Forum - View topicRIGHT TURN ONLY!! - Kitchen Avenger
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maichips
 Posts: 96 |
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Yes! I believe you do! 
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jgreen
 Posts: 1325 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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Wow, that sounds like the exact same story as Full Moon, only with cooking replacing singing. I think I'll pass.... |
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kolibri
 Posts: 712 Location: Vancouver |
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Heh, three of my most favourite shounen manga in one sentence, how can I not comment 
I'd say D.Gray-man is definitely above the average shounen manga, if for nothing else the superbly detailed artwork. It has the standard elements like friendship, effort and victory in it for sure coupled with cool weapons and their power-ups - but it's also missing some other cliche like tournaments and competitions. I'd also like to add that D.Gray-man's female characters are well above your standard ditsy girls who like to sit on their asses and whimper while getting rescued. I've only read the first three volumes (hoping to pick up this latest this week) so it's too early for me to compare to my other two favorites Bleach and Naruto... but it's got great promise and it's one of the more anticipated series for me (the manga that is - the anime is much weaker IMHO). |
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championferret
 Posts: 765 |
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About D.Gray-man, I may be biased as its currently my personal favourite series right now, but I really get uppity when people accuse it of unoriginality. For me, the thing I think that stands out the most about the manga and makes it so nice is the gothic-y, almost Tim Burtonesque atmosphere it has, and the 'art direction'.
Here's what I wrote on my site review: "Many people have dismissed D.Gray-man as being ‘unoriginal’ and even ‘a mismatch of cliche elements’. Whilst the ‘The world is going to end unless this team of magical girls/samurai/ninjas/exorcists do something!” may not be necessarily new, D. Gray-man does what it does with great skill and with such fantastic ability that it hardly matters. The situations encountered in each search for a piece of Innocence, rather than the overall plot, are quite original, entertaining and engaging, and the characters are all well-defined. The characters are I feel one of D.Gray-man’s strongest points. Whilst Allen has his obligatory sense of moral justice, he differs from other Jump heroes from being, well, amazingly cute, almost in a girlish way. His soft-spoken innocence is a welcome departure from the more prevailent testoterone-fueled loudmouth pirates, ninjas and whatnot of certain other Jump series. As for the other characters making up the Black Order, they’re all very interesting. Most prominent is the Chinese Rinali, whose Anti-Akuma weapon is some spiffy ‘Dark Boots’ that let her run through the air (to an extent), as well as strengthening her kick greatly. Undoubtedly the most interesting is Komui Li, Linali’s older brother and head of the Science department in the Black Order. This guy is a total nutter, providing some lovely comic relief. Others, such as the girl-crazy Rabi and his Anti-Akuma hammer, are also nicely characterized. Its not only the ‘good guys’ that are done well, The Earl of the Millenium and his minions are equally fantastic, particularly the Earl himself. This grinning, tophatted fellow with the syruppy voice looks more like the leader of the Blue Meanies than a potential doomsday bring-abouter, which surprisingly works, fantastically. The minions, such as the gothic, candy and toy-loving Rhode Camelot, all make for interesting villains that are so much more than just ‘the bad guys’. What I truly love about D.Grayman, besides what has been discussed already, is the mood evoked by its artwork and tone. The underlying biblical themes, crucifix motifs and dark imagery create a very nice, subtle gothic feel that works very well, giving the manga quite a unique flavour. Its the characerisation, humour and gothic storytelling/art direction that I feel really separates D.Gray-man from other series with a ‘stop the bad guy from doing this’ theme. It also makes it quite easy for almost anyone to get into. Whatever your opinions, give it a try at least." -I should have probably added that the one flaw I can pick out in the series is the character Kanda, who strikes me as cliche. "I have a sword and dont like people! Ra!" That's...really it. ...also, Miranda Lotto is one of the best characters ever invented. EVER. |
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scortia
 Posts: 174 |
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*applauds championferret* Though I never recall Rabi being "girl-crazy".
I'm tired of seeing D. Gray-man being shot down as unoriginal and whatnot. Every shounen series falls into a cliche here and there... that's what gives them their 'shounen' label afterall. And if we want to go the "he has a weird arm like Ed so it's ripping FMA" route... how about a list of characters with weird arms? Folken Fanel, Vash,... ya know, I'd say Allen is creative because he's the only one who has a crazy LEFT arm.
But seriously, it's a really good series... not ground-breaking, but solid. Unfortunately the anime just isn't as good (filler FROM THE BEGINNING!?.. yeesh)... The review saddens me because I always really liked Crowley's arc. It impressed me because it WASN'T stereotypical manga vampire garbage... you go in thinking he's the akuma and get a big surprise in the end. The types of Innocence in this series are just... really really cool and different. Anti-gravity boots, a hammer that can grow to any size or length with the capability of doing seals, time-stopping abilities that can stop injuries that take place within but once the time returns to normal the injuries will take place in full force. But ramble ramble... I like it. The characters are all interesting, no one dislikeable... even the villains are insane and quite likeable despite their nasty habits. |
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Stormwaltz
Posts: 9 |
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A lovely turn of phrase. |
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championferret
Posts: 765 |
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I thought he says somewhere that he likes 'any girl aged from 4 to 40' or something like that. |
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scortia
Posts: 174 |
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Maybe I've completely forgotten if it was in the manga... maybe it depends on the scanlator?... I just know I have yet to actually see him hit on a female or male. I suppose the Old Panda and his drop kicks have drained Rabi completely of his sex drive. 
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Bell02
 Posts: 168 |
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hmmm...
I find myself always disagreeing with santos's favorites. |
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tyciol
 Posts: 134 Location: Canada |
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This makes me wonder how far into the story manga (or anime) the person who wrote the back jacket got, or are they just trying to mislead the reader? |
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And a contest I'd have a better chance in than the banner contest! 
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