Death is not as bad as you think
24 August 2004
For those of you looking for a decent bishounen-type anime (boyish/masculine), Yami no Matsuei (Descendant of Darkness) fits just right in. With a grotesque-like storyline and a rather peculiar line-up of characters, Yami no Matsuei redefines the theme of the common anime with cute boys/men as it's frontline of eye-candy for the otaku. You'll also find some yaoi (male love/like) scenarios in there as a vague discretion other than the drama and sometimes short comedic inserts Yami no Matsuei brings.

Yami no Matsuei portrays, Tsuzuki Asato, our protagonist and is the strongest (although he's not aware of that fact...yet) of the Shinigami (Angels of Death), who are an underground organization of Ju-Oh-Cho (govenrmental bureaus) that works on the 'afterlife'. As powerful as they come, even an Angel of Darkness/Death still has some responsibility to do...in the HQ's office administration; doing a batch of paperwork, answering phone calls, and making photocopies, that is if they're not out on a fieldtrip investigating a case.

The animation quality is as vivid as other well-known bishounen anime like Angel Sanctuary, Fushigi Yuugi, or X. There are some pretty bloody scenes in there to satisfy and prove to you that this isn't some lame anime with gay guys (or so that other guy thinks...) in it. And what would Yami no Matsuei be without those jaw-dropping powers the casts has? Yeah, you'll see some ugly (but drawn in a creative way) beasts in there that they (can) summon if called upon. Although the characters are neatly well-created with their straight-forward/stoical personalities and costume/facial designs, there's a lot of labyrinthine interactions going on in there. Mostly it comes and emphasizes in the (their) past, which raises further questions from start to finish as the show progresses, regardless of the yaoi angst it consists of.

+ great story, animation, music, characters, script, and overall composition of an above average bishounen anime. - not for those who are (narrow-minded) not into yaoi-like anime.
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