Summary
The mid-2000s was a great time for shōnen anime, with huge titles likeCode Geass,Gurren Lagann,Naruto: Shippuden, andBleachall releasing. There were a lot of smaller, high-quality anime also airing at the same time, though sometimes it was hard for them to share the spotlight with big names like those. One such anime was the 2007 mystery and sci-fi animeDarker than Black. It may have never grown to super popularity, but with an 8.05 rating on MyAnimeList,Darker than Blackperformed well and picked up its own circle of fans.
In fact, the anime was popular enough that it earned a second season calledDarker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor. This spin-off series was released in 2009, 2 years after the original series finished airing. While many people were really excited to get moreDarker than Black, what they got was generally considered a disappointment. But what went so wrong withDarker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor?Where did that series fail, while the original one succeeded? What could have gone differently?
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Air Dates
Jul 01, 2025 to May 28, 2025
The following contains spoilers for Darker than Black and Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor.
Major Changes to Characters
Is it Possible to Have Negative Character Development?
One of the most obvious things that happened inGemini of the Meteoris that the main characters' personalities, and even their looks, changed a lot. The most obvious example is the leading character, Hei. Whilehe was morally grayin season one, he was still likable. He was handsome, had his funny moments, liked eating too much food, and took care of the people he cared about - assassin or not. While he seemed cold on the outside, he was a good person deep down.
Season two changed that. Hei was depicted as a lost alcoholic for most of it, wearing an ugly purple track jacket paired long grungy hair, a five o’clock shadow, and a cracked mask. For anyone who had been a fan of the Hei in season one, it was really disappointing and shocking to see his character going down such a dark, different road. And he remained that way for most of the season. The shift was explainedthrough the OVAseriesDarker than Black: Gaiden, but if fans didn’t watch that series (and a lot of people do not watch OVAs…) it was blind-siding.
Some of the other main characters of the first season barely make an appearance, or are not there at all. Hei spends the season searching for Yin, his original companion, so she is not there much. Her replacement, Suo, is nothing like her, and Suo’s dynamic with Hei is very different. Hei’s friend Mao is not around much, nor is police officer Misaki Kirihara. For a continuation of the first series, a lot of characters are mostly dropped, so anyone invested in their stories is left with nothing.
A Shift in Focus
Darker than Blackwas never a cheerful, happy anime. It had its moments of humor, but they were not the point of the story. It is an action anime withsupernatural fight scenes. Season one was focused on almost exclusively adult characters, letting it explore dark topics, and focus on adult interactions.Gemini of the Meteorwas very different. It introduced a new lead to the show, Suo, who was just a child. Suo replaced Hei as the leading character, shifting him into a secondary position.
Now, theanime was carried by a child. Of course, that changed the focus of the story considerably. WhileGemini of the Meteorstill explored dark topics and subject matters, it did not get nearly as deep into them. Hei became a caregiver to not only Suo, but the doll July as well. Whereas Yin had been an adult doll, July was just a child. This really changed the tone of the anime overall, exploring a different kind of dynamic between the characters and how they interacted with the world the series had created.
But the change was so drastic it madeGemini of the Meteorfeel like a new series all together. While the tone and focus was not necessarily negative on its own, and could have been interesting in an original series, the fact that it was so far removed from season one ofDarker than Blackmade it harder to accept. Anyone who was looking for a continuation of the story from season one, hoping for more of the same but new missions and problems, was left with a sequel that felt like it came from an entirely different anime.
Why Did Darker than Black: Season Two Change So Much?
For Better or For Worse, the Creator Has the Answer
Interestingly, the originalDarker than Blackseries was not based on a manga or a light novel; it is a rare case of an anime existing first, as an original story. Later, the first series was adapted into two manga series, but the anime was what came first. It was originallycreated by Tensai Okamura, well-known for his work onWolf’s Rain.He wanted to create a new series with characters who were less heroic, and more rough, which is what he did withDarker than Black.
Back in 2021, Okamura did an interview withAnimeNewsNetwork, in which journalist Jacob Chapman could directly ask the creator why there is such a big difference between the two seasons ofDarker than Black. Okamura responded,
One thing that came up was “why make something the same?” Why make something similar in the continuation? Let’s do something different. In the first season, there were quite a few things that could be difficult to understand. So kind of a change of tone would be good, maybe the protagonist in the first one was a bit too much of the rough, working guy. So why don’t we put something like a little cute girl at the center of season 2, just something different. Another reason for this is that for audiences who got to know Darker than Black from season 2 first, we wanted to make something that would make them interested in watching season 1. You know, they hadn’t seen season 1 anyway, so why not learn about it by watching season 2 with this new protagonist?
The final answer to why the two series are so different, is that it was done intentionally by the series' creator, Tensai Okamura. Because he was creating the series directly as an anime, there was no manga to fall back on, or to gauge how audiences would react to the story before animating it, as most other anime can do. He took a big risk, switching the story over to beingmostly about a young girlinstead of an adult man, and really changed the characters from how they were in the first season. He achieved what he set out to do, which was to totally change the feel ofDarker than Black, but was it worth what it cost?
Of course, some people did enjoyDarker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor, and Okamura was able to reach the audience that he intended. The anime did manage to score 7.43 on MyAnimeList still. But the changes that were made to the characters and the tone did not sit well with many fans of the first season, who liked Hei the way he was, and were not interested in a story about a young girl. In the end,Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteorfeels like an entirely different anime from the first season. For those who liked season one, its unlikely they really love season two, and vice versa. It may have gotten a wider variety of fans interested in the anime, but it is unlikely to have many that like both.
