Remnants (DTB Gaiden OVAs 3 and 4)

Ugh! Blarg! Glush!

You know a post is going to be good when it starts out with sounds that hint of bodily functions. I’m pretty sure the writers of DTB got together for these OVAs and asked “Do you think Dustin would throw a tantrum if we abused Yin and Hei for four episodes without a happy ending?” Well here’s your answer DTB writers: “YES!” Honestly, if the name of this blog wasn’t based off Yin and I hadn’t promised myself and others that I would write this up I wouldn’t have. It’s not that there’s anything particularly wrong with the episodes, it’s just not much fun to watch or think about.

The worst part is at the end of the day I only have myself to blame. I knew they couldn’t have a happy ending since I’ve already seen Season 2, but this story still isn’t much fun. Unlike how DTB is normally I felt like there was no relief from the onslaught of depressing circumstances as we had no Mao for comic relief. The timegap between these OVAs really made it hard too. They weren’t inclusive and certainly wanted to rely on previous developments to set the mood for whichever episode you were watching, but there was cipro without prescription no way I was going to carry the state I had been in into the new episode. Hence it took me about half an episode to get any kind of emotional grip at all. I’m a big fan of DTB and felt that way so I can only imagine the person who watched these OVAs because they mildly liked DTB. In the end they begged to be marathoned and I am going to do that sometime in the near future. However, there are important plot points to discuss as this world and dialogue needs some revealing.

And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for:

Hoho, is this line similar to a line Yin delivers at the end of season 2; the same line that drew a smile from Hei’s lips in the finale; the same line that made me wonder at in writing on the internet. If you can’t recall (or didn’t read it) I wrote:

Here’s an interesting bit to chew on for all of those out there who think Yin died at this point. Clearly at the end Yin says “Hei, it’s not too late. Kill me” and surprisingly enough Hei responds with a smile. I think it’s important to point out that he smiles. This is weird. For a guy about to kill the girl he loves he certainly is jolly about it. That is of course, unless he isn’t going to kill the girl he loves. I actually think when Yin said those final lines Hei realized something. The Yin he loved (who wanted to prevent this whole thing from happening) wasn’t entirely gone.

These OVAs refocused all of what Season 2 was from Hei’s perspective. For a very long time I was sure Hei was mainly motivated by betrayal. He thought Yin had betrayed and abandoned him allowing him to consider thoughts of homicide. I think it becomes fairly clear in this last OVA that betrayal isn’t what we’re dealing with. Hei think Yin was pretty much being killed (and probably dead by the time he starts drinking) by Izanami. Hei didn’t really have a relationship with Izanami, so unlike the first season’s motivation to get that darn Amber and find his sister we have a different premise: Revenge. However, he isn’t entirely certain that Yin is dead which leads to his hesitation. He can’t let Suou shoot Yin’s body because last he saw she was still barely hanging on. Thus I think most of Hei’s conflict was an internal questioning of whether or not she was alive. In that final episode of season 2 he walked in prepared to kill Izanami because he hadn’t seen a trace of Yin, but in those final moments: BAM! There she is, “Hei, it’s not too late. Kill me.”

You’d smile too :). The girl you really care about, who you thought was dead, just showed up. Who cares what she said because at this point there is no way Hei is going to kill her or walk away and let her die. No matter what I’m entirely convinced now that Hei saved her even if it was at the expense of the world. After all, he’s been carrying that burden a long time and he’s only one human/contractor.

I like that they left Season 2 ambiguous now because I think it’s obvious what Hei did when given these OVAs. DTB rewards the viewer who cares enough to pay attention and doesn’t just automatically assume that we’re too stupid to understand what’s going on. DTB will probably always remain one of my favorite series because it requires you to psychoanalyze the characters to understand the plot development. I think I have now expended more words on Yin’s survival then your eyes should have to read.

Oh yeah, there were other parts of the OVAs too huh.

I’m not really sure how I felt about the inclusion of the remnants of the Evening Primrose. In one sense it’s pretty rad that they did tie up that loose end from the first season, on the other hand their deaths seemed rather pointless (which I guess is about as DTB-esque as you can get).

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I must admit though the inclusion of the baby was cool for multiple reasons. For one seeing rational contractors take care of something as irrational as a baby is kind of mind boggling. The decision to have a child is pretty much completely emotional. Consider the unplanned ones which is just…. Well you know. You have the planned ones, but it’s not a pros and cons list. Maybe a dad or mom wants their immortality, maybe they just like kids, and maybe they want a hook to keep the husband/wife around. At the end of the day people have kids because they WANT them, not because they NEED them (I guess in the olden days you did need free labor). So what of two contractors who decide: “Hey, let’s make a baby”. I actually wanted to hear a lot more :).

