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D.Gray-man is a Japanese anime television series based on the manga series of the same name by Katsura Hoshino. Set in an alternate 19th century, it tells the story of a young Allen Walker, who joins an organization of exorcists named the Black Order. They use an ancient substance, Innocence, to combat a man known as the Millennium Earl and his demonic army of Akuma who intend to destroy humanity.
The series was produced by TMS Entertainment and broadcast for 103 episodes on TV Tokyo from October 2006 to September 2008. A 13-episode sequel series, D.Gray-man Hallow, also produced by TMS Entertainment aired from July to September 2016.
Plot
The story follows a young exorcist named Allen Walker who has been spending several years of training under his mentor Cross Marian to defeat machine-like creatures known as Akuma created by a man known as the Millennium Earl. For this purpose Allen wields an "Ant-Akuma" weapon to destroy the Akumas and lead their souls pass to the afterlife. Once finishing his training, Allen travels to the Black Order which is primarily composed of other exorcist and several supporting staff members. Allen learns from his new superior Komui Lee that the Anti-Akuma weapons are actually powered up by a divine instrument known as Innocence and that the exorcists' mission is to recovering it alongside a "Heart" before the Earl. Now a rookie exorcist, Allen starts travelling with his new teammates to different locations in the world to recover other pieces of the Innocence. Besides being confronted by Akumas that are evolving into stronger foes, Allen is shocked to find that there are humans with supernatural powers serving the Earl, Noah's descendants. Amidst these foes, Allen also knows of other Generals serving the other including his Cross Marian who become the next targets of the Noah. Arriving in China, the search party learns that Cross recently left for Edo, but his ship has been lost at sea. Nevertheless, the group of Exorcists prepare to sail to Edo, certain that Cross survived.
In their journey to Edo, Allen splits from the group to face the former exorcist Suman Dark who is being tortured by the Innocence as a result of betrayal. Allen tries to save Suman Dark from his own power but he dies in the process. In the aftermath, Allen meets the Noah Tykk Mikk who destroys Allen's weapon and nearly kills him. Sammo Han Wong from the Asia Branch of the Black Order recollects Allen unaware of his survival while the rest members of the Black Order keep their journey. In the Asian Branch of the Order, Allen recovers but is unable to rebuild his weapon. This eventually leads him to his obsession with hunting the Akuma again as he can see their tormented souls through the eye that his adoptive father, Mana, placed on him years ago. While fighting a stronger Akuma, Allen recreates his Innocence under the name of Crowned Clown based on his mission to care for both humans and Akumas. Allen then joins with his other friends in Edo through an area known as Noah's Ark. Believing the exorcist Lenalee Lee carries the Heart, the Earl sends her to another Noah's Ark and the exorcists follow her. Allen and the others start fighting the Noah members in the Ark until its destruction. A hidden Cross Marian reveals to his pupil an area where he can play a piano to reconstruct the Ark much to Allen's confusion. Upon returning to the Order, the Noah send an army of Akumas that Allen, Lenalee and the remaining exorcists fight. Although they defeat all of them, the area is destroyed, causing the group to move to another place. As the series ends, the Millennium Earl enters into depression wondering why he never killed Allen when he met him as a child.
Production
In June 2006, Shueisha announced that the D.Gray-man manga would be adapted as an anime.[2] Its first episodes were directed by Osamu Nabeshima and produced by Dentsu, TMS Entertainment, Aniplex, and TV Tokyo. TMS Entertainment provided the animation, while Aniplex provided the music. The series began airing on October 3, 2006, on TV Tokyo.[3] During production of the first anime adaptation, the author often visited the TMS Entertainment studio, where the voice actors requested advice about their characters. Although Hoshino was nervous about talking with them, she was surprised by their dedication in practising their characters—particularly Sanae Kobayashi (Allen), Takahiro Sakurai (Kanda), Katsuyuki Konishi (Komui), and Hiroki Tōchi (Cross Marian)—and joked that Lenalee seemed more beautiful after she saw Shizuka Itō's work. Early in production, Hoshino was shown an early version of the first opening theme: "Innocent Sorrow" by the Japanese rock band Abingdon Boys School. When she saw the video, Hoshino began to cry in delight while the staff laughed to her.[4]
Kobayashi enjoyed voicing Allen despite finding it challenging due to how the character's mood changes often when he is talking or fighting. Meanwhile, Takahiro Sakurai noted Kanda's personality was different when comparing between the manga and anime adaptation. Once the series started airing, Kobayashi commented that Allen will mature across the narrative thanks to his interactions with other characters from the series.[5] Tyki Mikk's voice actor, Toshiyuki Morikawa, remembered the recording sessions for the series as "lively" because of the presence of many popular actors. After the anime finished, the actors (who became friends during production) kept in touch.[1]
