Descendants of Darkness - Vampire's Lure (Vol. 1) [DVD]

This is one of the GREATEST series ever, in my humble opinion. I would have to admit though, that it probably won't find popularity with many guys. It's mainly aimed at chicks, and boy does it ever hit the mark. I was getting really tired of shows where a bunch of pretty-boys ran around and killed things, so Yami no Matsuei (Decendant of Darkness) is such a nice change of pace. Sure, ALL of the main characters are damn good looking, and that's half the fun. But beyond that, it's got an *extremely* good plot, and one of the most entertaining CONCEPTS of any anime out there. The premise: The hero, Tsuzuki Asato is an 'Angel of Death' responsible for bringing back souls that don't reach the afterlife, or solving cases involving mysterious or unliscensed deaths. This leads to an interesting cast of characters, and a VERY interesting look at some of the Japanese myths surrounding the afterlife, gods, etc. Not, I warn though, for the squeemish, or for those who have a problem with guys with...eh...*questionable* relationships with one another. i.e. - LOTS of fangirl service and a number of situations involving the main character and other (male) characters.

I want to start off by saying that I hadn't read the original manga of this, nor had I heard anything about "Descendants of Darkness" before I purchased it; so I went into viewing this as non-biased and not expecting too much. I've been hesitant to make purchases of anime these days, since the recent saturation of the market makes it harder for a person to decipher what's going to be quality and what just isn't.That said, I took a leap of faith in purchasing this DVD, and I ended up being pleasantly surprised. It's not 100% perfect or ground-breaking, but it IS pretty damn enjoyable. And although this first volume begins pretty weakly, it actually gets better as the series progresses.In the first episode, we are somewhat hastily introduced to our main protagonist Tsuzuki Asato, a likable, goofy guy who works for a detective agency--of Death(?) This isn't made too clear in the first episode, which I think was a weak start for this series, but over the next episodes we learn more about his occupation and what it entails. We also meet his new partner Hisoka, a young man who died of mysterious causes and now works for this agency. It was pretty confusing to someone who hadn't read the manga, and I feel that this factor added to episode one's weakness. Another gripe of mine are those "chickens" who work for the agency--I've never been a fan of cutesy mascots, and the fact that their existence was never explained or even questioned was another added weakness.I was a little put off by episode one, but I kept with it. Yes, it indeed got better, and I found myself entranced by the end of this disc. Over the next episodes we learn a little more about Tsuzuki and Hisoka, and we are introduced to the sinister villain Muraki--and this is where the "yaoi" element really comes into play. Yes, it seems as though all of the characters are gay, which I found to make the series all the more intriguing. This is probably why the series won't appeal to everyone, especially straight guys, but I thought it was handled well and not done in a way that was insulting to its gay characters (or gay members of its audience, for that matter). This volume covers a complete story arc involving a series of vampiric murders, and provides an insight to Hisoka's dark past.The series deals with some dark subject matter like death and rape, but overall there is a pleasant lightness to the show and the characters are all surprisingly likable--I say "surprisingly" because it's hard to view and anime these days and not be annoyed by at least ONE character.Overall, I really like this show and I'm going to make sure I view the entire series. So why only three stars? While enjoyable, the show isn't perfect (this disc in particular). The music, for one, is particularly grating. From the score to the ending and opening theme songs, the music is hard to take. By volume two it improves a bit, but the music on this volume is sometimes intolerable. The overall look of the show and the animation is hard to adjust to as well. It almost looks like it was done in the style of the show "Yu Gi Oh!"--brightly colored cel-animation badly mixed with CG. However, again, by volume 2 this improves considerably. And finally, since the show got off to a weak start, I had to deduct a star."Descendants of Darkness" is an enjoyable series that improves as it progresses. I would recommend it to anyone who likes yaoi (I include myself in that audience), light comedy, action, a bit of drama, and occult themes. So, even if you're a nit-picky, jaded anime viewer like me, it might be worthwhile to give this series a try if those themes appeal to you. And did I say this allready? "It gets BETTER."

While this series isn't perfect - suffering from a slightly odd start and some plot-lines that are only fully explained in the manga - it will always remain one of my favorites. The characters are engaging, the story arcs generally well-paced, and the over-arcing storyline interesting. While there are some suggestive gay/yaoi/slashy themes and moments, it's fairly mild for those who aren't big fans of the genre. I watched it with my father - who is generally not a fan - and he didn't have any problems with it, if that helps anyone.Also, the Instant View, or whatever Amazon calls their instant video purchases, for this series is Dubbed. Not subtitled, which is a pity.

This is a cinematic masterpiece. No anime in 20 years will ever come close to this level of artistry. This is elite.

it shows when the main characters first meet and gone on this crazy adventure trying to stop someone with vampire like skills. Only turns out theres someone else pulling the strings that gets them started on an ongoing adventure

Love this show, never expected to find it here

I love this series and it took me forever just to find the DVDs. I'm glad I have them now. The anime really caught my attention the first time I watched it. I can't think of anything bad to say about it except that they need more episodes.

I recently received the the Japanese version for Christmas 2002, and fell in love with it. I am very curious as to how they will change the plot to make this show... well, 'down-beat' enough for American's. I want to get this very much.But as for the Japanese version, I loved the plot twists. And *ahem* the Yaoi. This isn't a girly anime, but it is deffinatly not for guys. Scratch that, I know several guys who like this show. ^^ I personally became obsessed with Hisoka. lol, He has so much angst and is in so much emotional distress inside! If anyone who has seen this wonderful anime in English and would like to clue me in on how they went about it, please email me and do. >< Cause I most likely won't be getting it until May.Last note:I LOVE YAMI NO MATSUEI!! ^^ And I love Kurosaki-kun very much.