Darker than Black draws near to the climactic conclusion, as the final battle at the gates of Hell is about to begin. Through the turmoil of conflict and the ghosts of the past that shape the present, Hei comes ever closer to the answer of his sister’s disappearance.

Poor Mao seems a bit disturbed by the nonchalance of November 11. Of course, I would be as well. Being surrounded by enemies, one of them nude, is not exactly what I’d call an ideal situation.

I apologize terribly for making you look at that right after the jump. OTL

But you gotta love Mao in comic relief mode. While Darker than Black certainly isn’t much for comedy, the little bits of humor added here and there are a welcome change of pace from the heavy philosophical and moral commentary much of the rest of the series presents.

Schroeder-sensei is an interesting character. On one hand, he seems rather chill, and does well at taking everything in stride. On the other hand, just when you start thinking he’s fairly normal, he goes on a slightly psycho, childish rampage. Kind of like a mix of every genius professor stereotype, all rolled up into one.

I have to admit, though, his character design is great, what with the huge ears and fro.

Wicked cool or wicked cool?

Whatever that thing is, I want one.

Oh so GAR.

I actually thought Hei might’ve ended things right here, but then, we all know better than to expect such an easy resolution.

Despite his bravado and arrogance, I was really saddened to see things end for November 11. There was a considerable amount of foreshadowing even before Amber’s dark prophecy, but nonetheless you always hate to see a character doomed by fate. I mean, look at what happened to poor Oedipus…

On the other hand, he managed to take out six guys with submachine guns…with a bottle of booze! Pretty cool way to go out. Wish we could’ve seen that battle.

The death scene was masterfully done. I really appreciate how this series shows the depth of every character, even amidst all this strife and conflict.

Kirihara’s grieving for November 11 was particularly touching. The story really endears you to Kirihara, with her strong sense of justice and compassion.

All those character development episodes are finally paying off, as the subtle interactions between the core cast speak volumes.

It’s a testament to how far the cast has come in their relationships, that little scenes like this can say so much without any dialog. It really gives a sense of the camaraderie and trust between Huang, Mao, Yin, and Hei.

By the way, it’s interesting to note that even before he became a Contractor, Hei was apparently still pretty badass. I think this is the only time in the series that we seen a non-Contractor completely own a Contractor in a direct confrontation like this.

I was so thrilled to get another round of Guy and his film noir flair before things ended. The interplay between him and Kiko is always hysterical. His presence also provides the show with that much needed comedic relief, and a certain sagacious quality that I enjoy immensely.

Unfortunately, this kind of scenario is entirely too conceivable, either in Japan or in the U.S. Especially here in LA, many affluent and doting parents will do just about anything to make sure their unfortunate offspring succeed academically, including hiring professional detectives to do their children’s homework for them.

My parents never did that, but they probably considered hiring a hit man at least a few times during my childhood.

Also, it was great to get some insight on a more practical level about how people reacted to the stars suddenly vanishing from the sky. I think one thing this show has done particularly well is drawing the viewer into the world in a very immersive way with scenes like that.

It was also nice to see Kirihara and Hei reunite one last time; they both appear to have quite healthy appetites. The spontaneity of the episode was definitely a plus.

Man, I am getting so hungry just looking at that picture.

Kirihara seems to be the first person who hasn’t been completely floored by Hei’s voracious appetite. She even seemed to be holding her own against him to a some degree!

You know, Guy is exactly the sort of character you would expect to dine and dash at a restaurant.Luckily for him Hei’s Syndicate apparently pays pretty well.

“Don’t fall for me.”

Greatest Guy line ever.

A peaceful end to the episode…

Or maybe not! The night ends, the date is over, and the havoc starts up again with the everyone riding off to Pandora to save Tokyo from certain destruction. Talk about an abrupt end to an otherwise pleasant evening.

So the gang roars off towards the imminent confrontation while Amber rallies her troops for the final assault.

Getting talked down to by a cat…now that’s embarrassing!

