D.Gray-man Season Two Anime Review

D.Gray-man Season Two
Di Gureiman
Funimation
Complete Collection - 4 discs
600 mins. - 25 episodes
$29.98 (2012) S.A.V.E.
$69.98 (2011)
$59.98 (2009-2010) Parts 1-2/ea.
ISBN 704400069291
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Osamu Nabeshima
Studio - TMS Entertainment

Synopsis: The Millennium Earl is a devilish being who plans to annihilate humanity with his army of Akuma, tortured souls forced to do his bidding.  He tricks grieving loved ones into summoning back the souls of the recently departed and then turns them into murderous non-living monsters.  The reborn Akuma's first task is to kill the person who summoned them and assume their likeness.  The Earl's offer is too tempting to resist and his Akuma ranks have swelled.  He is aided by a super-human group called the Clan of Noah who have existed throughout human history.

The Millennium Earl and Tyki Mikk of the Clan of Noah

There exists a group of humans fighting to stop the Earl calling themselves the Black Order.  Powerful fighters called Exorcists hunt and kill Akuma.  They are led by Generals who are the strongest in the Order and search out fragments of a holy object called Innocence.  Each Exorcist is bonded to a shard of Innocence which gives them their powers.  The Earl and Noah Clan both want to destroy all of the Innocence along with mankind.

Allen Walker possesses a unique ability to see Akuma in their true form

Allen Walker is an Exorcist with the Black Order who possesses an anti-Akuma weapon in his left arm with several capabilities - it becomes a massive claw, turns into a rapid-fire gun, and other forms which haven't yet been revealed.  The arm is dark red with a piece of Innocence melded to the back of the hand.  He's also been cursed with a red marking on his face and special eye allowing him to see the true form of Akuma even when they're hiding in human guises.  He was trained by General Cross and sent to help the Black Order while the General is off on an important mission.

The true form of an Akuma is a soul chained to this world

Allen has made many friends among the Order including:

• Lenalee Lee - possesses the Dark Boots, an equipment-type anti-Akuma weapon allowing her to hover in the air, create whirlwinds, kick things really hard(!), and run fast(?), she has an over-protective brother named Komui who runs the Black Order headquarters in Europe, she is very caring
• Lavi - has a magical hammer Tettsui which grows to immense and small sizes although its weight remains constant to Lavi, studying to be a Bookman to learn the secrets of the world, he is very cheerful
• Arystar Krory - thought to be a vampire, but his Innocence sucks the life essence out of Akuma to destroy them, lived with a woman named Eliade who was secretly an Akuma, hopelessly naive about the outside world
• Yu Kanda - uses the anti-Akuma sword Mugen which creates monsters to destroy Akuma as well as being hella sharp, he is cold and unfriendly, can recover from serious injuries very quickly 
• Miranda Lotto - was found by Allen Walker in a town which was reliving the same day over and over again, she was chronically depressed and her Innocence has power over time which made it start repeating, she is terrible with directions and gets lost all the time

Lenalee in action against an Akuma

The Black Order has lost a General to the Noah Clan and sends Exorcists to find/protect the remaining Generals.  Allen and Lenalee are paired off to look for General Cross and other Exorcists are similarly teamed up.  Krory and Lavi encounter a town where an Akuma lives peacefully despite its evil nature.  Will the peace last?  Allen reveals the true extent of the General's cheating and womanizing ways.  The Earl is aided by corrupt human conspirators who sell human souls to him for power.  Can Allen and Lenalee stop them?  A village is menaced by a witch, but is she really an Akuma?  The Exorcists have many strange adventures while they search for the Generals.

Count Krory sinks his teeth into an Akuma

The Noah Clan gets more involved in the action as the Earl steps up his plans.  The entire Black Order is besieged by Akuma as the Noah target specific Exorcists.  Who will fall prey to the immensely powerful Noah?  The headquarters of the Black Order is filled with scores of coffins for the dead!  Allen and Lenalee confront a Noah and her Akuma aid to save the life of a new Exorcist.  Can they prevail and what is the fate of General Cross?

