Darker Than Black: Season 2 with OVA's (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

The intrigue and danger continues in Darker Than Black: Gemini of the Meteor. Hei – aka the masked killer, BK-201 – encounters Suo, a young Russian girl whose life changed the night a meteor fell to Earth. With Contractors attacking from all sides, and the mysterious organization Section 3 closing in, Hei must fight to keep Suo alive.

The second season of Darker than Black, Gemini of the Meteor (2009), takes place two years after the events in season one. Hei (a.k.a. the Black Reaper, a.k.a. BK201) is a Contractor, a human with mysterious powers. Although he loses his ability to manipulate electricity, he still swings around and strangles enemies with a sort of piano-wire whip. For this adventure, he's paired with Suo, a middle-school girl who has some Contractor powers, but retains human emotions. They're joined by Mao, a former Contractor who took the form of a talking black cat in season one, but who is now a flying squirrel, and the nearly mute Doll July. As Suo searches for her eerily powerful twin brother Shion, Hei teaches her to shoot, fight, and outmaneuver CIA agents and assorted other bad guys. Hei is trying to find Yin, his partner from season one: she and Shion are the keys to an elaborate prophecy involving the future of humanity. Gemini of the Meteor is even more confused and confusing than season one. Characters appear, then disappear, only to reappear several episodes later. Hard-hitting action sequences alternate with talky, static ones, in which the characters try to sort out the hopelessly tangled plot. Suo is apparently a clone Shion created of himself, but it's not clear whether the original Suo died in an explosion in her father's lab or in a meteor strike in Siberia--or both. Her relationship with the often brutal Hei recalls the murderous moppets and their coaches in Gunslinger Girl. The series ends on an inclusive note as a lead-in to a possible season three. The four-part OVA Side Story acts as a sort of bridge between seasons one and two. (Although these episodes are on the second disc, the viewer should watch them first.) Hei and Yin, who has evolved into a Doll with potentially world-altering powers, try to evade the attacks of their foes, especially the shape-shifting Shichi, as they visit Okinawa, Hong Kong, and the tropics. There are hints of an intriguing story underlying Darker than Black, but it gets lost in a labyrinth of flashbacks, dreams, and visions. (Rated TV MA: violence, violence against women, nudity, grotesque imagery, transvestitism, suggested lesbianism, gore, alcohol and tobacco use) --Charles Solomon

(1. Black Cats Do Not Dream of Stars…, 2. Fallen Meteor…, 3. Vanishing in a Sea of Ice, 4. The Ark Adrift on the Lake, 5. Gunsmoke Blows, Life Flows, 6. An Aroma Sweet, a Heart Bitter, 7. The Doll Sings in the Winter Wind, 8. Twinkling Sun on a Summer Day, 9. They Met One Day, Unexpectedly, 10. Your Smile on a False Street Corner, 11. The Sea Floor Dries Up and the Moon Grows Full, 12. Ark of Stars)