DNAngel Volume 1: The Dawn of Dark - Ascully.Com
- Ascully.Com
- Paul Hayes
- 06/20/05
- click here
Introduction:
Everyone's family has expectations for them as children. Expectations like growing up to be a successful adult, marrying the perfect guy or girl, and having lots of children. Daisuke's family has something different in mind. For generations the genes of Phantom Dark, the mysterious and angelic thief, have been passed down in the males of the Niwa family. When the boy turns 14 and falls in love, the genes activate, transforming him into Phantom Dark whenever he gets 'excited' thinking of her.
Case, Cover Art, and Extras:
DNAngel Volume 1: The Dawn of Dark has the first 4 of 26 episodes that make up this series. The attractive cover features Dark and some screen shots on the front and Hirata and screen shots on the converse over a field of white. The extras include textless opening and closing animations, voice actor commentary, a featurette on the creation of the opening theme, and original promos and TV spots. Unfortunately, the voice actor commentary only runs for the first episode, but the other extras were pretty interesting. I especially liked the 'Making the Opening Theme' featurette.
The Episodes:
Episode 1: Dark Reborn
Today is Daisuke's 14th birthday. His mother celebrates by waking him early to cast some kooky good-luck incantation before school. He doesn't have time for that though. His real treat lies in confessing his love to Risa with a letter. If anything could have possibly gone wrong today, it did. For Daisuke, it is about to get a lot worse. Admiring a picture of Risa in his room, he begins to feel strange. His stomach knots and his head swims. He rushes downstairs in a panic over his changing form. His mother isn't terribly worried, for she had been anticipating his change into Phantom Dark since before Daisuke was even born. This change has purpose. It is now Darks job to steal magical artifacts and return them home in order to seal in the evil forces that dwell in the objects. His first job is tonight.
Episode 2: Rekindled Flame
After his first night as Dark, Daisuke now feels awkward around the sisters Risa and Riku. Riku ambushes him in the hall and begins asking him questions. His answers don't come because he is out cold from when she slammed him into the wall. While recovering in the nurse's office, Daisuke awakens to find Risa sitting beside him. She tells him she has fallen for Dark and wants Daisuke to go with out with that night to see if they can find the thief. His mother has a different idea in mind; she wants him to go to the central church to steal a brass relief of a bird that is causing trouble. Satoshi has something in mind as well. He has been aiding the police in order to capture Dark, and Satoshi has a secret of his own.
Episode 3: Whisper of the Unicorn
Daisuke is slowly coming to grips with his situation. Still unable to talk to talk to Risa for more than a few minutes at a time before getting the feeling that he will change into Dark. The evil thief seems to be doing more good than harm, so Daisuke agrees to play the role a little longer. His next assignment has just popped up on the radar. Young girls have been disappearing without a trace from their bedrooms in the middle of the night. Daisuke's grandfather recognizes a trend in the abductions and sends dark out to save the missing girls.
Episode 4: Between Light and Darkness
Satoshi's true nature begins to take shape. His father has given him the task of capturing Dark. Their relationship seems to be a bit estranged, and Satoshi isn't exactly relishing his position as Darks pursuer. With the artworks awakening more and more rapidly, each passing day. Satoshi's suspicions toward Daisuke are growing as well. While Daisuke is helping Satoshi carry some trays to the storage rooms, the two become trapped in a meat locker. As the temperature begins dropping, the close proximity of the boys is making Satoshi uneasy. Before long, he cannot contain it any longer, Krad, Dark's nemesis (almost an evil twin), emerges to do battle with Daisuke, and Dark.
Art, Audio, and Voice Acting;
Granted the animation is of good quality with detailed sets and smooth actions, the characters leave something to be desired. I really couldn't get into anyone other than Dark. I don't know if it was the voice actors or the characters in general, but something was lacking. That is not to say that the voice actors didn't do a good job, it's just seemed like some of them weren't quite right for the roles that they were portraying. The only thing aesthetically that really annoyed me was the opening theme song. It might have just been the first few lines, but they came off like an American Idol audition rather than a performance. A theme song is no reason to trash a product, but I just had to point it out.
Conclusion:
As I watched DNAngel for the second time, I enjoyed it a little more. The first time through it took a bit of effort to watch while resisting the urge to turn it off. On technical merits alone, it's fairly standard. The plot is interesting, the acting is good, but there was something about the series I couldn't quite get into. I don't know if my opinion will improve as I see more episodes, but for now, it is pretty much as it is. I both like and dislike DNAngel for various reasons, but nothing so major as to write this one off just yet. You can get DNAngel Volume 1: The Dawn of Dark from ADV Films or a retail outlet for as low as $17.99.
Posted on Monday, June 20, 2005 (Archive on Wednesday, July 20, 2005)