Darker Than Black - Episode 08 Discussion / Poll

[Equidistant]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

1. We have no direct info that Hei can see observation ghosts, but I can't see how he found Suou in ep7 if he couldn't, especially since he told her to thank July. Hei was with Suou all that time, so he can't have told Hei. Could he somehow tell that July had obscured Ilya's vision with an observation ghost in the windshield?

2. I haven't heard of sake being a complete substitute for food, although beer can be. Sake has a higher alcohol content than beer, so you'd have to be very, very drunk to get enough food value, I think. I'm not sure what the staff is trying to tell us with this shift from sake to food: just cleaning up his act, or getting his powers back?

I believe Mao asked Hei how he found them and Hei said he called someone(?), I don't really remember that well but there was some explanation. As for telling Suou to thank July I'd say he did notice that July obscured Ilya's vision. The alcohol thing is just an assumption of mine considering that Hei began eating again right after he stopped drinking, but rather than it being due to the alcohol itself Hei is just finally returning to his old self.

[orion]

Originally Posted by CantQuiteGuess

I believe Mao asked Hei how he found them and Hei said he called someone(?), I don't really remember that well but there was some explanation. As for telling Suou to thank July I'd say he did notice that July obscured Ilya's vision. The alcohol thing is just an assumption of mine considering that Hei began eating again right after he stopped drinking, but rather than it being due to the alcohol itself Hei is just finally returning to his old self.

Or reviewing the episode is a good thing. The only thing that Hei said in response to Mao's questioning of how he found them was...

If you want to thank someone, thank July. (ep. 7 21:41)

And that answer was said and directed at Suou.

So unless you want to say that he was only lucky, there's only one other way....July directed him there using his observational ghost like he did Suou to his location.

---

Hei was depressed and was drinking. When he snapped out of his funk, he started eating and his abilities are starting to come back. I'm betting that his mental state had more to do with his loss of abilities than the weapon that was used on him.

[chaos_alfa]

Originally Posted by orion

Or reviewing the episode is a good thing. The only thing that Hei said in response to Mao's questioning of how he found them was...

If you want to thank someone, thank July. (ep. 7 21:41)

And that answer was said and directed at Suou.

But Mao said:
"How did you find this place?"
"Did you contact the informant?"
"Isn't that a bad idea, considering your situation?"

Hei probably contacted Oreille for the information about their location and said to Suou to thank July because he discovered (I can't find the right word right now :S) that July was the one that gave Hei the change to finish Ilya off.

[Solafighter]

"That was...."

Amber?!
(Not sure, though)

KIKO IS BACK! YEES! She is brilliant.

[Aryu]

Yes that was Amber, only know contractor who has saw the future

Originally Posted by orion

If you want to thank someone, thank July. (ep. 7 21:41)

As for this, July distracted Ilya attention from Hei. So Hei could finish Ilya.
Don't really know how he found them, maybe he really contacted with informant.

[Zwei]

Originally Posted by chaos_alfa

But Mao said:
"How did you find this place?"
"Did you contact the informant?"
"Is't that a bad idea, considering your situation?"

Hei probably contacted Oreille for the information about their location and said to Suou to thank July because he discovered (I can't find the right word right now :S) that July was the one that gave Hei the change to finish Ilya off.

Yeah, I also think Hei contacted the informant for July's location after he was kidnapped. Suou was the one who told Hei that July was indeed calling for help.

I also said in the other thread about Hei saying "If you want to thank someone, thank July" that it was a bit confusing. He was probably referring to something else and not about how he helped him kill the contractor.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by orion

...I'm betting that his mental state had more to do with his loss of abilities than the weapon that was used on him.

Perhaps this ties in with Yin being able to cause contractors to kill themselves: maybe she makes them feel really, really depressed, and that was the effect of the weapon used on Hei, making him feel too much pain to summon his powers. Not that he wasn't already depressed by having lost Yin. I think something about Suou is helping him out of his funk, along with the possibility of finally seeing/dealing with Yin.

But I think chaos_alfa must be right that Hei contacted Madame Oreille to find Suou in the car with Ilya. I think the word he used was 情報源 jouhougen, "information source." Madame Oreille was said to have three times as many ears as others, and I think the four ears of those twin dolls must be pretty effective.

