I’ve been waiting for this day.
I’ve really been waiting for too long
BUT THE DAY FINALLY CAME!
D GRAY MAN IS BACK!
The one fainting is me, when I remember Allen and how beautiful he is.
The episode opens with the battle of chapter 169 I believe, after a little flashback scene with Timcampy. It’s the occasion for everyone to meet again with the Black Order’s exorcists on a mission and to witness how much they’ve changed since last time. Of course the most noticeable change is Link who grew up to be a beautiful bishounen without anyone noticing. For the unlucky souls who forgot, this is Link before:
I don’t know about you but either way, Link is selling me dreams. Different kinds of dreams I’ll admit but still (and I’m not even talking about that booty shot of him in the Opening, bless our souls)
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY:
MA BOY LAVIII
AND ALLEEEEEEN
MY SOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!
I guess my icon speaks for itself, I love Allen, with all my heart.
If you ever talk shit about him, I’ll find you and things will ensue.
I’m dead serious.
Anyway, sorry for Caps lock, it’s the hype talking, I’ll try to contain myself… I’m super happy to see all of them but mostly Allen and Lavi, whom presence should be enjoyed as much as we can since he’s not getting much screen time lately.
Also… Lavi is hot, he’s really is hot… I mean he was hot since the beginning, but… yeah… fiiiiiou, I don’t know about you but those summer nights are going to get a lot warmer than I expected… and that won’t be the global warming’s fault this time. I swear, this dude is the incarnation of sin, a beautiful one though… really beautiful…
*AHEM* It was quite a bloody battle If you ask me. I don’t recall seing guts and blood in the previous anime. Oh well, I like blood so that’s not a issue for me. So after they’ve won the battle against the Akumas and secured the Innocence, the focus jumps back in time. We now see our exorcist gang discovering for the first time the new Head quarters of the Black Order after its destruction by the last Akuma attack. So yeah, they actually decided to adapt those chapters in a strange order and thus they made some little changes in this episode. Overall it works pretty fine so I won’t complain.
They also added a nice little recap summing up the basic plot of the series. I say “basic plot” because for those who thought D.Gray-Man was still “Allen, along with his fellow Exorcists must put a stop to the Millennium Earl’s ultimate plot that could lead to the destruction of the world and all who live on it.” I’m sorry to disappoint you but it’s not that easy anymore. I don’t think I even understand what D.Gray-Man is about now… I just know I like it… very much.
Right after, it’s the entrance of Lveille who’s doing a great job at being a dick, as usual. He restrains Allen with those weird little magic spell papers and hop, we don’t really have time to waste, let’s meet with Cross Marian. The latter basically explains that the fourteenth, who betrayed the Noah clan years ago, was Mana’s brother who was also Allen’s adoptive father. Oh yeah and Allen is hosting the Fourteenth’s personality. So inside his body, he basically has the soul of his uncle? It’s complicated? AHAHAHA, this is just getting started.
The Flashback of Allen and Mana was so cute. It’s funny to see that Allen was so different back then but yet still adorable as hell.
What makes me soooo sad, hearing Cross’s explanation, is the fact that Allen doesn’t know if Mana liked him for who he was or because he was the Fourteenth’s host, and of course now, there’s no way to know… And also the fact that despite that, Allen decided to believe in Mana… AAAAAAAAAAAAH ALLLLEEEN WHY ARE YOU SUFFERING SO MUCH?! WHY IS EVERYONE SUFFERING?! WE NEED TO PROTECT ALLEN! WE ACTUALLY NEED TO PROTECT ALL OF THEM!
Hey you know what? It’s only episode 1 and I already feel the pain, which means it’s good…
It’s good, give me more pain.
I’m used to it now.
Because the Fourteenth’s goal was to kill the Millenium Earl, Lvielle thinks of using Allen to achieve the same end. Since their goals are similar, why not using that kid as a tool? Great idea right? Oh Lviell, I hate you, but I love hating you at the same time. After Douchy Lvielle being a douche, and Cross Marian being kind of an asshole, the episode ends with a cliffhanger on Cross’s death. I guess it was expected, that’s a nice way to end the episode in my opinion.
Charibo’s First Impression:
D. Gray-man was one of the first works that got me into mango reading with Full Metal Alchemist and Death Note, and consequently one of the reasons of my fall into the animu trashdom. I remember reading it when I was twelve and worshiping it like it was the best mango ever created and it still is. I tried to get my two brothers into the D.Gray-man hell, one of them liked it, the other one isn’t my brother anymore. Yo, I even changed my icon to embrace Allen’s glory, that’s how dedicated I am!