The enigmatic General Cross enjoying some wine and then
going out on a womanizing spree

Pros: Good character designs and Allen Walker is an interesting protagonist, less comedy in this second season and more action, catchy opening and ending theme songs (opening theme is "Brightdown" by Nami Tamaki and two ending themes - "To the Continuation of the Dream" by Surface and "Antoinette Blue" by Nana Kitade), we get to see some of the other Noah Clan use their powers

Allen Walker takes down an Akuma with is claw arm

Cons: Krory's silly personality was over-the-top, storyline with Lulubell and her Akuma assistant Mimi dragged on for far too long, the second half of the series (episodes 52-103) hasn't been licensed for domestic U.S. distribution yet so no resolution to the story, Millennium Earl still looks goofy although he's supposed to have a human-like alternate appearance (which didn't show up in these episodes)

Yu Kanda activates his blade, Mugen

Mike Tells It Straight: The second season of D.Gray-man is really the second half of the first season from Japan (which was 51 episodes).  This set of episodes had a lot more action than the first 26 (i.e. the 'first season' in the domestic market) and contained a bit less comedy.  We learn more about the Exorcists and the Clan of Noah as they both have a few confrontations.  Allen Walker is a great protagonist, but he takes a back seat as other characters get the spotlight.  I liked the mysteries they encountered - the village with the witch and the girl with the crystal ball were two good ones.

We meet another General named Froi Tiedoll

This series progresses really slowly which is typical of shonen anime (think Bleach or One Piece).  The season ends on a similar note to the first one with a pause in the never ending battle against the Millennium Earl's minions, but the domestic audience (i.e. English dub watchers) are not able to see the rest of the series due to Funimation not licensing it.  I'll speculate the license costs too much for them to make a decent profit margin on the rest of the series.  It's been a few years and I wouldn't be surprised if the domestic market never sees a dub version, but instead a subtitled version is released (maybe by a different company).

Krory and Lavi visit a town where an Akuma is actually gentle and
likes humans.  Is it a trick?

The action heats up in this set of episodes and we see just how deadly the Noah Clan can be.  It's funny, but I felt like this season was just a bunch of filler and particularly long-winded (as typical shonen anime are) without any real plot progression.  There are a lot of characters in this show (including the bad guys) and we spend a lot of time getting to know them which bogs down the plot.  I think we could have skipped this entire season and it wouldn't have mattered to the overall series.

Tyki Mikk changes into his bloodthirsty Noah form

I'm fairly annoyed the rest of the series is not available after the 51st episode as I've heard it gets more intense.  The original manga series by Katsura Hoshino is still going strong.  I really want to see the Millennium Earl get his after being such a lame-looking villain.  These shonen series are so long I kinda wish they could have left out all of the filler and condensed the series into 51 episodes instead of 103.  I couldn't find any episodes available on Crunchyroll.com as of this post and I'm not really sure where to find the second half of the series.  HK bootlegs or maybe another streaming site?  We'll see.  In the meantime I'm hoping to check out the manga series to see if it's really any better.

We meet another Exorcist named Suman Dark

TO BUY and Recommendations:

D.Gray-man Season One Anime Review

D.Gray-man Season One
Di Gureiman
Funimation
Complete Collection - 4 discs
650 mins. - 26 episodes
$29.98 (2012) S.A.V.E.
$69.98 (2010)
$59.98 (2010) Blu-Ray Parts 1-2/ea.
$59.98 (2009) Parts 1-2/ea.
ISBN 704400069284
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Osamu Nabeshima
Studio - TMS Entertainment

Synopsis: A plague is sweeping the land in the form of Akuma released by the devilish Millennium Earl.  He wishes for the downfall of mankind and uses his power to create Akuma by tricking mourners into bringing back the souls of their loved ones.  The loved one's soul is placed by the Earl into an infernal vessel and their first act is to slaughter the one who brought them back.  The Akuma then wears the person's visage for the rest of its existence and terrorizes humans in the name of the Earl.

The Millennium Earl gleefully works toward humanity's end

A special organization called the Black Order exists to stop the Millennium Earl and his Akuma.  Its ranks include powerful operatives called Exorcists who hunt and kill Akuma.  Allen Walker is a young Exorcist who was trained by General Cross of the Black Order.  Allen is cursed and has a red marking on his face.  His left arm is deformed and actually an anti-Akuma weapon which can change shape while battling Akuma. He typically turns it into a massive claw, but can also make it a rapid-fire energy weapon.  His left eye can detect Akuma and has keen analysis powers.

