D.Gray-man ep.15

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.

At the Exorcists HQ, Komui finds out that Lenalee has regained her consciousness. Upon seeing her brother next to her, she tells him how this is just like what happened before. A flashback reveals how Lenalee found Komui next to him the first time he came to the HQ. Lenalee also asks Komui about Allen so he informs her that Allen has gone with Kanda to find innocence. Speaking of Allen, he's in the middle of being carried by Lavi in the middle of heavy snow storm. He eventually regains his consciousness and becomes embarassed, insisting that he can walk on his own. When the group reaches a hut, Elda finds out that Allen is feverish but Allen claims that he's fine. Upon noticing Kanda with the group, Allen asks him about Michael but Kanda asks him to worry about himself first. Allen becomes worried about the finder but all of a sudden, the door to the hut is opened and Michael enters the place. Needless to say, Allen is happy to see the guy.

Kanda immediately asks Allen if he sees Akuma around the area but the Finder claims that he didn't see them so Kanda decides to look for the innocence again before the Akuma can get their hands on it. Since Allen is still sick, Kanda and Lavi decide to leave him in the hands of the others. Upon seeing the two Exorcists, the Akuma decides to follow them to the Innocence's place before snatching it from the Exorcists' hands. Inside the hut, Allen explains to Elda's father that an Innocence won't be able to bring his son back but Elda's father refuses to listen. That night when the grouop is asleep, Elda dreams how she stopped her father from saving her brother, Jacob, because the fire was getting too dangerous. Elda wakes up and realises that her father has disappeared. Allen and Michael decide to find him so Elda insists on coming with them, explaining that how she regretted her action back then and doesn't want to repeat it again.

At the same time, Kanda and Lavi find a cave where the Innocence is supposedly located. In order to get rid of the heavy snowstorm which surrounds the area, Lavi decides to use his weapon's wood seal, allowing him to stop the snowstorm. Once the two enter the cave, they find a tree at the centre of the cave. Unfortunately a strong power repels either of them. Elda's father then appear and glad to find the tree but he too gets knocked out into the wall for trying to get close to the tree. Because he's fed up with it, Kanda decides to jump up to avoid the tree's attack before slicing the tree with his sword. As soon as he does this, the tree crumbles down and loses all of its vigour. In the middle of the log, Kanda finds the Innocence that he and the others are looking for. Upon seeing the item, Elda's father demands that Kanda hands in the leaf of revival to him but Kanda tells him that this is not the leaf of revival but an Innocence and it can't bring back his son.

Lavi explains that the Innocence for some reason causes the leaf to glitter. To keep people away from it, the Innocence produced a snowstorm and other powers to protect itself. The group then decide to go out of the cave but they are quickly attacked by the three Akuma. Despite this, Kanda and Lavi manage to knock out the three easily using their weapons. Realising that their individual power is not enough to defeat the two Exorcists, the female Akuma decides to merge her two colleagues into her own body. In the middle of the fight, Elda's father grabs Kanda from behind, trying to snatch the Innocence from the Exorcist. This allows the Akuma to attack Kanda and Lavi by freezing their feet. When things starting to look grim, Timcanpy appears in the sky and Allen comes behind it. He immediately shoots the Akuma in the back using his anti-Akuma weapon before freeing Kanda and Lavi's trapped legs using the same weapon.

The three Exorcists then work together and use their respective anti-Akuma weapon to defeat the Akuma. After the creature is defeated, Elda’s father once again begged for the Innocence. Upon seeing his father looking sad, Elda apologises. She feels this happens because she stopped her father from saving her brother back then. She also admits that she knew all along there is no such thing as leaf of revival. Upon hearing this, Allen tells Elda's father that the one that the guy should be helping is Elda. He points out that the old man has been so busy chasing after his dead son that he doesn't even see his daughter Elda, who is still alive. Elda tells her father that she's okay with it because she knows her father is in pain. As he hears this, Elda's father hugs her daughter, realising that he's been neglecting Elda in his pursuit of the leaf. The Exorcists then decide to leave so Elda and her father decides to go back home to their mother/wife.

Unknown to the Exorcists, Skin Boric is preparing to attack them. However, before he can do this, Road appears and demands that he returns Lero the umbrella because things are boring without it. She also tells him that the Millenium Earl wants him back because he has work for them. At the train station, Allen informs Elda that the Akuma are the results of tragedy, whereby souls are called back to this world. Because of this, he warns her not to listen to the Millenium Earl should he comes and tells them that he can revive the dead. Elda's father assure them that he's going to walk forward with Elda and her mother, to treasure the life of those who are next to him now. Inside the train, Allen tells Lavi that they would have no choice but to fight Elda's brother, should he becomes an Akuma. Later on Bookman asks Lavi what he thinks about Allen so Lavi tells his mentor that he thinks Allen is fighting a pinful fight and will be in it for the long haul.

Impression:

Elda's father really annoys me in this episode that at one point I was thinking there will be some kind of tragedy to remind him that he needs to treasure what he has (Elda). I really thought Elda is either going to get injured or dead but that doesn't seem to be the case. I also thought that her father would end up being an Akuma somehow after someone promises him to bring Jacob back but that's not happening just yet. It's nice to see the series ends on a cautious note instead of a celebratory one. Although Allen and the others win this time around, there is a likelihood that the Millenium Earl will come to Elda and her family, to offer Jacob back. Seeing how fragile that family is at the moment, the chances that one of them will accept the offer is quite high. I'm especially worried about Elda's father, who is still hellbent on resurrecting his dead son until he heard Allen's words about how he's been neglecting his still alive daughter.

On the positive side, I like how Allen's personality is still consistent when it comes to caring about the Finder's life. Unlike Kanda, who couldn't care less if his helper lives or dies, Allen has always been portrayed as someone who sees them as valuable ally. I really hope that this little trait of him pays off one day not in the sense that a Finder sacrifice his life for him but in some other ways (ie. Allen finding out a vital information from a Finder that saves his life). Unfortunately neither Allen or Kanda and Lavi get any kind of character development here. Therein lies the problem of filler episodes. The writers can't add character development to the original characters because he/she is afraid that his development will clash with the development planned by the original author. And even if he attempts one, there is a likelihood that development won't be incorporated into the real arc. As a result, they have no choice but to develop the one-off characters like Elda and her father.

Preview

On next week's episode: Kanda's big adventure?

© memento 2003