All this to say that when the announcement of Hallow came, my inner fangirl woke up from 6 years of sleep and now I’m freaking ready for this! I want this to be good. But is it really? Is this long awaited adaptation going to live up to our expectations? We had a quite a long time to fantasize about it, so are our dreams going to be crushed or will we slowly fall with delight into the pain and despair that D.Gray-man brings?
The visuals of the Opening sequence are good, I like the song too but together… Heh… I think I need time to get used to it. But my favorite Noah dork Wisely is as beautiful as ever in it so I’ll let it slide. On the other hand the ending is a perfect win for me. I swear I almost cried when I saw the pictures with Kanda and Alma… Freaking hell, this is going to be painful….
The Seiyuus are fine, Lenalee’s voice is maybe a bit too high pitched but I think I can get used to it. As for the background music I don’t really know, I haven’t noticed any memorable tracks so I’m waiting to hear more. GIVE ME SOME AMAZING SOUNDTRACK ANIMU! I’m waiting.
As for the Art style… HEH… umm… Yeah, I don’t really like it… There’s no way the anime art style could live up to the Hoshino sensei’s drawings but yeah… I think I still prefer the old anime art style, here everything is a bit too colorful for the dark and gloomy universe that D. Gray-Man is supposed to be. But I give them the benefit of the doubt tho, maybe things will get more dark as the pain is increasing. But Lenalee was wayyyy more prettier in the older version… Just sayin’ (and she’s not the only one).
However, I’m sorry but to me, the animation is pretty bad… The faces in the background are a weird, the characters in movement are meh. The funny faces of Allen, which I absolutely love in the manga, are okay I guess, it could have been a lot better though. So yeah, the Art is a bit sloppy and that’s such a shame!
Now, one of my main worries, aside from the Art style is the pacing. From what I saw on the PV and Opening I guess they are going to stop after the Alma Arc, which is quite a shame since I wanted to see the next Arc with Neah adapted. But eh, I prefer them to focus on a little amount of episodes and to give us some good stuff rather than rushing tings. And even so, I’m a bit pessimistic on that one too. 13 episodes seems a bit… too short? Good luck fitting Cross’s disappearance, Timothy’s encounter and the Alma Arc in 13 episodes. I doubt they are going to manage to fit everything without rushing it… Oh well, we’ll see.
So overall it was a nice first episode, my only disappointment is the animation and art style. I think I kind of expected it, when I saw the first trailers I had some doubts about the animation quality and I was quite right. I guess I was hoping a miracle and sadly it did not happen. So let’s pray for the drawings to get better. However, because it’s the first episode, the hype is too strong and I’m too excited to be pessimistic. For the moment I’m just happy D.Gray-Man is back. So let’s keep the bad things aside for a little while and let’s enjoy the greatness that D.Gray-man is.
Possibility of Watching: You bet I am!
Possibility of Blogging: My body is ready
Not wearing nostalgic glasses or anything but I do prefer the older artstyle. Just because it fit the gloomy theme of the show. I guess they wanted D.Gray Man to look more current? (which explains everything being brighter) Because while the older style suits it more, the thing is, its an old style. It wouldn’t translate well if we got that kind of quality nowadays. But it’ll grow on me. Only issue is like you and many others noticed, they don’t really put that much effort in the in-between frames. Like the key frames were good but the other stuff….eh. Along with some weird moments this episode where the outline of Allen’s eyes were white instead of black.
I’m kind of worried though with the pacing. I really hope they don’t wrap Paris arc next ep. At the very least it deserves 2 eps (maybe 3, I don’t remember).
Despite that, I enjoyed this episode. They were things noticeable but not glaring. It won’t really bother me until it becomes obvious each episode.
I kind of hope though they adapt the “Children” arc as an OVA (that part in the manga where they get turned into kids).
But I will say, I loved the op and despite some animation errors I think this style will grow on me. Like with Lavi….F’n damn! Before he was a hot twink but now he got bumped up to a freaking College P*rnstar stud! Lavi and Kanda were both done justice in this season (their faces got more muscular). Let the pervy fanart commence!!
