D.Gray-man ep.06

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.

The episode begins with Allen examining the Innocence that he obtained from Lala, wondering why the innocence fused with Lala, why he was born with his anti-Akuma hand, why did the Innocence chose him. Inside a darkened alley, a boy notices The Millennium Earl awakening a dead man. The boy immediately yell "Akuma" and attracts the attention of Allen and Toma, who have just got off the train. When they find the boy, however, no one believes that he saw an Akuma even after he points out that the guy behind him has just been killed. Upon saying this, the man in question immediately grabs the boy and covers his mouth, claiming that he was just playing with the kid and the kid end up being too enthusiastic about it. Once the crowd disperses, however, the man shows a black star on his forehead. Thankfully for the kid, the Akuma can't deceive Allen eyes. Just as it is about to devour the kid, Allen uses his anti-Akuma weapon to destroy it.

After the Akuma is destroyed, Allen tells the boy, whose name is Jean, that he seems to know a lot about Akuma. After glomping Allen, Jan explains that his father is a scientist working for the Black Order. Jan, however, is surprised to see Allen looking frail looking since he expects an Exorcist to be a lot more macho. Ouch and cut to a scene of Kanda acting 'Macho' just to prove that Allen is anything but Macho. Later on, Jean ends up grilling Allen on how he got his anti-Akuma weapon, when did he destroyed his first Akuma, what did he feel back then, and how much Akuma he's destroyed since then. Upon hearing this, Allen gets a flashback to his past where an Akuma swears to curse him. All of a sudden, the anti-Akuma weapon appears and destroyed said Akuma. As soon as he remembers this, Allen warns Jean not to stick his neck in this or doing the patrol with his friend Leo, again. He thinks Jan will be in danger if he encounters the Millennium Earl.

Jean is not happy to be advised by Allen and decides to give the guy an exploding onion bomb, which causes Allen to cry like waterworks. After Jean escapes, Toma hands Allen a handkerchief and tells him that if he's worried, they can get a finder who's been assigned to this city to watch over Jan. Having said that, it's important for them to go back to the Headquarter now. Much to Allen's disappointment, however, everyone at the headquarter seems too tired to talk to him. When he asks Lenalee as to what he should do with the Innocence, she simply tells him to bring it to Hebraska. Because of this, Allen and Komui head together towards the creature and release the innocence. Hebraska tells Allen that she takes care of the Innocence until one of the generals returns from their mission. Komui adds that including Allen's master, General Cross, there are five generals go off and search people who are compatible with the Innocence.

Allen suddenly remembers Jan's words when the boy was asking him how he became an Exorcist. A quick flashback reveals that General Cross found him lying on the road and asked Allen if he'd be willing to become an Exorcist. In the present time, Komui asks Allen to look at something, which turns out to be Hebraska's inside. There are 109 holes for Innocence within it. Hebraska then orders the innocence to sleep within her until the day when it meets the person who is compatible with it and become the person's weapon. After the Innocence enters her body, Hebravska tells Allen and Komui that this will be the 41st Innocence that they recovered but there are more Innocence in this world. A flashback then shows Allen walking together with a man on a long road when he was a kid. When Allen falls down because he's tired, the man encouraged him to continue walking. In the present time, Allen wakes up and calls out for someone called 'Mana'.

Allen thinks that the reason he's been remembering all of these memories is because he's tired. While on his way to the cafeteria, however, he meets Lenalee who tries to stop him from coming to the cafeteria. She claims that Jerry spoiled his cooking and the smell inside the cafeteria is really bad as a result. When Allen tells her that he doesn't mind at all, Lenalee turns stern and insists that Allen doesn't go there right now. Before Allen leaves, however, he asks Lenalee if she knows the father of a boy called Jean. Meanwhile in the city outskirt, a finder has been observing Jean when all of a sudden a large shadow looming over him. Back to Allen, he manages to find out from Lenalee that Jean's father is probably Jake Russell. He eventually finds the person in question hidden behind stacks of books. Allen immediately asks Jake to stop Jean from 'protecting' this city but Jake is too busy with his project to pay attention to what Allen just said.

Inside the cafeteria, Jerry has finished with the preparation for Allen's surprise party. Unfortunately, Lenalee suddenly comes with a bad news: Allen is nowhere to be found. While running around the building, Lenalee encounters Toma, who's also looking for Allen. Toma eventually figures out that Allen probably has gone out looking for Jean. Toma thinks that if they don't find him, Allen will be in danger. Apparently he's just received a news that one of the finders he assigned to watch over Jean has been killed by Akuma. Outside Jean's apartment, his....uhmm...robotic maid tells him that he has a visitor. Jean is quite reluctant to open the door at first until he realises that the visitor is none other than his best friend, Leo. After inviting Leo into his room, Jean tells his friend that he's worried about him ever since Leo attends his mother's funeral. Despite Jean's attempt to cheer Leo up, however, he notices that his friend has changed.

