of the series' contents, he left freedom to other writers, most notably Shōtarō Suga who takes over the work of main writer in the second half. Critical response to Darker than Black was generally positive for its handling of Hei and the other Contractors who fight each other though there was expressure of confusion in regards to the setting and ending.
Cast[]
| Character | Seiyū | English |
|---|---|---|
| Hei | Hidenobu Kiuchi | Ernesto Jason Liebrecht |
| Miyu Irino (young) | ||
| Yin | Misato Fukuen | Brina Palencia |
| Huang | Masaru Ikeda | John Swasey |
| Mao | Ikuya Sawaki | Kent Williams |
| Supporting Characters | ||
| Pavlichenko Family | ||
| Suoh Pavlichenko | Kana Hanazawa | Alison Viktorin |
| Shion Pavlichenko | Hōko Kuwashima | Lindsay Seidel |
| Dr. Mikhail Pavlichenko | Katsunosuke Hori | Sonny Strait |
| Asako Makimiya | Sakiko Tamagawa | Anastasia Muñoz |
| Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department | ||
| Misaki Kirihara | Nana Mizuki | Kate Oxley |
| Yuusuke Saitou | Tomoyuki Shimura | Christopher Sabat |
| Yutaka Kouno | Kōsuke Toriumi | Todd Haberkorn |
| Kunio Matsumoto | Nobuaki Fukuda | Kenny Green |
| Mayu Ohtsuka | Yūna Inamura | Leah Clark |
| Yoshimitsu Hourai | Michihiro Ikemizu | R. Bruce Elliott |
| National Astronomical Observatory of Japan | ||
| Kanami Ishizaki | Sanae Kobayashi | Monica Rial |
| Madam Hoshimi Stargazer | Yoshiko Matsuo | Juli Erickson |
| Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications | ||
| Gorou Kobayashi | Ryūzaburō Ōtomo | Jason Douglas |
| Genma Shizume | Kenta Miyake | Newton Pittman |
| Mina Hazuki | Mitsuki Saiga | Kara Edwards |
| Youko Sawasaki | Kozue Yoshizumi | Tia Ballard |
| Secret Intelligence Service | ||
| November 11 | Kazuhiko Inoue | Troy Baker |
| April | Takako Honda | Nazia Chaudhry |
| July | Kiyomi Asai | Cherami Leigh |
| Decade | Akio Nojima | Sean Hennigan |
| August 7 | Masaya Matsukaze | Gregory Lush |
| Evening Primrose | ||
| Amber | Tomoko Kawakami | Laura Bailey |
| Amagiri | Takuya Kirimoto | Travis Willingham |
| Brita | Chie Nakamura | Jamie Marchi |
| Maki | Yūko Sanpei | Maxey Whitehead |
| Pai | Kaori Nazuka | Larissa Wolcott |
| Yuna Fujii (young) | ||
| PANDORA | ||
| Eric Nishijima | Shinichirō Miki | Chuck Huber |
| Mina Kandaswamy | Sayaka Ōhara | Carrie Savage |
| Central Intelligence Agency | ||
| Nick Hillman | Shigeru Nakahara | Eric Vale |
| Yūtarō Honjō (young) |
Chris Burnett (young) | |
| Corinna Moku | Sayori Ishizuka | Kim Matula |
| John Smith | Jōji Nakata | David Trosko |
| Russian Intelligence | ||
| Bertha | Ai Satō | Melinda Wood Allen |
| Itzhak | Yutaka Aoyama | Vic Mignogna |
| Tanya Akulova | Yui Ishikawa | Alexis Tipton |
| Underworld | ||
| Madame Oreille | Kaho Kōda | Jennifer Green |
| Minor Characters | ||
