Forum - View topicREVIEW: Darker than BLACK DVD 1
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minakichan
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Yeah, I thought the explanation of Hell's Gate was the weakest part of the series. It doesn't really become any more plausible by the end, but I think a viewer just needs to suspend disbelief and the show itself will be entertaining.
One of the BIGGEST things that irked me about Funi's adaption (at least from the first 2 eps) is the elimination of every single reference to Hei being Chinese (aside from his name and the fact that they keep Chinese name order but Westernize the Japanese names, but I don't think a typical English-speaking viewer will necessarily catch on). It really baffles me. It's not a huge point, but it does definitely matter since the Syndicates members' codenames are... all in Chinese? Does Funi think that keeping the main character so pointedly not-Japanese would make him less likeable to weeaboo Americans? Geez. Also:
Her hair is silver. Yin, or 銀, is the Chinese word for silver. |
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Kimiko_0
 Posts: 1796 Location: Leiden, NL, EU |
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Is this really common and bad in DVDs by Funimation? Thanks for the warning. I'll be careful to doublecheck before buying anything by them then. |
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8503 Location: Penguinopolis |
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See, I have to disagree about the the "payments" for the powers. I thought it was extremely clever and creative. Though I'd hate to be the one who's stuck having to snap my finger out of place to use mine.
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18494 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Depends on how you define "bad" and how much of a stickler you are for absolute accuracy to the original script. Funimation has generally taken a policy that it's fine to write dialogue that's in the ballpark of the original rather than a close translation of the original. On the good side, that means that their dubs almost invariably have a smooth flow in English, and compensate better for shoddy original writing (see Speed Grapher), but on the bad side they sometimes alter minor details. (They seem especially fond of removing breast-size jokes spoken by obviously very underaged characters, for instance.) The alterations rarely have a significant impact on the story itself, but if you're a stickler for purity to the original script - for better or worse - then Funi's dubs will at least occasionally irritate you. |
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Furudanuki
 Posts: 1874 |
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In Shelf Life Bamboo said:
And now in this review I see:
Am I the only one who was paying attention when, in episode #1, Misaki Kirihara (the female police detective) clearly explained that "they" (the city) had built the wall surrounding the Gate during the 10 year period since the Gate first appeared?  You can easily spot construction cranes and see where portions of the wall have not been completed. This series has plenty of things that do qualify as mysteries and mumbo-jumbo, but where that wall came from isn't one of them. Now, where the money and materials came from to BUILD the thing, THAT is a mystery! 
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daedelus
 Posts: 743 Location: Texas City, TX (ajd: 6/11/05) |
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I tend to agree with the grades you gave for this one, Key. DTB was one of the shows I was most interested in when it was first brought up in last year's preview. I was really looking forward to a stateside release and now that I've seen vol. 1, I am not disappointed.
I agree with penguintruth about the "payments" being clever. Sure, breaking your fingers is a more painful ritual. However, in a few seconds, you're done. Setting up those stones or dog-earing every page in a book, while painless, is time consuming. So there is a trade off. I'm looking forward to volume 2. |
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LordPrometheus
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I watched the first episode on Funi's free stream, and I was intrigued immediately. I bought volume 1 with the artbox, and I love the series so far. A solid cast of characters, and so many unanswered questions. There's a lot of ways they can go with this storyline. I hope it continues to get even better.
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braves
 Posts: 2309 Location: Puerto Rico (but living in Texas) |
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I watched the first 2 episodes of this one on FUNi's site and I was very pleased with it, even though it started out slowly. I was going to pick up the DVD + art box, but there was a HD trailer for this show on one of FUNi's releases, so I'll be holding out for a short time until more news comes out. But not too long.
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dAngel
 Posts: 23 |
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I agree about the payments for their contracts being clever, I thought so too. The contractors all seem to have a touch of mental illness and each "payment" appears to represent various vices and compulsions. Some are more subtle than others, like the guy breaking his fingers is probably one of the more obvious. The guy arranging the stones? He's obsessively trying to create order, the way someone with OCD might repeatedly alphabetize or organize something. At least, that was my take on it. I feel like the Hell's Gate mumbo jumbo stuff really has a lot of symbolism as well, with the stars all being "fake", etc. As far as character development. There are hints about Yin, for instance spoiler[ her eyes appear vacant, she never looks at anyone straight on, she observes through "extrasensory" perception and relies on her sense of touch a great deal. ]
Yeah the series does remind me of Speed Grapher, which I also liked (except with better animation!). In Speed Grapher each euphoric's power manifested from what they lusted after most. Speed Grapher's themes were about greed and exploitation, whereas Darker than Black seems to delve more inwards - sadness, guilt, abandonment, etc. I'm disappointed they removed the references to Hei being Chinese....that's odd and I'm not really sure why. |
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RhymesWithEmpty
 Posts: 208 |
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This seems like a pretty good dub, from the looks of it - the minor changes Funi seems to have made don't bother me too much. It is weird that they have omitted most everything about Hei being Chinese, but it's not too big a deal.
