Losing a loved one is so painful that one may sometimes wish to be able to resurrect them—a weakness that the enigmatic Millennium Earl exploits. To make his mechanical weapons known as "Akuma," he uses the souls of the dead that are called back. Once a soul is placed in an Akuma, it is trapped forever, and the only way to save them is to exorcise them from their vessel using the Anti-Akuma weapon, "Innocence."
After spending three years as the disciple of General Cross, Allen Walker is sent to the Black Order—an organization comprised of those willing to fight Akuma and the Millennium Earl—to become an official Exorcist. With an arm as his Innocence and a cursed eye that can see the suffering souls within an Akuma, it's up to Allen and his fellow Exorcists to stop the Millennium Earl's ultimate plot: one that can lead to the destruction of the world.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Crofty
I'll be honest here. I don't usually go for long running shounens. Since my younger days of pokemon, digimon and yu-gi-oh (back before I'd even heard the term anime and just thought of them as cartoons), the longest anime series I've watched was 50 episodes, and that was only one show and took me forever to finish. High episode counts put me off. I like my stories to have an end. I like my battles not to drag on for five episodes. I like my plot arcs to end before I've had enough of them. When my characters have to get stronger, I like atraining montage with the Rocky theme playing, not five episodes of them agonising over what it is that's holding them back, only for them to then repeat that process after the current villain is defeated and the next villain has presented itself. So why do I love D. Gray-Man? Because for a 103 episode shounen, it keeps it's use of the above shounen tropes to a minimum, and on the occaisions when it does use them, the other elements of the show keep the formula fresh.
I'll start with the plot, which is far darker than your average shounen. From the very first episode, we are shown a merciless enemy that will exploit any weakness, who's main weapon, the Akuma (demons) uses the souls of the dead. These are not zombies, just mindless corpses. These are weapons which pull a soul back from heaven and torture it as their power source. A lot of shounens gloss over the concept of death, bad guys are captured alive or shown the error of their ways, people fall unconscious but can be healed, etc. In D. Gray-man, death is very real, and resting in peace is only for the fortunate ones who's loved ones are strong enough not to be tempted to call them back.
Against the Akuma and their creator, the Millennium Earl, are the Exorcists of the Dark Order. Exorcists are those chosen by God to use 'innocence', a mysterious substance which can be used to form weapons capable of destroying the Akuma. The series follows Allen Walker, a new recruit with the ability to see the souls trapped within the Akuma. The plot itself begins slowly, with short arcs in which Allen and his comrades are dispatched to investigate mysterious phenomena which are thought to be caused by innocence fragments. After a few of these arcs, the Noah Clan, allies of the Millennium Earl, begin to be introduced and the focus turns to the war between him and the Dark Order.
The plot is, for the most part, very well paced. Early arcs are kept short, about 4 episodes or so long, with a single 'filler' episode in between. Don't be put off when I say filler. While the plot could easily go without these episodes, I found them all to be entertaining (if somewhat silly at times) and they served well as comic relief within an otherwise serious plot. And if you don't enjoy them, they do become fewer and further between as the war intensifies and plot arcs become longer. With one exception, none of these longer plot arcs drag on to the point that the viewer just wants them to get on with it. In the one arc in which this does occur, it is saved in part by having another plot running at the same time. Battles often do last across multiple episodes, but in most of these, the battle changes and develops over those episodes, unlike drawn out battles in other shounen which just get repetitive, where the middle episodes can often just be skipped entirely.
The show also boasts one of the best sets of characters of any anime I have seen. Each hero is flawed, and the Earl and Noah are far more fleshed out (in more ways than one in the Earl's case) than most villains. It says a lot about the quality of a series' characters when the villains mourning a dead friend can evoke sympathy. They also managed to inspire doubt as to whether the exorcists are in fact the good guys, thanks to the show's religious imagery.
As for the heroes, each has their own motive, each of which is more complex than the standard shounen motives of just saving the world or becoming the strongest and the like. Allen wants to save the souls of the Akuma, to the point where he can even show disregard for his own or others' lives at times. Lenalee, the series' main female character, fights for the sake of her friends and brother, and her past reveals that she may not support the Dark Order's cause even as she fights for them.
My personal favourite characters were Lavi and Bookman. These two are a master (Bookman) and apprentice (Lavi) of a clan of historians who became exorcists to be close to history as it occurred so that it could be recorded, and while they do fight, they try to minimise how much they interfere. Lavi's conflict between his duty as a Bookman and as an Exorcist, the loyalty he developed for his friends despite Bookman's orders to become close to no one, and his doubts as to whether the cheerful, friendly, fun guy is the real him or a mask that he should remove was probably my favourite aspect of the series.
So, here I am singing the series' praises, yet it got a 9, not a 10. Why? Well, in complete contrast to what I said at the beginning, because it ended. A lot wasn't able to be explained before the series was cancelled. The last ten episodes or so suffered from trying to rush one of the story arcs after having taken their time over previous ones. The battle in the last three episodes was amazing, but it also wasn't the final battle that I wanted to see. There is a lot of potential for a sequel, including a development at the end that virtually screamed "to be continued". I do sincerely hope that there will be a sequel. But if there isn't, the show ended in the best possible place it could. A clear cut ending is often unrealistic, and endings in which the heroes won but the villain is there in the shadows, not as dead as they thought, muttering "This isn't over" gets old quickly. Maybe the abiguity was for the best.
All in all, the show is well worth watching, even if you don't usually commit to long running shounen. Just don't go in expecting to not have any questions at the end.
sspatel_55
When i originally wrote this review (after watching the 72 episodes that had aired at that time), D.Grayman was #42 in "Popularity" on myanimelist.net and a very Popular Manga (#10). The show had a score of 7.8..BUT You might have noticed that the score and popularity you now see is much higher reason being the anime starts off fairly slowly and takes a while to kick into gear and progress the plot. But once its does you just might be a fan... The Story has a very original plot. When I started this anime I immediately liked the concept of chosen humans + "innocence" = akuma(demon) butt-kicking "Exorcists"! I knew nothing about it but i decided to watch it based on its good animation and I was not disappointed at all. The characters and their uniforms/weapons all look outstanding!