Allen Walker's left eye and left arm have cursed powers

Joining the Black Order after General Cross disappears, Allen meets and works with other Exorcists.  First he is attacked by an Exorcist named Yu Kanda who falsely thinks Allen is part-Akuma.  Then Allen meets the lovely Lenalee Lee and her over-protective brother Komui.  Later he is joined by Lavi, an Exorcist who is training to become a Bookman, or recorder of hidden secrets.  All of the Exorcists and members of the Black Order share a common bond to oppose the Millennium Earl at all costs.

Allen's left eye can see past Akuma illusions to see the
tormented souls they truly are

Another group joins the conflict in the form of the Noah Clan. They are a mysterious clan said to be direct descendants of Noah and possessing incredible power.  A Noah has been present at every significant event in human history.  They appear to side with the Millennium Earl, but their true purpose is unknown.  What is Allen Walker's significance to the Millennium Earl?  Can the Black Order possibly prevail against the Earl with the Noah Clan by his side?

From left - the Millennium Earl Allen Walker, and General Cross

The Black Order is sworn to protect a substance called Innocence which acts against the Millennium Earl's Akuma.  Each Exorcist possesses a piece of Innocence which gives them incredible powers, but Innocence is not consistent and behaves differently with each person.  Can Allen Walker uncover the secret of Innocence and his own cursed power in time to stop the Millennium Earl?  What new allies and enemies will he make?

Yu Kanda is relentless in battle

Pros: Compelling origin for Allen Walker (similarly tragic to that of Edward and Alphonse Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist), some cool character designs (particularly the Black Order uniforms), an interesting cast of characters with a steampunk theme (emphasis on the 'punk' in the case of Count Krory), lots of action split with some humor and horror, cool opening theme song "Innocent Sorrow" by Abingdon Boys School (they did the first opening theme song "Howling" for Darker Than Black)

Lenalee's Innocence activates allowing her to soar and strike from the air

Cons: Millennium Earl looked too silly for a main villain and not scary at all, a bit too much comedy and goofiness for my taste, seemed like a knockoff of Fullmetal Alchemist, I thought the stage one Akuma using machine guns was out of place and excessive, felt like the battles dragged on for too many episodes (what is this, Bleach? - i.e. notoriously long and drawn out battles), Timcanpy - the silly little flying thing always hanging around on Allen's shoulder

The wicked Road Kamelot of the Noah Clan

Mike Tells It Straight: D.Gray-man is based on the original manga series by Katsura Hoshino and is her primary work which has gained wild popularity.  The actual anime series is 103 episodes long and this first season is 26 episodes (roughly one quarter) of the full series.  We're introduced to Allen Walker, the tragic yet courageous Exorcist, and his wide supporting cast.  I found him to be an excellent protagonist with a truly horrific origin - very similar to how Edward and Alphonse Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist have a tragic origin.

Lavi mocks Yu's ponytail - it's too easy I tell ya!

In fact this show is criticized to be a clone of Fullmetal Alchemist and I definitely see the similarities.  Victorian, steampunk era with magic (in this case Innocence and the Earl's power instead of alchemy), disfigured and tragic main character, slapstick comedy to contrast the moments of horror, multiple-episode storylines, and smart uniforms.  Despite the initial similarities the series found its own voice as the story progressed and I stopped feeling like it was a clone of FA.  Hoshino did a great job adding a wide cast of well-designed characters.

Allen and Lavi investigate rumors of a vampire!

The mystery of the Millennium Earl, Noah Clan, Allen Walker, and Innocence just gets started in this first season.  Each story arc added a new character to the cast with a comedy episode in between to lighten things up a bit.  It was kinda formulaic and the story arcs/battles dragged on for too many episodes.  The viewer is strung along with little snippets of information in each episode, but nothing truly substantial.

Allen's left arm transforms into a massive claw to destroy Akuma!

I found this show to be relatively good, but not quite as good as Fullmetal Alchemist.  It was missing the level of intrigue in the plot and the villains seemed silly.  The Millennium Earl's design looked more bumbling than sinister to me.  I really liked Allen Walker, Lenalee Lee, and some of the other Exorcists as characters.  Since this first season was more of an introduction to the characters I'll check out the second season to find out how the plot progresses.  I really hope things get a little more serious and the Millennium Earl is not quite so goofy.

From top left to top right - Alrystar Krory III, Miranda Lotto, Lavi,
Allen Walker, Yu Kanda, Lenalee Lee, and Komui Lee

TO BUY and Recommendations: