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Forum - View topicShould I get D.Gray-man?
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LydiaDianne
 Posts: 5634 Location: Southern California |
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D.Gray-man
Okay, I'm throwing myself at your mercy and begging for help...or at least information. I've heard a lot about this series but I'm wondering if it would fit my particular tastes (please see My Anime to see what I have). I haven't seen any of this...at least I don't think I have but before I cough up the cash and order from TRSI, I would like to know if any of you have watched it and what you think about it: The characters - are they well defined? The story - is it well written? The animation - does it suck? The music - meh, not so important but is it jarring and off compared to the storyline (ie rap music in 18th century Britain. I would just really like to know if this series is worth investing my time and my money in. Thanks a lot and much appreciated! |
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 12088 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Over half the series is filler. And while the characters are touched upon every now and then, it's not as in-depth as it could be, at least from how far I've read and how far I watched. I only got to Vol.6 of the manga and around episode 70 of the anime till I came to the realization that Shounen Jump titles won't end for at least a few years and that it's a complete waste of my time to even try keeping up with 'em anymore.
The animation is crap. This was the first TMS Entertainment production I think I watched, and I personally feel the frame rate is horrid, especially for a shounen series. It's not quite stiff, but not all that fluid either. I'd even go so far as to say Bleach filler has better animation than most of the overall work for this. Music, on the other hand is pretty good. It's composed by Kaoru Wada, who pulls most of his InuYasha-esque compositions out for this one, but with less Japanese instrumentality (think more along the lines of a Western-sounding IY). I'd wait for box sets, if I were you. |
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guet
 Posts: 492 Location: Sparta |
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D Gray Man is a solid shounen series, I've not read the manga, so my perspective comes from knowing nothing about the franchise when I watched it.
The pros- A rather unique premise. Basically, there are demons, called Akuma, who must be brought back to life by someone they were close to. There is a big bad, who finds people in misery over the loss of a loved one, and offers them the chance to bring them back. The catch is that the demons are shadows of their former selves, and are driven to kill normal humans in order to become more powerful. Opposing them are the dark order of exorcists. "Normal" humans are chosen by a force called innocence, that joins with the person giving them abilities to combat and purify these tormented souls. The cast of exorcists range from the main male lead Allen Walker, a young boy who has a cursed eye, Lenalee Lee, the main female character, who has been with the dark order since she was a very young girl, to some very unique characters such as an old man who serves as a historian, only joining the exorcists in order to be able to see history as it happens from the front lines so to speak. In my opinion the best members of the cast can't be mentioned, as how they come to join up would be significant spoilers. As far as I'm concerned, the cast is one of the high points of the series. The story itself is fairly dark for a shounen series, as death of some sort happens in almost every episode, and not even cast members are safe. There are also some interesting twists along the way. The comedy side of the series serves to lighten the mood from time to time, but never really reaches a point where it's worth watching the anime for laughs. The animation isn't the greatest, it's not horrible, but it is probably one of the weaker aspects. The music however is rather fitting for the series, and later on music actually plays a part in the plot. The cons- The series ends at around the 100 episode mark. The story, while going out at the end of one of the better arcs, really isn't finished. The manga is on hold as well because of the creator's health, so when the rest of the story will be finished, or if the animation ever continues is still up in the air. At least there was no major cliffhanger at the end. While the story is fairly unique, there is still a lot of the standard shounen cycle of hero loses fight, trains and gets stronger, then goes on to win the rematch. There are some filler episodes, not nearly as many or as low quality as in something like Bleach, but it is there. Romance plays very little into the plot. It's hinted at very strongly at times, but never really goes anywhere. In my opinion, it really takes a while for the story itself to get interesting, the early episodes are decent, but the better ones don't show up until closer to the second half of the series. The opening and ending animations, while well done with some solid j-rock music, are some of the most spoilerific of any series I've seen. For me, it really didn't cause me to enjoy the anime any less, but you should be warned. Some fans of the Manga started to watch this, and then decided to stick with the manga. I think it follows the same story fairly closely, but the pacing, filler, and possibly some minor edits may have something to do with this. I don't know if this helped any, but I rather enjoyed the series. It's not one of the best shounen series out there, but the fact that it's different from most makes it entertaining in it's own way. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 8016 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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It's not bad at all really, I liked it, aside from a few points.
The first is that the series takes quite a lot of patience as the first 20 episodes or so are just spent setting up the cast. Now once you get past those initial episodes it's a great ride with a darker than your average shounen series atnosphere which I really liked. It also has some really cool action. The storyline is also very interesting throughout the entire series, and as mentioned above the characters in this series really do shine. The other problem comes with the way it ends though, spoiler[it just.....ends because they caught up to the manga.] The current situation is resolved but spoiler[The Millenium Earl and a buch of his minions the Noah Clan are all still alive. So, hopefully we'll get a D.Gray-man 2 somewhere down the line.]
Well, Funi is only doing boxes anyway, so there's not really a choice.... |
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Mushi-Man
 Posts: 1537 Location: KCMO |
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I have only seen some of this series, but it was good from what I've seen. In terms of new shounen series, I'd say this is the better of them. I think that the story is unique and interesting. The characters seemed ok, if not a little predictable. The animation was pretty good. And the music seemed ok. over all it seemed like an ok show. I actually plan on buying the season 1 part 1 when it comes out. I would conclude that it's not a waste of money, but it's nothing that you should spend loads of money on.
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LydiaDianne
Posts: 5634 Location: Southern California |
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Hmmm.
Thanks everyone. It looks like I'm going to have to give some thought about getting this series. But, thank you for letting me know what you think! Very, very appreciated! |
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