I found that all of the op. and end. songs are excellent songs that you wouldnt mind listening to each episode. Normally I would skip songs but I listened to all of D.Gray-man's because they really do suit the anime and sound good! Background music could be a bit better tho...
Character is one of the best aspects of the anime. Each and every character is Amazing! Each main character is lovable, unique, strong, nice-looking and they all have mysterious pasts and secrets. I have found fan clubs for even the evil characters. You wont find out about the evil characters until late in the anime but they are surprisingly loved as well. There might be a few characters you dont like but those would likely be side characters..all the main characters are great! The development of the ALL the characters through out the series always amazed me...
Try not to give up on this anime too early...after watching about 30 episodes I started to get a little bored... But since I loved the characters and was curious about the plot I decided to go read the manga. I was instantly hooked and it became a favorite! The point is that at the start of the anime there are a lot of filler-type episodes (especially before episode 38). Dont get me wrong, these are not the typical useless filler episodes. All most all these episodes are either action-packed or show some character development.
Even in the most serious of times there are humorous moments and great weapons/abilities/battles..
D.Gray-man finished with 103 episodes and not many fillers..In my opinion do not be disappointed with the end of the anime. There are many amazing battles that lead up to the climatic end but a lot of things are left unexplained. I don't think its confirmed but I am expecting a second season in the future after a lot more manga chapters are released (when the anime ended, it was very close to manga and i guess they decided not to go into fillers...)
Overall this anime is excellent [9-10] and covers almost every genre;
A worthy watch! It can be compared with the popular shounen anime Naruto and Bleach but I found more interest in D.Gray-man which is a bit more serious and in depth. (And a lot less out-stretched if you know what I mean...)
reinis-jan
Story - 5 The story was bad to say the least. It was badly paced as most of the time your stuck to seeing something between shonen- anime glued together with a lot of dramatism. And that means that action fight's are predictable and almost seem pointless and the Allen or Lenalle or other guys from the Order cry after almost every fight about something. The story had so much plot-holes that there were more holes then the plot. Also on the end all you get is about the same were this anime started. The last episode everyone is still fighting akuma's and morethen 100 episodes passed away already.
Art- 8
It was very good. Nowhere in this anime you can see bad animation and it was 103 episodes long. That's a lot of episodes! Off course it wasn't anything ground braking and akuma's could of been made more creepier.
Sound- 9
It was awesome. All the time I liked the sound in the anime soundtracks. Specially when Allen played piano. Only reason I didn't give it 10 was, because few openings could of been a bit more better. Almost all of the openings were top notch, but none of them were something that I would like to listen.
Character- 7
The good guys were decent characters.The main protagonist Allen was an interesting character, but he lacked the brains or the attitude to be a real protagonist. Allen is basically a good guy and nothing more. The protagonist might as well be Lavi or The Krory( The vampire dude). Well at least the good guys had some good character development, but because of the bad story the character development was really hard to see. The villains were just pointless. There goal was pointless and even 3 year old kids have better goals to accomplish. For example, Earl's goal was to destroy the world. And what will happen to him? Who the hell would want to destroy something his life depends on? Makes no sense.
Enjoyment- 6
I kinda enjoyed this anime with a big minus. I liked to watch some of the fights in D. Gray-man, like Krory against Lavi and Allen. Though most of the time the fights were one-sided like Allen killing lvl 1 akuma's. The comedy in here was like: Should I be laughing or not? So I didn't crack any laugh at all. Well at least I liked to listen to the music. But once I remember how long this anime was I feel like I wasted too much of my time for almost nothing. I will never rewatch this anime.
Overall- 6
The story is rubbish. For 103 episodes it went nowhere and the last episode just ended with a cliffhanger. Character's are decent. The art and music is quality stuff, but nothing ground-braking.
If you really have nothing to do then go watch D. Gray-man. At the start you will like it , then you will get bored of it somewhere in the middle, then close to the end you will start to like it again and you will want to know what will happen next and at the end you will just get a wtf moment that will leave you with a bad taste in your mouth and a lot of wasted time.
Nervin
Themes surrounding exorcists and demons have been treated in previously in other works, and D.Gray-man revolves around such topic. What makes this anime different, is that it takes the liberty to slightly adjust such theme to match the setting, and also make an arguably more intriguing story. With the recent announcement of the upcoming sequel of D.Gray-man, people may wonder whether this battle shōnen is worth their time, and in this case it is, but only to a certain extent, as several crucial elements of a battle shōnen were executed in a lackluster manner. Not to mention the presence of some very lackluster characters. ~Story~ The storyof D.Gray-man revolves around Allen Walker a young boy who enlists in the organization of Exorcists with the purpose of eliminating the akuma that roam the world with the "Innocence" - a gift, a weapon bestowed to serve the apostles of God, the exorcists. The akuma are in fact mechanical weapons made by suffering living souls, as opposed to the regular definition of the term; these are controlled by the antagonist, the Millenium Earl, a twisted and dark "joker" or "clown" if you may. It is the task of this organization to abolish and vanquish the Earl, the source of evil.
While it is a very standard premise, as mentioned earlier, what makes this anime differentiate itself from other similar titles, is the approach on its theme: it is dark and cruel, which was is the first thing that will be noticed when viewing the anime, which isn't frequent in the genre. It gives insight in the working of despair, loneliness, longing and death in numerous occasions when the protagonist seek to quench the attack of these akuma. The side stories provided for numerous situations can be interesting and dramatic as well. Comedy is also present in the anime, which can be at times funny, yet ultimately was overused as the story progressed.
What makes this anime even more interesting is its setting: it takes place in the 19th century, a good and welcoming Victorian/gothic feel, mixed with some futuristic elements, which was achieved by the studio. Furthermore, this enhances the credibility of the situation of humanity currently is in, through the lack of fast communication present currently in ours society, which in turn enables the occurrence isolated and unknown cases where attacks occur. In addition it makes the viewer appreciate the difficulties the people faced in that era. As for the pacing, this was overall a bit lacking at times, where in several instances actions lasted longer than necessary, or either were beating around the bush. It must be mentioned that the first batch of episodes (around 30) are of episodic nature with some small arcs, following a very similar structure, whilst introducing the characters. From there on actual story takes place, which is in turn more intriguing and gripping.