The most powerful people here seem to be Oreille and the twins, and Shion. And Yin and her captors, I suppose.

[Joe_fh]

I wonder who actually controls Yin. We haven't heard much about the SYndicate in the second season. They should probably connect the events using "him" at some point.

Spoiler for Season 1:

The other interesting part is if the contractor that saw the future will be Amber or the old stargazer. Seing that an Amber look-alike apperead in the OVA trailer and she was muted in it I think just maybe she will appear briefly in the end of this season as well. Then again the stargazer seemed like an important character somehow connected with Amber in s1 but their connection wasn't explained at all.

Of coures they could always be refuring to Shion since we have no idea what his power is.

And about how Hei found Suou in the 7th episode I agree with chaos_alfa or at least that seemed like the most obvious thing to have happened. Right now Hei should be "normal" thus not able to sense them at all. Then again at that time he wasn't working for Oreille anymore so he migh have just contacted a random informant. He should know people considering his background.

[Magin]

Well, we have my most predominant thought about this episode:

Ding Dong the bitch is dead!

but other thoughts... well, Misaki in swimsuit= WIN!!! and we have Hei slowly turning back into the semblance of the Black Reaper... and dammit, Suou's father and brother really are something along the lines of jackasses. Something tell me neither of them is going to make it out of this series alive... (then again, I'm sorta getting the same vibes about Suou...)

[hei]

Originally Posted by jonli

In the S1 when he lost his sister, he had someone to blame, Amber. He was adamant in punishing her and finding out what truly happened. The depression from the loss of his sister is transformed into an anger for Amber and hope to find the truth (which would lead to his sister).

Given that we're not sure exactly what happened before S2 since the OADs aren't out yet, it is safe to assume that's largely about the lost of Yin. Although Yin is largely implied as Hei's lover, we can certainly see some parallel between her and Xing/Pai. If Yin disappears from Hei's life, it's as if he loses the same person twice. When a person is faced with the same mistake twice, they start to relate the source of the problems to themselves. It's not longer Amber's fault, maybe it's my own fault? Maybe I'm the one that's causing all of them to suffer. That's a typical train of thought when someone get's depressed. It's possible that that's what led Hei down the path of hobo.

But of course, in truth, we're not sure yet. We'll just have to cross our fingers and hope they'll explain it properly. I don't think so though :P, given the time we have left I'm looking at a super rushed ending.

Yes, I think that your story is probably the most plausible one. However, I still think the extent of the change of Hei's character is too great to be left unexplained until the very end.

Originally Posted by Ice Block

Wasn't it already confirmed in S1 that contractors who have lost their original body (Bai/Pai in Hei's case, as his powers came from her -- or more like, she's his power, in a more abstract way) no longer need to pay for their contract? For example: Mao and the body-swapping contractor.

In that case, Pai/Xing does not have to pay anymore, but we don't know about Hei's case. Furthermore, Pai left at the end of S1 and Hei still used the power, which means the power became Hei's own. In this regard, can we say that Hei became a full-time contractor at the end of S1, who now have to pay remuneration? I wouldn't be surprised if Hei pays stupid remuneration in the ODA. Well... what is true is up to the director, anyway.

[Guido]

This second series is almost about to conclude, and I'm still three episodes behind.

Episode eight yields some interesting revelations about Izanami.

Spoiler:

Contractors irregularities regarding to commit suicide, as it was the case with Norio's mother, are attributed to Izanami(Yin)'s power.

Hei taught the Russian General the hard way about thinking outside the box of the rational thought and living through a world of full unpredictabilities.

What it surprised the most and which became the highlight of the episode is that said other irregularities on Contractors, Contractors evolving perhaps, were manifested upon Tanya revealing to Suou her memories about liking Nika, and how she hated Suou once feeling jealous that Suou and Nika might had become closer together.

These changes on Nika climaxed with her expressing again a smile for a brief moment when the splashed water on her face triggered that memory at the pool during the previous summer.

Things went on a downhill to insanity for Suou when Tanya was shot dead on the side, and the former cannot cope with the guilt that she may had pulled the trigger or not. It was immediately revealed that her unwilling savior turned out to be her twin, Shion.