Erben der Dunkelheit

Yoko Matsushita's wonderful, offbeat manga is turned into a short, but satisfying animated series. The premise is simple enough: In a bureaucratic underworld, a group of supernatural detectives called Shinigami make certain the dead get where they are supposed to go. These shinigami are themselves dead - having been granted the right to become shinigami due to their unsettled pasts. The series consists of four separate story arcs, in which seemingly mis-matched partners Asato Tsuzuki and Hisoka Kurosaki learn to rely on each other and battle the series' primary villain, the sadistic Dr. Muraki. The animation is quite good, very fluid. The character designs are true to the manga and are excellent. The Japanese voice actors are top-notch. It has been released in North America as Descendants of Darkness and is an enjoyable blend of supernatural action and drama with some comedic overtones to keep things from getting too heavy. If you are looking for anime that offers something outside of the norm, give this series a try. I only hope the producers decide to release a second series covering later books of the manga