Darker Than Black: Ryūsei no Gemini

Darker than Black
Cover of the first English Darker than Black DVD volume, featuring protagonist Hei
DARKER THAN BLACK ー黒の契約者ー (Dākā Zan Burakku -Kuro no Keiyakusha-)
Manga
Written by	Tensai Okamura
Illustrated by	Nokiya
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
English publisher	NA Yen Press
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	Monthly Asuka
Original run	February 24, 2007 – November 24, 2007
Volumes	2
Anime television series
Darker than Black: The Black Contractor
Directed by	Tensai Okamura
Written by	Shotaro Suga
Music by	Yoko Kanno
Studio	Bones
Licensed by	AUS Madman Entertainment NA Funimation UK Manga Entertainment
Original network	MBS, TBS, Animax
English network	SEA Animax US Funimation Channel
Original run	April 5, 2007 – September 28, 2007
Episodes	25 (List of episodes)
Original video animation
Beneath the Fully Bloomed Cherry Blossoms
Directed by	Tensai Okamura
Written by	Shotaro Suga
Music by	Yoko Kanno
Studio	Bones
Licensed by	AUS Madman Entertainment NA Funimation UK Manga Entertainment
Released	March 26, 2008
Runtime	25 minutes
Manga
Darker than Black: Jet Black Flower
Written by	Tensai Okamura
Illustrated by	Yuji Iwahara
Published by	Square Enix
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Young Gangan
Original run	May 15, 2009 – January 21, 2011
Volumes	4
Anime television series
Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor
Directed by	Tensai Okamura
Written by	Shotaro Suga
Music by	Yasushi Ishii
Studio	Bones
Licensed by	NA Funimation UK Manga Entertainment
Original network	MBS, TBS
Original run	October 8, 2009 – December 24, 2009
Episodes	12 (List of episodes)
Original video animation
Darker than Black: Origins
Directed by	Tensai Okamura
Written by	Shotaro Suga
Music by	Yasushi Ishii
Studio	Bones
Licensed by	NA Funimation UK Manga Entertainment
Released	January 27, 2010 – July 21, 2010
Episodes	4 (List of episodes)

Darker than Black, also known as Darker than Black: The Black Contractor (DARKER THAN BLACK ー黒の契約者ー, Dākā Zan Burakku -Kuro no Keiyakusha-^?), is an anime television series created and directed by Tensai Okamura and animated by Bones. It premiered across Japan from April 5, 2007 on MBS, TBS, and its affiliated broadcast stations, with its satellite television premiere in Japan on Animax in May 2007. The music for the series is composed by Yoko Kanno. The series has also been adapted into two manga series, which are serialized in Monthly Asuka and in Young Gangan.

A sequel titled Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor (DARKER THAN BLACK ー流星の双子（ジェミニ）ー, Dākā Zan Burakku -Ryūsei no Jemini-^?) premiered in Japan on October 8, 2009.

On January 21, 2016, it was announced that Funimation, the North American distributor for the anime, no longer holds the license for the first season.

Ten years ago, a mysterious spatial anomaly now known as "Heaven's Gate" appeared in South America, shortly followed by the opening of "Hell's Gate" in Tokyo altering the sky and wreaking havoc on the landscape. The real stars disappeared, replaced by false stars. During this time, people possessing various special abilities—called "Contractors"—emerged, each capable of different supernatural feats. Each Contractor has a corresponding fake star, which reacts to their activities. As such, Contractors are usually identified by their star's Messier catalogue number. Kept secret from the masses, these individuals are known to murder in cold blood, smothering unnecessary emotions with logic and rationality. Their incredible abilities, however, are gained at the cost of their humanity; Contractors are thus named because of an involuntary compulsion to "pay the price" each time their power is used, which can range from eating particular foods or completing meaningless tasks, to self-harm and changing their bodies in peculiar ways. Various nations and organizations around the world train and utilize Contractors as spies and assassins, resulting in violent battles for valuable objects and information.