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A month or so ago, Funimation made the first three episodes of Darker than Black available for viewing online. I finally got around to giving it a watch. Yes, I am a slow bento.The vocal cast brings in a good performance for the most part. Jason sounds nothing like the original Hei, but his characterization works wonders, and it only took me a bit to get used to his rendition. I didn't get to hear much, but Mao and Huang both were pretty solid in their roles. I'd have to hear more before I could form a decent opinion, though. Brina Palencia is an enigma to me. I honestly don't understand how she keeps getting cast as these monotone types (Eve, Enma Ai, Ennis, Moru...) because honestly, that's really not her strong point. Voicing characters like these requires a lot more subtlties in the acting, and while Yin is supposed to have no personality, the bland, robotic acting is disappointing. Kate as Misaki brings in good energy and characterization, but I'm puzzled by her (or possibly the director's) choice to make Misaki's voice a good amount higher and younger than the original. Misaki has a mature image, and the choice of voice seems a little out of place. Colleen as Chiaki was excellent. Her voice displayed the strain and weariness of the character well, and I think she managed to bring out even more than the original. Oh yeah, and whoever voiced Li's landlady is pretty cool too.The scripting is pretty solid for the most part. I'm impressed with how well they managed to convert over all the bizarre terminology of contractors, payment, ME, and other random words the original authors came up with into something that sound vaguely coherent. If they can actually make all those terms make sense, they'll have outdone the original in terms of script at least (I never did "get" all of the rules and stuff in Darker than Black). Some of the changes are mystifying (Like the landlady assuming Li is some sort of "God-freak evangelist" rather than a salseman) and some put a little bit of a jolt in the plot (Like Hei telling Chiaki to "try to forget," rather than commanding her to forget). Nothing major that throws the entire plot off course, though. So I can't really complain.Overall, I'd say the quality of this dub is what I'd expect from the industry today. It's easily accessible to new viewers, and old fans probably won't go into a rage over it (but they probably won't find themselves watching it very often, either). I'm neither disappointed nor blown away by the quality. Dub watchers will find a solid show to enjoy. Dub haters...well that's why there are subtitles.--Ou-bento
Blah. Another filler episode. ::sigh:: There's a girl at school who likes fortunetelling. It doesn't take a psychic to figure out that Lulu shows up. The girl transforms into Future Dream with the power to manipulate the luck of people. It's actually a pretty decent power, giving a lot of people bad luck, and increasing Amu's love luck to cause everyone around her to fall in love and stampede after her. Definitely the best power so far, but still not enough for me to care that much. Oh yeah, and some girl confesses to Tadase and he says there's already a girl he likes. Amu wonders if it's her. Spoiler: It is. Also, Amu can't figure out if she likes Tadase or Ikuto more. Oh noes. Romantic tension!Blah. Blah blah blah. What a bland episode. Not even boring. Just bland. The enemy of the week actually had a pretty decent power, and it would have been better if Amu had spent more time sorting out her feelings. An Ikuto appearance wouldn't have hurt either (even though I prefer Kairi). Seriously, there is a plot going on, right? Looks like Dia is going to hatch (yet again) next week. Let's hope it's good.--Ou-bento
Moko's back! YAY! After her last foray into acting, Kyoko has added Ren to her list of people to gain revenge on. She goes back to LME and is given a guide to all the acting classes she'll have to take, but it's very expensive. She runs into Kanae (the black-haired lady from episode 03). To her surprise, Kanae has been made the newest member of the Love Me section. When she asks what happened at the audition, the manager explains that Kanae failed in the next stage of auditions, discussing how a sister who sacrifices herself for her younger siblings is unfortunate and foolish. President Lory was unhappy with her un-loving answer, but since Kanae is so talented, they decided to add her to the Love Me section to foster her love. Kyoko is overjoyed to have a partner and her demons keep Kanae from running away in embarrassment. Kyoko nicknames Kanae "Moko" for her tendency to say "mou." Love Me is asked to help out with another problem in the drama school. President Lory's granddaughter Maria is running around creating a good deal of havoc. Lory guesses that it might be related to a new play that the students are working on. At the drama school, Moko amazes everyone by memorizing the script and acting out all the roles perfectly. They're surprised because the Love Me section was rumored to contain rejects, but Moko has them all outclassed. Kyoko decides to use little Ren (voodoo) dolls to lure out Maria, since Maria is fond of Ren. Maria appears and is delighted at the detail in the Ren doll. Lory asks her why she's making trouble, and sure enough, Maria hates the new play. She says that the lead girl Angel caused her mother's death, and yet no one is angry at her for it. Instead, everyone forgives her, which is foolish. Even a child can see that people would hate her. Everyone is saddened by Maria's bitter words except Kyoko who applauds her and agrees that the sudden forgiveness is foolish. The students at the school then challenge Kyoko to act out the play in such a way that would show hate, but still lead to the same conclusion in the story.So happy to have Moko back! She was catty and annoying, but she really becomes a great character, and seeing her with Kyoko in the Love Me uniforms was so much fun. A lot less happened in this episode than I expected, and I'm kinda disappointed by the lack of content. It feels like such a blip. Plus, the end of the episode is a terribly weak cliffhanger and I don't feel as much anticipation for the next episode, even though I know it'll be good. The vocal cast once again carries the show, with animation, music and SFX clean, but not outstanding. I wonder if Moko has some sort of eidetic memory? She memorized the book and the script, and she recognized that Kyoko's voodoo dolls were perfect replicas. That would be kinda cool.--Ou-bento
