The cover of the first DVD compilation released by Aniplex of the first season (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I finally finished (via Netflix streaming) the plodding, slow fantasy alt history horror series known as D. Gray Man. It only got 2 seasons from FUNimation, presumably because of low sales. And the ending has a "fuck you go read the manga" non-ending to it; Only Trinity Blood feels more dissatisfying, though in that case also more forgivable as the original author died before he could bring that story to its conclusion.
D. Gray Man is not a bad show, it's just not terribly interesting. It's formulaic and repetitive; its enemies, who are undead creatures known as Akuma, have far too little variation. They're mostly floating gray balloon-like creatures festooned with energy cannons but the catch is they can't hit the broadside of a barn; they're sufficiently threatening to mortal humans, but against our protagonists, The Exorcists of The Black Order, they're seldom more than a nuisance, even in large numbers. Very rarely an episode will present us with a new type of Akuma previously unseen that forces our heroes to think outside the box a little, and later on, we are introduced to a group of evil humans from a sect known mysteriously as the "Clan of Noah" (as in Noah from the Great Flood of the Bible) that are in league with the "Big Bad", aka the Millennium Earl, who is the creator of all Akuma. The Earl preys on grieving humans and seeks to strike Faustian bargains with them. Not unlike the taboo central to Fullmetal Alchemist, the Earl offers to bring the recently deceased back to life. The catch is that the can only be brought back as Akuma under the Earl's control, and army of undead soldiers. The Early usually forces the captured soul into a skeletal metal frame then orders the undead creature to kill the friend/family member who made the contract with the Earl, and then wear the skin of that person. They are never able to recover and reinhabit their own body. The Earl seems never to have any worry of running out of Akuma, as there are always weak willed humans he can prey upon who refuse to accept the finality of death. The Exorcists seek to destroy the wordly undead Akuma and free the trapped human souls within, which can then pass on to the next world for final judgement.
The English voice acting is good, with Todd Haberkorn voicing the main protagonist, Allen Walker (pictured above). Luci Christian voices Lenalee, who is Allen's faithful travel companion and fellow Exorcist. Along the way, we meet other members of the Black Order; Other Exorcists, of course, like Kanda, the Japanese samurai Exorcist, voiced by Travis Willingham (of FMA fame), and other lesser Exorcists, as well as a limited number of high ranking Generals of the Black Order, who have all been targeted for assasination by the Earl, his minions, and the Clan of Noah. There are also laymen assistants of the Black Order known as "Finders" who seem to be mainly communications and logistics experts. For most missions, One Exorcist travels paired with one finder.
Allen and Lenalee are exceptional in that regard as they are a pair of Exorcists without a finder for most missions. Lenalee is the younger sister of the Head of Operations for the Black Order, voiced by J. Michael Tatum. For most of the series, this character serves as comic relief. He's eccentric and overprotective of Lenalee. Perhaps he is able to seem more flattering in the manga, but the anime adaptation makes this character mostly a buffoon.
The series concludes on Netflix (and on FUNimation.com) with the end of Season 2, with our enlarged team of intrepid Exorcists continuing their Eastward trek across Asia and finally booking passage to the island of Japan, still in search of wayward Exorcist General Cross (voiced by Chris Sabat), Allen Walker's former harsh mentor, about whom Allen harbors mixed feelings. General Cross is depicted as being a bit of a rogue and a womanizer and rather thoughtless and self centered. Still, he's quite strong and vital to the war effort against the Earl being waged by the Black Order, though he seems to be pursuing his own agenda through most of the series, and we are still no closer to understanding Cross's agenda by series end than we were at the beginning.
The characters are likeable, and there are good individual episodes here and there, but so much of this series is boring and predictable and not remotely entertaining. It tries to capture the same spirit of adventure and suspense as Fullmetal Alchemist, but mostly falls flat. The series ends with the chief antagonists and protagonists basically at a stalemate. There's no resolution, no clear indicator which way the war will turn out. Both sides suffer significant losses but neither side is on the brink of defeat at any stage. The endgame for the Earl is only remotely hinted at, and the Black Order's basic mission is to thwart the Earl and destroy as many Akuma as possible.
I don't recommend trying to marathon this show. It's just too boring. It's the kind of show best watched a few episodes at a time. Many times I watched an episode on my lunch break via my iPhone. Not every day, but as the opportunity presented itself. That's about the right pace. You'll finish eventually this way. With my finishing of D. Gray Man, I've reached the end of any new Anime (minus some Anime films) on Netflix worth watching. The only regular animated TV feature I'm watching now on Netflix streaming is My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. The other more recently added series to Netflix I've either already seen all the episodes for (Sword Art Online) or else own on physical media (My Bride is a Mermaid) already.
