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Wednesday, 14 March 2007 |
 | | ▪ | PUBLISHED BY: | | VIZ MEDIA | | | ▪ | ART/AUTHOR: | | KATSURA HOSHINO | | | | ▪ | FORMAT/COLOR: | | JAPANESE FORMAT / BW | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 191 | | | ▪ | RATED: | | T+ | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 02/06/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 03/15/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | SCOTT CAMPBELL | | |
D.Gray-Man is instantly recognizable as a manga on a higher level. The art and the dynamic visual flow of the story through each frame stands out with each page read. Nothing about this manga is ever visually stagnant or static. The art almost feels alive, as though it were an anime and not a manga. Besides that, each drawing is presented in very high detail and the book has a very appealing way of using contrast. Most of the imagery is either very dark black with hard lines, or very white and clean – rarely is it wispy or lazy. As you can see, the art style really stands out in a positive light, so D.Gray-Man is off to a good start.
On the story side of things, there are a great number of well developed characters that are immersed in an involving, but not overly complicated plot – making it accessible to people at both a young and mature reading level. Set in a fictional 19th century England, D.Gray-Man covers the story of the main character Allen Walker, who searches the earth for the substance known as “Innocence.” Though lost long ago during an apocalyptic event known as “The Great Flood,” this substance can be used to create weapons to fight demons called “akuma.” It is Allen’s mission to locate the Innocence and use it to destroy these foes. Thankfully he doesn’t have to do this alone, and is joined by a variety of unique allies and rivals.
With the continuation of volume four, Allen starts to question the Black Ministry about the “Clan of Noah” and the reason he became an Exorcist. With his akuma detecting eye damaged, he must risk interacting with those around him, never knowing which ones could be demons bent on his destruction. The akuma seem to be targeting leaders of the Ministry, so Allen must track down his master Cross, one of the Marshals of the Black Ministry. Hopefully Cross will have the answers to Allen’s questions, and Allen can start delivering some answers of his own.
IN SUMMARY:
D.Gray-Man is a very well drawn, well thought out manga. It’s good enough to grace the pages of Shonen Jump Advanced and continues to prove itself worth while into the fourth volume of the series. If you’ve enjoyed manga series like Bleach or Deathnote, you’re sure so find some of the same qualities in both the art and story of D.Gray-Man. |