I packed a Thanksgiving bento. XD Because nothing says American holiday like a Japanese lunchbox filled with turkey, stuffing, green beans, mashed potato, and cranberries. Gotta say I'm thankful for quite a bit. One thing I'm really grateful for is all the support I've gotten on this blog. I'm sorry I haven't been more active in the community, and I'm honored that you guys would actually take the time to read my ramblings. I'm sorry I've been such a flake this past month. My new job has me waking up early and coming home late, and while there's still time to write, there isn't much time to watch any anime. Now that I'm getting into the groove of things, hopefully I'll be able to update more often. Thanks to everyone for being so super patient and wonderful with me, and I hope you have a great day, even if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving.--Ou-bento
What a sweet episode. Kinda a filler, but it was so nice and so worth it. MAN, this was great. Almost makes up for last week's debacle. Plus, it answered one of my very pressing questions about Ikuto. Utau is having her first live since she and Yukari split from Easter. Ever since the split, things have been a bit harder on her. Her latest performance was to draw a crowd for a local supermarket. Eru asks Amu to attend the live to help cheer Utau on, but Amu doesn't think Utau would be too pleased. Utau doesn't seem pleased to see her until she says she might be able to find Ikuto and get him to attend. Amu does find Ikuto, but he doesn't seem to care about seeing Utau anymore. She finds out that his violin is missing and says she'll help him search for it, but he refuses her offer. He thinks that Easter might have taken it, so he sneaks in to steal it back. However, he gets caught and winds up being chased by a bunch of guards until he's cornered on the rooftop. Amu returns to the studio, and Utau is visibly disappointed that Ikuto isn't coming to see her. Yukari makes Amu hand out fliers, but most people don't seem to even notice her. Tadase, Rima, and Yaya show up to help Amu. Eru does a chara nari with with Amu to attract a crowd, and the other guardians also chara nari. They manage to attract a huge crowd, much to Yukari's surprise and delight. As Utau is singing, Ikuto enters, a bit beat up. She sees him, and he smiles at her. Amu notices him, but he leaves before she can talk to him.He sits on a staircase behind the building, listening to Utau sing and watching the stars.I might just be imagining things, but it seems like the animation quality took a bit of a fall this episode. Some of the character's faces where oddly shaped, an Ikuto's ears changed sizes a couple times. But this episode was still so wonderful. The ending made me tear up a little when Ikuto came in to see Utau all battered and bruised. And the episode finally answered a very pressing question of mine about Ikuto. He's always been such a cool guy, but his would-be self Yoru is a total spaz and really cute. Turns out Ikuto is like that too sometimes. Ohohohoho. What an uncool face, catboy~ XD I love that fact that we got to hear more of Heartful Song. It's so beautiful, and it's definitely my favorite of Utau's songs. Does anyone know if/when it will be released? I'd really like the full version. Also, Utau's outfit for Heartful Song is...well...>.> ugly. I know she's trying to go for the cute angelic look now rather than the sexy demon girl (which I prefer), but man...what an unflattering dress. She should have done chara nari with Eru instead. Anyway. Loved this episode. Gonna have Heartful Song on loop for awhile. Next episode looks like another throwaway episode involving superstitions and crushes. Oh boy!--Ou-bento
Late post. -_- Anyway, this was a great episode. Kyoko really shines when she's acting. This episode picks up from the previous episode with Kyoko taking her turn to perform with Ren. When Kyoko kneels on the platform, her ankle begins to hurt even more. The pain is practically unbearable, and Ruriko is confident that Kyoko won't even be able to complete the scene. But as soon as the director calls action, Kyoko's expression changes to a peaceful smile. Everyone is impressed by how she's changed her expression so completely. The director notes that Ren's acting is a lot more serious, as if he's taking Kyoko seriously. Kyoko manages to perform the tea ceremony perfectly and Ruriko realizes that when Kyoko declined to practice, it was because she already knew how - not because she was trying to stay off her ankle. The scene goes well, with Ren bringing out some natural reactions from Kyoko with his acting. She feels like she's been tricked by him since her reaction came out without any effort. The pain in her ankle gets overwhelming, and the director cuts the scene short. Kyoko refuses to break character until Ren steps down from the platform, because in her mind the "guest" is still there, so she must always be smiling. Once Ren steps down, she passes out. Ruriko is surprised by her determination and remembers how she was the same way when she started out. She asks the director for another chance and says she'll work hard this time. Kyoko doesn't get the part, but the director thanks her and Ruriko even gives her a perfect 100 points in her Love Me stamp book.