Baby was cool reason number 2: Yin and Hei. At this point in the OVAs the dream of running away and living peacefully is fading fast. They’re being hunted and there is no sign of it stopping. Watching Hei watch Yin watch the baby was a perfect storm of conflicting thoughts. You can see that Yin wants that future—which is awesome because she emotionlessly shows us her wanting a family future. At the same time you can tell that both of them pretty much know it’s an impossibility. This is pretty much tragedy 101: People with very small dreams for happiness who aren’t allowed to achieve them. Who knew a baby could say so much without the ability to speak right? I’ve really got to hand it to Bones on this one because you so rarely see babies used for a metaphor other than “life isn’t it beautiful”. With one symbol Bones exposed more sadness than the rest of the OVAs combined. Tie that in with Yin’s love being unrequit(oops)… More on that later.

It’s one thing for Yin to say “Hei, let’s be together” and completely another for her to ask to hold a baby. It’s too bad this was simply more emotional abuse of Yin! Damn you Bones!!

I was a little glad they showed the remnants of EPR. They’re a really boring group. When Hei and Yin arrive in the camp they’re pretty much just existing and not much more than that (Except for being the future of contractors or whatever [That idea lasted how long? Oh yeah, until he killed them all at the end of the episode.]). They’re kind of dazed and confused. The two times they do, DO something is to save Hei and then to try and kill him. This inaction and action is pretty enlightening.

Basically we’re being shown that this group is purposeless without Amber. It gives her a lot more significance than the first season ever did. It’s one thing to say “The Evening Primrose wouldn’t exist without Amber” it’s another too show the lifeless group The Evening Primrose is without her. I think it’s interesting to note that Contractors without hopes and dreams are just as lifeless as humans without hopes and dreams. They only act rationally? Why act at all? Living in its essence is an irrational human choice. We know we don’t WANT to die, but that is in itself a want. (Note to self: Prepare for a possible Passerby confrontation on defining rationality). Still, I don’t think anyone realized how important Amber was as the heart of the group until she disappeared. I’m fairly sure Amagiri saves Yin and Hei because of his attachment to her and then the rest of the EPR tries to kill him because he was pretty much responsible for her death. Everything boils down to Amber and why not: She was a pretty incredible girl.

The new contractors from a different part of the syndicate (or whatever, I have an impossible time keeping straight all of the mysterious organizations these days) were decent. They died really quickly though. Leave it to DTB to kill off everyone all the time. I’m surprised they didn’t knock off Mao again (OR DID THEY). I appreciate the possessor contractor because she had a cool power and because she got to lay down some truth (basically what we were all thinking). She reminds me of some other anime character… I’m having a hard time remembering who. I picked these last lines because they seem to be the conflict of all 4 OVAs and because she almost makes them more. These dying lines are so passionate, it’s almost like the words coming out of her mouth have another (cattle prodding) meaning. Instead of “Did you really think you could find happiness?” being the meaning I’m leaning more towards a “Are you really giving up now? For god’s sake stop sitting there and save her already.” Of course we’ll never know, but it’s more of a slap in the face to wake you up than a sucker punch in the gut because you can. Or she’s just really pissed because this idiot probably got her killed. Whatever, that’s pretty much the same meaning.

Crazy illusion guy was your typical slightly insane, doing stuff for weird reasons, bad guy. He did a great job of making me hate him.

I mean I really, really wanted him to die by the time Izanami showed up. I had no problem watching his specter get sucked up at all. I even cheered a little. In case any of you are keeping track my Yin delusions are becoming homicidal. Let’s see, if a season 3 comes out it would probably be best if someone locked me in my room from the outside.

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Just kidding, he was actually a pretty interesting contractor who asked the important questions. Every once in a while I get a hankering for these incredibly out of place philosophical conversations. “I’m about to kill you… do you think Justice should be blind?” Still, he says some pretty interesting stuff: Logic being a function of the ideal you follow instead of logic as a universal truth in and of itself. I like that in a world like DTB they eventually have to point out that logic ends up being subjective. Just because it ends up manifesting itself in similar ways (i.e. best way to accomplish your goal) it’s still based on an individual desire. Hence justifying what this show has been asking and confronting us with since it’s inception. Does that make him a decent villain? I think so, though I haven’t bothered to remember his name so I guess a little bit of that homicidal mania isn’t fake.

