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ファイト／ステイナイト 
As it turns out this is not a complete filler. There are actually some parts which are similar to the manga. Due to the mix and match style, the story is kind of mysterious and comedic at the same time. I do wonder why they skipped one chapter in the manga. I should not have been surprised though since these are the same writers who re-arranged Allen's earlier encounter and put it in a later episode so that Lenalee can join in the action. At any rate, I wonder how much longer this series is going to be. For some reason I don't think it'll go on and on like Naruto. On the other hand, the story is not conclusive yet and that means the anime will have to come up with more fillers so that they don't run out of manga material.
I really like the artistic decision that the animators made in this episode. There are several frames which clearly an attempt to present the episode in an experimental manner, something which I never thought I'll see from a Shounen series. I guess they're trying to make the series look slightly different from other Shounen series. This, however, also causes a slight inconsistency in the style of the series. As a result, unlike series like Death Note, the art style in this series is not as memorable. Death Note anime tends to use blue, red, and yellow as its primary colours in most of its episode. As a result, there's an immediate sense of familiarity the minute you watch a new episode. On the other hand, D.Gray-man is a lot harder to identify due to its lack of consistent art style.
This turns out to be a rather long arc after all. I really thought that this episode will be the end of the story but that doesn't seem to be the case. At any rate, this is one hell of an interesting episode because not only it offers the usual arc-based storyline but also because it develops the mystery behind Allen's cursed eye. I now feel like catching up with the manga because I have no idea what's the implication of this plot development. I have heard rumblings about bad things happening to Allen but I never know if I should take it seriously or not. After watching this episode, however, I wonder if there is some truth to the rumour. Anyway, the animation in this episode is not bad at all and I'm glad that the character design remains consistent most of the time.
February 27, 2007 | 
11 Comments
This is another entertaining episode for the series. I don't remember being that fond of this arc but after seeing this episode, I think this is definitely one of the better ones. It's definitely better than the one involving the little brat and is not as annoying as Miranda's arc. I think it helps a lot that the main villain is actually quite cunning and has some semblance of personality. In addition to this, this arc actually expand the series' universe by showing different permutation to the existing known facts about Exorcists and Akuma. The animation is also quite decent, which is a good thing since there are a lot of fight scenes in this episode. Unfortunately, the series seem to go back to the time when everything is dark and hard to see.
February 20, 2007 | 12 Comments
I kind of like this episode for some reason. Maybe because it has the right amount of comedy and mystery in the same episode. I just realise that some of my favourite D.Gray-man episodes are the ones that involve a good amout of comedic scenes and this one is not an exception. In addition to this, there is a rather nifty additional scene implated towards the end of the episode. That scene alone shows that there are things from the manga that the anime can improve. However, these improvements are usually better achieved in small scale so that it actually adds to the manga as opposed to changing it completely. At any rate, I'm surprised that the animators manage to stretch the arc this far. I thought two episodes would have been enough to cover the entire story.
February 13, 2007 | 10 Comments
Well, we're finally back to the manga-based version. Because of certain events in the filler version, however, there are some plot changes in this version. I think some of them feel a bit redundant since they've been done before in the filler. This is especially true when it comes down to Allen's injured left eye. I don't understand why the writers didn't just left it unhealed when he injured it back a few episodes ago. Maybe they're being sadistic but I don't see the point of injuring it again when we all know that it'll get healed eventually. On the other hand, it's nice to see the plot going somewhere. I want to see the inevitable battle between the Exorcists versus the Noah family.
February 7, 2007 | 11 Comments
Please forgive me if I'm a bit slow with the reviews today but I'm a bit sick and not in the mood to do much. Anyway, there is no denying that this is a really stupid episode but as far as filler goes, I think this is a lot better than the 4 previous fillers. I actually found this episode to be enjoyable, which is a plus in my book. Animation-wise, I thought this episode was decent. In fact, everyone looks strangely proportional. I notice that the animators tend to put in more attention to the characters' face when the episode is comedic in nature like this one. The best thing about this episode, however, is the comedy, which is very over-the-top in the good kind of way. In fact, I can't remember the last time I really enjoyed this series so much.