It seems like the quality of the episode is directly proportional to how much acting Kyoko does. The animation in this was lovely, and Kyoko looks wonderful in that costume. The music and sound effects were spot on as well, although some of the extras did suffer a bit (including one poor dude who seems to be missing eyes). A really nicely done episode, with Kyoko's chibi expressions being the extremely entertaining highlights of the episode. Kyoko's acting ability really shone, but she predictably didn't land the part. That would have been too easy. It's a good introduction to her abilities, though. Plus, it was nice getting her to act opposite Ren. Her anger at him "tricking" her into acting is pretty amusing. Their relationship is still rocky at best, but at least she gets along with his manager Yashiro now. Yashiro is so great. XD Next episode, Love Me gets a new member. I wonder who it is. O:
--Ou-bento
It's been a busy day, so I haven't had time to watch any new releases. But, I did pack this delicious looking (and tasting) bento. I usually like to spend time planning my bento and making all the different pieces, but since it was a busy day I just composed this one from leftovers and some store-bought food. But I guess technically that's the real point of a bento. It's meant to be a delicious and pretty collection of leftovers and such. This bento includes tamagoyaki, shitake mushrooms, broccoli, carrot, gyoza, sausages, tomato, salad, and rice.
And as a bonus shot, the homemade sushi I had for dinner the other night. No, I didn't eat all of it. It was for three people.
--Ou-bento
Well, as indicated by last week's preview, this episode was utterly and completely useless. Completely. Not even a snippet of plot or subplot to make it worthwhile. Although admittedly, Yoru rapping was pretty funny. Ami decides she hates her parents because they won't buy a dollhouse for her, so she makes Amu take her to school. She then kidnaps Amu's charas for show and tell. When the other guardian charas (and Daichi, Eru, and Iru for no apparent reason) hear about this, they decide to visit Ami's school. Yoru joins them on the way. ::shrug:: Like I know? Anyway, the episode was mostly a bunch of shenanigans of little kids chasing around the charas. At some point, one of the kids in Ami's class decides he wants to make a sculpture of Kiseki and is very frustrated that he can't do it right. Lulu shows up to riddle-egg him, but he doesn't transform, and rather just makes a lot of little Kiseki statues. Once he gets it right, his egg reverts to normal. All on its own. In other words, the guardians didn't even have to show up or transform or anything. The kid would have taken care of it ALL ON HIS OWN. Anyway, in the end Ami gets the dollhouse she wanted and she gives it to Ran, Miki, and Su. The end. : )Wow. Really? I suppose I could have seen this coming, but I was expecting at least a few hints of plot, so I watched it. ::sigh:: What a waste. It was such a pointless episode. Lulu seemed strangely out of character, and she doesn't even HAVE any character. The Eru vs. Iru music battle and Yoru rapping were amusing, but that was approximately ten seconds long. Next episode has Utau. Everything's better with Utau. If we get a new song, I might even forgive this episode.--Ou-bento
Blah. Chiorin is so not a threat. Her evil twisty plots don't seem to be going anywhere. Chiorin changes her look to be more mature, knowing that it's not what the director wants. Her plan is to keep missing the direction so that she delays the filming, thus making everyone blame Kyoko for forcing her to change in the first place. That's...such a terrible plan. Seriously? You're going to do poorly on purpose and think that somehow people will get mad at someone else because of it? Weaaak. In the meantime, she's also bullying Kyoko silently by doing things like tearing apart the sign on her door. Kyoko takes it all in stride, replacing the sign without appearing too bothered. When Chiorin returns to tear the sign apart again, she finds a note saying that the previous prank was really weak and only garnered five friendship points and maybe next time she should aim for a hundred next time. HA. Kyokowned.
