Title:
D Gray Man
Mangaka: Katsura Hoshino
Genre:
Shounen, Supernatural
Story:
In a world filled with akuma (loosely translated as demons) created by
the Millennium Earl to destroy the world, Allen Walker ( our hero! ::cheer::) becomes
an Exorcist and joins the Black Order to fight against the Earl. As an Exorcist he uses his left arm, which
can transform into a claw, to release the human souls trapped inside and
powering the akuma. Besides hunting down
akuma, the Black Order’s Exorcists are also searching for pieces of Innocence,
an item that allows Exorcists to battle akuma.
The Earl and his allies, the Noah family, are in a race with the
Exorcists to find a piece of Innocence called the Great Heart, which would give
a powerful advantage to whichever side finds it first.
Positives:
 |
| The Exorcists |
Characters:
If you haven’t guessed by now, my favorite character is Allen! I’m a sucker for the nice guy with a sweet
smile and a tragic past (and of course the awesome powers are nice too!). But actually all the characters in the story
are well-developed and even the characters I didn’t want to like, I ended up
liking. (I hate/love it when that happens
>.<)
Storyline:
To tell the truth I was a little worried about the storyline when I
first started reading. I was afraid the
series would turn into a battle every X amount of chapters with bigger and more
powerful enemies to defeat until things got to a ridiculous level (Naruto, I’m
looking at you. ::accusing stare:: ) But
thankfully, that didn’t happen. There
are battles, don’t get me wrong, but the story does keep moving ahead pretty
steadily with more and more depth.
Katsura-sensei’s world-building skills are excellent and really pull you
into the story. And there are a few
funny filler chapters to lighten things up right before the story turns
dark. And dark it does indeed become.
Possible Pitfalls:
Length:
Although I love this manga and
its characters, storyline, etc., it is long.
The last chapter I read I believe was 212 and it is released monthly,
which makes it a long wait for each chapter. (I’m seriously dying with
anticipation . . .@_@) Although MangaFox, where I’ve been reading the English scanslation, is really good about
posting the most recent update.
Tearjerker:
I’m not usually one to cry when reading stories, although I do get
pretty emotionally involved with the characters. (I’m just sensitive
>.<) However, that being said,
there were a few times the events in the story had me grabbing for a
tissue. (As a writer I understand that
we have to torture our characters sometimes to move the story along, but
still!!) So, just a heads-up to have a
full tissue box nearby when reading into the wee hours of the morning.
 |
| A lovely drawing from Katsura-sensei ^^ |
Overall Impression:
Like
you’ve heard, uh, seen me write time and time again, I love this series! It was way too easy to fall in love with the
characters, to really start to care about their lives and feelings, and dive
into the world of akuma and Exorcists created by Katsura-sensei. The art is
great, and although the series is long, it is nice to slowly watch Allen and
the rest of the team mature (in both art and attitude) as the stories moves
along.
At times the
story becomes quite dark, but I would argue that makes the questions arising
from the events that much more thought-provoking. If there’s one type of manga I love, it’s the
kind that starts with a character thinking A is evil and B is good and then halfway
through the series asks: but what if what I thought was good is really evil and
vice versa? (I like those deep thoughts
^_^)
So, for my overall score, I give this one 5
(out of 5) firecrackers. It is a definitely a must-read manga!
And for next week I'm hoping to review the live-action movie Death Note, so stay tuned! But I'll leave you with a few questions: Have you read D Gray Man? What do you think? Good? Wonderful? Awesome? Bad? And the most important question of all: Who do you think Allen should be with: Lenalee or Road? (I choose me! . . .That was unmentioned Option C ^^)
