The story
continues some time after the events of season one. A young girl living in Siberia, named Suō Pavlichenko,
lives quietly with her twin-brother and father.
In secret, her twin brother is actually a Contractor, and her father a
scientist researching matters related to Contractors. One day, Suō's friend becomes a Contractor,
and soon after her family is attacked. Suō
walks into a room just in time to find her father being murdered by a familiar man
with long, black hair, wearing a tattered black trench coat and white
mask. Now Suō hopes to head to Tokyo, in
order to find her mother and hopefully her brother as well. Powers begin to move in earnest as the fears
of a prophecy made by the Contractor, Amber, who appeared in season one and had
the ability to move back and forth in time.
What ensues is more of what we've come to expect from season one, but
with some more context placed on some of
the events and characters that we were introduced to previously. Hei makes his return and the question comes
up early on: what happened to him? As
events unfold, we learn the story and why Hei has gone from eating an entire
kitchen at each sitting, to drinking every meal out of a liquor bottle.
From being
reunited with Hei, we realize that the world hasn't been very kind to him. His story is very tragic and is slowly
revealed during the course of the season.
While my attention was focused on Hei and his course of events, he
shares the spotlight with Suō this time.
While sharing the focus of the series isn't new, I found myself somewhat
less interested in new characters. While
their stories aren't uninteresting, they still feel secondary to finding out
what happened to Hei and Yin after the end of season one. The action heats up early and rekindles the
fires of suspense and conspiracy that drove the first season. The new characters give a somewhat fresh take
on things with Suō being a new Contractor and needing Hei to show her the ropes
on how to be one. This helps get a
fundamental view of what being a Contractor really means from the first hand
perspective of someone who really doesn't even know how to be one. With some returning characters, a lot of the
things that were left in season one are brought up once again. Suō's story factors in as well, resulting in
a major impact by her and her family towards unfolding events involving the
prophecy. After the main story is
finished, the gap between season one and two is filled by a four-part OVA,
which really tells the tragic tale of what happened to Hei and Yin as they
tried to make their escape following the end of season one.
Overall,
"Gemini of the Meteor" is a worthy follow-up to the original series
in almost every way. My only complaint
is that the new characters felt a little less fleshed out. Other than Suō, the new additions are hardly
delved into, resulting in a partial lack of depth, overall. "Gemini of the Meteor" is another
brilliant season to a brilliant show, but trying to follow up the practically
flawless execution of season one, season two continues the overall brilliance,
but loses a hint of the character that helped define it. However, this is still a brilliant addition
to the franchise that any fan of season one will almost undoubtedly enjoy, and
the OVAs felt like a fitting encore performance of brilliant writing, excellent
characters, and a series that knows exactly how to hit it home for you, whether
it's your first time watching it or you just missed your favorite Contractors.
Good:
-Assuming
you remember my season one review, I'll just save some time and say, "More
of the same."
- Suō is an
interesting addition to the story, adding new dimension to being a Contractor.
Bad:
-A few gaps
in the story. While they seem
deliberate, I feel that it sort of takes an essential edge from the story that
helped define season one.
Scully Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Watch "Darker than
Black: Gemini of the Meteor (Season 2)" at: http://www.animefreak.tv/watch/darker-black-ryuusei-no-gemini-online