In the meantime, Kyoko is quickly making friends with the other cast members, even inviting them out for ramen and friendly fun. The girls are bonding pretty well, and looking up to Kyoko as a leader, even off the set. During filming, the director tries to explain to Chiorin that he's not looking for a mature type from her, and she acts as if she doesn't understand him. He says that for now they'll just change her image a bit and see how it works, asking her to tie her hair up into a cute ponytail. Without thinking, she screams no before realizing that her outburst is probably drawing too much attention. Kyoko finds out from the other girls that Chiorin has a scar on the back of her neck that she doesn't want anyone to see. What will Kyoko do now? O:
First off, why is there no Ren? I love seeing Kyoko in all her amazing, but no Ren x Kyoko love makes me a sad bento. Second, why is there no Moko? I miss her, and I really care about her career as an actress too. I want to know how she's doing. And third, Chiorin is hardly a threat at all. It seems like her strugglings against Kyoko aren't worth much. It's an interesting twist now that Kyoko knows her weak point. I wonder if she'll try to make friends with Chiorin. It seems like she's already doing pretty well with the other girls. Chiorin could use some good old-fashioned ownage, though. She's so selfish, it's no surprise that she hasn't advanced far in acting.--Ou-bento
Things really start getting good now that Kyoko's actually doing some acting. Oh, and of course more Ren x Kyoko scenes are made of WIN. Ren carries Kyoko to the filming set princess-style, which sets Ruriko off. Ruriko tries to flirt with Ren, but he repels her with an insincere smile saying that he was tired of waiting. Ruriko decides to make trouble by leaving the set, knowing that since she's a famous star people will come after her and have to beg her to return. She tells Kyoko that she hates the Love Me division and that from the beginning she never intended to award Kyoko any points for her work. Kyoko and Yashiro ignore her remarks and unceremoniously carry her back to the set, saying that they're just there to make sure filming goes well. Ruriko is mortified to find that everyone on the set has been lounging around without even wondering where she went to. As they're filming Ruriko's scenes, Ren offers Kyoko a chair because her ankle is still in a lot of pain. She doesn't trust him, but he says he's human too. The director asks Ruriko to redo a scene because she isn't carrying herself like a high class lady. Ren notices that as the director explains how Ruriko should act, Kyoko unconsciously follows his directions and changes her posture. Ruriko complains that the director is being too picky, and if he's going to be so difficult, why doesn't he just ask some nobody like Kyoko to play the role instead. To her surprise, Kyoko says she'll do it and the director agrees to let her try. If Kyoko is better, she can get the role instead of Ruriko. Kyoko is delighted that she gets to wear makeup and be dressed up as a beautiful girl, since she's never had anything like that before. Thanks to her training as a girl at Sho's family's ryokan, she knows how to carry herself properly, and the director is very impressed by her skills. Ruriko is angry that it seems like everyone is on Kyoko's side. The two girls prepare for the next scene which involves kneeling down and performing a traditional tea ceremony. During practice, everyone is impressed by how quickly Ruriko learned how to prepare the tea. Kyoko declines to practice, saying that kneeling is really hard on her ankle and she'd rather not put pressure on it if she can. Ruriko enters the next scene confident that she'll overpower Kyoko, but the director says that she doesn't even seem to be taking it seriously, drooling over Ren rather than actually bothering to act. Ruriko steps down angrily, and Kyoko takes the stage.Ohohohohohohohoho. Ruriko is getting Kyokowned, and there's nothing she can do about it. Well, she deserves it for being such a primadonna. Another faithful translation from the manga, and I am once again very impressed by the voice acting. Thankfully, the music wasn't as poorly placed as the last episode, but the animation (especially of the extras) still seems to be suffering. Seeing Ren and Kyoko together is so much fun, and Ren's manager Yashiro is pretty funny too. It's nice how kind he is to Kyoko. Next week it's Kyoko's turn to act with Ren. I am quite looking forward to it.--Ou-bento
