Introduction/Background: This was one of the first series I ever ended up watching in 2010 and thus, is held fairly close to my heart.I remember thinking Hei was pretty badass, the use of superpowers was actually fairly competent and physics based, and the action choreography was also good. I revisited this series in 2015. While many aspects of it retained their beautiful quality, I observed that certain aspects can't necessarily hold or captivate an audience. It is definitely a product of its time, for better or for worse.

Plot: 5/10

The plot is serviceable. It gives a basic narrative to follow along with, while having an episodic format, so that the main plot either subtly ties in, or takes centre stage a few times. The episodic nature is in service of worldbuilding, and it paints a dark world decently well. However this isn't the type of show where you'll be at the edge of your seat, anticipating the next narrative beat with baited breath.

Characters: 8/10

DtB Season 1 has some good, nuanced characters. The development and/or vices of the main cast of characters is more subtle than it is pronounced, but we do get to see how they act in various scenarios and this is done pretty well. Our main protagonist for example, is painted as a deadly cold blooded killer within the first scene. However, the analysis of his actions and internal struggle show anything but that over time. Since these reviews are to be non-spoilery I won't delve into the others too much, but even one-shot characters usually receive some sort of poignant development to service them and make them feel at least two dimensional.

Animation: 9/10

Bones delivers some stunning animation. For 2007, you'd be hard pressed to find something with this much attention to detail (for series, not movies) in choregraphy between hand-to-hand combat and use of abilities, stuff like FMA 2003 comes to mind and this too is from Bones. (Edit: I have been in discussion and it seems I worded this poorly. There are other series from 2007 with stunning animation, most notably TTGL. What I should have said is less to do with specific animation and more to do with attention to detail.) The series as a whole shows consistency here, although a point has been taken off for perhaps not going all out for general non-combat scenes. But this is few and far between.

Soundtrack: 9/10

Simply amazing. Yoko Kanno does amazing work as usual, and this soundtrack is accessible enough that it appeals to a wide demographic. Expect a lot of hard rock, jazz and jazz/funk fusion. It is also a vast and massive OST for a 26 episode series (the other seasons and OVAs all have their own OSTs too). There is amazing classical music here too - basically Yoko Kanno flexes her breadth of compositional ability to create a soundtrack perfect for a noir thriller, but also for an action-packed espionage series.

Conclusion:

Darker than Black has aged decently well, while perhaps being too laser-focused on the dark tones of it's world; at the cost of missing out on a large section of the watching demographic. But it is steadfast in sticking to its roots and manages to deliver a moody and unforgiving narrative for its harsh world.