D-Gray Man: Crash an burn.
Another example of what not to do.
I will write about another shonen manga/anime today, for once. The series I will be focusing on today is DGray Man. The aspect will be how the author has backed himself into a corner and how it all could have been avoided quite easily.
To be honest, I don't like playing critique because I don't think my story writing skills are all that great. However, the story's flaw and degeneration is so obvious in this case, that I can't ignore it, especially since I haven't seen anyone else write about it either.
What is DGray Man?
For those of those who don't know the story and are interested in the essay anyway, I will write down a brief synopsis of what it is. DGray man is a shonen (read young boys, same age brackette as Naruto) manga/anime features a boy named Allan Walker.
Allan Walker, like most shonen, has a secret power that if tapped, makes him very powerful. The creatures he fights, because they always fight something, are ghoulish weapons made from the souls of those who were summoned by their loved ones. Their loved ones were tricked into doing this by the main villain, the Earl, who feeds off the vulnerability of a person in mourning to summon the souls.
His seduction goes something like this, "Hate God. The reason your loved one died is because God took them away. But I can return them. All you have to do is wish for them with all of your heart."
He then shows them the "soul container," which is a skeletal, metallic humaniod-looking contraption. When the soul enters the robot, the Earl has complete control over the thing and betrays the summoner by having the machine eat the person and turn into the person who summoned him.
These creatures are controlled by the Earl and are used as weapons to kill humans. At first they are mindless but it doesn't remain that way. The more humans are killed, the more powerful they become. The power levels are from one to five. The higher they level up, the more degraded the soul becomes. It is interesting to note that these, "Akuma," as they're called, have a dichotomous personality. The soul hates being an Akuma, but outwardly they are wicked and seem to enjoy carnage once they develop a personality (at level 2).
Allan Walker's special power is called "Innocence," and he uses it to fight Akuma. He's not the only one with the special power, as he is part of an organization that employs people such as him to fight the Akuma and the Earl. There are two types of Innocence. The first is called the the parasitic type and it molds itself as a part of the body and uses the person as a weapon. Only three that I can remember have that type, Allan Walker, Soloman, and Crowely the Akuma vampire. The second turn into tools that can be wielded as weapons. They are the most common. They vary according to the personality of the wielder; turning into swords, hammers, needles, boots, and whatever else.
The last thing to go over is the Earl's Underlings. His underlings are a little different from most underlings as they are not especially stupid and are beloved by the Earl (and not considered expendable like Akuma). They are collectively called the Noah, and can be spotted with their distinctive gray/black skin and a line of small crosses that crown their foreheads. Each Noah is driven by a particular carnal instinct like bonds, wrath, dreams, and lust. My favorite is Tiki Wiki and his realm is "Pleasure."
These Noha are fascinating because even though they hate people and are evil, they actually love each other and have a family dynamic.
Finally, Noah's goal is to fight God (making the Earl the devil. The word Akuma means devil/demon in Japanese...) and destroy mankind. His tool is called the "Arc," which is a bastardized version of Noah's ark. It isn't shaped like a boat at all, but a strange looking door that transports the person into an inter-dimensional city and carries all the memories of the world. This inter dimensional city has many doors that basically lead the person anywhere in the world.
The Noah are the descendents of the original "Noah," original humans, but are not born Noah. They are just regular human beings until the "memories" that they carry genetically are awoken and they transform into Noah.
Like almost all shonen, Allan Walker is surrounded by a group of friends that help him fight Akuma, as well as mentors that help him become stronger. He is one of the strongest of his piers.
Moving on.
And it was going so well
I was first attracted to the series by the anime, but swiftly moved on to the manga once the anime wasn't enough. There was much to love in this series because it is very unique. I am convinced that the artist is inspired by (edward scissor hands). The villains are goofy and lovable while being wicked and absolutely evil. The Earl himself appears as a fat old man with a talking umbrella, a far cry from the pretty boy villain who takes himself too seriously.
Also, and I blame my ethnicity for this, I am naturally attracted to manga that are Europen based in one way or another, either in setting or story. Allan Walker is probably British, although I'm not sure, and most of the cast is either European/American or Chinese. Most of it is also set in Europe during the beginning, near Asia during the middle, and China/Japan at the end. So being the Europhile I am, I picked it up and loved it.