About the origin of their powers, really, you can't expect everything to be explained within the 1st 5 episodes, especially when nobody in the actual show seems to truly understand the gate themselves. It's a mystery to both them and us, which puts us on the same level and perhaps draws us into the show a bit more. If I knew all the answers and was just waiting for them to figure it out, well, that'd be pretty boring. And as Furudanuki said, they built the wall themselves, it's the "gate" that appeared all on its own. Later in the series, spoiler[we learn that this is not the 1st time something like this has happened, and there is a history there that BONES seems to be setting up, although it still largely remains a mystery.] And I actually quite like the characterization in this series, because it's very subtle. As for Yin, spoiler[her arc is actually one of my favorites.] But yeah, the characterization here isn't incredibly bold. I think that's intentional, like the voice acting that was praised in this review - it's subtle. Also, I think the contract payments often review a lot about the characters. As for the "lame terms," I actually miss the use of the term "obeisance" from the subs I watched, and I'm glad they didn't mess with terms like contractor or moratorium, but I guess that's all personal preference. As long as they're not yelling out names for their attacks, I'm good. |
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maaya
Posts: 976 |
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Me too. I thought it was a great idea to make those payments completely different and also completely unfair 
DtB definitely is a show where you have to pay attention. I like how it doesn't spell out and explain everything in detail to the viewer. There are hints ... like I said before, it even took me some time to understand that Yin is a doll. But when I finally got it I was like "oooh, I seeee" and that was nice, doesn't happen with too many series ^^ One question though, how do they remove hints to Hei being chinese? They would have to change his student name in order to do so, wouldn't they? But on the other hand we really don't know where he's from, do we? since Hei and his student identity are just aliases spoiler[and we do know that Huang and Yin definitely aren't chinese, eventhough they also have chinese aliases. We also know that Hei has been in south america, so he might actually be from there.] But in the end it doesn't really matter either. ^^; PS: I agree Yin's hair is silver and that's where her name comes from
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18494 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I don't agree with this. If this were a series focusing on characters who are discovering their powers and being awakened to the reality that they aren't the only super-powered individuals out there (see Telepathy Girl Ran), that would not only be perfectly fine, but expected. However, that's not the case here. This seems to be a series primarily about characters who are well-established with their powers in an environment where, even if the existence of contractors isn't commonly-known to the public, it's commonly-known both to the viewer and to the principal cast members. That makes for a different dynamic. Sure, there can still be some subterfuge about the catalyst or true nature of the powers, but an up-front explanation that didn't sound like it was thrown together at random would have worked better. And again, I'm basing this impression only off of the first five episodes. If this gets explained better later in the series then I may change my overall opinion (though my opinion for this volume will still stand). |
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dAngel
Posts: 23 |
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Well it's a minor pet peeve, but it's a part of Hei's identity as Li. It's hinted at quite strongly that he's not Japanese, but of course we don't really know for sure.
It does, but if you don't like the premise now or the bits about the stars/sky then chances are you're probably not going to like the explanation later - a lot of it is kept mysterious and left up to interpretation. That being said...I liked it for this reason and I didn't feel it was random. It's a very character driven series. There's supernatural elements about super powers, but it's not so much the main focus of the story - it's about the characters, what makes them tick...why they do what they do. It is a story about characters awakening, but spoiler[ rather to their humanity not their powers.] Hell's Gate works more as a thematic element, and I think the explanation is quite satisfying from that perspective. Anyway a B+ isn't a bad rating and is probably fair. |
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Hiatus
Posts: 11 |
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@ Key: I'd reccomend opening up the booklet in the Vol. 1 case of DtB - it should come with an "Interviews" booklet that should shed some insight about the show itself and what the director is aiming for (and what he had in mind creating it). Pretty interesting stuff.
Liked your review too, I tend to agree with the irks - especially from the perspective of just starting the show. |
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braves
Posts: 2309 Location: Puerto Rico (but living in Texas) |
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It should also be noted that the last few paragraphs with the interview with Yoko Kanno spoil the ending for the series. Just a heads-up. |
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