However, where the anime fails in several occasions are the battle scenes and the "powerups". First of all, each exorcist has a unique "innocence" power, which gives diversity to the show. What is a shame is that the majority of the battle sequences are executed in the same manner, and very repetitive, which renders the diversity of the skills a bit pointless, as these are in majority of the cases confined to 2 or 3 action. Other huge issue are the "powerlevels" in this anime, these are very irregular and change whenever the plot demands it. When actual powerups take place, which for the matter are not earned through training or the likes, these seem totally pointless as secondary characters who didn't undergo such changes have the same powers; it doesn't give any real feeling of progression.
~Characters~
The characters of D.Gray-man are rather lackluster in general, who stay in the majority of cases one or two-dimensional, or in even some cases devolve; however, the author managed to make these characters somewhat interesting through their pasts. On the side of the organization there is Allen Walker, the main character who is the typical shonen character who is very caring and values friendship above everything else. On the flip side, as a character he is likable as the aforementioned attribute isn't overused; furthermore, his past is something that certainly will keep viewers intrigued throughout its duration. Some character development takes place, yet this is hardly noticeable.
Then there is Lenalee, easily the worst character in the show: at first she seems to be a somewhat mysterious person, with a dark past. However, her character seem to change over the course, the author seemingly not very sure what to use her for, consequently several times her actions being incomprehensible. What is worse, she ultimately devolves to being a simple damsel in distress, which was a huge drawback. Other character of interest is Kanda, who as opposed as Allen, doesn't care about the others, which nicely contrasts in the show.
As for the antagonists, these are typical as well, yet the most intriguing by far is the Millenium Earl himself, as audiences are intrigued on what his ultimate motives are for creating the akuma. He appears to be a comical character, yet dead serious when necessary, which can be a drawback for some, as it makes to difficult to take him seriously, with no motives apparent. Concerning the supporting cast of characters, these are for the most part uninteresting, on both sides, being either one-dimensional characters, or too mysterious to care about these. I might want to add that the akuma are not always simple evil beings; in several occassions it is shown that these can have a will of their own.
~Animation and sound~
The art style of the anime was well done, having its share of detailed and varied backgrounds, which enhaced the overall viewing experience; this can't be really said of the protagonists, as these are generic, as opposed to some of the akuma designs, and naturally, the main villain himself. The animation quality was overall good, yet as the fights were repetitive and basic, it never could shine. It must be said that some actions scenes were very well executed, alongside a matching choreography.
The soundtrack of D.Gray-man is certainly well done, befitting of the atmosphere, yet ultimately forgettable. The voice actors performed their role well, especially in the case of some of the secondary characters, which helped to the intrigue of said people. As for the openings and endings, these are of very high quality with praiseworthy music pieces that certainly helped to peak the interest in audiences.
~Enjoyment~
D.Gray-man was overall a fine anime, yet never really shined due to the above mentioned issues: it failed in some crucial aspects of the genre itself, in addition to a weak cast of characters, although some were interesting, in addition to some of the antagonists. Despite all these flaws, I can't deny that I actually enjoyed the unknowing mysteries surrounding the world and the approach on its themes. A lot of things remain unknown in the anime, and thus I hope these are revealed in the sequel. So do I recommend this anime? Only to those who enjoy watching battle shounens really.
Thank you for reading.
cognitohazard
I'm going to be honest: don't waste your time with the anime. It does not do the manga ANY justice whatsoever. I happen to be a huge fan of the manga; the art style has always impressed me, the pacing is just right, the humor is done well, and the characters are so well developed and interested. 10/10 in every category. The anime has none of that. The animation is lackluster, the filler plots are long, abundant, and dull, and the characters are simplified and just not done well at all (it's difficult to explain, but the depth and fullness of the characters just do not comethrough like they do in the manga).
The only redeeming quality would have to be the opening themes, and even that is a bit of a stretch (although this probably depends more on one's personal preference).
So basically, if you've never seen the series, go read the manga instead. If you've already read the manga and are looking for more, forget about this. If you've already watched the anime but have never read the manga, I highly implore you to go read the manga right now and compare.
vault2049
D.Gray-man is a shounen/action/adventure anime. It aplies the typical formula: long episode range with 19-20 minute animation, practically endless storyline and a main lead that predominates over all. It plays a lot with religion, this is what actually makes it really interesting. Like in almost all shounen animes the first episodes seem to be interesting. This is because you don't know anything about the world in which the events are going to take place or about the protagonists of this story. So meet Allen Walker, a 15 year old boy who has the power to see Akumas (means demons, mechanical killing machines is the term apliedin this anime ) and haves an anti-Akuma weapon to free the souls that hold them. This weapon works powered by "Innocence", a misterious susbstance that haves a cubic form, it was supposedly created by God. Only those compatible with it can use it, can become "Exorcists" and join the Black Order to fight the Millenary Count, who is destined to destroy the world.
The plot develops in a 19th century, mostly, european demography. Of course you get to see some regions of Asia as well, but the settings are usually european. Past the first 10-15 episodes probably most people who aren't used to watch shounen-type animes will easily get bored. D.Gray-man haves a "Inuyasha-10000+Pearl fragments" feeling, but it does not develop that slowly. There are 140+ Innocence pieces to be found... well actually no. Some of them are already in posession of the Black Order and the events focuss troughout the first 40-45 episodes on only this objective, but then it drastically changes.
From episode 50 the ambience changes will be totally obvious: the objetives will change, the battles will get more ferocious and the story will truly advance. D.Gray-man is as average anime up to espisode 50, then it touches the realm of a masterpiece.
Artistically speaking I would define D.Gray-man as varied. You'll see lots of characters: enemies and companions. If I take the Akumas as an example the artistic design is poor on episodes 1-20, these are level 1 Akumas. Then the Akumas evolve into levels, now here you can see what I'm talking about: variety and creativity. As the anime develops you'll witness more crazy and unthinkable tranformations and evolutions. The protagonists are very well designed, the weapons of each one of them somehow reflects their own and unique personality. The fighting scenaries are beautiful and the "bosses" are more than fearsome, in a funny way.
UVERworld, Abingdon Boys School and Sowelu are just some of the artists you'll come across on the opening and ending scenes. This translates into a amazing sound experience that will glue you to the anime fron the opening to ending sequences. The BGM's are well executed in the anime an add more suspense, spice up the action and ultimately transform good fights into epic confrontations. Definitely one of the strongest points D.Gray-man achieves.