This episode was so useless, but I laughed so hard. Being a man's man is hard work. Ikuto and Yoru are searching for his violin, but they don't have any luck. Yoru is concerned because the violin is very important to Ikuto, but Ikuto says it's not that big of a deal. At school, a group of dojo students request that everyone hide their cute things because the dojo senpai is coming to school and he hates cute things. Some of the girls don't get the memo, and the senpai appears and looks quite angry that he has to deal with seeing cute things. Amu stands up to him and everyone is amazed at how cool she is. Later, Amu, Rima, and Yaya find a cute keychain of a fawn and wonder who it belongs to. Senpai shows up and looks angry, so the girls take off. Kukai stops by to brief Nagihiko on some of his Jack-ly duties, including taking care of the spoiled King. He notices that Nagihiko is a lot more masculine than he was as Nadeshiko and thinks it's an interesting change. He then asks what it was like to wear a skirt, which brings up bad memories in Nagihiko, who proceeds to say that if Kukai is really curious, he should try it himself. The girls appear at this immensely awkward moment, but Amu finds herself sparkling with happiness at the sight of Tadase in a skirt.Senpai confronts Amu later and confesses that he has a huge weakness for cute things and that the keychain she found belongs to him. He says one day he'll have to give it up in order to become a MANLY MAN. Unsurprisingly, Lulu targets him and he transforms into "Fancy Dream," in order to "cutify" the entire world. He turns things into pink hearts and sparkles, and one of his cuteness rays hits Kukai, Tadase, and Nagihiko. Amu and Miki are enthralled by Tadase and Kiseki dressed as princess maids, but Rima snaps them out of it and reminds them they're in a fight. Yaya hopes to become cutified as well and wants to get hit by one of the cute beams, but Amu stops it before Yaya gets hit. The usual self-searching happens and eventually Senpai reverts back to his normal self, confident that he can be a man and like cute things. Lulu is angry that Amu keeps interrupting her plans. In the meantime, Easter is infusing X-Egg energy into Ikuto's violin for some evil plans.This episode is overflowing with MANLY POWER. There's probably something wrong when the manliest man of them all is the former crossdresser. He seems very displeased with his past self and how he was raised, probably largely in part because of his feelings for Amu. It explains why Temari went back into her egg, though. Since his would-be self is no longer the female he was raised as, he has to find another true character. Hence his new egg. Can't wait for it to hatch. : ) Anyway, this episode was pretty terrible and Kukai looks horrible dressed as a girl. Amu sure has some weird tastes, going for Tadase in a skirt like that. And there's something bizarre about Yaya wanting to be struck by "cuteness beams." The Ikuto subplot is a lot more interesting, and I hope we'll get to hear more violin stylings by him soon. Next episode looks like a complete throwaway episode. Blah.--Ou-bento
Sorry for the lateness of this post. I was delayed by a mix of a hectic work week and the fact that this episode is quite frankly not as good as the others. The "whose eyes are these" motto is suddenly popular thanks to the "vampire killings" as of late. No matter where Takumi goes, he's haunted by it. Takumi runs into the dark haired girl again, and she realized he can see her sword. She calls it her D-Sword. She says if he ever sees an "error" he should let her know. At school Daichi tells Takumi that FES actually attends their school and he tries to hit on her to no avail. She tells Takumi he needs to find his sword soon. After school, he's approached by some officers asking about the NewGen murders. He freaks out and screams that there's a demon woman and he only happened to see it. The older officer winkingly says that they'll promise to keep him save from the demon woman if he can just provide some contact information. Back in his hangar, Rimi appears to see his newest Seira-tan figure, but he tries to take it from her and winds up "accidentally" groping her. She leaves and asks him to come to school tomrrow. He decides to research the D-sword and learns that it's a legendary weapon. He goes to a weapon replica store and buys a replica D-sword which he attempts to defend himself with when a shadow approaches his storage bin. It's just his sister, though. He gives her a bracelet that came with the D-sword, and she's delighted to have finally received a present from him. However, he doesn't seem to care and she throws a bunch of oranges at him, making him fall and break the sword. So much for that. The next day, an transfer student joins the class, but she doesn't speak. Takumi hears her thinking that she's glad to be in the same class as him. After school, he mopes on the street when suddenly everyone disappears. The entire city is empty. In this empty city, he's approached by a strange man in a wheelchair who introduces himself as Shogun. He suddenly wakes up in a populated city again standing in the middle of a busy