I love how Huang talks about fishing so nonchalantly. The whole time he’s talking you know that, like November 11, he’s sort of reading his own eulogy. When Yin gave him that final farewell hug, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sorrow as I watched him drive off alone.

Huang is a tsundere. n_n

Stubborn and tenacious to the end, Huang protects his comrades, the people he has come to know and trust. I was truly sad to see Huang go, but his death was so heroic and powerful, it almost seemed to evoke a sort of samurai nostalgia. Excellent.

Seriously, when did Huang become this cool? Remember when he used to be just the grumpy, anti-social old man who bossed everybody else around? Man, the series sure has come a long ways.

You have to admire Kirihara’s idealism. Even on the eve of destruction, as all the pieces of the puzzle come together and she seems so small and helpless, she still holds firm to her sense of justice.

Yet another one of those brilliant small touches. Hei holds up his hands to help Yin down onto the tracks, and she just jumps right into his arms. These small moments throughout the series serve to tell us more about the characters than a whole episode’s worth of dialog ever could.

Some of these nameless contractors have pretty awesome powers. I kind of wish we could have gotten to see more of the big fight scene.

Without a doubt, this is the Contractor power that made me laugh the hardest. This girl apparently charges up rubber bands and then shoots them into the enemy like some kind of incendiary shell. So basically she’s Gambit, except instead of cards she uses office supplies.

If you think she’s dangerous with those tiny things, you should see what she can do with with one of those industrial strength rubber bands and a pack of 5/8″ staples. I still can’t make up my mind whether to laugh or be really impressed.

Sure enough, Wei just won’t be satisfied until he redeems his honor. Was anyone besides me having a bit of DBZ nostalgia with the whole “Saiyan pride!” thing? Anyways, what was brilliant about the scene was the way it illustrated how irrational and impractical Wei’s sense of honor was. If he was truly a Contractor why act with such human emotion?

In this case, I think it was due to a sense of inevitability.

While Contractors are rational beings, that doesn’t mean they are without morals and ideals. For many Contractors, certainly ensuring their own survival and well being is their main priority, but for others perhaps protecting their life is not as important as protecting their honor.

Earlier you mentioned Huang’s samurai-like heroic death. That kind of thinking is very traditional Japanese, and for some people it’s still truly ingrained into their sense of morality. For such an individual, choosing honor in death would be more than a mere emotional decision. It would simply be consistent with who they are as a human being.

Wow, vaguely Christian, Evangelion-esque symbolism. Didn’t expect that from DtB.

And then, of course, like some kind of video game boss, he blows himself up to reveal the secret passage our heroes need to proceed.

* insert Zelda secret music *

As Yin and Hei draw close things become even stranger…

Whoa! What? Wait a minute! Holy crap, from vague flashbacks to terrifying pyrotechnic abilities, and then of course just to intensify the madness we have yet another Amber time warp fiasco intermingled. I was just mouth agape after this whole transition. It all happened so quickly I was just left stammering and by then the scene had changed.

Just when I thought I had a pretty good handle on Amber’s power, she demonstrates that her abilities are not so easily apprehended. So not only can she stop time and see into the future, she’s also capable of giving others visions revealing their own futures to them? Crazy.

And now Mao just up and bails on his comrades? WTF? Seriously, this is just too maddening! I know we’re approaching doomsday here, but come on. Can I have one minute to breathe and comprehend the rapidly changing dynamics of the situation?

*sigh* I think I need to lie down.

It seems as though Mao’s computer brain got hacked while he was infiltrating the bad guys’ server, and they used him as a puppet to deliver cryptic messages of doom, a la Ghost in the Shell. However, it all happened pretty suddenly, so I can see how you could interpret things differently.

Wow, Yin is surprisingly agile! I’m so tempted to shop this picture up to give her a skateboard.

Well, that solves that riddle at least. Somehow Amber looks more sinister than ever as a little child. Seriously, little girls terrify me. I probably couldn’t even make it through an episode of Higurashi.

The story is rapidly progressing toward the grand finale, and grand it is. If you haven’t seen episode 25 yet, what are you waiting for? Go watch it NAO! lyk srsly.