The characters are typical shounen-based. You have the strong-willed never-surrender-even-if-I'm-almost-dead Allen Walker (main lead). His female companion and most probable romantic parther Lenalee. The "rival" character: Kanda Yui. And other companions that will be added to the "party" as the storyline progresses. One thing I didn't like was the lack of airtime that some of the most interesting characters have (generals). You get glances of them at some point in the anime but they do not appear as part of the plot until later on and for such a short amount of time that it really feels like a waste once you get to finally see them on action. Also you don't get almost any character development troughout the first half of the anime; here episode 50+ becomes again a turning point in which characters develop at a very good speed in a 40-50 episode range.
To be honest I was about to drop the anime at episode 20. My friend told me "to keep on going, you won't regret it once you get to episode 50". Surely I didn't. The twists in the story started here, continued until the end and made D.Gray-man really worth my time. Anyone should watch this, it isn't your average shounen anime, you'll understand why once you dig into it.
The end is actually inconclusive so I guess the studio might be making another anime (second season?) to continuate this one, due to the great popularity this and the manga have. I really hope so because there are still many things that need to be explained and I just can't wait for that moment.
-Exo-
"Akuma: monsters born from dead souls mistakenly recalled by their loved ones to the living world." "Exorcists: those who aim to destroy akuma and retrieve the Innocence scattered around the world." So. At first look D.Gray-man may seem like a typical shonen anime. The main character is probably going to be a hot-head who wants to get stronger and stronger for a certain purpose... usually to protect his friends. But. D.Gray-man is not like any shonen anime I've ever seen. In fact, it's got something much more than most. --STORY--You may be thinking "Hmm... a guy with a deformed arm... Full Metal Alchemist?"
Well, no, actually.
D.Gray-man's plot may seem like it's going on the same path as FMA at first, but it transforms into something completely different.
I love the plot. At first (since I don't normally watch horror anime) I thought it was a little creepy, but it was an addicting kind of creepy. I couldn't get enough of it.
Though in the beginning I thought it was going to be typical shonen since there's talk about "finding all of the Innocence", I was a little skeptical about watching DGM.
But, after a while, that passed and it grew into something much more.
Of course, there's that issue of fillers. Darn fillers ruin a lot of anime sometimes, but I couldn't tell when there was a filler when I watching DGM. The fillers are actually good. Really.
I don't want to spoil the series, but let's just say that once you start watching DGM, you'll never want to stop.
--ART--
I loved the animation. At first, it starts off okay, but during the third and fourth season, it really kicks into gear.
The characters match the manga really well, and stayed true to Hoshino-sama's character design.
The lighting and scenery are utterly beautiful. There are too many beyond words places that this anime visits.
--SOUND--
The sound is good, but I found the background music boring at times. It's used over and over again--but the background music is still good.
The OP's match the anime extremely well.
At first when I heard the ED's, I really didn't like a lot of them. Listen to the ED's a couple of times, and you'll fall in love with them.
--CHARACTERS--
First of all, the main character,Allen Walker, is the exact opposite of most main shonen anime and manga characters. Allen Walker is the polite and klutzy type who just loves to eat, but there's much more to him than meets the eye, just as there is with the other characters.
Of course you have to have the comic relief, Lavi, who can still fight.
You have a guy who just seems to make you laugh every time you seem him, Yu Kanda.
You have a girl who can kick some serious butt, Lenalee.
You have a really... weird but cool adult figure, Komui.
And, of course, there's kick-ass villains who you just want to love--but you have to keep reminding yourself that they are evil, and WILL kill your favorite main characters.
I found it extremely hard to NOT hate any of the characters.
And... there was something else that caught my eye about these characters.
They seemed REAL.
This anime focuses on the characters more than the plot, even though the plot is almost as interesting as the characters.
--OVERALL--
I really enjoyed this anime.
I think that every anime or manga fan should watch/read DGM.
It's my favorite anime--and D.Gray-man always makes me sit on the edge of my seat, tear up, and put a smile on my face.
I hope that D.Gray-man does the same to you.
jacks1017
Oh my god, if it wasn't for this being part of my childhood, I wouldn't have bothered finishing it, I think I would've legit dropped it. The first 5-10 episodes or so were hype, I really like the vibe and what it's trying to tell and show us, but oh my god, the following episodes after that up until episode 50ish were some endless rollercoaster filler ride. I was watching, right? and then thought to myself "When will the story start picking up?" because every episode is just the same formula, they go to a new place, new side characters get introduced and ooohhh suddenly there'sakuma in this town and then end of the episode. Soooo BORING! although every now and then, new exorcists get introduced, but still... you didn't need to drag the shit out of this because it got repetitive over time, and then when i finally got to around episode 60, finally! the story started moving and it got a little bit interesting. I don't think i even remember the first 50 episodes of this show, i think i can even recite to you the 2nd half scene by scene because that's where the real shit starts to happen. This anime could've been shortened if you cut out the fluffy parts.
Again, the story... HYPE! but it had some flaws. What i also didn't like is that, it's trying so hard to be comedy, like wtf? Light comedy would've been fine, but it's really trying to imitate that goofiness that you see in one piece, but it just doesn't check out to me at all, because of the contrast of the story being dark and cruel. Also, how can you take this seriously when the show itself doesn't take itself seriously too, because it kept inserting funny moments in serious scenes, even the enemy doesn't feel scary and intimidating at all because of how comedic they are at times.
The characters, most of them didn't even catch my attention at all, no one is interesting because there's not much character exploration that happened at all, so it's hard for me to get invested in any of these characters. I think the only character that really piqued my interest was Marshall Tiedoll, i found him quite interesting, he has some emotional sides to him and his power is so badass. Lavi was that one character that i kept remembering in my head since my childhood because i find his powers amazing, but watching this now, i don't even know what to say and he kept using the same attack as well, we see his hammer having a lot of magic circles, but he still uses the same fire attack, like come on.
The animation really shows how old this anime, it's not that bad, it is pretty decent, so if you're looking for amazing sakuga, you won't find it here. The character designs are lit, it's very gothic, the way the world in here was drawn feels pretty same, they made every country look pretty much the same, except for asian countries and maybe some other well known western ones.
