D.Gray-man

I heard that D.Gray-man was an awesome thing that you should NOT miss. And I tried it myself and… HOLY SHIT – 103 episodes. Oh well, I hope it will be something good, right? RIGHT? And… right, it is. I mean it’s no fucking masterpiece, but it was good, entertaining and had some laughs. I was pleased that I saw it. 

The plot is mostly about a kid named Allen Walker and his fight against demons and their creator, the Millennium Earl. In his childhood Allen was abandoned by his parents due to a 'deformed' left arm and was adopted by a travelling clown called Mana Walker. At some moment Mana died and Allen was approached by a person named Millennium Earl, who offered to revive Mana. The Earl revives him but Mana reappears as a machine called an akuma that is ordered by the Millennium Earl to kill him and take on his skin, as akuma do. During that moment Allen is gifted with the ability to control his left hand and turn it into an anti-akuma weapon because of a substance called Innocence is embedded in it and against his will, kills Mana. Before Mana dies, he curses Allen's left eye, which later gives him the ability to see the souls of akuma. Allen then is found and ,,trained” by Cross Marian, a powerful exorcist that tells him after 3 years of training to go to the Black Order Headquarters, which has a lot of exorcists. Their mission – to gather Innocence in order to defeat the Millennium Earl. The Millennium Earl is helped by the Noah Clan. Yes, apparently the guy who built a frigging Ark was the father of these murdering fucks with crazy powers. So basically it is about the fight between Good and Evil. Although it is cliché, it’s a good story. At least a lot better than Blassreiter. It had some twists, and it has what to offer. 

But what captured me was the compelling character cast. It’s big, it has variety and characters aren’t as simple as they look, some have internal conflicts, others have interesting motivations, while some are more or less cliché, wanting to protect everyone and all that. Also they have some awesome powers. I mean they can be complex and original, while other powers are simpler. But all of them are satisfying. Just Allen has a rich array of abilities, with the eye and all. I mean his hand can take other forms than just a gigantic hand, and in time he gains new abilities and power. And from all the good guys, Allen is my favorite character. Yes, he is a typical do-gooder, but he has a certain charm. He has some serious issues and doubts, which he has to confront. It’s like he doesn’t know what he wants and he has to solve this in order to advance. Also you see him with fears. In most anime of its type (long and filled with super-powered beings) when faced with certain death, the heroes usually act all angry and swear a lot. But with Allen, you see the fear in him. Maybe I’m talking nonsense (which I do about 80% in my life), but I think Allen is an awesome character. But what I think this anime has to offer more than an awesome hero, is an awesome villain. The Earl is one of the greatest villains I’ve seen in an anime. And if you don’t believe me, well… just look at him. He looks like he was drawn by kid hyped up on crack. He is laughable to say the least. Well… aside from his monstrous teeth that is. I mean look at his grin. Not once has he ever closed his mouth and take of that grin. Well actually, not once has he opened his teeth, so when I think about it, he is kind of fucked up. But that is just what makes him interesting. He looks all fucked up, and you wouldn’t say he is menacing at all (aside from the teeth), but he is so frigging powerful. Also he acts like a Victorian age gentleman. And he treats the Noah like family. So he also has a more kind and family side to him than just a genocidal maniac. When I will make a top 10 villain list, he will be there. 

But D.Gray-man has its little downfalls. First is the title. What does it mean? Why is there a dot between D and G? What does D stand for? Who is the Gray-man? And why Gray? Maybe they gave an explanation, but I’m sure it was so subtle or stupid that I didn’t even pay attention. Also, the story is set in the late 19th century. So why in the Holy loving Fucker of Fucks, are there robots and computers present? It’s like they wanted a sci-fi, futuristic kind of fantasy, but then changed their minds for something more historical. But half the script was already done, so fuck it, just leave the robots and computers. I’m sure no one will notice. It made me wonder, if they could make giant robots and computers, then couldn’t they mass-produce weapons to fight these demons, WITHOUT HAVING INNOCENCE AND POWERS? It makes no sense, and there are other details, but it will take too long for a written review (I’m thinking on going video-review sometime in the near future).

The presentation is decent. Animation is good, has pleasant character models for the good guys, and disturbing and sometimes grotesque models for the demons, and the special effects are beautiful. The sound department is also on top level, with good music, and believable voice-work and sound effects.

Overall this is a good anime. It can be frustrating, sometimes feeling like it dragged for no reasons, and it has some senseless moments. But it is entertaining, and if you have the guts to watch it for 103 episodes, then go for it.  

