D.Gray-man ep.04

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.

The episode begins with the Akuma explaining to Allen that it has copied his power, making it his. He also adds that because he's a level 2 Akuma, he just awakened his new power. This power allows him to gain the power of anything that it touches. The Akuma then attacks Allen with a claw and manages to pierce Allen's body with it. As a result, Allen falls backwards, hitting several buildings within the area. Allen then gets buried alive inside the debris of the buildings. While the Akuma celebrates its victory, Timcanpy suddenly falls out of its hiding place. Upon seeing the little Golem, the Akuma marks the creatures as his next victim. Meanwhile, Kanda is in the middle of explaining how Akuma possesses an element that is the opposite of Innocence: Dark Matters. As an Akuma evolves, Dark matters also grows and becomes stronger. Akuma which has evolved to the next level has self-awareness, can talk, and is awakened to a new power.

Kanda believes that sooner or later the Akuma will come here. Upon hearing this, Guzoru asks Kanda if he'd like to obtain the Innocence before the Akuma arrives here. He tells Kanda that he's the "Ghost of Mater" but he's actually just a doll. Through a flashback, it's revealed that because the citizens of Mater lived between rocks and dry land, they suffered a horrible life and the town was known as "The Land that was forsaken by God". In order to forget their situation, people in the Island created happy dolls which could dance and sing. In the end, however, the people got bored and moved away from the Island. However, the dolls that they made still move as they were before. Kanda is surprised to know that the doll has been moving for the last 500 years. Guzoru believes that this is due to the power of Innocence. Upon hearing this Kanda decides that a big doll like Guzoru will just be a liability so he decides to strike Guzoru with his sword.

Lala tries to protect Guzoru by telling Kanda that if they can't run, they can always hide. This causes Kanda to wonder about Lala's identity but Guzoru quickly tells Kanda that she's just kid abandoned by humans and have since followed and stayed by his side. Kanda becomes interested in the idea of hiding but before he can do anything else, Toma's Gollem appears in front of him. Toma explained that he's been watching a fight from an abandoned block but then he heard a loud noise and suddenly Allen is nowhere to be seen. He also informs Kanda that the Akuma is currently trying to kill Allen's Gollem, Timcanpy. Upon finding out about this, Kanda decides to send his Golem so that they can bring Timcanpy back and make use of his power. Meanwhile, Toma notices that the Akuma has captured Timcanpy and slammed the Golem into the ground. In his fear, Toma tries to hide himself as the Akuma passes the area but he looks horrified a few minutes later.

Kanda returns to check on Guzoru and Lala only to find that the two of them have ran away. Meanwhile inside the ruin, Allen finally regains his consciousness. He, however, can't find the Akuma anywhere so he decides to look for Kanda instead. At the same time, Toma the Finder manages to find his way back to Kanda. He then presents Timcanpy which has now turned into small rocks. Tim, however, recovers itself and when instructed by Kanda to show him the Akuma that Allen fight, the creature opens its mouth and starts to project an image out of its mouth. At the same time, Lala takes Guzoru to a darkened underground area so that no one can find them. Guzoru, however, is not sure about this and asks Lala if the place is okay. Lala assures him that it's relatively safe since she's been living here since her birth. Back to Kanda, he finally concludes that the Akuma is capable of creating a mirror image of a person's appearance and capabilities.

Kanda is annoyed with the fact that Allen allowed the Akuma to copy his own. Toma, on the other hand, suggests that they go to look for Allen since they don't know if he's still alive or not. Kanda assures him that it'll be okay because the fake Allen will have everything reversed. On their way out of the building, Kanda and Toma encounter Allen but this Allen looks strange and in addition to this, his profile is reversed. Kanda, however, does not pay more attention to the word that this Allen tries to say or otherwise, he'd have heard 'Lord Kanda' coming out of 'Allen's' mouth. Kanda immediately charges his sword and unleashes Return of the Apocalypse on this Allen. Before the attack can hit 'Allen', however, the real Allen appears and uses his clow to block off Kanda's attack. Kanda becomes angry upon seeing this, asking Allen why he defended an Akuma. Allen explains that he can see an Akuma with his left eye and this guy is not an Akuma.

Allen rips the man's skin to reveal Toma as the person who's behind it. However, this means that Toma behind Kanda is the actual Akuma. Before Kanda can do anything else, the Akuma has already throw him against the wall using its Claw. In retaliation, Kanda tells the Akuma that he ewon't die before he can find 'that person'. Because the Akuma is preoccupied with Kanda, Allen manages to throw it against a wall before using his arm to slam the creature at several buildings. By the time the Akuma stands up, it realises that Allen has taken Toma and Kanda's injured body to hide. Toma wants Allen to leave him behind so he won't be a liability to Allen but Allen refuses to do this. Meanwhile, Lala is seen asking Guzoru why the man called himself a doll back then. As it turns out the reason is because the man didn't want Lala to be broken by someone else. When the man starts coughing some blood, Lala realise that they don't have much time.

Because of this Lala decides to serenade for Guzoru and the song eventually reaches the surface. Allen who hears this wonders if there is a hidden underground path. Thankfully he manages to find it before the Akuma can find him. As the three follows the direction of the song. Guzoru starts to repeat the words that he told Kanda earlier about how the citizens of Mater lived between rocks and dry land, they suffered a horrible life and the town was known as "The Land that was forsaken by God". In order to forget their situation, people in the Island created happy dolls which could dance and sing. In the end, however, the people got bored and moved away from the Island. Despite this, the doll is still moving and that is the real truth of the Ghost of Mater. Allen finally reaches the open cave where Lala is singing and recognises right away that Lala is actually the doll. The episode ends with Lala looking panic as she casts her direction towards Allen.

Impression:

The thing that impressed me the most is the fact that Allen saved Toma even when his position doesn't require him to. Time and time again he tries to protect those who work for him at the expense of his own life. I know this is a quality of any shounen hero but it's still worth noted anyway. The reason I pointed this out is because I always end up being annoyed everytime a shounen series killed a minor character like Toma just because they are minor character. This is why I'm glad that he managed to survive thus far. I think the addition of the Finder was an important point in this arc otherwise the writer wouldn't have started this arc by showing Allen and Kanda's vastly different perception of those who work for them, the Finder. I think when all is said and done, Allen will gain extra points in Toma's eyes and probably the other Finders as well. I understand that it's quite cliche but sometimes there is nothing bad with this kind of set up in shounen series like this.

Another interesting point in this story is the reversal of the doll and the human role between Guzoru and Lala. I have never been sure about the point of this story because if Kanda had killed Guzoru, then he'd quickly find out that the Innocence is not within the man. Of course the next logical thought is to assume that Lala is the one who owns it and go after her. In the end, I don't think it'll save Lala at all. Although I suppose it'll give her enough time to run away. The thing is, Lala refuses to run away without Guzoru so his sacrifice would be in vain. Anyway, the story about the townsfolk making doll to forget their sadness reminds me of some stories that was told in Kino no Tabi. There is something eerie about that story and the funny thing is that this has nothing to do with the Akuma itself. Come to think of it, the majority of D.Gray-man's creepiness comes mostly from the background story of the characters as opposed to the Akuma themselves.

Preview

On next week's episode: I hope Guzoru and Lala's creepy past is shown in full.

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