ChibiHime
Note: This review has been completely changed and thought over. To be honest, I was extremely iffy to watch D. Gray-Man. I mean, a series over 100 episodes screams out filler and something more mainstream like Naruto or Bleach. I began to watch it because I already had it and the holidays had come by. With nothing else to do, D. Gray-Man was the better option out of the rest of my anime storage. This anime is really quite a typical shounen with action, a set enemy and a love interest. It goes more into the dramatic side though. Of course, D. Gray-Man follows the exorcist AllenWalker. It depicts his time at the Dark Order. DGM shows struggles within one's self and such. Once you get to about episode 40+ you are thrown onto a roller coaster of emotional struggle. It's really good, it gets to ya sometimes but it's not a tear jerker. It just makes you feel for the characters.
That's the main plot of the story. The idea is great but it's been seen before, most obvious example being FMA. It's the directing that let's DGM down at times. Some points in the plot is plain boring itself, it's nothing you haven't seen before really. The pacing is inconsistent and it bugged me. You get really tedious 4-5 episode long arcs at the start which are somewhat important to introduce characters and the idea of Innocence to the audience. It just could've been handled better and without the 2-3 episodes to get to the main point.
After you're introduced with everything, nothing big happens until about episodes late 30's early 40's. Feel free to skip anything you deem filler and come back to it later. It's what I did and if you come to be obsessed with the characters in the end like I was, you'd be glad for them fillers you get to watch once you actually do have some sort of appreciation towards the characters. I skipped about 10 episodes, majority were filler and the rest were part of the actual plot. Even the original storyline can get boring as well.
Art wasn't anything major. It was nice but it definitely wasn't something with a high budget. Only major characters were given a decent amount of detail, but at least the animation was smooth. I was also quite surprised with a scene near the end of the series, which I thought had quite a bit of effort put into it. If the scene was handed down to another anime, I fear that the detail would disappear as it's not something I see producers really caring about. So props to the producers for that. It's not shiny and wow looking, it's just a scene that felt realistic is all.
I didn't take note of the BGM. BGM normally doesn't appeal to me unless it's really good. DGM didn't hit that really good standard. OP and ED's were quite normal for me. Catchy, but not something that was really really good. The voice acting I liked. I thought Allen had a too high pitched of a voice at first but it grew on me and is very suitable for him. Everything was up to normal standards and enjoyable.
Now I have a thing for characters so this area usually gets a higher mark then the other categories. You get a range in characters and a few main cast ones but I only felt that Allen was the only one given any character development. Yes we find out Lavi's and Lenalee's past a little but it never really stood out. It felt like something thought up to fill in that curious gap, though it wasn't satisfying. That is why I find the characters bland when I seriously think about them. But if you think of them based on enjoyment then yes that would be quite high. The characters are fun to watch, it makes you happy to see them being well, happy with each other. The Noah are great. They're evil yet human at the same time and it's just so fun to watch.
To sum it all up, DGM is definitely not a technically good anime. It more bases on its fandom and enjoyment rate for its success, like the mainstream anime. DGM is a little deeper then that though. It's better then mainstream but not good enough. This is really something to watch when you have the time and are bored. It's agonising just look at how many episodes there are. Just skip to about 40 once you watch maybe the first 20 and it should be more bearable. Don't expect something that is breath taking, expect something simply fun and addictive, like how Kuroshitsuji is. Both are dark but it's mainly the fandom which makes them awesome.
ragre
To everyone thinking "Oh, joy. Another cliche shonen anime!", you'll be surprised how different and fresh D.Gray-Man is from most other anime. OK, it starts off slow and has a sort of simple, definitely cliche plotline at the beginning. It seems really boring with simple and boring characters, right? Wrong. DGM (aka D.Gray-Man. I'll use this from now on - easier to type up) is definitely a more character-driven anime, instead of the usual plot-driven ones. The characters are all real and tangible; they have emotions and they show them. Each of them have different backstories, which are revealed as the story progresses and each ofthem faces different enemies and situations. Each of them has different abilities that they show as the danger increases and they all play unique and vital roles in the story. But wait, I'm jumping a bit ahead of myself. That's all in the second half of DGM; the first half is simply an introduction to their world, powers and enemies. The story arcs are very short; around 4 episodes max and quite decent. But after the 50th episode mark, DGM shows its true colours. The detailed introduction of the creator of the Akuma and his "family" really kicks off the story and raises the bar for everything to come.
The story, as I've said, is more character-based, and is one of DGM's stronger points. It's unique and interesting, but the earlier episodes don't really compare story-wise to the later episodes; all hell breaks loose and it kicks into overdrive after episode 50 or so. Also, whilst watching DGM for the first time, I had no idea most of the episodes I was watching in the first half were fillers; the story arcs are so short they seem to be part of the story and just slot in with the more crucial episodes that introduce important characters.
The art and animation quality are top-notch. The special effects and art styles are quite something, and the character models and backgrounds are superb. There's a lot of detail for those who care to look, and there's nothing really I have to complain about.
The sound now. The sound's... well, decent. The openings and endings are excellent, but the background music doesn't really do much for the anime. To be honest, I just sort of blanked out the background music and when I saw a soundtrack for DGM in the shops, I thought "D.Gray-Man had background music?" Japanese voice acting is excellent. English? Not so much. Definitely watch in Japanese with subs.
The characters in DGM are by far its strongest aspect. They develop and mature as the series goes along, and they have real emotions, emotions which they have to accept and overcome. They aren't afraid to show their emotions, not afraid to cry or laugh, and they do so regularly. It's quite astounding how Katsura Hoshino has managed to make convincing characters and then throw them into different situations, showing them reacting accordingly without the slightest hint of forcing them to, or pushing the story along.
So, in conclusion, I think D.Gray-Man mixes a cliche shonen storyline, convincing characters and a beautiful art style to create something completely fresh and unique. Definitely give it a try, no matter what. And if you don't like it, watch on anyway; it gets much better the further along you watch.
