Darker Than Black

Author: Bones

This has to be one of the darkest, most impressively nihilistic visions of the future in recent years. An anomaly, Heaven's Gate, opens in South America, and it's counterpoint, Hell's Gate, opens directly over Tokyo. Hell's Gate is really the problem, as it blocks out all the natural stars, which are then replaced with artificial stars, which just aren't the same. Contractors, super-powered humans, arise, and there is a war that sees the Syndicate take charge. Hei is the Contractor spy we follow in this impressive series. So many elements combine here. From the post-apocalyptic science fiction stories of the 1960s and 70s, to the grimy under-world spy novels of Ian Fleming, to the X-Men, Darker than Black is am impressive work of synthesis within character and storytelling. The music of Yoko Kanno might be the best anime score of the last decade, and throughout the 25 episodes, we are dragged deeper and deeper into a storyline that makes you question how we treat those who have great powers, and in essence, ourselves. The way they went about bringing it all together, and never losing sight of the most adult themes, makes this an impressive series. Why it's on the list: Powerful work within several different genres adds up to a near-masterpiece.