Darker than Black: Ryūsei no Gemini
Encyclopedia
is an anime
television series
, created, directed and written by Tensai Okamura and animated by Bones
. It is a sequel to the anime series Darker than Black
which premiered in October 2009 and ended in December 2009. Though details of the sequel series were leaked beforehand, it was officially unveiled almost a year later by Square Enix
's Young Gangan seinen
magazine. The English dub is set to be released November 8, 2011.
Meanwhile, a government group of hired contractors have captured a weapon named "Izanami"; this 'weapon' turns out to be Yin, however Yin has simply become a shell that is capable of disabling contractor's abilities or even killing them. It is implied that Hei has lost his ability as a contractor by using an anticontractor weapon that supposed to kill him, but Suou's presence and the meteor fragment she wears causes interference and prevents the weapon from killing Hei. Hei forms a team including July and Mao (who is now in a flying squirrel's body) and Suou, but their attempt to escape Russia to Tokyo is hindered when Hei is tricked by his contact. July is stolen by the contact who intends to sell him, causing Suou to track July down and seriously injures the contact in order to save July.
July, Suou and Mao are then in turn captured by a depraved and mentally unstable contractor Ilya, a man whose power is to shut of oxygen supplies to the brain. In a desperate struggle, Hei strangles and kills Ilya and rescues his friends. In the meantime Misaki Kirihara has been attempting to find Li/Hei/BK-201 to question him and also for personal reasons. During her efforts, she is approached by a mysterious woman (Madame Oreille) who gives her codes and information concerning BK-201. The codes are passwords to sensitive documents about the meeting of "Izanami" and "Izanagi", Izanami being Yin and Izanagi being Shion; the documents state that if the two were to meet, then a terrible disaster would occur and "strife would continue for eternity" (on earth).
Hei, Suou, Kirihara and the contractor team all work to prevent this from happening; in the process they meet the mysterious woman from earlier who leads them to Dr. Pavlichenko's super computer: a computer made up from hundreds of Shion's copied dolls. The intent of this computer and the meeting of Izanami and Izanagi is to create a completely alternate Earth in which the gates do not exist. As Suou, July and Hei rush to prevent the meeting, Suou and July are killed and sent to the alternate Earth by Izanami, as per Shion's wish, who dies apparently from using his power to create the alternate Earth. Then Yin tells Hei, that it's not too late, and he can still kill her to prevent the prophecy from coming true. Then Hei is seen touching Yin's body, and his powers are restored. After that Hei is seen carrying the body of Yin.
document containing information about Bones
staff and production details, was leaked onto the Japanese filesharing site uploader.jp, in July 2008. Among other details, including the confidential contact information of Bones staff members, it revealed that a second Darker than Black and Fullmetal Alchemist
series were in production and were being directed by Tensai Okamura and Yasuhiro Irie
respectively. This information regarding Fullmetal Alchemist, which had never been previously released, was later proven to be true in January 2009. In an official statement posted on Bones' official website, co-founder and president Masahiko Minami
claimed that the document was not released by the studio themselves but by an unnamed third-party. In a later statement, Minami also stated in regards to the two new series, "It hasn't been decided yet. We are interested in doing them. As original science-fiction works, they were extremely fascinating. With these kinds of dramatic story lines, I feel that there's a lot we could do potentially." Six months later, however, the second series of Fullmetal Alchemist was confirmed to be in production with Yasuhiro Irie as director, thus confirming the document's validity. The second Darker than Black series was confirmed in the 12th issue of Square Enix
's Young Gangan Magazine. In the 14th issue of Young Gangan, the title had been revealed as and it aired in Japan in October 2009.
Ending theme: "From Dusk Till Dawn" by Abingdon Boys School
did not compose for the sequel as she did in the first series; the score was instead composed by Yasushi Ishii
, who previously worked on Hellsing
.
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
, created, directed and written by Tensai Okamura and animated by Bones
Bones (studio)
is a Japanese anime studio. It has produced numerous series, including RahXephon, Wolf's Rain, Scrapped Princess, Eureka Seven, Angelic Layer, Darker than Black, Soul Eater, Ouran High School Host Club and two adaptions of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga along with Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto and...
