Review for D. Gray-Man: Series 2 Part 2

Introduction

Forty episodes in, and I've just realised that we haven't seen any exorcisms yet. No one has driven out any evil spirits from afflicted and vulnerable souls. In a show about exorcists, that's probably a failing, but that is the least of D. Gray-Man's problems. Not least of which is that with this fourth volume of episodes, we reach the halfway mark in the show. And for fans of the franchise, this may just be all that we will ever get in the West. As with most of the anime released in the UK, it has to be sublicensed, usually from the US, and is dependent on a US company doing the honours with the dubbing. Manga are releasing D. Gray-Man courtesy of Funimation, and a shonen action show seemed a safe bet when they started, especially as Funimation were giving it the star treatment in the US, even treating fans to a Blu-ray release alongside the DVDs. One year on, and things don't look nearly as rosy, as Funimation have stalled with D. Gray-Man at the halfway mark, the same point that we have just reached. It hasn't turned out to be the smash hit that people expected, and the latter two volumes didn't even get the Blu-ray treatment. At the time of writing, Funimation hasn't leapt at the opportunity to license the remainder of D. Gray-Man. No US release, no UK release, it's that simple. It will have to be a case of the journey being more important than the destination, if this volume of D. Gray-Man is to appeal, and it at least needs to leave us on a high.


It's the end of the 19th Century, and a 15-year-old exorcist named Allen Walker comes to Britain to join the Black Order, a group of exorcists tasked with keeping the world safe from Akuma, or demons. Long ago in the mists of antiquity, there was a war between the ancients and the Millennium Earl. The Millennium Earl sought to destroy the world and he did so by creating Akuma, mechanical demons, fusions of machine, a soul and a tragedy, feeding on human souls to evolve into ever more powerful killing machines. The only thing that could stop them was a fantastic substance known as Innocence, and weapons fashioned from it were the only things known to destroy Akuma. 109 fragments of Innocence were scattered around the world during the Great Flood, and now the Black Order searches for it to use in their fight against the Millennium Earl, while at the same time, the Millennium Earl seeks it to destroy it. Allen has a piece of Innocence embedded in his disfigured left hand, giving him the ability to sense and destroy Akuma. Together with the Black Order, he joins the battle against the Millennium Earl.

In the previous volume, the Millennium Earl declared outright war, as armies of Akuma came forth against the beleaguered Exorcists and their Finders, in locations all over the world. When the dust settled, six Exorcists lay dead, as did scores of Finders. And this is just the opening gambit in the Millennium Earl's search for Heart Innocence, that piece of Innocence with which he can control all the other Innocence in the world. But at the end of the battle, Allen Walker had learned that the golem Tincampy could act as a homing beacon to his master, General Cross. It's a good thing, as finding General Cross is more imperative than ever. Season 2 concludes in 12 episodes, arranged across two discs.


40. Requiem Rose
Tincampy is leading them inexorably East, and when Allen and Lenalee get to Bulgaria, they run into Lavi and Arystar Krory, who have also been assigned to find General Cross. The town of Rosedolina is about to host a Rose Festival, but in these times, any gathering of people is bound to attract Akuma. But the Millennium Earl has a special diversion arranged for Allen Walker.

41. A New Assassin
The stormy straits of the Bosphorous mean that Allen and friends are stranded in Istanbul until the ferry can safely sail again. Of course the city is now full of stranded ferry passengers, making hotel vacancies scarce. Black cats are good luck though, especially when one leads them to the sole vacant inn in town. Lulu Bell is the innkeeper's daughter, is blonde and cute enough to get Lavi to fall in love, but there is something weird. What innkeeper feeds her guests with saucers of cold milk?


42. The Black Cat's Traps
They've finally made into Asia, but it turns out that General Cross is even further east. It's not going to be a simple journey though, as Lulu Bell and her maid Mimi are hot on their trail. This time, they decide to divide and conquer, and with Lulu Bell's shape-changing ability, that turns out to be surprisingly easy. Lavi winds up taking care of an injured Lenalee, while Allen and Krory wind up completely lost.

43. The Wandering Stone Statue
Killing an exorcist isn't as easy as it seems, so Lulu Bell decides to delay them until she can come up with a worthy plan. You wouldn't think that an isolated village in the mountains would provide too much of a diversion, but when the stone statue in the village square ups and walks away, it may be more trouble than the wandering Allen and Krory can handle.


