D.Gray-man ep.07

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.

The episode begins with Allen narrating his past. He explains that although he and Mana were not related, he considers Mana his father. Mana was the only person who would adopt him despite his hand. Back then when Allen fell onto the ground while walking, Mana gently told his son to continue walking. Allen believes that Mana has thought him many things and therefore Allen wasn't sure what to do when he was left on his own after Mana's death. It was then that the Earl of Millenium came with the offer to resurrect Mana. As usual, the Earl produced the toy-like model and asked Allen to call Mana's name. Much to Allen's shock, Mana wasn't happy that he called him back and made him an Akuma. In his anger, Mana sweared to curse Allen and proceeded to slice Allen's left eye with his Akuma weapon. When the Earl ordered Mana to kill Allen, however, something within Allen is awakened and a large hand appeared and threw Mana's Akuma body.

Allen explains that he didn't understand what was awakened back then but his anti-Akuma started to move on its own towards Mana's body. Allen cried and asked his father to run but Mana simply told Allen that he loved Allen and asked his son to destroy his Akuma body. Back then, Allen was capable of seeing his father's soul using his left eyes. After Mana got killed for the second time, Allen wondered about his left arm and about Akuma. It was then that Allen's teacher, General Cross, told him that there is no other way to help an Akuma apart from destroying it. General Cross also believed that Allen has been given a destiny by God and therefore, he asked the boy if he would like to be an Exorcist. In the present day, Allen tells everyone that ever since that day, he can see the soul of an Akuma. As he notices more Akuma, he also realises that the soul inside is crying not to express sorrow but to express their love for those who have turned them into Akuma.

Allen believes that these Akuma ask those who turned them into one why they are not strong enough to live. Because of this, Allen stops thinking of his ability as a curse and decided to become an Exorcist. He believes that this curse is his destiny. Allen then raises her anti-Akuma weapon towards the Earl of Millenium and claims that Akuma is a sad being that should never existed in this world. Because of this, he will destroy them. Upon hearing this, the Earl of Millenium informs Allen that he should have killed the boy a long time ago. He then smirks and asks Allen if he can see the soul of the Akuma and save them. If that's true, he challanges Allen to do it. All of a sudden the Earl orders his Akuma to shower Allen with Akuma bullets. Everyone is worried about him but Allen tells them not to because the last time around he got hit because he was trying to protect Jean. However, with his anti-Akuma weapon activated, he can't be killed.

Allen then turned at the Millenium Earl and asks the guy if he is trying to kill him with bullet now that the virus does not work. He also tells the fat guy with umbrella that the anti-Akuma weapon activated by his left hand posesses enormous strength and speed. Because of this an Akuma's bullet and hard body are no use against it. He then declares that his weapon was made to destroy the Earl's weapon. In other words, it's God's weapon. Not wanting to be outdone, the Earl points his Pumpkin umbrella into the sky and shoots a purple light out of them. He tells Allen that even with a crappy gun, you can hit something if you shoot a lot. In order to achieve this, he produces a lot of Akuma in the area. One of these Akuma immediately points its weapon at Allen. Upon seeing the danger, Lenalee rushes in and activates her own anti-Akuma weapon. She then sommersaults into the air as parts of her shoes transform into anti-Akuma weapon.

Lenalee then snatches Jean from danger and entrust him to Toma before Sommersaulting into the air again. Allen is surprised to see Lenalee with her anti-Akuma weapon so Toma explains to him that her weapon is known as "Dark Boots". Upon seeing Lenalee in action, the Earl decides to engage her with....bullets. Lenalee, however, manages to avoid all of them due to her lightning-speed reflex. She then lands on top of an Akuma with her boots and effectively destroys it. Allen uses the opportunity to launch his own attack at the nearby Akuma and manages to slice it apart. At one point due to her carelessness, Lenalee gets blasted to a nearby building. Allen immediately rushes in to check on her but as it turns out, she's okay. The Earl, however, wants to ensure that they are dead so he orders the Akuma to destroy the entire building. Allen and Lenalee manage to evade the attack but due to the falling debris, Toma has to use his body to shield Jean.

While the destruction around him happens, Jean think about how he think he knew about Akuma. He remembers how back then he told Leo that Akuma is capable of taking over the body of a person that it has killed. Leo didn't understand what he's talking about at that point. Jean, however, realises that it was him who told Leo about the existence of Akuma. They even patrolled together and agreed that the Earl of the Millenium is a bad guy. Because of this, Jean believes that Leo must have been completely shocked after the death of his mother that he developed darkness within his heart. It was then that the Earl of the Millenium appeared and offered to 'return' Leo's mother to the boy. Jean starts to cry and calls Leo a fool for wanting to see his mother again even if she were to turn into an Akuma. He doesn't have an eye like Allen and therefore can't see the soul within Akuma crying. Jean apologises to Leo for telling about Akuma to him in the first place.

Because of this, Jean asks Allen to destroy Leo. Upon hearing this, Allen raises his anti-Akuma weapon and tells him that after this one attack, everything will be over. Allen then launches a multiple attack towards the Akuma called "Cross Grave". The Earl realises that Allen is a bit too much to handle for now so he decides to flee. He, however, tells Allen that this is not the end for he, the Earl of the Millenium, will purify this world of the corrupted Gods and bring the world to an end. And there is nothing that God's priest, the Exorcist can do to save the world. In the aftermath of the incident, Allen gives Jan's father something from Jan, which turns out the Onion bomb. His father, however, thinks that Jean is still not good enough if he still makes this childish toys. Allen tells him that Jean understands this. Cut to a flashback where Jean promised Allen to study more because he knows he can't do much right now. Upon hearing this, Jean's father promises to finish his work quickly so he can see his son. Allen suddenly hears Mana's words asking him to continue walking.

Impression:

Father/son relationship is basically the theme in this episode. I am always fascinated by this topic because I don't exactly have a good relationship with my real father. Once I was a teenager, however, I had the fortune to know someone who acted like a father to me. This means that he was there when I needed his help and instead of looking down on me, he gave me the advice that I need. It was then that I realised how lucky those who have a good relationship with their father. Because of this, I'm always amazed every time I see fictional fathers across popular entertainment media portrayed in a non-favourable manner. I don't think it means that there are more bad fathers than the good ones though. The writers probably just think that there's not much they can do with a good father/son story and therefore always resort to a bad father/son relationship since it creates conflict, an important element in a plot.

Moving on to other, less depressive topic, I thought the action in this episode was top-notch. It was fun seeing Lenalee sommersaulting her way from one Akuma to another. The one thing that I'm worried about here is Allen, who starts to demonstrate a typical Shounen hero characteristic in which he's nearly indestructible and has mysterious unexplained power. I do like that the Earl pointed out that he's here to wipe out the corrupted Gods. I pointed out on last week's entry that the Earl's action is probably related to the Noah's ark incident in the bible. An incident which basically transpired because God wants to destroy humans except for Noah and his family. Anyway, next week's episode should be a good one because I think it'll be the episode where the robot that Komui creates creates havoc inside the Black Order HQ. Speaking of Komui, he was hilarious in this one so I'm hoping we'll get more of him and Lenalee kicking the robot's ass.

Preview

On next week's episode: Oh noes! Macho Lenalee!!

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