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I was really surprised when Hei couldn’t answer this question at the beginning of Ep. 3. It makes you wonder if he really does love her. I think I was asking this question back in the first OVA, Yin’s obviously nuts (in a good way) about him, while he’s cold and distant. He obviously is affectionate for her, but it’s not the romantic kind of love. I really, really liked this little scene for exactly that reason. At first it looks like he has an answer, but when he stops to think about it for even one second he realizes that it’s not true. I think he wants to answer “I’m in love with her” in that first second since she’s already made clear how she feels about him. He wants to reciprocate, he really does, because no matter how he shows it Hei does care about her. Then you have the second later where he looks really depressed because he knows he can’t love her in that way. He’s not IN love with her. Even this line:

Just says that she’s important to him without ever specifying in what way. This is where the baby shot comes back too as you see the emotionless Yin attracted to the idea of starting a family and Hei still remaining distant. I’m pretty much convinced at this point that Hei loves Yin, but not as a lover. If you need any further proof he sees her naked several times but there is no reaction ;). Just kidding, pretend I didn’t write that. Yin on the other hand always says it:

I think if the series does go on this is going to be important. The writers have made this dynamic too clear: We don’t have a Romeo and Juliet, we have an unrequited love towards someone who cares about the other deeply. These OVAs were about Yin as much as they were about Hei. Yin’s tradgedy grows more and more because: She loves Hei, but the world won’t let her be with him, and she loves Hei, but he can’t return the kind of love she wants/needs. I think buy acomplia a few moments in these OVAs have asked the question “Is her loving him enough?” I’m pretty sure the answer has been no for awhile now. Hei basically answered no when he couldn’t answer Amagiri’s question of “What is that doll to you?” Who knows if that will change given a Season 3 (if there’s a Season 3) However, for now:

then… I’ll promise to always finish my sentences!

Oh gosh, where does that leave me with the rest of the episode? There’s some plot going down and some more weird gate stuff. Who knew Izanami could explode a pillar of light and suck in aerial missiles? I’m still not a big fan of prophecy. I feel like predetermined plots all end one of two ways: The prophecy comes true, but it wasn’t the way that anyone thought, or, they fight against their fate and barely overcome it.

(Brief aside:  Speaking of prophecy plots I really liked the way Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou did it. There was a prophecy that he was pretty sure wasn’t going to come true and then towards the end he willingly embraced it. Go go Demonlord. That world was all over the place in fantastic ways).

The DTB prophecy is also kind of boring. I mean the world ending is a big deal and what not, but I like horribly personal prophecies like: “No one will ever love you and not regret it.” Come on, you know you like it. The DTB OVA pretty much dictates play by play what’s going to happen while my prophecy up there only tells you the result without how it happens. Both would be horrible for the person receiving, but one says a heck of a lot more about the person receiving it. Plus, we still don’t ever get to hear the whole prophecy: I still want to hear what Amber said: “At the end Hei will…” That’s just baloney. What fun is a prophecy if they don’t tell you the whole thing so you can puzzle over it until the end of the story when it happens? The answer is: No fun at all.

I wish November 11 was still alive… He was a really fun character who juxtaposed Hei really well. Gosh, thinking of a continuation of DTB is so boring without all those conflicting world views and how they were going to clash. Now if there’s a season 3 we’re going to have what? Hei, Yin, Madam Orielle, Misaki, Lightsaber Girl, the old contractor section or whatever, Mao, and that new super bad Izanami offspring who is going to destroy everything, and… I guess there is always the syndicate in the background. Still, that’s not a lot of competing perspectives. For the most part they’re all on the same page. Oh, I just thought of something good: What about Kiko and Gui  for a whole season :). It wouldn’t really be Darker than Black anymore, but it would be a lot of fun, especially if they were responsible for saving the world (Talk about two people you wouldn’t want to hand that responsibility over to).

You might need more proof that Yin pulls through Season 2 as I know there are sure to be skeptics out there:

Case closed.

Alright enough fantasizing, I’ve clearly run out of stuff I want to talk about from the OVAs unless you guys can come up with something interesting that I missed. I’m sure you can, I mainly only pay attention to stuff pertaining to Yin. I am a Yin Obsessed Crazy Person after all ;).

P.S. (As I thumbed through the second two episodes for screen shots I noticed some other goodies that I didn’t remember while writing this post. These last two OVAs were actually pretty darn good when you don’t focus on the fact that no one ever gets happiness in DTB)

P.P.S.S. (Hey guys look! I finally did it, I finally posted about the last two OVAs of DTB? Did I bring you any happiness? We need to balance out the DTB world otherwise the scale is swinging in favor of depression with each new episode.)