44. Iron Fan Maid
Lenalee is struck down with a fever, an illness that no doctor can treat. She'll need the attention of Bookman, but being cared for by Lavi leaves them both as sitting ducks. Even if she is too ill to move, they will have to move anyway, and attempt a difficult journey to get to Bookman. Lulu Bell's divide and conquer plan is working a treat, and her maid Mimi is already baiting a trap.

45. Strange Mansion
Yu Kanda, General Tiedoll, and Marie arrive in a picturesque part of Eastern Europe, and of course the general's artistic sensibilities are engaged. In the course of his appreciation, he meets an architect who is on a pilgrimage to the mansion of Jan Novark, a singular construction that has an impact on all who see it. But once Akuma attack the group, and their wagon driver abandons them in a panic, they are left stranded in an abandoned village. The centre of the Akuma activity is in Jan's Mansion of all places. It's obviously a trap, but it isn't one created by the Akuma.


46. Illusions in the Snow
Allen and Krory need to meet up with Lenalee, Bookman, and Lavi in Tibet as soon as possible, as General Cross has been sighted in China. But circumstances conspire to delay them once more, as the weather turns nasty and closes off the routes across the Himalayas, and no one is willing to guide them. No one that is, except a diminutive guide named Amyl. You've guessed it. Lulu Bell is baiting another trap.

47. The Crystal Girl
48. Wavering Accommodator
49. Lulu Bell's Bell
50. Feelings of Devotion
The five exorcists arrive in a town that appears abandoned at first sight. It may as well be, as for some mysterious reason, all of the town's water is drying up, despite a rich lake on the outskirts supplying it. Mysterious happenings like this usually indicate the presence of Innocence, and sure enough, the problems began when the town's fortuneteller threw her crystal ball into the waters. Naturally, such goings on also attract Akuma, but there is more to this than meets the eye. The fortuneteller Mei Ling foretold of all five exorcists' deaths before she ditched her crystal ball. Could Mei Ling be an Accommodator of Innocence? That's one thing that the Millennium Earl and the Clan of Noah will not countenance.


51. Set Sail, To the East
The Black Order think they have narrowed down General Cross' location, but once again, when Allen and the other exorcists get to the city, he's long since vanished. They do meet a supporter of the Black Order though, Anita, who offers to help them as she knows just where General Cross was heading next. But she also has bad news for them as apparently the ship he was on was sunk during the crossing by an Akuma attack. Allen and the others will be heading to Japan next, but this time, the Akuma won't even let the ship leave the harbour.

Picture

D. Gray-Man comes in a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen flavour, as all modern anime are wont to do. It's an NTSC-PAL conversion of course, although it's a relatively benign one, light on ghosting and judder, although you can't get away from the softness of image. The animation itself lacks the sophistication and detail that shorter series usually get. On the other hand it's certainly not as crude or limited as long running shows like Naruto or Bleach. Certainly there is a far more robust continuity in character design, and the action sequences aren't scrimped on. All in all, D. Gray-Man is a very pleasant watch. And the creepy, spooky nature of the story is well reflected in the atmospheric world design and darker palette. Although with seven or six episodes to a disc, you won't be surprised to see a tad more compression than usual, especially in the frenetic action sequences and the opening credits.

Sound

You have a choice between DD 5.1 English, and DD 2.0 Japanese with optional translated subtitles and a signs only track. The surround is quite nice in an action show, but the dub is nothing too spectacular. It consists of energetic and lively performances of the sort that you find in anime aimed at a younger demographic. Although I have to admit that my gratitude is infinite for the blessing that is the absence of the usual Dick Van Dyke accents applied to anime set in Blighty. In fact, most of the denizens of this alternate British Isles are thankfully neutral American in accent. Of course I opted for the original Japanese dialogue as always, and while the stereo isn't as emphatic as the surround track, it does its job well enough.

Extras

Both discs get static menus and a jacket picture to look at when the disc isn't spinning.

The extras are on disc 2, beginning of course with the ubiquitous textless credit sequences.

Also on this disc is the audio commentary to accompany episode 50. ADR Director Brina Palencia hosts Jason Liebrecht (Lavi and Millennium Earl) and Monica Rial (Lero and Lulu Bell) for a surprisingly informative and easy to listen to commentary. Especially when you consider that Monica Rial is participating, it's still light on gossip and giggles.