Claymore

I haven’t posted a review in a while, and I’m sure you’re all waiting for a crappy-ass anime review, but it will have to wait cause the crappy ones are sometimes those you probably haven’t heard of, so at first I figured to write some reviews on some popular anime, or at least those you have heard of. So, I present to you…. Claymore. Claymore is a nice, medieval setting action that keeps your heart pumping and your blood flowing. It is entertaining, and always leaves you begging for more ( if you’re a fan of such things of course ). The story focuses on the adventures of a young Claymore named Clare. whose own parents were murdered by Yoma at a young age. On an assignment in a remote town, Clare meets a young boy named Raki whose parents were murdered by a Yoma. Raki took an interest in Clare and was the only one in town who was not afraid to talk to her. Clare eventually killed the Yoma plaguing the town, who was disguised as Raki’s own brother. The townspeople feared Raki would turn into a Yoma and banished him to the wilderness. Although unusual for a Claymore, Clare sympathized with Raki and allowed him to travel with her. While Clare fights the yoma plaguing the land, can Raki help her in her struggle to retain her humanity? Well… yes, of course he can, otherwise he would have no purpose and this would be a really short anime. In time, these two get close to each other ( to the point she does a French kiss with him ), and they’re relationship plays a good role in the plot.
The opening is a nice song, and it shows a good character rooster. Some of the characters shown in the opening have much less appearances than others, but they all play an important role in the plot. And that is what is important. Sometimes in the opening they show you a cast with many characters that are just there. I mean they don’t play an important role, they are just… there. This is not a bad thing, but sometimes it gets confusing when you see so many characters, but most of them don’t do Jack Shit for the plot ( e.g. Paranoia Agent ).
What I like most about this anime is that it really nail the mood and feel of a medieval world. The characters are all dressed appropriately, and are designed and drawn appropriately. I mean in most anime, when the action takes place, like let’s say 19th century Europe ( D.Gray-man ), you don't get that feel because sometimes they use modern things like robots, computers and roller-skates,and most places feel like they are in the same country, I mean you don’t get the feeling that this is Great Britain, this is Spain and this is Germany, instead you get the feeling that it is the same country. Even worse is when in the same anime, they travel around the world, and the cities and it’s populace all look and feel the same, for example in D.Gray-man they went from Europe to some Otoman city, and if it weren’t for a mosque, I would have thought they never left Europe, cause there was no costume or skin color distinction. In most anime you see the same thing, and the only countries you see CLEARLY the distinctions is Japan ( of course ) and China ( I don’t know why ). It’s like ALL those who are NOT Japanese or Chinese are European. But in Claymore you don’t get the same feeling, even though the anime takes place in the same country, there are some episodes that take place in a different Nordic country, and it sure feels like it. Plus you always get the feel that this is a medieval setting, I mean you don’t see any anachronistic events or objects, and like I said, every character, every peasant, soldier or priest look and feel like they are from a medieval setting. There is only one character that wears sunglasses and kind of looks like Fredy Kruger, but that is the only anachronistic thing you’ll see.
Also there is a lot of sex-appeal in this anime. Remember, the only characters capable of fighting yoma are Claymores witch are exclusively women ( kind of feminist, but why not ). And all the women here are beautiful. They aren’t big breasted but are slender and have angelic faces ( when they don’t unleash they’re power that is ). They all look like the ideal woman by medieval standards. Also you get the desperate feeling that all that stands between you and a gruesome death at the hands of a yoma are the Claymores. Yet they are feared by society. If any of you read the polish stories of Gerard the Witcher or played the game The Witcher, than know it’s the same thing here. Only differences is that in the Withcer, the monster hunters are exclusively male and there are a variety of monsters that can also be defeated by human warriors, while in Claymore the monster hunters are women, there is no variety, just yoma, but they yoma can only be killed by Claymores. So every time you see a Claymore die, or turn into an Awakened ( a very powerful yoma ) the feeling of despair grows because they are limited in numbers, and it is even worse when some of the stronger Claymores die, cause the are a lot of yoma. So the anime really nails this desperate mood of medieval times when the world is plagued by darkness and the only ones who can stop it are half yoma themselves.
Like I said before, the characters are important, but there isn’t much variety, cause the only non-Claymore character that plays and important part is Raki, a human. But even though most of the cast are Claymores, every Claymore has here own personality. One is a calm leader, another is a hot-tempered warrior, another is a sadist, and so on. There are no two of a kind here. Although in term of design, some may look the same, and it can get a bit confusing at first. My favorite character is Raki, cause even though he can’t fight the yoma, he plays an important part in Clare’s life, and helps keep her humanity. So he has more of a support role in the series, but the fact that even if he is so fragile, he always tries to help Clare, even to the point of sword-fighting with another Claymore ( the sadist one ), and that’s what makes him so important. Later he trains with the sword so that he can fight alongside Clare, and not be a burden.
Animation-wise, Claymore has some nice visuals. Character design gives the feel that they are in a medieval setting, and the Claymore designs are all beautiful, background is sharp and detailed and feels interactive, and the color tone is more dark and gray so that it gives you a desperate mood. Sound effects are nice, realistic, and voice-work is good… no complaints here.
Overall this is one medieval action you don’t want to miss, cause it has nice visuals, realistic setting, and some hot action.