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Reviewed by Joy Kim Set in a fictional nineteeth century, D.Gray-Man is the story of fifteen-year-old exorcist Allen Walker. An accommodator of a fragment of Innocence, a mysterious substance with the ability to fight the demons known as akuma, Allen works as an exorcist of the Black Order to search for lost fragments of Innocence that will help the order battle the evil Millenium Earl. Volume 2 sees Allen embark on his first official assignment as an exorcist. An Innocence fragment has been located in the abandoned city of Matel in Italy; Allen's task is to destroy the akuma threatening it and to bring the fragment back to headquarters. Unfortunately, Allen's partner for this mission is Kanda, the exorcist whose anti-akuma weapon takes the form of a katana. Allen and Kanda have taken an instant dislike to each other since Allen's arrival at the Black Order's headquarters. Kanda, who has no patience for fools, thinks Allen is hopelessly naive and destined to get himself killed. Meanwhile, Allen feels Kanda is hard-hearted and too quick to value duty over people. When the mission takes a turn for the worst, Kanda and Allen clash over what should be done. Hoshino also introduces readers to a new group of people within the Black Order. Finders are non-exorcists who serve the order by investigating unexplainable phenomenon that may be indicators of Innocence fragments. Given that the Millennium Earl and his akuma are also seeking Innocence fragments--in their case, out of a desire to destroy them--the finders’ task is often a perilous one, especially given that they don’t have exorcist powers to protect themselves. During the Matel mission, Allen and Kanda are guided by the finder Toma. This volume represents a considerable improvement over the uneven volume one, which suffered from being mostly set-up. Here the Matel storyline does an excellent job of providing fast-paced action sequences while also developing a theme of the series, expanding the reader's knowledge of the D.Gray-Man world, and deepening the characterization of the protagonist and a main supporting character. Some of the developments are admittedly a bit predictable to readers of any other Shonen Jump fighting series--the “leveling up” of both the heroes and the villains is pretty much inevitable, given the genre--but that doesn't make them wholly unwelcome. Most importantly, Kanda is an excellent foil for Allen, in spite of being a fairly recognizable manga character type: the elite and misanthropic bishonen. Their mutual antagonism serves to make both exorcists more interesting. Hoshino's art makes strong use of shadows and lights to convey the horror of the akuma and the emptiness of Matel's ruins. The panels can be very crowded with speedlines and screentones, but with a few exceptions, the action is generally easy enough to follow. Hoshino also moves deftly between the different emotional moments of the story; the transitions between scenes of horror and grief and scenes of comic relief are never jarring. If this arc is representative of what one can expect in future volumes, there are lots of reasons to keep reading. Readers can only hope that Hoshino can continue to complicate his characters and universe while working within the often repetitive framework of Shonen Jump storylines. Comment on this review of D.Gray-Man v2 on the Manga Life Forums. |
6 October 2009
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