Version 5.4 ~ Haruhi gave rock and roll to you.
karmaburn.com karmaburn.com
  • HOME

Dated 17 September 2010: The first Darker than Yin OVA is top fuel moe

Hei and Yin
Hei gives Yin a hat.

I frequently see two complaints about the Darker than Black sequel, Gemini of the Meteor: (1) That it had too much "moe shit," and (2) it didn't have enough Yin. Typically, one encounters these complaints separately, as they would be contradictory if expressed together; Yin is a stereotypical moe character. And how.

Hei and Yin
Five will get you ten Hei is moe for hats.

Viewed in simplest terms, Yin is a quiet, passive albino of the Ayanami Rei and Nagato Yuki variety. In bridging the first and second season, the Darker than Black: The Black Contractor OVAs take the all-Yin-all-the-time route and play up her moe characteristics quite heavily, even if the plot is ostensibly about building up to Yin-killing-people moments. [P.S. Spoilers.]

Yin
Hei gives Yin a shirt.

I generally adopt a neutral attitude towards moe. While I agree there is too much moe-centric anime nowadays, proportionally speaking, I am not opposed to it on principle and I have no objection to its presence in Darker than Black, even when it is layered as heavily as during the first "Darker than Yin" OVA. And oh, it's heavy all right. I suspect one's reaction to the first OVA likely defines the shape of one's attitudes towards moe in general, one way or another.

Dated 24 September 2011: Darker than Black would make one Hell of a detective show

Kiko
Shouldn't you be eating at Pizza Hut, Kiko?

Although many people seem to despise Kiko for her TOP FUEL GENKI ways (which admittedly don't fit in too well with the more somber elements in Darker than Black), I couldn't get enough of her and Gai. I never did quite figure out what Kiko's deal was, though. I get that she's a rabid anime fan, but what's with her outfit? Is she cosplaying as a character from another show? It looks vaguely Galaxy Angel-ish, and I feel as if I should recognize it, but I can't quite place it.

Kiko and Gai
Just so you know, that is one awesome phone.

Unfortunately, neither she nor Gai seem especially adept at solving their cases. Well, they don't have the benefit of Kudo Shinichi or Hattori Heiji doing the heavy lifting behind the scenes, even if they are probably well funded by dirty Pizza Hut money. I can't tell if they're more or less successful than the Futaba detective agency, though.