Feedback much appreciated ;)
chronarose
Hoshino Katsura has created an interesting beast in D.Gray-man. It has a definite whiff of the standard shonen about it, but there's so much unique about the anime that it's easy to forgive that. For one thing, the stylistic theme of the whole affair can only be described as "surreal". An interesting mixture of clown motifs and religious themes sets this anime immediately apart. The primary villain manages to be simultaneously comically ridiculous, incredibly sinister, and utterly evil, whilst the main supporting villains manage to be extremely likeable characters with a very human side, even whilst doing their master's undeniably evil bidding. The more generic enemies– the Akuma – are consistently creepy enough to maintain interest. I mean seriously. Creepy.
Characters and their abilities are also very well-executed. Unusually for a shonen, the main character is actually both interesting and likeable enough to deserve all the focus he gets; indeed, I think one area this anime succeeds brilliantly in is balancing its cast of characters. One never feels like the cast is getting stale, but at the same time it never seems to grow too large; characters get pretty much exactly the volume of screentime they deserve, and the characters who receive the most focus are generally also the most likeable. I say this in direct contrast to anime such as Bleach and Naruto, which have a huge cast of secondary characters, many of them more likeable than the main characters, but they have a distinct tendency to fail to receive any development, or often even any screentime whatsoever.
The story itself is somewhat episodic. It manages not to shy away from focus on the main villains from very early on, whilst at the same time maintaining a healthy air of mystery and distance about them. Overall, it avoids the classic shonen trap of feeling like just a sequence of battles; with one major exception, progression is generally more complicated than simply battling enemies. The shonen "power curve" of progressively stronger enemies as the protagonists' power increases is present, but never feels forced; "evolution" is treated as an important theme, and often used to draw uncomfortable parallels between the heroes and the villains. The author is also not afraid to give a fair amount of focus to the characters without special abilities. Comedy is present, but generally restricted to short, more light-hearted "relief" segments in between the main story arcs.
But where the series really shines is in its emotion and conflicts. Enemies are routinely treated as sympathetic in one way or another, and the protagonists' "heroic" organisation is itself by no means morally perfect. The war with the Akuma is presented as just that – a war, and generally a losing one, with all the tragedies and internal/moral conflicts that come with that. Whilst the series doesn't have a habit of killing off its central protagonists, tragedy and death are central, recurring themes from the very first chapter.
Overall, I find D.Gray-man a compelling and entertaining series that is well worth a read.
(The anime had a premature ending, therefore I would suggest continuing D.Gray-man on chapter 156)
thelectricow
I finally finished D.Gray Man, just in time for the summer release of it's sequel. Was it worth the time and effort to catch up? Well, I wouuuuuld like to tell you, but if I do that you won't read the review! __________________________________________________________________________ STORY: 5/10 The concept of D.Gray Man is definitely overdone. It was certainly more unique in it's time, but was still common, even then. Even if it hadn't been overdone so much, it still wouldn't have been too interesting. Humans versus monsters isn't really that captivating. However, one of the big pluses of DGM is that it is much darker than you would expect.There is a LOT of death involved with the series, and it deals with the concepts of pain, loss, and depression rather well. I'll talk about this more in characters. For the actual plot itself... well, for the first half, it's totally garbage. It just feels pointless, like the story was being prolonged just to make money. But it's not like you can skip it either, because as boring as it is, it's important for setting the framework for the second half. Once you can get past that, though, the second half of DGM gets much, MUCH better. The story takes off from mimi arcs to a massive war between the main characters and the main villains. There is tons of death and despair during this arcs, which is quite rare to see from a shonen. However even in these climactic moments, plot armor still exists, and you know none of the main characters will die. Also, it seems that no matter how hard DGM tries to be unique, it always returns to it's shonen roots, with every character screaming 'I FIGHT FOR MY FRIENDS' and things along those lines. That said, the climax was epic and gets your adrenaline running every time the protagonists have a comeback. If I were to judge this anime on the second half alone, it would get a much higher score, but I can't forget that atrocious first half.
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ART: 5/10
For shonen standards, the quality put into DGM's art is outstanding. However in the anime medium as a whole, it isn't as impressive. You can clearly note the unneeded effort put into structures, and it was clear the show wanted to make itself look as dark as possible. But, in the animation department, it falls flat. The character movements can be weird at times, and the most important part of any shonen, the battles, are majorly affected by this. In the second half not as much, but definitely in the first place I laughed during some of the grim battles, just because of how pathetically childish the animation is.
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SOUND: 6/10
Probably the biggest problem I have with shonen is the massive amount of theme songs that come along with them. DGM is not one of those shonen. Only one, or two if you want to stretch, of the endings are really 'good', but that still makes it above average from the everyday anime! And the openings... omg, the openings... openings 3 and 4 are fantastic to go along with the dramatic improvement, bur 1 and 2 are no joke either. The theme songs power is overlooked when it comes to the soundtrack though. Remember how I was saying that I laughed during some of the serious battles? Well this is another reason why. And the main one. I would go as far as to say the soundtrack actually ruined the entire show for me, until the second half, where a couple good tracks are added. It ruined the suspense sometimes though, which may be another reason why I cannot stand the first half. The power of the soundtracks is ALSO overlooked when it comes to the voice acting department. Some of the most famous seiyu of all time voice the main characters, and they live up to their reputation and do a fantastic job. Krory, in particular, has an extremely talented voice actor, to be able to pull off his creepy voice. The power of the voice acting though, is ALSO (you must be tired of me saying this by now) overlooked b the poor sound effects. They're very typical to a shonen, and are the third and final reason why I can't take the battles seriously. It can be summed up in one word, and that is fake explosion. The directors practically spammed it during fights against akuma.
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CHARACTER: 7.6/10
Now THIS is where DGM shines, right from the start. First off, the main characters. The designs are AWESOME! Not to mention unique. I bet if you were to look at Allen or Lavi, you wouldn't forget them for a while. Now I know I said 'right from the start', but that wasn't completely true. The characters are great to start with, but are even more amazing when they go through the pain and loss of a comrade. They all have their own unique way of reacting, and sometimes they feel so real, it's... well eerie! Out of the four lead characters, though, there is one person in particular who is outshined by the rest: Lenalee. Being the only female main character, Lenalee has the plainest design and motivation of the four. However. I believe that Lenalee has the most potential out of the four of them. I feel in the future if she were to undergo a serious loss, her change would be almost psychological... something I wholeheartedly have crossed my fingers for. The supporting characters, especially the villains, are also worth mention as they are also extremely unique and outclass the characters of your average shonen. However... their designs don't, and because of this I guarantee you'll be calling characters 'Lenalee's brother' instead of 'Komui'. This isn't a problem with the antagonists, but the helping main characters certainly suffer from it.
