Darker than Black/Season One Tropes N-Z: Difference between revisions

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* [[Not of This Earth]]: The setting has strong ''[[Roadside Picnic]]'' style setup, so it has ''lots'' of strange things ranging from small plants to Dolls' and Contractors' abilities to the [[Alien Sky]]. Some of weird stuff found [[Black Box]] [[Imported Alien Phlebotinum|applications]].

* [[Not So Different]]: There's a lot of moments that show the audience how the protagonists and some of their antagonists aren't really different. For instance, the episode explaining Bertha's past parallels it with flashbacks of Yin's past and shows a similarity between the two; November 11 is told by the Evening Primrose members that he should do what's logical and join them, and he recalls telling Hei the same thing- although, November 11 concludes they are very different, as Hei acts illogically, while November 11 thinks it's logical {{spoiler|not to join Evening Primrose}}; Hei's advice to Kirihara in one of the last episodes to "trust no one and rely on her intuition" is pretty much word-for-word the same warning November 11 gave her, causing her to do a bit of a double-take.

* [[Not What It Looks Like]]: The time when Kirihara ran into Hei in a department store- buying a wig and a bra. {{spoiler|They were to help disguise a doll, you pervs.}}

* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: Hei in his "Li Shengshun" persona. Not ''stupid'', just so naive, clumsy, and [[Adorkable]] that no one thinks to look for the Black Reaper behind that smile.

* [[Scary Shiny Glasses]]: In one of the last episodes, a leader of [[The Syndicate]] {{spoiler|and one of Kirihara's superiors}} gets these when plotting {{spoiler|to wipe out all Contractors}}.

** Similarly, Nishijima's glasses flash all menacing-like when he's {{spoiler|discussing his orders for the Syndicate to assassinate Hei's unit.}}

* [[Self-Parody]]: The first season OVA episode (involving a [[Crack Fic]]-writing [[Loony Fan]] [[Stalker with a Crush]]), the vast majority of which is [[Crowning Moment of Funny|absolutely hilarious]].

* [[Sexy Secretary]]: One contractor, whose [[Power Perversion Potential|power]] is to teleport people out of their clothing and whose [[Intimate Healing|Remuneration is kissing people]].

* [[Ship Tease]]: Most of episode 23 consists of Hei and Kirihara on what is, essentially, a date. Kiko certainly thought so.

* [[Ship Sinking]]: Out of Hei's potential love interests, Kirihara is the only one who {{spoiler|survives for more than two episodes.}}Oh, and Yin if you count her.

** Not to mention the shot where he's dressed only in shorts while he's going through the screening process to enter the Gate. Not played for fanservice, though.

* [[Shock and Awe]]: Hei. {{spoiler|Or rather, Bai. Also Nick.}}

* [[Soul Fragment]]: [[It Was with You All Along]]. And mediums, as proven by CY-463.

* [[Soundtrack Dissonance]]: The [[Relax-O-Vision|especially peaceful]] [[Ending Theme]].

** Within the anime genre, there are some similarities to ''[[Ergo Proxy]]'' (Re-l and Kirihara and Vincent and Hei), ''[[Witch Hunter Robin]]'' ([[Gray and Gray Morality]] involving [[Differently-Powered Individual|Differently Powered Individuals]]), and ''[[Elfen Lied]]'' (living security systems, although much much less squicky in this show)

** And of course ''[[X-Men]]''

** Don't forget ''[[S-Cry-ed]]'' (supernatural disaster splits part of Japan off from the rest and grants a percentage of the population special abilities).

* [[Stuff Blowing Up]]: Of particular note is Maki, whose power is blowing up anything he's left handprints on. But plenty of stuff goes boom even without his help.

* [[Super Human Trafficking]]: All over the place.

* [[Superpower Lottery]]: Some Contractors have rather useless powers with a high price to pay, while others are very powerful with a small Remuneration (like drinking beer) apparently as a result of the unpredictability of the Gate and possibly twisted [[Personality Powers]]. The cake taker though is {{spoiler|Hei himself}}, who has the ability of {{spoiler|manipulating matter on a quantum level (though he's only aware of the [[Shock and Awe|electrical attack]] his sister used it as)}} and a remuneration of {{spoiler|sleeping, which he doesn't even have to fulfill due to the unusual means by which he acquired his powers}}.