January 30, 2007 | 10 Comments
Props to those who recognised it earlier but it's not until this episode that I noticed how Vittorio's costume design is a combination of Man-Faye's and Pippi Longstocking's style. It's probably unintentional but needless to say it became a good source of laughter throughout this episode. The problem with this is that it takes away the serious nature of the story, especially during the last few minutes of the episode. Animation-wise, it holds up quite well although I did notice a lot of static stills being used in some parts of the episodes. I'm just glad that after this episode, we're only 1 episode away from returning to the manga's arc. Here's hoping that the reason the animation hasn't been good in the past few weeks is because the animators are saving the budget to animate the fight between the Exorcists and the Noah Family.
January 23, 2007 | 16 Comments
This is totally filler Hell. I want to get out of here but it looks like there are 2 more episodes to endure before the series get back on track. I don't understand why the producers decide to insert fillers so early in the series. If I remember correctly, there are more than enough volumes to at least make 24 episodes. Anyway, the only plus to this episode is that they manage to include the resolution to Lenalee and Allen's conflict that happened during their encounter with Road. I think the worst thing about the episode has to be the character design for the gladiator. I'd think that something from old Rome would look more like those characters in Gladiator or Spartacus not a cross between Spike Spiegel's hair from Cowboy Bebop, the body of a gladiator type, and a huge sword from one of those Final Fantasy male characters.
January 16, 2007 | 19 Comments
This is a rather predictable episode. I was actually hoping to see some kind of tragedy emerging out of the story. I think the potential for it was great but unfortunately the writers decide to go for the safe route. Come to think of it, I haven't seen a filler episode which ends in some kind of tragedy. It's probably because most fillers are one-off stories which supposed to showcase the ability of the main characters so it's rare to see them fail in these kind of missions. I do appreciate that the writers still remember that there could be potential tragedy in the future should the situation with Elda and her father continue as it is now. Anyway, the preview for next week's episode indicates that we're still in filler Hell. I wonder how much longer will this be. I was hoping this will be the end of the filler but that doesn't seem to be the case now.
I hate fillers. Most of the time they add nothing to the original plot and the individual storylines usually are not interesting or special either. Unfortunately, this one is no exception. I think if it's not for the ED theme, I might not have downloaded this but now that I have, I may as well cover it. As far as new characters go, the female Akuma freaked me out a little bit. But then the writers had to ruin the mood by showing the same Akuma shooting projectiles from her breasts. The award for worst original Akuma design in this episode, however, goes to be the Godzilla wannabe. I think the only good thing about this episode is the humour which shows Lavi braiding Kanda's hair. Speaking of Lavi, fangirls would probably be happy to know that this episode features a line where Lavi tells Allen that they should hug each other to keep their bodies warm. This is the first time I see an episode where the writers intentionally give fanfic fodder to the fans.
December 29, 2006 | 15 Comments
I can't believe it took me one and a half day just to write this up. I think the problem that I have with shounen series like this one is that up to a certain point, I'm not sure what else I can talk about without spoiling future plots or repeating myself. Anyway, this episode made me realised that Allen gets a royal rapid age treatment from the author. Well, it's either that or General Cross stays forever young. The last time we saw Cross was in a flashback from episode 2 where he knocked Allen unconscious. He looked as young then as he is in this episode's flashback where he's supposed to be younger. As a side note, next week will be a week off for the series. The series will be back on the 9th of January 2007.
December 19, 2006 | 25 Comments
The first time I hear Lavi's voice in this episode I thought it sounds familiar but I couldn't figure out who the VA could possibly be. After checking out the wiki, I realise that his VA is none other than Kenichi Suzumura, AKA Hiitachin Hikaru in Ouran High School Host Club and Shirou Kamui in X TV series. Anyway, this is a rather entertaining episode although the ending always makes me angry for some reason. And am I the only one who thinks that a particular gate towards the end reminds me of Kingdom Hearts™? Maybe it's because I think that there's something inherently evil about Mickey and his merry friends. :P It would have been cool to see Allen blasting every single one of them.