Conclusion

"Meh!" It's the sound that an asthmatic sheep might make. "Meh!" It has also entered dictionaries as a noncommittal exclamation of utter mediocrity. A descriptive applied to something of mind-numbingly average qualities, yet done so by someone who can't work up the effort to have anything approaching a genuine opinion. You've guessed it. "Meh!" is what I think of D. Gray-Man: Volume 4, and in retrospect is what I think of the whole series up to this point. It's a show that just exists as a property, an entity in space-time, daring you be even slightly motivated by it, but not surprised at that dull vacant stare that issues from those that watch it. For not only is D. Gray-Man Meh!, it knows full well that its viewers are Meh! as well. But it always does just about barely enough to keep fingers from straying to the DVD remote, to keep alive that vain hope that it may just be about to get better. It's the textbook example of a shonen action series, not quite as loud and bright and individual as Naruto, but not quite as soul-sappingly dull as Bleach during its lengthy bouts of filler.


And it was all so promising when it kicked off 51 episodes ago. D. Gray-Man has a really appealing premise, a potential darkness at the heart of its story that ought to have resulted in some striking and edgy material. After all, the concept of the Millennium Earl, a supernatural figure that comes to the recently bereaved, offering to bring back to life their loved ones is chilling enough. But then doing so by having the recently resurrected devour and take over the life of the one who called him or her back, and winding up in eternal servitude to the Millennium Earl has a certain sort of macabre edge to it that isn't exactly common in anime. The psychology of it would have been fascinating, had D. Gray-Man been anything other than another run of the mill action show, with heroes levelling up to defeat their enemies on a regular basis, and with a story specific set of jargon and rules that distinguishes it from all the other similar shows. Akuma and Innocence, The Millennium Earl and The Clan of Noah, The Black Order and the Exorcists, all terms that you need to be familiar with if you want to be a member of this particular anime club.


Again that wouldn't have been too bad, if the story was any good. And this is where D. Gray-Man falters. The individual episodes are entertaining enough, even if the characterisations are mundane, the action predictable, and the stories utterly formulaic. There is a beginning, middle and end to each Akuma based quandary that our heroes must face, some emotional weight to each episode, a setback or two, and the emotional catharsis of seeing the villain get his or her comeuppance. The same is true for the story arcs that stretch out over two or more episodes, with much the same routine, although the story and characters get to be fleshed out more. The problem is with the overall story. There is a broad mission statement to D. Gray-Man, a grand narrative that is supposed to advance through these episodes, but it hardly ever does. In fact, we are getting the battle between The Black Order and the Millennium Earl in minuscule instalments. The first thirteen episodes went about setting up this world, introducing the characters, and embarking on the story, which is all well and good, but then the second thirteen episode set came, and went about doing it all over again. It was only at the end of the second collection that we got an idea of where the story was going, with the reveal of the Heart of Innocence, the potential that its possessor was one of the Black Order generals, and that the Millennium Earl would target them. The next development in the story then was that the Exorcists would have to find and protect the generals, and that Allen would have to find his mentor, General Cross.


Which is what Season 2 part 1 was all about, as the show followed the various exorcists seeking their generals, and the Millennium Earl doing likewise. 13 episodes later, and we have a big battle in Barcelona, the Black Order suffer major losses, and what looked like the intensification of the conflict. Except that it wasn't. At the start of this collection of episode, it turns out that General Cross is even more elusive than everyone thought, and that Allen and his friends would still have to find him. So we get another thirteen episodes of searching, and by the end of this volume, we still haven't found him. With a story developing so excruciatingly slowly, I get the impression that it probably won't even get anywhere near completion, even if the second half of the show is licensed by Funimation, and eventually released by Manga.


While the pace of the overall story does make me drift into a slumber, that is at least balanced by the individual episodes, and Season 2 - Part 2 does at least have the most interesting antagonists in Lulu Bell and her maid Mimi since the introduction of the Millennium Earl back in the first few episodes. Lulu Bell is capricious and whimsical, not surprising in a shape-shifter that spends much of her time as a cat. While she is one of the Clan of Noah, and is following the Earl's goals, she's certainly laissez faire about it. This contrasts with the devotion shown her by Mimi, who dotes on her every word and will do anything to please her. Over the course of the episodes, we learn of Mimi's tragic past, and we also see that Lulu Bell isn't as cold as she appears to be. It's certainly interesting character development, and this is as good as D. Gray-Man has been since that false promise of a start.


D. Gray-Man is fun to watch, but not fun to think about. Once you start thinking about it, you remember the overall story, and the impression that it just lacks any momentum whatsoever. But taken an episode at a time, the stories are fun but formulaic, the characters are fun but formulaic, yet it's just the right formula to keep those synapses of anime appreciation ticking over. If Funimation, and consequently Manga Entertainment do eventually get the second half of D. Gray-Man out there, I will happily watch it, content in the appreciation of utterly average, middle of the road, predictable, and safe anime. If Manga never get any more D. Gray-Man… well, Meh!