D.Gray-man ep.17

January 30, 2007 | 10 Comments

Props to those who recognised it earlier but it's not until this episode that I noticed how Vittorio's costume design is a combination of Man-Faye's and Pippi Longstocking's style. It's probably unintentional but needless to say it became a good source of laughter throughout this episode. The problem with this is that it takes away the serious nature of the story, especially during the last few minutes of the episode. Animation-wise, it holds up quite well although I did notice a lot of static stills being used in some parts of the episodes. I'm just glad that after this episode, we're only 1 episode away from returning to the manga's arc. Here's hoping that the reason the animation hasn't been good in the past few weeks is because the animators are saving the budget to animate the fight between the Exorcists and the Noah Family.

Continuing from the previous episode, Allen tries to help an injured Kanda but ends up getting swat aside by Vittorio. While he faces off Vittorio, Lenalee checks on Kanda and finds out that he's still alive. At the same time, Allen's anti-Akuma weapon, which normally can't be hurt by Akuma, is now scratched badly due because he has to use it to defend himself from Vittorio's sword. The Finder explains to Lenalee that the sword that Vittorio uses contains an Innocence. Lenalee wonders why the Innocence is in the sword so Kanda tells her that it's because Vittorio is not the compatible recipient for said Innocence. The Finder doesn't know where Vittorio found the sword but the Innocence's power overwhelms Vittorio's own intention, controlling him to fight stronger people. Since Allen has difficulty fighting against Vittorio, Lenalee decides to get into the battle as well but Vittorio throws her aside with his sword and tells her that he refuses to fight women.

Just as Vittorio is about to finish Allen off, Claudia appears and asks Vittorio to stop. Despite this, Claudia informs Allen and Lenalee that she has no intention of coming back home. During the night, the group decides to stay at an old woman's house so Kanda can rest. The Finder then informs Lenalee that Allen is also fine and the reason his anti-Akuma couldn't move during the fight was mostly due to shock. Because he has something to tell to both Allen and Lenalee, he asks Lenalee to sit in the living room. He then tells the two that the first time Kanda fought Vittorio, he ended up sleeping for 2 days. During this time, the Finder did some investigation about the legend of Vittorio. It was during this time that he met this old woman and was told about the story of Sandra. After the woman recites the story which was told in the previous episode, the Finder explains that Sardinio's family home was built on the ruins of the Sandra's family home.

Upon hearing the story, Lenalee and Allen realises that Vittorio probably think that Claudia is Sandra and he would report to her after he defeat Akuma. Allen, however, also understands that as long as Vittorio has the sword containing Innocence, the Akuma will seek him. Inside a cave, Vittorio notices a Chicken and goes after it while Claudia has a dream of happier times she had with her father. Claudia wakes up and finds out that Vittorio has prepared grilled chicken for her. Back inside the lodge, Kanda has regained his consciousness and insists on going after Vittorio because he's healed. Upon hearing from the Finder that the Akuma have gathered around the colloseum again, Kanda insists on going there so that the Akuma can't obtain the Innocence. Allen tries to stop him, explaining that Vittorio can't be defeated so the Akuma can't possibly take the Innocence. Having said that, he and Lenalee will go there to protect Claudia from the Akuma.

As for Kanda, Allen wants him to stay back and think of a way to recover the Innocence from Vittorio. At first Kanda rejects the idea but Allen pushes him back using his anti-Akuma weapon. When Allen and Lenalee arrives at the Colleseum, they find out that Vittorio has no problem fighting all of the Akuma on his own. After Vittorio manages to defeat a 2nd level Akuma, Allen tries to convince him that he doesn't have to fight any longer because Sandra has died. Vittorio, however, refuses to believe this, insisting that Sandra is still alive and therefore he'd continue to win the fight. While Allen fights Vittorio, Lenalee tries to persuade Claudia to stop Vittorio. Sandra, however, feels that Vittorio saved her from a life which she has no control over. While Allen tries to explain to Vittorio that his sword causes danger to Claudia, Lenalee informs Claudia that Vittorio's existence calls the Akuma so her wish to live in peace with him is impossible.

All of a sudden Kanda joins the battle and manages to save Allen before Vittorio can impale the guy. Vittorio ends up hitting Kanda's arm using his sword but Kanda bares the pain and uses his remaining energy to cut off Vittorio's right arm. As he screams in pain, Vittorio remembers how he almost gave up in the fight during his gladiator time but refused to do so because it would mean giving up Sandra to someone else. Because of this he doesn't want to be defeated and it was at this point that the sword appeared in front of him. In the present time, Vittorio age rapidly and tells Claudia that he knows all along that she's not the princess and yet he was happy to fight for her sake. Before he passed away, Vittorio tells Claudia that the only person she has to live for is herself. In the aftermath, Lenalee explains how Claudia returns to the Sardinio estate but only to pack her bags before leaving for a journey.

Impression:

The part where the scene switched to Claudia's childhood dream while Vittorio was off hunting the chicken was amusing. It reminds me of the old-style TV censorship where they'd show something happy and cheery while some horrid massacre happens off-screen. In this case, while Claudia dreams of yodelling and dance with the sheep across the prairie, Vittorio managed to catch the chicken, kill it, skin the bird, clean the mess, and put the meat on the grill. But since no one wants to see the gory detail, we got father/daughter bonding shots instead. Of course, Vittorio in itself is an amusing character. I think we're meant to be moved by his story and it did work in the last few minutes of the story. But apart from that, it's hard to take the guy seriously when his character design completely fail him. It's hard not to laugh everytime the camera zooms in on his ripped muscle which is covered with garment which look like a bra and a tong.

Preview

On next week's episode: Lenalee's love.

© memento 2003