| Misuzu Oyama | Chika Sakamoto | Julie Mayfield |
| Irene | Mitsuki Saiga | Trina Nishimura |
| Lewis | Keiichi Nakagawa | Jonathan Brooks |
| Gai Kurasawa | Yasunori Matsumoto | Brandon Potter |
| Kiko Kayanuma | Emiri Katō | Brittney Karbowski |
| Claude / Xi-Qi | Tetsuya Iwanaga | Johnny Yong Bosch |
| Stray Dog | Natsuba Inoue | Stephanie Sheh |
Episodic Characters[]
| Character | Seiyū | English | Episode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Erika | Fumie Mizusawa | ¿? | 1 |
| Louis | Yasuyuki Kase | Justin Cook | |
| Alain | Takeharu Onishi | Kevin M. Connolly | 1-2 |
| Chiaki Shinoda | Megumi Toyoguchi | Colleen Clinkenbeard | |
| Paul | Kazuhiro Ōguro | ¿? | |
| Jean | Wataru Hatano | Duncan Brannan | |
| Factory Manager | Mitsuru Ogata | Ian Sinclair | 3 |
| Female Teacher | Minako Ichiki | Amy Rosenthal | |
| Luco | Jin Yamanoi | Bob Carter | 3-4 |
| Mai Kashiwagi | Megumi Nasu | Cherami Leigh | |
| Kouzou Tahara | Kōsuke Meguro | Mark Stoddard | |
| Kenneth | Kōji Ishii | John Gremillion | |
| Friend (Yuka) |
Fumie Mizusawa | Kristi Bingham | |
| Friend's Father (Yuka's Father) |
Junichi Sugawara | Spencer Prokop | 4 |
| Mob Boss | Tetsuo Komura | Sean Hennigan | 5 |
| Subordinate A | Ōki Sugiyama | Jeff Johnson | |
| Subordinate B | Kōhei Fukuhara | Cory Huddleston | |
| Havoc | Naomi Shindō | Luci Christian | 5-6 |
| Etsuko Ichikawa | Emi Motoi | Laurie Steele | 7-8 |
| Arisa Yuzuki | Naoko Matsui | Stephanie Young | |
| Norio Ukiyama | Nozomu Sasaki | Phil Parsons | |
| Rika Ou | Fumie Mizusawa | Alison Viktorin | 7-8, 15, 23 |
| Majken Bullard (eps. 15, 23) | |||
| Yasuaki Ou | Kōhei Fukuhara | Chris Cason | 7, 21 |
| Detective (Sergeant Yabuta) |
Ryūji Mizuno | Charles Baker | 8 |
| Shao-Tang Wang | Osamu Sonoe | Jerry Russell | 9 |
| Richard Lau | Atsushi Miyauchi | J. Paul Slavens | |
| Policeman | Tetsuharu Ōta | Justin Pate | |
| Naoyasu Kirihara | Katsuhisa Hōki | John Swasey | 9-10 |
| Alice Wang | Shizuka Itō | Caitlin Glass | |
| Manager | Kōhei Fukuhara | Michael Serrecchia | |
| Reiji Kikuchi | Daisuke Kirii | Kyle Hebert | 11-12 |
| Kirk Lindsay | Shunsuke Sakuya | Chris Rager | |
| Sergei Viktorov | Hideyuki Tanaka | James Stephens | 11-12, 22 |
| Mayuko | Erino Hazuki | Meg Bauman (ep. 13) |
13, 35 |
| Carli Mosier (ep. 35) | |||
| Aries Kastinen | Norihiro Inoue | Jerry Jewell | 13-14 |
| Annie | Yoshino Takamori | Michele Specht | |
| Nakazawa | Jun Hazumi | Cole Brown | 17 |
| Joshua | Kōhei Fukuhara | Bruce Lewis | |
| Shopkeeper | Hiroshi Shirokuma | Peter Hawkinson | |
| Masashi Hitotsubashi | Masashi Sugawara | Christopher Ayres | 17-18 |
| Kenji Sakurai | Hiroyuki Yoshino | Jessie James Grelle | |
| Fumie Mizusawa (young) | |||
| Irene | Mitsuki Saiga | Trina Nishimura | |