. It is a sequel to the anime series Darker than Black
Darker than Black
is an anime television series, created, directed and written by Tensai Okamura and animated by Bones. It premiered across Japan from April 5, 2007 on MBS, TBS, and its affiliated broadcast stations, with its satellite television premiere in Japan on Animax in May 2007. The music for the series is...
which premiered in October 2009 and ended in December 2009. Though details of the sequel series were leaked beforehand, it was officially unveiled almost a year later by Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
's Young Gangan seinen
Seinen
is a subset of manga that is generally targeted at a 20–30 year old male audience, but the audience can be older with some manga aimed at businessmen well into their 40s. In Japanese, the word Seinen means "young man" or "young men" and is not suggestive of sexual matters...
magazine. The English dub is set to be released November 8, 2011.
Story
Hei is now in hiding after betraying the Syndicate in the previous season, and has become a depressed drunk taking various jobs from the CIA. While located in Russia, Hei encounters Suou Pavlichenko, a 13 year old Eurasian girl who is a direct copy of her brother Shion Pavlichenko, a contractor from birth, whose ability is to produce an object from nothing; this includes making clones of himself. However, all of Shion's copies differ in one detail to himself, for instance Suou's alternate sex. Hei teaches Suou various methods of fighting and self defense.Meanwhile, a government group of hired contractors have captured a weapon named "Izanami"; this 'weapon' turns out to be Yin, however Yin has simply become a shell that is capable of disabling contractor's abilities or even killing them. It is implied that Hei has lost his ability as a contractor by using an anticontractor weapon that supposed to kill him, but Suou's presence and the meteor fragment she wears causes interference and prevents the weapon from killing Hei. Hei forms a team including July and Mao (who is now in a flying squirrel's body) and Suou, but their attempt to escape Russia to Tokyo is hindered when Hei is tricked by his contact. July is stolen by the contact who intends to sell him, causing Suou to track July down and seriously injures the contact in order to save July.
July, Suou and Mao are then in turn captured by a depraved and mentally unstable contractor Ilya, a man whose power is to shut of oxygen supplies to the brain. In a desperate struggle, Hei strangles and kills Ilya and rescues his friends. In the meantime Misaki Kirihara has been attempting to find Li/Hei/BK-201 to question him and also for personal reasons. During her efforts, she is approached by a mysterious woman (Madame Oreille) who gives her codes and information concerning BK-201. The codes are passwords to sensitive documents about the meeting of "Izanami" and "Izanagi", Izanami being Yin and Izanagi being Shion; the documents state that if the two were to meet, then a terrible disaster would occur and "strife would continue for eternity" (on earth).
Hei, Suou, Kirihara and the contractor team all work to prevent this from happening; in the process they meet the mysterious woman from earlier who leads them to Dr. Pavlichenko's super computer: a computer made up from hundreds of Shion's copied dolls. The intent of this computer and the meeting of Izanami and Izanagi is to create a completely alternate Earth in which the gates do not exist. As Suou, July and Hei rush to prevent the meeting, Suou and July are killed and sent to the alternate Earth by Izanami, as per Shion's wish, who dies apparently from using his power to create the alternate Earth. Then Yin tells Hei, that it's not too late, and he can still kill her to prevent the prophecy from coming true. Then Hei is seen touching Yin's body, and his powers are restored. After that Hei is seen carrying the body of Yin.
Main characters
- The main protagonist and an elite Contractor with the Messier Code BK-201. During the events of the first season of Darker than Black, Hei used the cover of a seemingly gentle student from China named Lee Shenshun (Li Shengshun (Hanyu Pinyin) or Li Sianshong (Tongyong PinyinTongyong PinyinTongyong Pinyin was the official Romanization of Mandarin Chinese in the Republic of China between 2002 and 2008. The system was unofficially used between 2000 and 2002, when a new romanization system for the Republic of China was being evaluated for adoption. The ROC's Ministry of Education...
