Genres: Action, Suspense

.

An assassin drives toward his mark. He drops guards left and right; smooth, calm, and emotionless. He breaches the mansion and meets up with his teammate. She is disguised as a maid; already in place on the inside of the staff. They cover each other and make their kill. They are flawless and clean, known only as Phantom.

There is a flash-back to the start of the story. The young man, not yet an assassin, wakes in an unfamiliar bed. He does not know who he is, but begins to piece together his surroundings. He knows someone is after him, but not why. Using a pipe to break the locked door he escapes and runs headlong into a masked female figure. She instructs him to fight seriously or he will be killed. They begin to fight… scientists watch from a detached control room, monitoring his progress.

Upon subduing the woman (who we recognize as the other assassin from the intro) he is tranquilized. The scientists explain their plan of conscripting him to their service, rather than killing him for what “he has seen”. They name him Zwei, the second half of Phantom (with Ein being the other). The instruct Ein to begin his training.

We are taken through his physical training, mental preparation, and weapons instruction. He is retrained from the ground up. He learns that by following orders he can subdue the pain of not knowing who he is. Now, somewhat emotionless from the training, he meets another woman who we have seen earlier (as an upper member of the mysterious organization). She lets him know he is not a slave, that he has the power to accelerate his life and maybe, in time, lead the organization.

The opening credits of this series have a definite feel of a 007 movie intro. There is a great deal of mystery surrounding this organization, who’s only stated goals are uniting the entire criminal underworld. It has promise, and I will be checking out at least a few more episodes to see where it’s going

Overall Hook Rating: B