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D.GRAY-MAN: SERIES 1 PART 1 (ADVANCE REVIEW) |
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UK Reviews
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Saturday, 19 December 2009 |
 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | MANGA ENTERTAINMENT UK | | | ▪ | ASPECT RATIO: | | 16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN | | | ▪ | AUDIO: | | ENGLISH DD 5.1 AND JAPANESE DD 2.0 | | | ▪ | RUNNING TIME: | | 300 MIN | | | ▪ | RATING: | | 15 | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 02/22/2010 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 12/19/2009 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | SANDRA SCHOLES |
Allen Walker is an Exorcist from birth and part of a number of his kind who destroy the demons who interfere in the affairs of humankind. He is in search of Innocence a substance for making weapons and tools used for killing demons named Akuma. There are 109 fragments of Innocence that are in different areas of the known world and they have to find them before the Akuma do.
Allen travels to Italy in search of it, and along the way comes in contact with other Akuma he must get rid of. He has located the Innocence in a remote place in the city, but before he can retrieve it he comes across a murder scene where a police officer is killed by an Akuma, and due to Allen being there he is taken in for questioning as he is the major suspect. The Akuma are created by Millennium Earl, a tempter who encourages humans to bring back their loved ones, then turns them into Akuma themselves. Millennium Earl wants to rid the world of humans and the exorcists. It's his plan and the exorcists to deal with him no matter how hard and dangerous it will be. Allen has to later go to the Black Order once he has the Innocence in his grasp, but his welcome isn't what he anticipated, but he makes friends after a shaky introduction to Kanda who met him at the door thinking he was an Akuma in disguise. It seems he never really trusts him even though he was allowed into their order. Kamui the chief is the camp leader who made the mistake of not telling the others he was coming, and last of all Lenalee the female helper. As anime go this one's a mixture of fantasy, steam punk, myth and occultism with its roots deep in alchemy. It is well worth watching if 'Claymore' and 'Mar' are something the viewer is interested in. The handful of characters are more bearable than if the series contained a cast of thirty or more. Allen Walker grows as a man from being a boy in this series and encounters many strange and interesting beings. Kanda, an Exorcist who ends up being assigned to a mission with him takes an instant dislike to him, viewing him too naive to be a fully fledged Exorcist until he sees him in combat against a new type of shape-shifting Akuma. It is only then he sees his true power as a fighter and an Exorcist. Kamui the chief is the comic relief and a welcome addition to some of the more serious scenes. D. Gray-Man is based on a manga written by Katsura Hoshino that won great acclaim during its run. This anime directed by Osamu Nabeshima who did Clamp School: Hamtaro, and this two-disc series contains the first thirteen episodes of the fifty-one episode anime due out next year.
EXTRAS:
Audio Commentary for Episode 2, Text less Opening (Innocent Sorrow) and Text less Closing (Snow Kin.)
IN SUMMARY:
Horror and fantasy reinvented into an anime Tim Burton would have been proud of. |