), literally Mr. Li), but donned a mask and the dark clothes of the assassin "Black Reaper" while working for the Syndicate. Hei's contract allows him to generate electricity, and it is later revealed that his Contractor ability is the manipulation of molecules, electricity being his power's least extent, the greatest being to transfer the powers of a Contractor to a human being, as his sister did with him. The Japanese government, among many others, hotly pursues him for his involvement in multiple assassinations. In the last episode of the first season, he saved all the Contractors by manipulating the molecules in Hell's Gate, preventing it from exploding, just as Heaven's Gate had five years ago. His lack of remuneration is explained toward the end of the first season: since he inherited his ability from his younger sister, Pai, he is still human, and therefore still experiences emotions. As of Darker than BLACK: Ryūsei no Gemini, he is on the run from the Syndicate, operating, under the CIA's orders, in Russia. He has become an alcoholic, and has not shaved or cut his hair in some time, hinting to depression, presumably because of Yin's disappearance. In several dreams, he is seen desperately chasing after Yin, who promptly says goodbye and leaves. After discovering Yin's whereabouts, Hei has softened his attitude towards Suō and has given up his alcohol abuse. In Episode 9, Hei cuts his hair and shaves his stubble, reverting back to his appearance in the previous season. As of Episode 3, Suō, the newly rediscovered Mao and Hei are en route back to Japan, in pursuit of Shion. Also as of episode 6, it has been confirmed that Hei no longer possesses his Contractor power, but it is believed that he may have gotten his power back at the end of the last episode, episode 12.
- A supporter in Hei's team. Yin is a spirit medium known as a "Doll". Her primary function as a Doll is surveillance, as she has the ability to see anything near water as long as she is in contact with water. During the events of the first season, she is seen locating mission targets for Hei and Mao. Yin possesses the memories of her body's previous 'owner', Kirsi (last name unknown), who lived in Finland learning to play the piano under the tutelage of famed pianist Eelis Kostinen. In the manga, she resembles Kanon since she is also a "doll" though she has some of Kirsi's memories, making the method for creation of dolls a point of speculation. In the OVA it was revealed that Izanami had awakened inside Yin.
- The main female protagonist. A 13 year old girl who lives in VladivostokVladivostokThe city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
, RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. In the Gemini of the Meteor story arc, Suou becomes involved in the war and machinations between the various groups and Contractors, and her life is forever changed when she meets Hei. She is Eurasian, with a Japanese mother and Russian father. She also has a twin brother, Shion, who uses a wheelchair. She is later revealed to have some form of contractor ability when she goes into mental shock, which awakens her latent powers. Her exact Contractor ability is not explicitly known, but with it, she is able to manifest a PTRD-41 from the meteor fragment she wears. Suou wields the rifle with ease and skill, though whether this is also part of her Contractor ability or not is unknown. Her remuneration involves folding paper into origami. In episode 9, it is revealed by Suou's mother that Suou actually died eight years ago and is a different Suou. It is also revealed subsequently by her father that she is a copy created by Shion, after he was hit by meteor core fragment. When Izanami shatters the meteor core, her memories are lost, but Shion sacrifices his life to have Izanami send her and July to his copy of earth so they can live happy lives. Her name may be a reference to Lyudmila PavlichenkoLyudmila PavlichenkoLyudmila Mykhailivna Pavlichenko was a Soviet sniper during World War II, credited with 309 kills, and is regarded as the most successful female sniper in history.-Early life:...
, a Soviet sniper widely considered to be the best female sniper in history.
- Suou's twin brother. He loses his right eye due to an accident with a falling meteor core fragment. This incident led to the creation of Suō. His remuneration confined him to a wheelchair. Shion has since told his father that he has fully paid it, meaning that he no longer needs to pay whichever remuneration he had. It is hinted, by Shion standing up when he told his father his remuneration is finished, that his remuneration might be the loss of use of his legs. In Episode 10 it is revealed that Shion's ability is to make physical copies of things. It is also revealed that he was a contractor since birth, though the meteor core fragment has given his powers a boost in order to create the Suou copy (later, he gives Suou the charm which acts as a memory chip). In the penultimate use of these powers, he links to the Doll Network, which has cataloged all the thoughts of all the people on earth, and creates a copy of the entire planet, minus the gates. This renders him paraplegic. He gives his life to Izanami in exchange for sending Suou and July to the Earth copy, where they can live happily. With his last words, he calls Suou his sister.
