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!

(just for the record, this is a slight alteration of my anime review)

ART SECTION: 8/10
The gothic motif is something worthy of praise, while the rather rough outlines make everything look more grim and scary. Besides that, like almost any other shounen it is full of rather clear-cut good guys and bad guys, dressed in clothes following a motif. So aesthetics aside it plays out as any other of its kind. Still, those decorations around the Gothic world were quite catchy.

STORY SECTION: 4/10

The initial chapters are marvelous and really attract your attention. It is about an alternative Earth, full of gothic motifs, where an evil demon/ghost ... of sorts plans to destroy it by exploiting peoples’ grief over the death of their loved ones, luring them to raise the dead and thus creating monsters that kill innocents and sink the world into chaos. The heroes have to find Innocence, powers that protect the world, and battle the Evil Earl and his minions.

Such formula is more than familiar for a shounen series, but the interesting twist is that this happens in a Gothic world. Monsters are created and heroes gain power-ups in many shounen series; although here it feels somewhat less obvious as the monsters are made from love and innocence may hurt even bystanders. This is usually enough to keep the average viewer watching. The first dozen of episodes are just fine, introducing the main characters, their sad lives, the secret organization that was made to stop the Earl and the objective goals of each side.

The problem comes right after the basic plot and cast are presented. Typical to its genre, the characters behave in predictable shounen manner and the battles are full of power-ups, where they didn’t really need them to progress the story. I mean, giving the monsters level ups was ok the first time, as it was giving them individuality and personality (like Menos Grande in Bleach). But thereafter, it was just lame; leveling up for the sake of leveling up. Plus, the good guys typically gain extra power right when they want it, so it lost its suspense quite soon.

There is no conclusion and the manga is pretty much abandoned by its maker, a sign of how even she got bored of its cheesy development. So, you are basically left with an abandoned unoriginal story with a good main idea. But wait, even the nice idea is not that nice if you look around. There has been a weird Gothic manga motif fad going around, so many manga seem to have the same feeling lately.

CHARACTER SECTION: 5/10

I’m not going into many details because down to it, if you have read some Jump shounen, you know exactly what to expect. A pretty, kind-hearted boy as lead with a superpower that beats everything, a pretty girl as support, some other dudes as antagonists and sidekicks and the sort. The good guys are all young, yet have superpowers that level buildings and that is no surprise for this genre and thus not a minus. Seriously, the cast is quite typical for its genre; it pains even more to see that they hardly develop any further than the initial episodes they appear in. Or some flashbacks that simply explain their sad past and present role in the organization. And as always, power-ups don’t count as development.

Even the villains look cool but you hardly get to know anything about them, other than they just want to destroy the world. As for the monster minions, they are pretty much cannon fodder and you will lose interest in them a few seconds after they are defeated.

All things considered, the characters are ok for such a series and they’re colorized to a generally high degree. But that is that and no more. They are not special, unique or even complete. Thus, I give them the base for being simply nice to watch.

VALUE SECTION: 2/10
Although there was plenty of hype around it when the series was circulating regularly, all the fame went away quite fast when a certain-other-similar-manga began to circulate, so it didn’t even manage to get some historical value. It WOULD have some if it was complete or if there wasn’t this Manga Gothic Fad going on right now. If you compare it to other shounen, it is quite one-of-the-same. If you compare it to other Goth manga, it is by far the less interesting in terms of atmosphere or story. So, the chances of rereading it or having a reason to remember it are few to none.

ENJOYMENT SECTION: 4/10
Besides the initial chapters and a few other ones here and there, this series felt generic and didn’t keep me very interested. So, I say go for the titles in my Suggestion List. They are very similar yet far more catchy.

VERDICT: 4.5/10
Another shounen series, which had the potential to excel, but also went under because of its bad planning. And in far less chapters than Naruto or Bleach.

SUGGESTION LIST
Soul Eater
Death Note
Bleach
Ao no Exorcist
Beelzebub