| Souichi Isozaki | Taiten Kusunoki | Charles Campbell | 19 |
| Yamashita | Tomomi Watanabe | Wendy Powell | |
| Kawakami | Fumie Mizusawa | Julie Mayfield | |
| Organization Leader (Yoshida) |
Kōhei Fukuhara | Mike McFarland | |
| Shizuka Isozaki | Maria Kawamura | Cynthia Cranz | 19-20 |
| Harris Barnum | Yasunari Takeshima | J. Michael Tatum | 21 |
| Dr. Schroeder | Iemasa Kayumi | Barry Yandell | 21-22 |
| Toshiaki Oyama | Yasuo Iwata | Grant James | 23 |
| Contractor | Chō | John Burgmeier | 26 |
| Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor | |||
| Goran | Mitsuaki Madono | Michael Chinnici | 27 |
| Sasha | Yoriko Nagata | Hilary Couch | |
| Nikolay Lobanov | Ryōsuke Sakamaki | Micah Solusod | 27-29, 34 |
| Kozlov | Masanori Takeda | Brian Mathis | 28 |
| Repnin | Masayuki Omoro | Patrick Seitz | 28-29, 33-34 |
| Ariel | Narumi Takahira | Luci Christian | 29, 31, 36-38 |
| Bernice | Kei Shindō | ||
| Lebanon | Taiten Kusunoki | Bryan Massey | 30-32 |
| Norio | Katsuhito Nomura | Justin Pate | |
| Michiru | Marika Hayashi | Elise Baughman | 31-32 |
| Mifune | Osamu Saka | ¿? | 33 |
| Ilya Sokolov | Yūji Ueda | Christopher Bevins | |
| Rikako | Hitomi Nabatame | Kira Vincent-Davis | |
| Repnin's Subordinate | Hideki Nakanishi | J. Michael Tatum | |
| Girl A | Shiori Mikami | Leah Clark | |
| Girl B | Hinako Sasaki | Amanda Doskocil | |
| Ikuta | Eisuke Yoda | ¿? | 35 |
| Darker than Black: Gaiden | |||
| Boat Ticket Seller | Reiko Suzuki | Wendy Powell | 39 |
| Hotel Manager | Mantarō Iwao | Joel McDonald | |
| Xiao Jie (Mistress) |
Junko Minagawa | Dana Schultes | 40-41 |
Additional Voices[]
- Maeghan Albach
- Jay Allen
- Melinda Wood Allen
- Meg Bauman
- Christopher Bevins
- Julie Bice
- Zach Bolton
- Jonathan Brooks
- John Burgmeier
- Katie Caruso
- Angela Chase
- Eric Cherry
- Leah Clark
- Hilary Couch
- Chad Cox
- Cris George
- Amanda Doskocil
- Greg Dulcie
- Bill Flynn
- Scott Freeman
- Evan Fuller
- Chad Halbrook
- Peter Hawkinson
- Kyle Hebert
- Scott Hinze
- Jeremy Inman
- Bill Jenkins
- Keith Kubal
- Kevin Leasure
- Bruce Lewis
- Gregory Lush
- Joel McDonald
- Megan Miller
- Trina Nishimura
- Phil Parsons
- Ben Phillips
- Kyle Phillips
- Wendy Powell
- Eric Pulido
- Tyson Rinehart
- Dana Schultes
- Stephanie Sheh
- Ian Sinclair
- Ayden Smalling
- Sonny Strait
- J. Michael Tatum
- D. Ryan Thornton
- David Trosko
- Michael Turner
- Tyler Walker
- Tara A. Williams
- David Wilson-Brown
- Larissa Wolcott
- Eric Vale
- Alex Valle
- Kira Vincent-Davis
Animax Dub 
[]
| Character | Seiyū | English |
|---|---|---|
| Hei | Hidenobu Kiuchi | Matt Bailey |
| Amber | Tomoko Kawakami | Lili Troncale |
| Bertha | Ai Satō |
External Links[]
- Darker than Black (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- Darker than Black at the Internet Movie Database