The anime used original content not featured in the original manga to give Hoshino create new content to adapt. However, these episodes often contradicted Hoshino's material, resulting in criticism that led to its cancellation.[6]
The anime's 51-episode first season, known as the "1st stage", ended on September 25, 2007.[7][8] The 52-episode second season, known as the "2nd stage", began on October 2, 2007, and ended on September 30, 2008, for a total of 103 episodes. The anime adapts the manga's storyline from the beginning and concludes after the destruction of the Black Order headquarters.[9][10] The episodes were released by Aniplex on 26 DVDs from February 7, 2007, to March 4, 2009.[11][12]
The English-language versions of the first 51 episodes was licensed by Funimation in May 2008,[13] and released in North America on DVD from March 31, 2009,[14] to January 5, 2010.[15] The anime made its North American television debut on the Funimation Channel in September 2010.[16] The first 51 episodes were released on four DVDs by Madman Entertainment from August 19, 2009, to May 13, 2010,[17][18][19] and a DVD box set was released on June 6, 2012.[20] In the United Kingdom, Manga Entertainment released the first season in four parts from February 22 to October 18, 2010;[21][22] a box set was released on December 6 of that same year.[23] On June 30, 2016, it was announced that Funimation had acquired the rights to the anime's second season.[24] In August 2017, Funimation announced they would release the series' second half on home media version starting on October of the same year.[25] In August, Crunchyroll started streaming the first 25 episodes of the series.[26]
Soundtracks
The music for the D.Gray-man anime series was composed by Kaoru Wada, and four CD soundtracks have been released in Japan by Sony Music Entertainment. The first, 34-track D.Gray-man Original Soundtrack 1 (including its first opening theme and the first two ending themes), was released on March 21, 2007.[27] It was followed by the 32-track CD D.Gray-man Original Soundtrack 2, released on December 19, 2007, which includes the series' second opening theme and its third and fourth closing themes.[28] The series' opening and closing themes were collected on a CD, D.Gray-man Complete Best, which was released on September 24, 2008. Its limited edition includes a DVD with credit-less footage of the series' introduction and closing scenes and anime illustrations.[29] The third soundtrack, D.Gray-man Original Soundtrack 3 with 31 tracks, was released on December 17, 2008. It includes the series' third and fourth opening themes, the fifth to eighth closing themes and the insert song Template:Nihongo by Sanae Kobayashi (Allen Walker's first Japanese voice actor).[30]
Reception
According to Funimation Entertainment president and CEO Gen Fukunaga, the anime series was popular in Japan and the United States.[13] The anime DVDs have also been popular, ranking high on several Japanese animation DVD lists from 2007 to 2009,[31][32][33] and the series was listed as a most-watched anime of the week.[34]
The series was praised with Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network calling its first episode "absolutely nothing original" but not boring.[35] Noting that Allen's use of the anti-Akuma weapon might seem clichéd, Todd Douglass Jr. of DVD Talk found its use in the anime entertaining. He compared it with other similar series like Naruto, Bleach and One Piece but felt it stood out for its darker atmosphere.[36] Active Anime's Sandra Scholes and UK Anime Network's Kevin Leathers enjoyed the anime series and, similarly to Douglass, found its small borrowings from other series appealing. Both reviewers praised Allen Walker's characterization.[37][38] Anime InsiderTemplate:'s Kimberly Morales said that the series' animation quality varied and although the story was appealing[39] Tom Tonhat of The Escapist praised the cast due to how it inspired multiple cosplaying.[40] Tonhat also praised the Earl's modus operandi of reviving the dead as Akuma, seeing it as a strong theme that allows viewers to sympathize with his victims. He also noted that the character's initial appearance as "nonthreatening as a portly gentleman clown" made his actions more hateful.[40] Neo found Lenalee's design likeable, balancing other male characters' bishōnen looks. The staff also liked her fighting abilities despite finding the name of her weapon, "Dark Boots", unfitting.[41]
In more negative view, UK Anime's Kevin Leathers criticized its lack of entertaining story arcs,[42] and Anime News Network's Casey Brienza called the anime a poor adaptation of the manga. She primarily criticized the over reliance of action sequences over a coherent story.[43] On the other hand, Neo enjoyed the direction of the episodes even though some are called "filler" based on how they allow to focus on the large cast.[44] Allen's English-language voice actor, Todd Haberkorn, said that anime sales were poor despite generally-positive reviews; he suggested that fans buy DVDs on sale to keep the series from being cancelled.[45] Voice actor Travis Willingham was considered miscast as Kanda by Animation Insider.[39] Neo found Junpei Takiguchi's work as the Earl Japanese actor highly superior to the one from the English dub, Jason Liebrecht.[41]
References
External links
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