Manga of the Week - D.Gray-Man

Picture
This being the first manga review I thought I'd go with this one. The synopsis is simple:

"Towards the end of the 19th century, Allen Walker officially joins the organization of Exorcists that destroy the beings known as Akuma; mechanic weapons made by the Millennium Earl with the suffering souls of the dead. Allen has both a cursed eye and an anti-Akuma weapon as an arm, bearing the power of "Innocence", a gift given to him as an apostle of God. Allen, along with his fellow Exorcists must put a stop to the Millennium Earl's ultimate plot that could lead to the destruction of the world and all who live on it." (Source: myanimelist.net)

Sounds like fun, right? Yep. From the very beginning this manga gets right into the story. The very first chapter, after all, involves not only strangely shaped egg-demons and police officers but a cat as well. From there each volume goes on to introduce new characters and more weird situations plus a few more funny looking "Akuma" that grow more and more clown-like as the series progresses.

Now, what's so great about the story? Yes, I know that we have lots of these types of stories out there in the world of manga already but the characters are what makes this stand out. While Allen Walker is the main protagonist he is by no means the only essential persona. Each character has a background just as intense and emotional as his and not one is useless to the plot. Not even the bunny-loving, mad scientist Komui.

Speaking of Komui...

There are also some funny times too. Allen's recollections of his past with General Cross are hilarious and the lowe-level Akuma never fail to entertain. Even Lavi's womanising and Miranda's low self-confidence are quite funny.

As for the art, it's pretty good. While this series has gone on hiatus from time to time, the style of the mangaka remains, essentially, the same while growing and changing in many ways. The uniforms are complex enough but there's also a strange simplicity to the lines and shapes of D.Gray-Man from the start of Zone (the alternative beginning of the series) to the end of the most recent chapter.

All in all, I'd say that this is a good manga, more so than most but not quite a full favourite. For now, it gets a good 8 out of 10.