Cruel Angel Theses

The subtext littered throughout is, I do think, a sort of rare gem that keeps this series miles above its peers. I’ve only ever seen anything close to it in True Tears, and while True Tears had the problem of being mistaken for melodrama (it being rather dramatic and whatnot) or utterly misjudged due to its genre…

Darker than Black has no such luxury. It surreptitiously weaves a story at two levels, and this is where opinions part ways–those who are able to pick up the underlying narrative while paying attention to the overlying one will love it. Those who can only see what is readily apparent will find it mediocre, and they deserve it, the mongrels.

But enough of this pre-wreaking of, uh, havoc on the post.

“Havoc’s Carmine Dreams Fade in Eastern Europe”

(usagijen, holder of JLPT 2 extraordinaire and DtB virgin, advised me that 災厄, when set alongside 紅き, was more than likely to be a pun on ‘Havoc’ and ‘Carmine’ respectively, so this is my rendition of an otherwise slippery episode title)

Okamura must have been a magician. The first time around, I knew where to look:

But apparently I should’ve been looking in more than one place due to his skilful misdirection:

I mean, poor Yin. All she wants to do is to not be left alone leave Hei alone, just like Carmine.

From what I can gather, it’s pretty safe to say that Havoc/Carmine wasn’t the only one that deserved attention this episode; her presence is not merely that of a token death or a fulfilment of the episodic tragedy quota, but that of a mirror to Hei, prodding, probing, and questioning where deserved. To label her as anything else cheapens her role to that of a 2-bit B-grade hag, and if that reading isn’t shallow, I don’t know what is.

Right, Yin? Isn’t it sad?

The Yin-Hei dynamic runs very deep, and I am kicking myself for not noticing it the first time around. It’s regrettable that most of DtB’s undercurrent revelations come in short, sharp, sporadic bursts of a blink-or-you-miss-it-nature, but Yin is a Doll after all, and passive mediums don’t just grab your hand out of the blue because they’re cold and forgot to bring their gloves; they’re probably doing it because, y’know, they care. And they see right through you, as far as a blind Doll can “see”, matters of the heart aside.

One important angle I noticed is that of Hei’s nature as a character that works both backward and forward; he reacts for unknown reasons in early episodes to certain things that only make sense later on, and in this case, he reacts for reasons that only make sense in retrospect in later episodes as a result of certain things that happened earlier on.

Why the passionate hate for Contractors when he has to work with them on a daily basis? Why would anyone go to such an extent to earn a living unless they were masochistic? Is Huang into the old S&M or is he constantly harping on this tangent of  “YOU CONTRACTORS!” for a more potent reason than just a crotchety old-before-his-time act?

I mean, you’d think that there’s something like this that happens much later on, only in reverse, that explains it–someone else almost ruining the entire mission as a result of bringing his personal life into the mission? That does ring a bell, alright.

“Here’s the smell of the blood still:”

“All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh!“

Hands, and the symbolism thereof caught my attention rather vividly. Carmine, as can be evidenced from the illusory shot of her blood-stained hands, probably transmitted her Contractor powers through her hands, as does Hei, and November 11, and so many others. Hands are a deadly weapon in a post-Gate world, and I found this exchange between Carmine and Hei to be heartbreaking, and exceptionally significant.

The contrast between these two scenes practically beg to be juxtaposed. In the first one, Carmine begs for a mercy kill, putting the gun to her head, as it were–a gun of which she has no way to pull the trigger. She is horrified at what she’s about to reprise, and wants nothing about it. Hei is stoic, impassive, silent.

Then the rain arrives, and what Hei does next is absolutely amazing.

He offers a shaky smile, and compassion. A Contractor. Getting rained upon. With an icy killing machine on his heels. He offers it to someone whose fingers he had mercilessly broken earlier, in rage, and then gingerly spoonfed thereafter.

Is this guy really a Contractor at all? I mean, he’s all taciturn and poker-faced when given the chance to kill, yet wavering, almost emotional when someone’s about to give up the good fight, stop running the race and all that. What does that say about the ubiquitious mask he wears while going about his Contractor duties?

Instead of giving her the escape she wants, Hei steps away, and grabs her hand. Later on, in the rain, split seconds before the fateful ice shards that will strike her down, he takes her head into both of his hands in a very tender gesture, before telling her that it’ll be alright. It always does.

Then Carmine smiles, as if she really believes it, and dies a second later. Out, out, brief candle.

But does this prevailing image of hands in the episode really signify nothing? I beg to differ. The act of making contact, hand-in-hand, hand-at-throat, hand-to-face… these are all very meaningful gestures that each have their own coded set of messages, be it that of support, murder, or comfort–and belie the fact that Contractors and Dolls shouldn’t be feeling these emotions anyway. Should they?

~

Hige says:

These pair of episodes cemented what, deep within myself, I already knew: November 11 is a certified anime legend. Sure, his attempts at dry English humour are a bit stilted (I’d be curious to see how an English voice actor delivers the lines – his Western VA is actually English, right?) but his lofty, charismatic arrogance is very well observed – especially in regards to foreign policy. His and April’s obeisances are also wry bits of comedic brilliance . . . although I challenge you to find ten Brits who consider having a fag and/or a pint an endurance or punishment.

I think I came to appreciate the brevity of Havoc’s appearance with rewatching this arc. First time around I remember myself and others being very irritated by her short-lived (ohoho) screen time with her being such an enigmatic, interesting character. In hindsight she serves her purpose and I respect the decision to keep her tenure short and sweet. She teases a lot of fascinating history out of Hei, specifically regarding his sister and raison d’être, and to have her linger would cheapen her narrative importance. Her most significant contribution, I think, is drawing our attention to Hei as a Contractor and why we should really be questioning his purity in that role. Why does he keep having these flights of conscience? Why doesn’t he have an obeisance? Havoc ponders that he doesn’t appear to be in Moratorium either, inviting us as viewers to seriously consider what role Hei actually takes in this humanity/Contractor/Doll dynamic. It becomes a big deal later on and I recommend anyone new to the series to pay special attention to it. Especially now Pai, Hei’s sister, has been introduced as a plot point.

Havoc’s death confused me somewhat. We’re told why the Syndicate doesn’t want her near the Gate – apparently she has some inconvenient memories stored away that they don’t want remembered – and it’s established that MI6 want her with PANDORA to avoid any international power struggles. So why is it November 11, the figure lurking in the shadows we assume (he uses the same ice power again later on after all), who kills her? I can’t remember this being resolved later on so the best explanation is that he saw she was becoming unstable and had to ‘neutralise the threat’. It makes logical sense and that’s obviously fundamental in explaining the Contractors’ behaviour; it just seems a little . . . ulterior motive-y.

I swear half the fun of this rewatch is realising that I can barely remember anything about Darker than Black and most of this still feels completely new. It’s a very rewarding sort of limbo to be caught in.