Darker than Black ep.20

September 8, 2007 | 6 Comments

Sorry for the extremely late entry but for some reason I find it hard to go back into the routine of watching the series. Upon watching this, however, I remember why this is the case. The story while pretty good, is also quite depressing. It's like a chronicle of a group of people who could never find happiness and everything from the narrative style to the ending song are used to emphasize this. On a more positive side, the story contains some interesting discussion about the difference between humans and Contractors. There's also an interesting twist that I didn't expect although I'm not sure if it's a good thing for Huang's character. In a way, it actually made him look like a fool and erased the justification that he had on the previous episode for hating Contractors in general. On an unrelated note, I've updated Kongetsu as usual.

Huang reveals to Hei and Mao that they got a new order: to kill Alma and Shihoko. After Huang left, Mao tells Hei that they got another order: to kill Huang if he fails. The three eventually manage to find Shihoko so Huang takes Shihoko with him while Hei goes after Alma. Before he manages to find her, however, Hei is confronted by Amagiri, who won't kill him unless he comes to kill Alma. The confrontation ends when Amagiri's power causes a house to collapse on himself. Despite this, Amagiri survives so he can eat eggs to pay for his price. Meanwhile, Huang and Shihoko have conversation with one another, allowing Shihoko to reveal that the reason she killed Isozaki was because Isozaki was a spy for the religious cult. Hei himself manages to find Alma and finds out that her price is rapid aging. In a conversation with Hei, Alma tells him that a Contractor tends to lose one's conscience and therefore are more likely to be used as asssassin.

Alma, however, disagrees with Hei's summation that Contractors don't have heart. She points out that a person will kill with or without the ability because there's always other weapons. The difference between human and Contractors lies in the rational judgment. There are people who succeed in this world because they don't care about others and she feels Contractor is evolution of this kind of people. Alma eventually dies after transforming to her younger self one more time. Meanwhile, Shihoko reveals to Huang that her price is feeling the horror of her own action. Huang also finds out that it was Shihoko back then who asked the organization not to erase his memories. Despite what has happened, Huang finds himself unable to kill Shihoko so he asks Hei to kill them both. Hei, however, refuses to do so and tells Mao that they are not just the Organization's dogs. Shihoko and Huang try to run away together but when another assassin targets them, Shihoko decides to sacrifice her own life to save Huang.

Impression:

While I agree that it's one's conscience which determines if a person will become a murderer or not, I think having the kind of power that Contractors possess also makes a difference. The reason why people don't just shoot or stab every person that they dislike is because they know there is a law and they won't be able to get away from the consequences of killing a person. However, if you take away that constraint, I am not sure if they'll less likely to commit the crime. The power that the Contractors possess make them a bit above normal humans in that no other humans possess their power. Thus, it makes them a bit more unreachable by law. Also, when you have that kind of power it'll be hard not to let it go over your head. It is true, however, that a kind person won't immediately become murderous dictator by having the power. However, power does corrupt and without the price that the Contractors have to pay, I think it'll corrupt the owner easily.

© memento 2003