Anime Discussion Thread - Page 11

Black lagoon
The story follows a team of pirates/mercenaries known as Lagoon Company, who smuggle goods in and around the seas of Southeast Asia in the 1990s[4]. Their base of operations is located in the fictional city of Roanapur in Thailand, and they transport goods in the PT boat Black Lagoon. When on land, they move around and conduct business using Benny's 1969 Dodge Coronet R/T. Lagoon Company does business with various clients, but has a particularly friendly relationship with the Russian crime syndicate Hotel Moscow. The team takes on a variety of missions—which may involve violent firefights, hand-to-hand combat, and nautical battles—in various Southeast Asian locations and when not doing much, the members of the Lagoon Company spend much of their down time at The Yellow Flag, a bar in Roanapur.

Darker than Black
Ten years ago, an inscrutable and abnormal territory known as Hell's Gate appeared in Tokyo, altering the sky and wreaking havoc on the landscape. The heavenly bodies disappeared, replaced by false stars. During this time, people who possess various special abilities emerged. Kept secret from the masses, these individuals, known as Contractors, are able to murder in cold blood. Various nations and organizations around the world use Contractors as spies and assassins, often resulting in violent battles for information. Each fake star has a corresponding Contractor, and they vibrate when their Contractor's power is being used. As such, Contractors are usually identified by their star's Messier catalogue number. However, their abilities are gained at the cost of their humanity. They are implied to lack human emotions which includes no aversions to murder, and they are regarded as extremely rational and logical in their decision making. Contractors are thus named because of their need to always complete a remuneration or payment each time their power is used (ex. eating flowers, breaking fingers, drinking blood). It is not entirely clear what happens to one if he or she fails to complete the remuneration. Contractors are described as being psychologically compelled to complete their remunerative task.

Set several years after "The Great Uprising", a future geological phenomenon near Tokyo, people have developed a power granting them the ability to deconstruct, reshape, and crystalize matter at a molecular level using only thought and willpower. These people have come to be known as "Alter" users. With only 5% of the newborn generations receiving such special power, though this number rises steadily as the series progresses, some feel a superiority over normal humans.

There are two opposing forces of alters: the Native Alters, a group of Alter users who live outside the central city and avoid any relationships with the government; and HOLY, an organization of Alter users that are a subgroup of an organization called HOLD. HOLD functions as the Mainland government's super police force of the Lost Ground, while HOLY, composed exclusively of Alter users, serves as the 'special operations' group, aiding HOLD in performing dangerous missions that might require the help of an Alter user.

Kazuma (dubbed "The Treasoner" in the manga and "The Shell Bullet" in the anime) and Ryuhou are the two s-CRY-ed characters bearing a rivalry used to drive and focus the plot. They spend much of the series trying to defeat each other, even when they are forced to work together. Neither can forget their bitter rivalry.

There is also a narrator, Kanami. Kanami is a close friend of Kazuma, who protects her and treats her like a little sister. She narrates the series with her dreams, unknowingly using her alter power to 'scry' the emotions of the people she feels closely about. Her ability to peer into the emotions of the main characters is used frequently through-out the series to bring insight to the characters, and to tease viewers during previews for the next episode.

The series progresses through the initial introduction of the Alter power to a wider understanding of the politics and reason for "The Great Uprising". Each episode showcases a new Alter user, and their Alter, or a growth of the Alter of a previously introduced character. "The Great Uprising" is later revealed to be caused by a similar event in a parallel universe where all creatures are independent thinking Alters. During one of Ryuhou and Kazuma's battles, they open a gateway to the parallel universe, causing another uprising and attracting the attention of the Mainland government. The Mainland sends its agent, Kyouji Mujo, to the Lost Ground in an attempt to exploit the power of the parallel universe for economic gain. Mujo develops delusions of grandeur after becoming the defacto head of the Lost Ground government and absorbing the crystal entity from "the other side" to add to his already formidable Alter power. Both he and the crystal entity are defeated by the separate efforts of Kazuma and Ryuhou, respectively. The Mainland once again attempts to exert control over the Lost Ground by sending in a fleet of refined Alter users under their control, but they are defeated by Kazuma and Ryuhou.

After defeating the Mainland forces, Kazuma and Ryuhou engage in one final battle to settle their rivalry. After exhausting themselves to the point that they are too weak to maintain their Alters (and indeed, barely able to stand), they fight on with their bare hands till neither can move. In the next scene, a silhouetted fist is raised by the victor, although it's never explained whose it was. An epilogue, taking place years later, Kazuma and Ryuho remain the protectors of the Lost Ground, defending it from Mainland invaders. An older Kanami, who now has full control over her alter, awaits their return.