** {{spoiler|Amber}} may have done even better. {{spoiler|She can manipulate time, stopping or rewinding it as suits her wishes. Her}} remuneration is {{spoiler|''getting younger''- she could have theoretically used this to make herself immortal.}}

* [[Tempting Fate]]: "Don't test my patience, {{spoiler|KABOOM}}!". [[Obstructive Bureaucrat|He should have seen it coming, though.]]

* [[Theme Naming]]: Most of the Syndicate agents are codenamed [[Colorful Theme Naming|based on colors]], such as Hei (black), Bai (white), Yin (silver), Huang (yellow), and Amber. MI6 agents are named after [[Temporal Theme Naming|months and days]], such as November 11, April, July, and February.

* [[Those Two Guys]]: Kirihara's subordinates, Saito and Kano. Also [[Plucky Comic Relief]] Kurosawa and Kiko.

* [[Throwaway Country]]: More like throw away Continent, being most of South America after the "Heaven's Gate" incident.

* [[The Un-Smile]]: Yin [[Frozen Face|had to use her fingers to smile]]. Unlike most instances of this trope, however, it was [[Moe|cute]] rather than freaky.

* [[UST]]: Huge amounts between Hei and Kirihara; episode 23 brings it close to [[Dating Catwoman]] levels.

* [[Villainous BSOD]]: {{spoiler|Shihoko}}'s remuneration requires her to suffer these, every time.

** Havoc could also be said to be going through an incredibly severe one.

* [[Villainy Discretion Shot]]: In the time prior to the series, Hei killed ''tons'' of people, probably mostly rogue Contractors, and this is very much downplayed. Also, it's clear that Havoc was a horrific mass murderer prior to losing her powers and regaining her morality and personality, but because she is presented sympathetically, it makes sense the audience isn't shown her "in action".

* [[Warrior Poet]]: Literal. Itzhak's remuneraton is writing poetry.

* [[Weapon of Choice]]: Hei fights with throwing knives and a choke wire. Handy since they conduct electricity.

* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]]: In episode 11, the head janitor addresses his employees [[Serious Business|like they're in a military line-up.]]

* [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?]]: Played for laughs. Kurasawa is terrified of cats.

* [[Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?]]: A rare main character example in Hei's undercover missions, all of which involve him taking some kind of menial job. Lampshaded when the [[Private Defective]] wonders why he keeps showing up.

** A further aspect of the "great insanity" involves the reaction of several people once they become Contractors. They seem to have a great desire to erase ties to their human past, which they will sometimes try to achieve by killing their closest friends. This is fairly explicit in the interquel and sequel, but can also be seen with Wei in the first season as an explanation for why he decided to kill pretty much everyone in the Tong he belonged to.

* [[A World Half Full]]: For all the dark tone and [[Bittersweet Ending]], it's still generally more idealistic than not.

* [[X Meets Y]]: This show is essentially what you would get if ''[[X-Men]]'' was written after watching the entire run of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' and a few episodes of ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' back-to-back.

* [[Yakuza]]

** Before that we have [[Mafia Princess]] Alice, a childhood friend of Misaki's that became a wee bit ''too'' dependent on her. She did ''not'' like the idea of Misaki becoming a cop (and therefore leaving her), so she decided that she needed to die.

* [[Yaoi Fangirl]]: Kiko only tolerates her work environment because she gets to watch [[Boys Love]] series on the job. Mayu is just as obsessive, if not worse.

* [[You Can See Me?]]: There's ''no way'' to tell a Contractor or Doll from normal human without their help, and two ways with it. First is a telltale sight of [[Red Eyes, Take Warning|eyes glowing red]] and a cool aura of blue light. Second (also applied to Dolls) is a suspect ogling an observer apparition, that is, [[Invisible to Normals|obviously empty place]]. Granted, only other Contractors, Dolls and people controlling this specific Doll can know it's there, but one Contractor's cover was blown by this mistake on-screen.

* [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair]]: A number of characters, usually Contractors and Dolls, have impossible hair colors like green, pink and white.

* [[You Watch Too Much X]]: When his assistant mentions in episode 14 that their latest client was acting like parts of his memory had been erased, Kurasawa responds appropriately by claiming she's been watching too much anime.

** Of course, this time [[Genre Savvy|she's right]].

* [[Zettai Ryouiki]]: By Kiko and her friend. Possibly Yin too if she uses a lower skirt.

 

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