D.Gray-man

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I first got into D. Grayman out of curiosity because a lot of my friends were reading it and gushing about it. I expected it to be just another basic shonen title with little to captivate me, but I quickly found out that I was wrong. The first volume hooked me like none other, and I found myself with an obsession warranting catching up to the Japanese release on scans. Anyone that knows me (which isn't many of you) knows that I hate reading scans for many reasons, but it was a necessity for D. Grayman because I couldn't wait for the volumes to come ... out, though I still buy them when they do.

-STORY-
While it's not the most unique storyline I've ever seen, so much just feels fresh and different, especially for a shonen title. With no tournaments to be seen, the darker edge that the series has, and its perfect mix of humor, drama, and action, D. Grayman is a breath of fresh air into the genre. I adore the setting, me being in love with the selected time period, and the vibe one gets from the series is really enjoyable, especially early on. The Rewinding City chapters had to be some of the best chapters in manga ever.

-ART-
The artwork stunned me from the beginning. It's some of the most detailed manga artwork I've seen. I love the character designs, clothing, buildings...everything. The Rewinding City really did look like a small German town, and the Black Order's HQ is a treat to look at. Some characters have designs that aren't only gorgeous, but also unique as well. An example of that is Miranda Lotto. She doesn't look like your typical anime girl in any way, especially her eyes and hair, but is still lovely.

-CHARACTER-
I have yet to find a character that I truly dislike in this series, save some of the villains. They are all interesting to learn about and see interacting with each other, including minor characters like Komui, Miranda, and Reever. I'll admit that Lenalee can get irksome at times, but the others more than make up for that.

-ENJOYMENT-
All I can really say here is that this has to be my favorite of any manga I've ever read.

-OVERALL-
I've given it an overall 10, and you should all go out and buy volume 1.

[EDIT: I wrote this review nearly 11 years ago, and I am just as infatuated with the manga now as I was back then. If this doesn't convey how much of a 10 I think it is, then nothing will.]

Another misundersanding here, but why is this manga not reviewed?! Second review for manga! Here it goes!

Story: There are stories where we can skim over a few chapters and still understand what's going on; there are stories where we can skim over a few volumes and still get what is happening. D.Gray-Man doesn't fall into either category. If you miss even two- three pannels at first, ... if that subject rises up a again, you will be lost. Everything is thickly intervoven; you won't find mentions of something just random, and you won't find side-plots ending up with a dead end (in turn with you wasting your time). For some it might be a letdown, but if you really want a manga with style and more than one plot that COUNTS, this is the ultimate top! A 10.

Art: Beautiful images with detailed expressions and actions, the only thing that puts me off is that there can be times when the toning can be overkill ( where even on zoom in on scans you can't see what is going on) Other than that, for a shonen manga, this is probably the highest quality art that you can get. Without a fault that I can name, I give it a 10.

Character:Probabaly the strongest point of the manga, as many old time readers will agree, the character development is superb! All of the characters have a story that, first of all, is not told in one huge chunk of flashbacks as we have so commonly seen ( My first pleasant surprise). Instead, the details are told little by little in situation that really require these explanations, in turn making the story more interesting. No one has the same character and we often see two sides of one character ( as they fight themselves in decisions or in some cases, physically). You will never grow bored of their adventures and soon you will see that they hold something that you can somehow realate to. A 10.

Enjoyment: I get so much joy from sitting down and reading a chapter of this manga. No visable fillers, no long conversations unless absolutely necessary, no random character stories, I find that the manga's whole beauty lies in that. After reading a chapter, it leaves you at a cliffhanger but at the same time, you are satisfied if only for the moment; you feel as if you are given a very good chapter with information ( unlike some manga where you read a chapter and dub it as totaly worthless as you feel you are back where you started). Really, I get a full 10 out of it!

Overall: If you are really in need of something supernatural, shonen-y and full of adventure ( even a little romance!) you must put this on your to-read list. A buy worthy both of money and time, I thing that this brings definitely a certain amount of happiness when reading. If you hve the chance, please give it a try :] I hope you won't be disappointed!


Thank you all for reading my review! I hope it was helpful to all of you!

We're trying out a random, shonen series at the media library, which I think has had some success. The concept is already a little lame: "exorcists" fight against a millennial Count, who uses the negative emotions of the pecores of the XIXth century to graft them Akuma (demons-machine) in order, of course, to destroy humanity. Well, why not, but the not uninteresting moral pitch (resentment, hatred, sadness as an inner ghost to fight) is quickly eclipsed by nagging fights, drawn without any legibility, and with a very limited tactical interest.