In case anyone wanted to see the butt shot from the opening.
https://s32.postimg.org/6vt8p25z9/Booty.jpg
Yeeeah, that’s what I’m talking about. I’m going to print that picture and paste it on my bedroom walls. Everywhere.
Sadly you might be true about the Art style change, which is quite a shame when you think of it since like Gloomy and Dark atmospheres more than bright colors. I wonder if it’s a technical issue or just a change in mentalities….However as you mentioned it is more easy to adapt ourselves to a new art style than to a poor animation. So I hope they are going to put more effort into it. D. Gray-Man as a pretty big fanbase, it’s a shame to disappoint people just because of the animation quality.
And also, yeah, Lavis is hot. Link got an upgrade but Lavi was hot since the beginning… dear lord.
I think the one character design I regret the most is Allen, I will never be able to forget that precious smile he gave us:
Is the “Children” Arc the one after the attack of the Head quarters? When they turn into zombies? Since they skipped that part, I hope they are going to make a OVA too.
OH yeah, now I remember. It was just Lavi and Kanda who turned into kids while the main issue were the zombies. But yeah, it didn’t seem plot important but I still want to see it as an OVA.
All I can say is that I hope sales do good enough that it warrants a second season, but puts more emphasis on the manga to be made faster (because honestly this is just a advertisement for that). While I understand there’s health reasons concerning the late releases of chapters, considering we don’t know what the health reasons are and its been years on end of so-said health issues, I kind of wonder what she’s gong through? I mean its not our business or anything and she probably wants to not share it, but I’m pretty sure if she says its really serious, that us fans will understand and support her through it. Hell, she’d be getting letters from people everywhere. I guess its a Japanese mind-set because we never really hear any news of voice-actors getting fatally-ill, but only when they die. While in the US famous people have no problems saying what they’re going through to the public.
Anyways, sorry for getting deep there for a moment.
Actually I’m okay with the manga being released that way. If her illness is that serious it’s better for her to rest and to release only a chapter every few months. I’ts better to have some quality chapters than rushed ones which could endanger her health.
Also, I think we’re going to get another season anyway. The dgm fan base is a really loyal one and even if the anime turns out to be not so good, we’ll still ask for more 😀 Well at least, I will, hoping that the studio is going to learn from their mistakes.
Plus, there’s the whole Neah/Allen Arc that I’m really looking forward to and I think I’m not the only one 🙂
I think the seiyuus are doing a really good job, but for me, I can tell some of them are just not the same. The main ones that bother me are Lavi and Cross Marian. Their old voice actors had a distinction in their voices that I could notice. For Lavi’s old seiyuu, Kenichi Suzumura, the distinction is far more pronounced as Shinn Asuka in Gundam Seed Destiny. His voice is sort of brash-sounding. However, I think Natsuki Hanae is doing a really good job though because it does sound similar. As for Cross Marian’s old seiyuu, Hiroki Tōchi, the distinction is pretty much there in all the characters he voices, which are mostly “Badass” characters. The rest of the characters seem fine, although Allen sounds a bit more mature to me.
I agree with you about the Art Style. Lenalee was definitely prettier in the older version. I don’t really like it either, but meh we’ll see how it goes.
And yeah 13 episodes is a bit short. It kind of saddens me with both this series and Fate/kaleid. I wish they would make 24-episode seasons and not rush things. With 13 episodes, I feel like you barely get an Arc in. Life isn’t fair :c
You’re quite true. I also think Lavi’s voice is a bit too high pitched but it did not bother me that much and I love Hanae Natsuki so I’m not going to bash him. Furthermore he won’t get many lines so yeah… there’s not really any point in doing so.
As for Allen sounding more mature it’s true too, but too me it makes sense. After all,Tyki destroyed his innocence, so he has too sound more mature :3
Jokes asides, Ayumu Murase is doing a great job, voicing Allen is hard and he had to live up to the expectations of all the dgm fans, and gosh we know fans are hard to satisfy.
I don’t think Lenalee is going to have much screen time anyway soo yeah we won’t see her often same with other characters. After all, even if Lavi and Cross’s voices do not fit them, we won’t get the chance to hear them ahaha…. :'( I’m still sad Lavi doesn’t get enough screen time imo… I WANT LAVI!
The good side of things is that now the dgm fandom is awake ad more active than before, so maybe the directors will give us another season adaption “Allen/Neah” Arc 😀 I hope so, I want to see Neah ( I want a lot of things x) )