D.Gray-man ep.05

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.

Continuing from the previous episode, Lala goes berserk when Allen finds out that she's actually the doll, the ghost of Mater. She tries to throw a large pillar towards Allen but Allen manages to capture said pillar easily with the anti-Akuma weapon on his hand. He tells Lala that he doesn't want to fight someone as cute as her. Lala explains that Guzoru is dying and therefore asks Allen not to seperate her from Guzoru until he dies. Once he dies, however, Allen can take her heart away. Lala then asks Allen if he has heard the story about the city of Mater, a city which has been forsaken by God. Due to the harsh condition of the city, the people tried to create an underground area to live in and at one point found an artefact, an Innocence. Using the Innocence, the men made a doll which can sing and dance so they can forget about their problem. 100 years later, people deserted the city but the doll continued to sing even though there's no one around.

Back then, there was a kid who was cast off in an area where the ghost of Mater was rumoured to live. Lala, who looked a lot scarier than she is now, approached the boy and asked him if he'd like to hear a song. At that point, Lala already approached 5 other children beforehand and they always attacked her even though she simply asked that question. Because of this, Lala told herself that if this boy also attack her, she'd kill him just like she killed the other 5 childrens. Much to her surprise, the boy asked her to sing for him. The two quickly became friends and it was the boy who made the doll look prettier and called her 'Lala'. That was 80 years ago and ever since then Gozoru always lived with Lala. Guzoru explains that because they're always together, it'll be his hand that ends Lala's life. Lala agrees with this because she is Guzoru's doll. She explains to Allen that Guzoru was the only man who ever accepted her as a doll.

Once Guzoru dies, Allen can take her heart but until then she wants Allen to allow her to be Guzoru's doll. Allen doesn't seem to mind this but Kanda refuses because they have no idea when that Akuma will come here. He asks Allen their purpose for coming here in the first place and orders his comrade to take Lala's heart right now. Allen refuses, pissing off Kanda in the process. Kanda throws Allen's coat to its owner, reminding the guy that the coat is not a pillow for the wounded but a uniform of an Exorcist. He then walks over to Guzoru and Lala with his sword. Upon seeing this, Allen tells Kanda that he'll fight the Akuma if Kanda will let Lala to stay alive for now. Kanda thinks that making sacrifices to win a war is futile and proceeds to punch Allen on the face for selling himself to save a stranger. When Kanda wonders if there is anything important to Allen, Allen informs him that unfortunately he lost that a long time ago.

Allen admits that he has no noble reason for doing this. He simply doesn't want to see Lala and Guzoru suffer. Because he's just a small man, he's easily moved of what's in front of him as opposed to what the world needs. Allen's good intention, however, comes crashing down when the Akuma who's been chasing them appears and stabs both Guzoru and Lala, obtaining the Innocence in the process. Allen is angry upon seeing this and all of a sudden his anti-Akuma weapon transforms into something that shocks even the Akuma. Kanda explains that an exorcist who uses a parasite-type anti-Akuma can manipulate the weapon according to their emotions and right now his weapon is reacting to his anger. Kanda realises that Allen emits murderous rage but before he can stop Allen, the guy already jumps out and aims his weapon, which has now turned into a bazooka-like shape. The weapon then proceeds to fire multiple ray beams.

The Akuma, however, shifts into a sand-based form, thinking that Allen can't possibly attack it in this form. It then proceeds to envelope Allen with the sand, essentially eating the guy alive. Toma is concerned for Allen but Kanda assures the Finder that Allen is okay because he can still sense Allen's murderous rage. True enough, Allen manages to shoot his way out of the Akuma's stomach and transform his weapon to a sword-like shape to slice the Akuma's sand skin open. As soon as the Akuma's true shape is revealed, Allen transforms his weapon back to a bazooka and fires a powerful shot at the Akuma. The creature tries to counter it using his imitation of Allen's weapon but the imitation is not strong enough to withstand Allen's attack. Kanda believes that the Akuma fails to deflect the attack because a similar weapon will have different limit when used by different user. The one who can use the weapon's true power is the Exorcist.

All of a sudden, however, Allen starts coughing up blood. It turns out his body can't keep up with the morphed weapon. Before the Akuma can finish him off, however, Kanda steps up and defends Allen with his sword. He's annoyed that Allen running out of power at the last minute. Allen can't help but smile and tells Kanda that he's not running out of power. He's just taking a break. True enough, he quickly activates his anti-Akuma weapon again and this time, together with Kanda he manages to blast the creature to oblivion. After the Akuma was defeated, the Innocence falls back to the ground. Allen grabs it and returns it to Lala. Unfortunately even with the heart back, the doll is no longer Lala but rather the doll that Guzoru first met. When Lala offers to sing for him, Guzoru accepts the offer and ever since then Lala has been singing lullaby for him. Allen, who intends on keeping his promise, waits for Lala on the staircase to the city.

A few days later, Kanda returns to the place, claiming that his wound heals quickly. He also tells Allen that he already receives his next mission from Komui so Allen will have to deliver the Innocence to the HQ. Allen doesn't mind this but judging from his voice, Kanda knows that Allen is having a hard time with the whole thing. Because of this, he suggests that Allen stops the doll if the situation is hard for him especially since she is not Lala anymore. Allen refuses to do so because he already promised Lala. He thinks that the only one who can stop her is Guzoru. Kanda thinks that Allen is to kind and reminds him that they are Exorcists not saviour. All of a sudden, however, Lala stops singing. 3 days after Guzoru died, Lala stops singing. Lala thanks Allen for letting her live until she breaks. She then stops functioning. Allen cries upon seeing this and tells Kanda that although what he said was true, he wants to be an Exorcist who can save life.

Impression:

Lala and Guzoru's background story turned out to be quite creepy. For a being that inherited something called an 'Innocence', Lala sure was quite violent. She admitted that she killed 5 children just because they attacked her (most likely due to fear). I think this suggests that 'Innocence', just like the name implies, can be corrupted by certain elements such as anger. Allen's sudden ability to transform his anti-Akuma weapon during anger was a good example of this. This means that if the user is not careful, their power can be corrupted easily. Speaking of Allen, it's interesting that he mentions his past in a passing conversation with Kanda. However, since the anime writers have not included the flashback to his past, I suppose new fans won't understand this 'important thing' that Allen lost a long time ago. However, if the preview for next week's episode is not misleading then we might get to see his past soon.

Anyway, I admire Allen's kindness in this one but it was kind of unnecessary for him to go out of his way to defend someone he barely knows. Having said that, he did raise an interesting point about being moved easily by the little things in life as opposed to the big thing. Most people don't care so much about something that's too big such as the welfare of everyone on Earth. However, they are capable of feeling sympathy on individual basis. This is the reason why people are willing to those who need help when they see them. Kanda, on the other hand, seems to be more concerned with the overall picture, which makes him less friendly most of the time. Speaking of Kanda, he was as lot more tolerable and kind in this episode. It was nice to know that when push comes to shove, he was willing to help Allen. I'm now interested to know more about the regeneration power that he owns and his next mission. I don't think we'll get to see it though.

Preview

On next week's episode: Allen's past will hopefully be revealed.

© memento 2003