The characters seem, moreover, to be clichés on legs, whose character is revealed more in the ... bonus question / answer pages than in the story itself! The few gags have no interest. So picking up a shonen like that after years of hiatus, and a rather global loathing of the genre doesn't help me appreciate more than that. Some of the starting arcs still contain original ideas (the Vampire who is an exorcist, a nice modern reversal, with a series of gags on the expected clichés) or interesting if not original (the time bubble of Miranado which evokes A Day Without end, The Crossing of Time etc.). But their treatment over the leg, too busy bringing in classy characters (the entire aesthetic of D-Gray Man seems to be based on an unconscious post-modern ingestion of rehashed nekketsu) or producing sparkling fights ends up emptying all substance. .

The trio of volumes read in a bath yesterday (3 volumes in 1 hour and a few, that says a lot about the "density" of the bouzin) is symptomatic of these scriptwriting limits: potential good ideas drowned in a deluge of geyser of energy without interest. Thus, the boat protected by a time bubble could have given rise to tactical considerations on the combat, or better exploit its cruel moral postulate (the sailors will be protected from injuries during the crossing to Japan, necessarily Japan, but their wounds will kill them all at once), but is too busy offering nagging nagging fights (for me anyway).

Strangely enough, the series is written by an author (as for FMA) which doesn't feel at all, although maybe you avoid at least a heavy gritty side or a design oriented for the male gauze. The hero therefore looks a lot like Edward and his acolytes look like RPG / Manga stereotypes: the silent dark with long hair, the funny sidekick in bandana, the kind exorcist with dripping good feelings ...

ORIGINAL REVIEW IN FRENCH

On tente à la médiathèque une série random, shonen qui a eu, je crois, un certain succès. Le concept est un peu boîteux déjà : des "exorcistes" luttent contre un Comte millénaire, lequel utilise les émotions négatives des pécores du XIXème siècle pour leur greffer des Akuma (des démons-machine) afin de, bien sûr, détruire l'humanité. Bon, pourquoi pas, mais le pitch moral pas inintéressant (la rancune, la haine, la tristesse comme fantôme intérieur à combattre) est vite éclipsé par des combats bourrins, dessinés sans aucune lisibilité, et avec un intérêt tactique très limité.

Les personnages semblent, par ailleurs, être des clichés sur pattes, dont le caractère se dévoile plus dans les pages bonus de questions/réponses que dans l'histoire elle-même ! Les quelques gags n'ont aucun intérêt. Reprendre donc un shonen comme ça après des années de pause, et un dégoût plutôt global du genre ne m'aide pas à apprécier plus que ça. Certains arcs du départ contiennent quand même des idées originales (le Vampire qui est un exorciste, joli retournement moderne, avec série de gags sur les clichés attendus) ou intéressants à défaut d'être originales (la bulle temporelle de Miranado qui évoque Un Jour Sans fin, La Traversée du Temps etc.). Mais leur traitement par dessus la jambe, trop occupé à faire entrer des persos classes (l'esthétique entière de D-Gray Man semble reposer sur une ingestion post-moderne inconsciente de ressassé nekketsu) ou de produire des combats étincelants finit par vider toute substance.

Le trio de tomes lu en un bain hier (3 tomes en 1h et quelques, ça en dit long sur la "densité" du bouzin) est symptomatique de ces limites scénaristiques : de potentielles bonnes idées noyées dans un déluge de geyser d'énergie sans intérêt. Ainsi, le bateau protégé par une bulle de temps aurait pu donner lieu à des considérations tactiques sur le combat, ou mieux exploiter son cruel postulat moral (les matelots seront protégés des blessures lors de la traversée vers le Japon, forcément le Japon, mais leurs blessures les tueront d'un coup), mais est trop occupé à proposer des combats bourrins sans intérêt (pour moi en tout cas).

Etrangement, la série est écrit par une auteure (comme pour FMA) ce qui ne se sent pas du tout, même si on évite peut-être au moins un côté graveleux appuyé ou un design orienté pour le male gaze. Le héros ressemble donc pas mal à Edward et ses acolytes ressemblent à des stéréotypes de RPG/Manga : le taiseux dark à cheveux longs, l'acolyte rigolard à bandana, la gentille exorciste aux bons sentiments dégoulinants...