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OVERALL: 6.15/10
So, is DGM worth the watch? If it was just the second half I would say YES in all capitals, but no matter how hard I try, I can't forget the first half. In the end, my answer became no. DGM is better than average, but it's not worth watching 103 episodes. If it was shorter I would say give it a go, but because of it's length, I had to answer with no. For recommendations I point you towards Hunter x Hunter (2011) which also has it's weak points but overall is a far better example of a mature shonen, and Bleach, which is similar in the sense that supernatural beings also invade the human world with a group of people blessed with special powers to defend it.
Thanks for reading! Feedback is always appreciated. This has been thelectricow, and now I shall end this review faster than lighting!
DarkRomanceAngel
Ok if I sound biased I don't mean to be but I am reviewing my favorite anime of all time here. So first off is that if you plan to watch the DGM series do not under any circumstances watch the English version. It will kill you. The voices picked for the English version were poorly done. Only Komui's fit him and that was about it. Aside from that the beginning is a little I don't how you would say it but slow and how my sister would put it 'stupid'. Which after watching it for a second time I would have to agree. Butonce you get used to some of the characters flaws and randomness you can really start to enjoy the show.
A friend of mine tried watching it and could barely get past the first episode because of how she didn't like the akuma and how they acted all robotic. Well trust me and this might be a bit of a spoiler or a goal setter but they don't stay that way after a while. Latter on you start to see that they have personality's. Some funny, weird, and just plan creeper status.
Some characters might annoy you but you might as well suck it up and look at the other better aspects of the show. I know I am sad/depressed and many others as well that the series was discontinued. But not the manga. The manga has gone so far and is still going. Even the plot is hinting/turning more towards a shonen ai type of thyme. I won't tell which characters. That you will have to decided on you're own from watching it. But be warned there is character death and near character death all along the plot.
Most of it will make you want to cry for all you sensitive types out there like me who can get caught up in an anime so much that they start screaming and shouting at the computer and have your family members look at you like you're crazy.
Now as far as the audio goes its very good in my opinion. The openings and endings tend to go right with the story line and can be very catchy but the background music during most of the series tends to be forgotten. Even by me. But the great thing is the fillers. Now I hardly noticed the fillers but there is a lot of them if you look closely.
On to the characters. Now I think that the diversity of the characters was amazing. They even had people of different nationalities like Japanese, British, American, and Chinese mixed around. Even in the anime the characters do not think that they have to get stronger to defeat someone. Most of them have their doubts and have to face their feelings like real people and then they gradually get stronger through struggles and not like in other shows they just magically get stronger all of a sudden and not through deep emotional driven strife. You can then tell the plot goes more by the characters feelings and emotions. Almost like watching a child grow. You never really know how they will turn out.
The art is the lest thing. Now they have great detail in everything they do and I have yet to catch any stupid mistakes like I have caught in other anime's where they forget something in the background or the character. Along with the art they make all of their weapons connected to them in some sort of way to their personal lives and pasts. Along with that, their is no crazy art or jumpy parts where you have to pause the anime to tell what it is. Usually if i have to do that with an anime to much then I stop watching it.
Kadrian
Well, this is probably one of the few anime with too OP main character that I enjoyed watching. It has really enjoyable plot and story. It has action and awesome fighting scenes It has developed plot and great solutions. It does not have harem/Rever harem/ecchi/etc It does not have weak and pathetic highschool girls It has great developed relationships between main characters. It has unique characters and unique powers too. The art isn't really top class, but the second season is really awesome. All in all, please do give this anime a try. It is probably one of my all time favorite anime!
onat
This is probably the most underrated show of all time. It's very unique when compared to other shounen anime, too. You will notice how great, unique and advanced the story is as you progress. At the same time, it succeeds to keep the storyline simple and clean; Innocence and exorcists good, Akuma and Millenium Earl bad, The Heart big important, whoever finds The Heart achieves victory royale. After ridicule events that may occur in this absurd story, there're no plot holes formed and loose ends are ALWAYS tied up. In addition, there're no forced power-ups or friendship power assemblies to do the impossible. In fact, therehave been many times where I thought to myself "crap, there's no way these guys make it out". When Allen hits the ground, he hits it HARD. Combined with his selflessness, DGM gives a chance for side characters to prove themselves.
Character development? Mmm, tasty! In over 100 episodes, there's always time to explore characters and their past, even ones with minor impact on the plot. Although it's a tad disappointing how Allen remains mysterious even after his past got slightly unveiled, it makes me glad that it wasn't disclosed in depth. You'll understand what I said when you watch DGM Hallow or read the manga afterwards. It's also worth mentioning that the antagonists are so well written that you might end up sympathizing them, which is the case with most of the DGM fans. In fact, you might begin to question who the righteous side is. Perhaps Allen will join the Noah someday? One can hope.
Last but not least, for a shounen there're lots of sad episoded which will evoke your feels (also see episodes 4&5), followed by sorrowful soundtracks (also see Saikai OST and episodes 4&5 again). I'm a strong guy but damn, this anime drowned me in tears.
All in all, the anime has great story, characters, soundtrack, and can be tearful sometimes *whip*, but everything is followed by great humor, so you will most likely not get bored. I stayed along the journey only because the story was thrilling. Like in Neon Genesis Evangelion, so little was covered so there was always a feel of hype and excitement. I believe DGM is unlike your regular shounen anime, you should definitely give it a shot!
LaviaraYu
I started watching this anime because one of my favorite Japanese bands' song was used here. At first, I thought it was mediocre--the art was good, the main characters had nice outfits, a good typical shounen anime...etc. But later, after the slow start, I started to like it more and more. Not only were the characters all developing, they had realistic power growths. Now, I consider this one of the best anime I have ever watched. The characters were, by far, the best aspect of this anime. They were based on common anime sterotypes--the antisocial humbug (Kanda), the cheerful kid (Lavi), the nice girl everyone likes(Lenalee). However, they weren't just those sterotypes--they were deeper than that. Lavi had his angry moments, Lenalee had arguments, and good ol' Kanda actually showed concern, in his own way. The side characters (Krory, Miranda) also had good development; they even became important parts of this anime. Even the evil dudes (Tyki Mikk, Road Camelot) had shown emotion throughout the anime. All the characters, unlike many other anime, had complicated and human feelings.
