I had first came across Descendants of Darkness or Yami no Matsuei at BAAF 2003. I was curious about it but wasn't too sure of the cover (it's Shonen-ai) at the time. So had passed on it. Later I quite regretted it but in the stores they were asking $100 and up for and that was just too much. Since BAAF I've broadened my anime preferences with Gravitation, Eerie Queerie, Fake etc. Since I was fortunatly able to go to AnimeNext this year, I was on a hunting mission and found the last boxset at the Central Park Media booth for $60. Yea! Anyway this series is about the Ministry of Death, the Summons Department. Basically everyone's death is predestined, but sometimes things happen and a person lives longer (with the help of outside forces) than they're supposed to. Agents from the Summons Department are then sent to see what's going on and to bring back the person in question. The agents are Shinigami, people who have died but had strong attatchments to the living world. After passing the tests they become agents. The story focuses on Tsuzuki Asato, a slacker, troublemaker, sweets loving agent who nobody wants to partner with. Until the Chief tells a little white lie to newcomer Hisoka Kurosaki to put these two, ummm, together. After initial misunderstandings, Tsuzuki and Hisoka work competantly together. But of course he is the character that has the mental baggage with a tortured past (but then again pretty much all the characeters have a tortured past, but Tsuzuki's special!). Now we have his partner, Hisoka Kurosaki. He's an empath which means he can feel what other people feel. So naturally, he tries to avoid people as much as possible. He basically wanted to become an agent to figure out the reasons behind his death. When he finds out Tsuzuki's not the hot shot the chief told him he was he isn't too happy. But Tsuzuki grows on him and accepts him as a partner. Dr. Muraki is the main antagonist in the series. He has odd powers for a human (explain in manga maybe?). He also seems to appear wherever Tsuzuki is, which means Muraki is after Tsuzuki (like how I wrote that out? lol) for reasons you have to watch or read to find out. Then you have the supporting characters like the Gushoshin, twin bird thingies that work in the archives and help out the agents every once in a while. Chief Konoe in charge of the Summons Department, also has a sweet tooth but not to the extent of Tsuzuki's. He also knows about Tsuzuki's past. Tatsumi is second in command of the Department and is a former Tsuzuki partner. He has the power over shadows (comes in handy sometimes). Lastly you have Watari. He's a bit flamboyant to say the least but he's fun. He creates some wacky inventions. He becomes more active along with Tatsumi in the later episodes. The anime series covers 4 arcs: Vampire's Lure, The Devil's Trill, Tarot Curse, and Demon's Reckoning. The animation is pretty, and the English dub isn't too bad with Dan Green doing Tsuzuki's voice and Liam O'Brien doing Hisoka and supporting voice of Lisa Ortiz in Vampire's Lure. I enjoyed the anime series and am currently mooching the manga from a friend. If you like the anime deffinatly read the manga you get a lot more. To describe this series it's Shonen-ai, mystery, supernatural or I like how the Anime News Network describe's it as "dark fluff". If you like this I'd recommend the Fake manga by Sanami Matoh basically the same idea except it's heavier on the Ai stuff and no supernatural stuff. Descendants of Darkness gets 8 out 10. Pretty (very) animation, interesting story, ok (but not the greatest Dan Green and Liam O'Brien holding it all the way) dub. Just wish it was longer, but that's where the manga comes in.
Boma at 1:43 PM
