Hidenobu Kiuchi is a Japanese voice actor. Some of his major roles include Hol Horse in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, Yūshi Oshitari in The Prince of Tennis, Kenzo Tenma in Monster, Ren Honjo in Nana, Hei in Darker than Black, Shisui Uchiha in Naruto Shippuden and Dad in Chi's Sweet Home. He began as a stage actor when one of his seniors got him to do voice acting. He has taken lead roles such as Jose in Gunslinger Girl and Ramsbeckite Hematite in Cluster Edge. In 2008, he was the first Japanese voice actor to guest at an anime convention in Australia.
Tensai Okamura, born Yutaka Okamura on December 13, 1961, in Fukushima Prefecture, is a Japanese anime director and animator. Okamura grew up in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. He is a graduate of Waseda University's department of science and engineering. In 1991, he changed his first name to Tensai.
Darker than Black, is a Japanese anime television series created and directed by Tensai Okamura and animated by studio Bones. 25 episodes were broadcast on MBS, TBS and their affiliated stations from April to September 2007. The series is set in a world where a spatial anomaly identified as "Heaven's Gate" appeared in South America and was followed by "Hell's Gate" in Tokyo, altering the sky and wreaking havoc on the landscapes. People with special abilities labeled as Contractors emerged shortly afterwards. The series follows agent Hei and his comrades in the Syndicate organization, operating in an vastly altered version of contemporary Tokyo to uncover the mysteries of Hell's Gate.
Darker than Black is a 2007 Japanese anime series created by Tensai Okamura. Set in modern Japan, the narrative focuses on how ten years prior to the events of series, a mysterious spatial anomaly 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. During this time, people possessing various special abilities emerged, each capable of different supernatural feats—these are known as contractors. The series follows the exploits of agents Hei and his comrades of the Syndicate organization operating in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo and their mission to uncover the mysteries of the Hell's Gate.
Black Butler is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yana Toboso. It has been serialized in Square Enix's shōnen manga magazine Monthly GFantasy since September 2006. The series follows Ciel Phantomhive, the 12-year-old Earl of Phantomhive serving as the Queen's Watchdog. He is tasked with solving crimes in the underworld of Victorian-era London. Ciel has formed a contract with demon Sebastian Michaelis, who disguises himself as his butler, to seek revenge on those who tortured him and murdered his parents. In exchange for his services, Sebastian will be allowed to consume Ciel's soul.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a Japanese anime television series adapted from the original Fullmetal Alchemist manga series by Hiromu Arakawa. Produced by Bones, the series is directed by Yasuhiro Irie, written by Hiroshi Ōnogi and composed by Akira Senju. The series was conceived in order to create a faithful adaptation that directly follows the entire storyline of the original manga, after 2003's Fullmetal Alchemist anime series strayed away from it to tell its own story after running out of published manga material to adapt.
Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor is a Japanese anime series directed by Tensai Okamura and produced by the Bones studio. It is a sequel to the 2007 series Darker than Black, and most of the crew returned for the production. The series premiered on MBS, TBS and their affiliated stations on October 8, 2009. The sequel follows Suo Pavlichenko, a Eurasian girl whose life is changed by a frightening incident surrounding a meteor shower, and her encounter with the assassin Hei; the man is searching for her twin, Shion, and his missing partner Yin.
Valvrave the Liberator is a Japanese mecha anime series, produced by Sunrise. It is directed by Kō Matsuo and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi. The series is set in a futuristic date in which three factions divided from 70% of mankind are in war. It focuses on Haruto Tokishima, a high school student from the faction of JIOR who pilots one of the highly advanced weaponized mecha technology called the Valvrave to stop the Dorssian forces.
Fullmetal Alchemist is a Japanese anime television series loosely adapted from the original manga series of the same name by Hiromu Arakawa. Comprising 51 episodes, it was produced by the animation studio Bones for Mainichi Broadcasting System and Aniplex, and directed by Seiji Mizushima. It was broadcast on MBS in Japan from October 2003 to October 2004.
The Testament of Sister New Devil is a Japanese light novel series written by Tetsuto Uesu and illustrated by Nekosuke Ōkuma. Thirteen volumes have been published by Kadokawa Shoten since 2012 under their Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko imprint. A manga adaptation has been serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Shōnen Ace magazine since May 2013. A second manga adaptation has been serialized in Hakusensha's Young Animal Arashi magazine since February 2014.
Hei, also known as Li Shenshun, is the protagonist of the 2007 anime Darker than Black by Bones. Codenamed "Hei", he is portrayed as a Contractor, a man with supernatural powers with Hei being able to generate electricity. In Tokyo, Hei works for an organization known as the Syndicate and earns the nickname "Black Reaper" due to his skills as an assassin. During the series, Hei's backstory of his mission involving his missing sister is developed. Hei also appears in the sequel Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor as the mentor of young Contractor Suo Pavlichenko while searching for his partner, Yin. He is also present in the inter-sequel original video animations Darker than Black: Gaiden, which explores his escape from the Syndicate with Yin between the events of both anime.
Darker than Black: Gaiden is a Japanese original video animation (OVA) series created by studio Bones and directed by Tensai Okamura. It is a sidesequel to the anime television series Darker than Black and a prequel to Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor. It consists of four episodes about the main character Hei and his partner Yin, with the events taking place between both seasons. After betraying the Syndicate organization, Hei and Yin escape from Japan to live a peaceful life, but Yin later develops a god-like alter ego that causes mayhem.
The action anime Darker than Black features music composed by Yoko Kanno who created one soundtrack. Kanno was approached by director Tensai Okamura in regards to ideas about detective stories-like scenario to fit the atmosphere. For the sequel, Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor, Kanno was replaced by Yasushi Ishii who described his music as a battlefield.
Suo Pavlichenko is a fictional character introduced in the anime series Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor. A young teenage girl, Suo is an upbeat Eurassian photographer who lives alongside her father while aiming to protect her twin brother, Shion, who is a Contractor, a human with supernatural powers. One day, the Pavlichenko family is attacked by the assassin Hei who wants a piece of a meteor Shion is hiding but ends up taking her under his hand during a mayhem caused by Section 3 who also seek Shion. Despite hating Hei, Suo goes along with his plans and soon ends up awakening her own powers. The character has also appeared in the video game Heroes Phantasia.
Shōtarō Suga was a Japanese screenwriter. He was famous for writing multiple anime series, most notably Darker than Black.