Development
A Microsoft ExcelMicrosoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is a proprietary commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications...
document containing information about Bones
Bones (studio)
is a Japanese anime studio. It has produced numerous series, including RahXephon, Wolf's Rain, Scrapped Princess, Eureka Seven, Angelic Layer, Darker than Black, Soul Eater, Ouran High School Host Club and two adaptions of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga along with Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto and...
staff and production details, was leaked onto the Japanese filesharing site uploader.jp, in July 2008. Among other details, including the confidential contact information of Bones staff members, it revealed that a second Darker than Black and Fullmetal Alchemist
Fullmetal Alchemist
, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. The world of Fullmetal Alchemist is styled after the European Industrial Revolution...
series were in production and were being directed by Tensai Okamura and Yasuhiro Irie
Yasuhiro Irie
is a Japanese animator, character designer and anime director.-Biography:Beginning his career at Sunrise, he has worked as an animation director and animator on several productions, and made his debut as a director with volumes 2 to 4 of Alien 9 and the 2004 television series Kurau Phantom Memory...
respectively. This information regarding Fullmetal Alchemist, which had never been previously released, was later proven to be true in January 2009. In an official statement posted on Bones' official website, co-founder and president Masahiko Minami
Masahiko Minami
is a Japanese anime producer and president of Bones.-Career:A graduate of the Osaka University of Arts's department of arts, Minami began his career with noted anime studio Sunrise as one of its producers...
claimed that the document was not released by the studio themselves but by an unnamed third-party. In a later statement, Minami also stated in regards to the two new series, "It hasn't been decided yet. We are interested in doing them. As original science-fiction works, they were extremely fascinating. With these kinds of dramatic story lines, I feel that there's a lot we could do potentially." Six months later, however, the second series of Fullmetal Alchemist was confirmed to be in production with Yasuhiro Irie as director, thus confirming the document's validity. The second Darker than Black series was confirmed in the 12th issue of Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
's Young Gangan Magazine. In the 14th issue of Young Gangan, the title had been revealed as and it aired in Japan in October 2009.
Theme songs
Opening theme: by StereoponyStereopony
, is a Japanese rock band that formed in Okinawa, Japan in 2007, consisting of Aimi , Nohana , and Shiho...
Ending theme: "From Dusk Till Dawn" by Abingdon Boys School
Abingdon boys school
Abingdon Boys School, stylized as abingdon boys school and abbreviated as a.b.s, is a Japanese rock band fronted by Takanori Nishikawa....
Production
A number of the crew who previously worked on the first season of Darker than Black came back forRyūsei no Gemini. However, Yoko KannoYoko Kanno
is a composer, arranger and musician best known for her work on the soundtracks for many games, anime films, TV series, live-action movies, and advertisements...
did not compose for the sequel as she did in the first series; the score was instead composed by Yasushi Ishii
Yasushi Ishii
is a Japanese musician from Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. He specializes in experimental, acid, classical and hard rock. He is famous for his work with anime scores. He composed music for and scored the first Hellsing anime, with the music released as two separate soundtracks...
, who previously worked on Hellsing
Hellsing
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano. It first premiered in Young King Ours in 1997 and ended in September 2008. The individual chapters are collected and published in tankōbon volumes by Shōnen Gahosha. As of March 2009 all chapters have been released in 10 volumes in...
.
- Original Concept: BonesBones (studio)is a Japanese anime studio. It has produced numerous series, including RahXephon, Wolf's Rain, Scrapped Princess, Eureka Seven, Angelic Layer, Darker than Black, Soul Eater, Ouran High School Host Club and two adaptions of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga along with Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto and...
, Tensai Okamura - Original Character Design: Yūji IwaharaYuji Iwaharais a Japanese manga artist. After graduating from art school he joined Hudson Soft as a graphic artist. He made his manga debut in 1994 in Afternoon with a story for which he won the fall Afternoon Four Seasons Award, a prize he received three more times over the next two years...
- Character Design and Chief Animation Director: Takahiro Komori
- Art Design: Tomoaki Okada, Takashi Aoi
- Art Director: Takashi Aoi (Green)
- Sound Director: Kazuhiro Wakabayashi (Fonishia)
- Composer: Yasushi Ishii
- Color design: Nobuko Mizuta
- Prop Design: Takahiro Yamada
External links
- Official Website
- Funimation Official Page
- Russia in Darker than Black 2 (Analysis of series from Russian point of view)