But once I began to read the manga, some glaring flaws appeared. The first was that the mangaka carelessly introduces new characters, only to have them die. We know little of the first General that died, much to my surprise. The entire filler that the anime added, making his death a tragedy, was just that, filler. In the actual story, he died without us knowing anything about him, his personality, or his past. He was just an old guy.
Another notable example was one of Kanda's teammates. He would fight guys with his innocense that was shaped like a bell. In the anime, we go through several episodes centered on him, featuring his past and his family, as well as his background. But in the manga? Almost nothing until he dies and then only a little bit. In the anime, he was my favorite character and I mourned his passing. In the manga? pft. Who was he? No one.
Then comes Soloman. We knew so little of him in the manga other than he was unhappy, was separated from his family, and was forced to join the Organization. The female character claimed to have been close to him, and yet we don't see them interact at all until he becomes a...I forgot the term..."Lost One" I think. Anyway, as she desperately tried to save him from killing off an entire village, I couldn't help but wonder why. Sure, in the anime we get to know him and we see them together and she clearly cares about him. But in the manga, again, the emotional impact is lost in a sea of ignorance.
For such an important event, I would think he would add something about him before the actual emergency. Why am I supposed to feel something for him when I know almost nothing about him?
Also, too many throw-away characters.
A cute nerdy girl was added who had a huge crush on Allan Walker. What happened to her? They now have ties to the Chinese branch again, and we don't see her appear once. Why not? Not even a hello? Her and her teammates risked life and limb with him, and yet we don't see them ever again.
It annoyed me.
What started out as a great story began to feel chopped up, like a string of notes without a melody. Where was this story going? I suspected that the author didn't know quite what to do. It is certain that he has the overall plot in place, I saw plenty of evidence for that, but the details are scattered and rushed, making it disjointed and disorganized.
But then it got worse.
I think I began to lose faith in the manga after the last arc that made any coherent sense, because the manga hasn't made any sense for the past six months or so.
At any rate, the story was simple enough and it followed shonen laws. It was set up like a tournament, with each of his friends fighting a major Noah until Allan got to the last bad guy or at least resolve the problem that was plaguing them (namely, that the Earl was trying to steal the Ark and that would have caused problems).
These types of set-ups are great because they get rid off a lot of villains, feature action-packed scenes, and showcase just what the heroes can do.
Each of the characters fought desperately against these Noah, and almost all of them nearly died while doing so. These fights lasted a long time, showcasing all of the villain's secret power, as well as making each win a desperate stroke of luck...er...will power.
And then what happened? Allan got control of the Ark, kept it from getting stolen, his friends appeared safe and sound, and all the Noah lived. (except for one, I think)
I'll say that again. Although Allan saved the day, all of the Noah lived to see another day except for one of them. What a waste of panels! What a way to drag out a story! Just when you think they're all going to move on to the next set of villains, to the next part of the story, you're back at square one!
This reminds me of the travesty that is Wheel of Time. I know most people loved them, but I could never figure out why. That guy never resolved anything, only made everything more complicated and convoluted, making each book feel unsatisfying because nothing ever resolved. Nothing in that story ever ended.
It's the same with D-Gray man. Those fights were never resolved, but we saw so much from them, that seeing the villains fight again would be a waste of time. Not only that, but all the effort and sacrifice those heroes spent fighting them was completely wasted.
"But that would have been cliche!" Some may say.
To which I reply, "Well, he shouldn't have set it up that way in the first place then. If he wanted to something different, he should have done so from the get-go instead of making each fight that took place irrelevant and dragging out the plot for the sake of making 'something different.'"
Basically, I sat through chapter after chapter of these fights, only to have them turn meaningless. What a waste of time. I'm glad I didn't buy them.
Then after all of that, it literally became clear that the author has no idea what to do.
We've had weeks and weeks where there's been no D-Gray man released, pointless filler that did nothing to add to the plot, and paths that haven't been explored at all.