Jean believes that the death of Leo's mother must have shocked his best friend. He wonders if there is something that he can do to cheer Leo up. Because of this, he tells Leo that today he met an Akuma and saw the face of The Earl of the Millennium. Unknown to Jean, Leo's eyes suddenly shows a reflection of said Earl. Back inside the Black Order, Komui is making acting like a little kid because his little sister has left without telling him. Somewhere in the room, Jerry is also depressed because his surprise party fails. He tells the others that the should have had the party for Allen as soon as he comes back. At the same time, Jean manages to finish the picture of Millennium Earl and tells Leo that they should distribute the picture to everyone. Outside the house, Allen asks the maid if Jean is home but all of a sudden, the big maid falls on top of him and Jean runs away with Leo. Allen tries to warn Jean about Leo but Jean simply ignores him.

Leo takes Jean to his mother's grave but when they get inside, Jean bumps into The Millennium Earl's fat tummy. Oops. Jean immediately throws the exploding Onion bomb towards the guy and tries to take Leo away from the place. When Leo refuses to run away, Jean tells him that they're going to get killed by the Earl. The Earl, however, tells Jean that Leo has been dead for a long time. Or more precisely, ever since his mother's funeral. And because Jean is in causing problems for Earl, he's going to punish Jean by using his friend. Jean is horrified to hear this but Allen suddenly appears and tells him that it's true. Leo is no longer his friend but The Earl of the Millennium’s weapon that is masquerading as his friend. Before Allen can kill Leo, however, Jean steps in front of Allen's weapon, refusing to believe that his friend is an Akuma. When Jean asks Allen for a proof, however, Leo transforms into an Akuma and points his Akuma weapon at Jean.

Before the Akuma can kill Jean, however, Allen steps in front of the boy and use his own body as a shield. Jean panics upon seeing this because he remembers that Akuma's bullet contains virus which destroys human body. Meanwhile, the Millennium Earl tells Jean that the boy annoys him by referring him as the bad guy when in fact he's just trying to help others. He then points at the Akuma and reveals that it's the crystallisation of a person's heart. Allen, however, refutes this by telling Jean that Leo's mother is imprisoned inside the Akuma. Allen then reveals that he can't die from the Akuma virus because he has an anti-Akuma weapon inside of him. Allen then absorbs the virus into his left eye. He explains that this is a curse. At one point, he turned someone important to him into an Akuma. Because of the curse, he can now see the souls imprisoned inside Akuma with his eyes. The Millennium Earl suddenly remembers Allen: he's the boy who turned his father into an Akuma. Lenalee and Toma, who've just arrived at the cemetery, are shocked to hear this.

Impression:

If one thinks about it, some of the things that the Millennium Earl said in this episode are true. Akuma really are born out of human's heart. However, because he uses the Akuma to destroy humanity, he's labelled as 'the bad guy'. It'll be interesting if it turns out that he's supposed to destroy humanity because the species is already beyond help. If I remember correctly, the Noah's Ark in the Bible was God's attempt to save Noah and his family while killing the rest of humanity because God is fed up with man's evil behaviour. The problem with associating the Earl of Millennium as some kind of God's apostle is that some of the things that he's done hurt even an innocent human like Jean. Although it can be argued that when it comes to eradication of a species, it doesn't matter if one or two or a few people from the species are good. After all, humans destroy insects without choosing which ones have destroyed their crops and which ones have not.

I think one thing about this series that annoys me is the part the fact that it never explains those strange-looking creatures that roam around in the city. They certainly are not Akuma but they are not humans either. I assume Jean's big maid is actually a robot but if that's the case then I'm interested to know how robot came into existence in this universe. The show also never explain how monster like Hebraska came into existence. Anyway, the amusing part about this episode was the surprise party that the Black Order planned for Allen. It reminds me of how much I hate surprise party. I once planned one with a couple of friends but the person who supposed to receive the honour was....nowhere to be found like Allen. As it turns out, he thought we have no plan of celebrating his birthday so he ended up going to his Kendo practice. We were so worried when we couldn't find him that I swear afterwards that I'll never do another surprise party for anyone.

© memento 2003