December 13, 2006 | 14 Comments
I am sorry for the late entry but the few weeks prior to Christmas are always the busiest time of the year at work. Because of this, I have to resort to short summary again this time around. Anyway, when I saw Miranda's hands being tied up, as opposed to being impaled on the clock last week, I realised that many of the scenes on this week's episode won't make it pass the censor. The substitutions turn out to be decent but they are not as good as the original version. It's also obvious that this should have been a 3 episodes arc as opposed to 4. The first 2-3 minutes of the episode are essentially wasted on recap of the story up to this point. Thankfully no sacrifice is made on the pace of the story so the reminder of the episodes is good to watch. Animation also remains good although it's nothing out of the ordinary.
December 5, 2006 | 19 Comments
The animation in this episode is unusually good considering that there isn't that much action scenes involved. I thought the animators would try to save it for next week's episode, where the majority of actions will take place. I am quite impressed with the way they animate the revelation scene in Miranda's room. Ever since I've read the manga, I've always wonder how it'd look in animation. The majority of the comedic scenes in the episode are also quite good. As tragic as she can be most of the times, Miranda's over-the-top reaction are quite entertaining to see. I especially love the part where she starts swinging around a knife because she's suspicious of Allen and Lenalee.
November 28, 2006 | 19 Comments
This is pretty much a variation of Groundhog Day albeit a rather creepy one. I think I remember a similar story told in The Twilight Zone but I can't recall the precise story. I always find time-related plot to be interesting though. It's probably because in the majority of these stories, it's suggested that time is malleable. One can turn back to a past, goes to a future, repeating the same events over and over again until the right variable comes up. Anyway, the animation in this episode is pretty good although the character design looks a bit inconsistent. Both Allen and Lenalle are drawn quite badly at times. As a side note, due to my schedule I'll have to resort to using brief summary until I can find the time to re-write this one.
November 21, 2006 | 18 Comments
This is probably the best episode from all of the ones that have been released thus far. It's basically a half hour full of comedy except towards the end when the mood shifts to serious. I am starting to wonder now if all of the dark scenes at the start of the series were merely a cost-saving measure to do this episode. There are certainly a lot of details poured into what looks like a one-off plot. The interesting part about it is the ending, which makes me wonder about a particular character that Allen knew in his past. I haven't actually read the manga up to that point so I wonder if that character and the new one that just appeared in this episode are actually related, or even the same person. At any rate, it looks like the series is about to shift into high gear now that all the major enemies for the Exorcists finally appear on the show.
November 14, 2006 | 33 Comments
What a good episode this one turns out to be. Not only it delivers in the drama part of the story, it also boost the action thanks to Lenalee's involvement in the story. Her anti-Akuma weapon activation for some reason reminds me of Yuna's transformation in Final Fantasy X-2. Speaking of something that is similar, I've mentioned this before but I really like that background song that is played at the end of the episode when Allen is talking to Jean's father. The song was played back in episode 1 but it's not until this episode that we get to hear the entire composition. Those who have seen a TV series called Buffy the Vampire Slayer will probably feel that the refrain part of this song is similar to a Buffy/Angel theme composed by Christophe Beck called Close My Eyes. I wonder if this is just a coincidence or if the composer of D.Gray-man tried to emulate Close My Eyes when coming up with this song.
November 8, 2006 | 13 Comments
I'm glad to see the series incorporating this part of the story even if it's out of the correct order and with the addition of Lenalee and Toma. I just think that this is an important part of the series' background because not only it reveals Allen's past, but it also shows that there is more to the Earl of the Millennium than a standard villain character. I think at the end of the day, D.Gray-man is not so much about a battle between good and evil but rather a battle to prevent humanity's extermination. I think the reason that humanity and the Black Order sees the Earl as the 'bad guy' is simply because his existence threatens human's life. Animation-wise, this is a pretty solid episode with little to no bad drawing. I'm also glad that the brightness has been increased so I don't have to squint my eyes to see the action scenes that take place in the dark.