Almost all the Noah survived and there is a new one? Nice. We don't know almost nothing about their new life (they're living among humans now, Tikki Wikki using his natural charms to woo the ladies), their plans, or why the Earl suddenly lost weight. As soon as we get introduced to that, the scene is shifted and we don't see them again.
A level five attacks and nearly wipes out everyone? Pft. Too bad. Because no one thinks to study its remains and Allan Walker (who can see the spirits inside of the Akuma) did not reveal why it bothered him so much to see the spirit of the Level Five. In other words, although the main attack failed and the Ark was not stolen, and the girl got some new power, the arc did accomplish anything to move the story forward. It just tied up loose ends.
Oh, and the Vampire may or may not be imprisoned and by VasDevi, the Noah he fought. We saw a hint of that and then nothing ever again. In fact, we haven't seen him since the filler "ghost girl" arc. So what's happened to him? Was he imprisoned? Was that a nightmare? Is VasDevi hanging around headquarters? We don't know because the author just threw that out there and never mentioned it again.
Allan Walker's teacher and mentor is 'killed' and his body disappears? Well, that's too bad. We don't see any reaction to it from Allan other than a series of flashbacks, that explain that he's actually a dormant Noah and don't deal with the emotional impact of the disappearance at all.
The flashback and fight occur during an unspecified time skip, in which we have no idea how long its been or what's happened between then. All we know is that apparently now they're fighting a "war."
And the war. A war with what? What's going on?
And Allan is a Noah, so why isn't this beginning to tear him in half? He should be experiencing some awakened memories and mood swings. I want to see him struggle with his Inner-Noah, not reminisce and feel bad.
Meanwhile, it's been months and still no hint of the new Noah anywhere. Shouldn't they have shown up by now to remain relevant to the plot?
Oh, and it turns out that the leader of the Organization looks like just like Hitler. Anyone want to take bets on how evil he is? Is he very evil, or just a little evil. I'm curious, because I'm banking on him being as pure as a new-born lamb.
Ugh, the story degenerated into a swamp of absolute rubbish. It's clear, especially from the amount of filler and lack of depth that all these new revelations have been given, not to mention the repeated weeks with no D-Gray man, that he has no idea what he's doing anymore.
What he should have done.
VasDevi, the angry guy, and the girl Noah should have died. Why? Because they died in the fights, that's why. Their fights lasted forever, they dragged on and on, and they're alive now? It's a travesty! I know she's cute, but she should die. Kill them off. That is one way to move forward.
Have Tikki Wikki and the two new Noah introduced actually reveal something other than vague ideas about "taking over governments" and "we know what the Akuma really are" to give us an idea of what's going on. Now that stealing the Ark and making a new one failed, obviously they're going to plan b. What is this plan?
Allan apparently killed off Tikki's "wicked side" (at Tikki's request! he was always semi-good) and yet it didn't work. WHY NOT? Why on earth has no one explained this?
Why didn't Tikki explain it in some sort of inner monologue? How does
being run through a sword that seals away corruption make a character more corrupted? Why doesn't it purify him the way it did the Akuma? No explanation. The only think that the Earl said was that Allan awoke him. That's it. No explanation on how it happened or why, and we move on instead.
Have the level 5 fight end with Allan Walker explaining to a superior (or friend like Linali or Lavi) what he saw because his goal is to 'save the souls' that are trapped in the Akuma. Well, is the soul completely degenerated at level five? Why wasn't he upset enough to discuss this with anyone? What could this mean coupled with the Earl's statement that the Organization doesn't know what the Akuma "really are?" Surely there must be a clue, but since Allan Walker remained mum, and we don't have anyone analyzing the corpse, there is nothing to consider.
I could go on, Lavi's inner struggle and threat to leave the Organization. It was touched on and never seen again.
Linali's new boots? She gained them in the level five fight. Does that make her the Heart? Is she the Heart? How is she connected to Allan Walker? Wouldn't she notice him change since he's a Noah and she's had bad dreams about him in that way?
Nothing as of yet.
D-Gray Man started out real great, but it ended a disappointment. I'm now reading it just to finish it. Maybe the story will tie itself somehow in the end and redeem itself. I'm not holding my breath though.
~kris
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