intersection. Rimi saves him from getting run over (and gives him a much deserved slap in the face).I really thought this would be a Sena episode, so I was pretty disappointed when it wasn't. Her cold glare at the guy and her happiness once she got the popsicle was really cute, though. Takumi's having a more and more difficult time figuring out reality from his delusions. I'd guess that if a girl shows any form of interest in you or even touches you, it's a delusion. Because really, dude. Have you even noticed that Seira-tan isn't real? Blah. I feel like this episode moved too slowly, and there wasn't much payoff at the end. At least we got to meet "Shogun." And Takumi: When Ayase told you to find your sword, I think she meant "be a man," not go to a weapons replica store. Nerd.--Ou-bento
Lory explains to Kyoko that a real actor has to want to be loved. Kyoko seems to be missing the desire and ability to love, which is why she's in the Love Me section. Once she can get people to love her, she'll be ready for her debut. Kyoko agrees to do her best and is give a horrendous hot pink jumpsuit as her uniform. She tries out different poses, but can't figure out how on earth she can get people to love her. Meanwhile, Shou is enjoying some fangirling whispers, when he hears the girls turn their attention to Ren. He decides to take the opportunity to face Ren, and he kicks an ashtray stand into Ren's path, claiming his legs are so long sometimes he just bumps things on accident. Ren kicks the stand back up and tells Shou to be more careful and that he should pick up the ash. The girls think Ren is so cool and Shou is completely defeated in the coolness showdown. HA.Meanwhile, Kyoko is given her first duty: to clean gum off the floor of one of the hallways at LME. She takes to her task with exuberance and winds up cleaning and polishing the entire hallway. Unfortunately, it becomes so smooth that everyone who walks through winds up slipping and falling. She only earns ten points, bringing her up to zero points (she lost ten points in the previous episode). She decides to consider the zero a new beginning and a famous idol singer, Ruriko rudely bumps into her. Ruriko says she needs some help, and Kyoko is glad to jump to her aid. Ruriko takes Kyoko to a photoshoot, and along the way explains that she can't be in contact with sunlight because it would be fatal. Kyoko imagines she's allergic to the sun and sees Ruriko as a beautiful princess who needs a knight. Ever the romantic, Kyoko decides to be Ruriko's knight and protect her. The van they're in breaks down, so Ruriko and Kyoko walk to the movie set, Kyoko carrying Ruriko's heavy anti-UV umbrella the entire way. A few steps in, Ruriko says she can't possibly go any further, so Kyoko carries her piggyback along with the umbrella. Kyoko twists her ankle not too far away from the site, so Ruriko says she'll go ahead and send someone back to pick up Kyoko. Of course, she has no intention to do anything and she makes herself at home on the set, claiming she walked all the way on her own. Kyoko begins to realize that no one is coming for her, and she feels as if it's like her old self who was always left behind. As she's remembering that, Ren appears. He's the (second to) last person she wants to see, so she tries to run away, but the pain in her ankle is too great. Ever the gentleman, Ren picks her up (princess style~).Yayayayayay! Princess carry! XD Ren is such a nice guy. So another episode with some great acting from the cast. Marina remains solid, especially with all the demon Kyoko's talking with Kyoko. Katsu's rendition of chibi Ren in Shou's imagination was priceless, and Mamoru's freaking out for Shou's character is hilarious (if not strangely similar sounding to Death the Kid). Kyoko is rudely thrust into her first day on the job, but she manages to go through it with a cheerful disposition. Ruriko is so so annoying, but I guess that's the point. The animation kinda took a dive with Ruriko's van driving taking a lot of the heat. Also, the OST is strangely limited, with the same action-esque techno song being used three times. Once again, the plot remains faithful to the manga save for a few hints towards Kyoko's past that aren't as well-defined in the manga. It seems like they story introduces the blue stone and the boy from the OP a lot faster than the manga does. It makes me wonder if they intend to introduce his story a lot sooner and possibly wrap it up with an anime-only ending. I kinda hope not, but it's much too early to say. Next week looks like Kyoko will take her first steps into acting, which will be great to watch. Plus, it means more RenxKyo time. Very yes.--Ou-bento
A month or so ago, Funimation made the first three episodes of Darker than Black available for viewing online. I finally got around to giving it a watch. Yes, I am a slow bento.