One thing that I didn't like was the soundtrack. It wasn't memorable, I personally didn't like some of the songs--overall, I thought they could've done better. The abrupt ending was also a letdown--they should have continued it. Along with the slow start, many watchers might not like this because of that (However, the slow beginning did help me get to know the characters :D).
There were many other things I liked--the good mix of comedy and mystery, the setting, the plot. I would reccommend this to anyone looking for a good shounen anime. This certainly isn't your average shounen.
lebannen
hello and welcome to a hungover shitty review. the author puts forth a lot of good general ideas and concepts. a shounen battle series with exorcists hunting demons who are more like a mixture between machines and former human souls, created by some generic evil fat guy who claims to hate god. this sort of setting has a lot of potential, so where did it all go wrong? execution. especially the pacing is completely FUBAR. this author may have interesting ideas but has no idea how to express them in an adequate way. take the first 50 something episodes for instance, more like 50 shades of boredom. literallyzero to nothing happens in the main story and the purpose of those 50 episodes was to introduce the viewer to a handful of new one dimenshional characters. we are introduced to the noah as well early on but we don't get to know anything about them and for some reason the earl tries to attain this "heart innocence" in the most ineffective way possible instead of sending his OP noahs to smash everything to bits.
so that's a summary of the first fifty something episodes, i was bored to tears. i asked someone on reddit if i should keep going and if it was going to get better. he told me that it would take a 180 degree turn around the 50+ mark. and in some ways it did, but it only went from painfully boring to mildly amusing and the pace was still fucked up. they latched on to the most trivial and boring stuff and stretched it out as long as possible but when things start to happen they cut it extremely short.
or when a certain suspense manages to build up and they ruin it with lame jokes. from 50+ onward i just kept going because i wanted to write an angry review so here it is.
i know there is a new season incoming but i will probably not watch it unless the author has realized his/her shortcomings and teamed up with someone who can actually structure this show in an interesting way.
ethann
D. Grayman is about a a boy named allen walker who is cursed with the ability to see akuma or demons.He joins the Black order to fight these Akuma with the use of special weapons known as innocence.The story focuses on the lives of the individuals in the order and their encounters. The story of this anime is amazing. It's one of the best i've seen(possibly the best). It has a very unique feel to it for a shounen anime and inculcates a lot of drama which makes the anime so gripping. For a shounen anime it has a good mix of comedy,drama,action and adventure, notso much romance but this combo has worked wonders for this anime. The story is not cliche at all and can be a bit dark at times but it helps to contribute to the realism in it. So if you think this is your typical shounen anime where the bad guys losing an everybody goes home happy, guess again. The anime is filled with twists and turns at every point and gets better and better as the story progresses.
The art was fantastic. Details are drawn out well and the dark setting creates an excellent atmosphere. The vivd colours help to bring out focal points in the story. all the characters are drawn so well and the chibi versions now and then add to the comedy.
The sound was not the best part of the anime. Though the opening and closing songs were great and really suited the anime. The background music here and there did help to bring out the atmosphere but i think more could have been done in this area.Nonetheless, a commendable effort in this area.
The characters are the best part of the show. The character development in the show is astounding, best i've seen. All the characters have good depth reagardless of how little showtime they get, the producers ensured that each character had ample elaboration on.The flashbacks help to create depth in the haracters and show us the reasons for their determination or lack there of. It is a very realistic anime and touches on a lot of human emotions and institutions such as friendship, duty, family and so on. The characters portray these themes very well. Plus the weapons they get are freaking cool!
What else can i say, besides that the anime was the bomb! The comedy was not too lame and the fighting was awesome. The drama was gripping and leaves you wanting for more. I think another good thing about this show is that you get to empathise some of the characters, with so many different personalities in the various characters you are bound to be one of them.
Overall,out of all my favourites so far, this one would be at the top. The storyline, characters, animation and sound interwoven create a master piece that is not to be missed. If you think all shounens are easygoing , try this one out...it'll definitely show you a different story to other shounen. My praises would go on and on but alas i should stop.This anime is a must see. If you are interested in knowing what is going on after the anime you can always read the manga..it's a good read as well. I hope another season wil continue from where they left off cause the manga is way ahaead of the anime.
knav
The D.Gray-man series has a very supernatural, and biblical themed background story that will certainly interest those of you wanting to get away from mecha, ninja, or other typical genres. The story is set in an industrial Western world with several countries in Europe and Asia featured, to the extent that you could draw a parallel between D Gray Man and Fullmetal Alchemist. Allen Walker, the key character, is intent on becoming an "Exorcist" under an organization called the Black Order that combats the antagonist, the Millennium Earl, who's rotundity and nonchalance that I think at times does not appropriately suit the sinisterimage of the villain. A good portion of the story revolves around the Black Order's missions to obtain the divine substance know as "Innocence," which grants users power to combat the Akuma ("devils"), minions of the Millennium.
In the Black Order, Allen meets the easy-going Lenalee, the hilarious commander Komui, the carefree Lavi, and the uptight Kanda. In describing the characters, however, one-word adjectives simply does not suffice. A strong point of this anime is the character development of Allen and several of the supporting cast, including the many characters that are introduced throughout the series.
You will find a bit of unconventional biblical elements and old medieval folklore, an instance of which is one of the initial villains - the vampire Arystar, whose story is a bit unique and becomes a supporting character later in the series. The story of Noah and the Arc is prominently featured, modified into the background of the antagonistic Noahs, elite servants of the Earl.
Regarding the music of D.Gray-man, the opening and ending themes were quite memorable and catchy. Although many people were indifferent to the soundtrack, I personally thought it contributed greatly to the melancholy tone of the story that frequents the plot. The stand-alone piano tracks were very beautiful, especially the "14th's Song" that was featured much later at a pivotal point in the series.
As a final word, I reiterate that D.Gray-man may seem like your typical shounen anime, but provides quite a refreshing, supernatural story and setting.