October 31, 2006 | 22 Comments
For some reason this particular episode has better brightness/contrast setting. Maybe I got a better copy of the raw or maybe the producer have been getting similar complaints in Japan. Anyway, thanks to the proper brightness/contrast setting, I really enjoy this episode. The animation is quite fluid and some of Allen's power look quite amazing here. I am also glad that unlike other Shounen series, this particular battle doesn't drag longer than 2 episodes. I always hate it when a battle ends up taking 20 episodes just to complete. Thankfully so far this series prefer to show poignant storylines than power up battles. The ending for this arc is a good example of this. I am glad that the episode ends in a rather sombre mood. Even though the main characters win this battle, they don't have any reason to feel happy towards the end.
October 25, 2006 | 13 Comments
I think the pacing could have been a little bit better in this one but overall, I'm quite satisfied with the way the story unfolds. I think this is mostly due to the little gregorian song that Lala sings at the end of the episode. Yeah, I realised that the animation doesn't seem to synch with the song but I'm surprised to see this kind of extra being included in a shounen actioin series. I think it this sort of addition as well as the occasional stylistic drawing that appears in each episodes help to make the series feel different from other shounen series out there. Anyway, I've updated the screencaps. They are not exactly high quality but at least they are a lot better than what I originally had. Either way, the dark scenes are still unusually dark even after I ramped up the brightness a little bit.
October 17, 2006 | 26 Comments
This series gets some surprisingly nice art style, cinematography, and direction. Maybe it's just specific to this episode but I noticed that a lot of thoughts have gone into framing each scenes so that they look unique and unusual. It also helps that the music is atmospheric and reminds me of Danny Elfman compositions. The animation studio responsible for this series is TMS Entertainment, a company which I've never heard of before. Having said that, I think they've done a great job so far and I hope this will continue in future episodes. The only complains that I have about the episode is that in some scenes, the dark scenes are too dark and I can barely see anything. Maybe I simply have a bad monitor setup but I had to strain my eyes to figure out several objects in the episode and at times I can't see anything. This is going to be a major problem next week since the bulk of the story will be a fight scene. It'll be hard to enjoy if I can't see a thing.
October 10, 2006 | 23 Comments
There is something that looks disturbingly similar to a giant condom in this episode. Where did that come from? Anyway, I'm surprised at how dark this episode turns out to be. I always thought that the majority of the story told in this episode is meant to happened during daytime but it's obvious that I was wrong. In addition to this, I didn't expect the writers to skip a couple of chapters. I wonder if that's a sign that the series has a limited amount of episodes given to it. But that's highly unusual for a Shounen Jump adaptation like this one. I suspect they only do this so they can introduce Kanda and Rinali earlier in the series. I am just hoping that the anime writers don't end up writers some fillers later on in the series because they cut out some original material. Anyway, I've replaced the original screencaps with the better ones.
Opening Theme: 「INNOCENT SORROW」by Abingdon School Boys
Download: HIGH-RES AVI format (NEW - 35MB) | PSP format (15.1MB)
Woot! That was hot. I finally managed to get a high-res version of the raw and it makes a hell lot of difference. The pictures have now been updated to the high-res ones. Anyway, I think this is a really good adaptation of the manga series. I definitely love the way everything is presented in the anime. I kind of miss the gore in the manga version but I figure that won't make it into the anime so I was prepared for the censorship. Everything else, however, is quite similar to the manga except for the first few minutes where you get to see Allen getting off a train. Speaking of Allen, there are few occasions where the VA inadvertently breaks out into Naruto-style talk. I think I noticed one 'datteba yo' in one of Allen's conversation. The OP theme itself is pretty nice once the refrain kicks in but it's nothing extraordinary.