D. Gray-Man Vol. #01 Manga Review

When the shadow of evil falls across mankind and their weakness prevents the dead from finding eternal rest, who you gonna call?

Creative Staff
Story/Art: Katsura Hoshino
Translation/Adaptation: Mayumi Kobayashi

What They Say
In a fictional 19th century England, Allen Walker is a 15-year-old boy who roams the earth in search of Innocence. Washed away to unknown parts of the world after The Great Flood, Innocence is the mysterious substance used to create weapons that obliterate demons known as akuma. A born exorcist, Walker’s primary anti-akuma weapon is the cross that’s embossed on his red, disfigured left hand, which contains Innocence. But not only does Walker destroy akuma, he sees the akuma hiding inside a person’s soul! Together with his fellow exorcists fighting under the command of the Black Order, Walker leads the battle against the Millennium Earl, the evil being out to destroy mankind.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Set in an alternate world 19th Century England, D.Gray-man presents a world that never was- very well because it never should have been. In this world most humans go about their daily lives unaware than an evil presence known as the Millennium Earl has plans to destroy their world and that he has the ability to use their own souls in the process as he wars with “God.” Fortunately the world isn’t without hope as there exist some people who have been blessed –though perhaps “cursed” might be as appropriate a term- with a special ability to fight his machinations which was left behind by a previous civilization that managed to defeat the Earl but who collapsed at the same time.

The story opens with a regular police officer named Moa Hesse as she is investigating the rumors of mysterious disappearances that have occurred around an abandoned church along with her partner who believes the stories far more and has no desire to be there. Upon entering the church she encounters a young man with a deformed left arm whom she detains for further questioning after she is separated from her partner. Her world is rocked though as she hears a scream from her partner who she was just going to look for and she arrives to find him bound to a column with a hole in his chest and black stars visible on his face just as they grow to cover his body which then crumbles before her eyes. Still in shock she barely has time to register that the boy she had detained has arrived at her side and is covering her mouth with a piece of cloth as he explains the gas is toxic before she loses consciousness.

When she awakens she finds herself back in the precinct and discovers that the boy who has given his name as Allen Walker is under investigation into the events by the chief of police. With no clear way to tie the youth to the crime but suspicion still falling on him as he tells an unbelievable tale of demons, exorcists and Akuma, the chief releases Allen into a form of house arrest as he sends Allen to the home Moa with instructions for her to watch Allen. Moa brings Allen to her home which shares with her brother who was injured in an accident a few years ago that left him in a wheelchair and which killed his wife but things are about to take a very dark turn. The problem is that the words Allen spoke about the things that are hunting people were true and soon the death count will rise as the series antagonist takes the stage and makes his presence known.

With Allen attempting to protect her Moa is going to discover a horrifying truth that hits much closer to home than she could have ever guessed as the truth behind the mysterious disappearances is revealed along with the goals of the Millennium Earl when Moa’s wheelchair bound brother starts to turn into a large floating weapon Allen once again saves Moa and explains the horrifying truth that is known by only a few.

Sometimes when a person passes away and their surviving loved one can’t recover from the loss, the Millennium Earl appears to that grief stricken individual and offers them the ability to bring the deceased person back from the land of the dead. It turns out though that this offer of relief is in reality a hellish trap as the spirit that is called back becomes the key in the Earl’s war machine known as an Akuma and the soul is enslaved to his machine and it is forced to carry out the Earl’s orders- the first of which invariable is to kill the loved one who brought them back and wear their skin as a disguise which to her horror Moa discovers had happened with her brother and his departed wife. Luckily it turns out that Allen’s disfigurement isn’t just an unfortunate quirk of fate but that it is actually an anti Akuma weapon and that those possessing such things are known as exorcists.

This is only the first encounter that Allen will have with the Earl though as Allen had simply been passing through the town on his way to meet up with an order of exorcists who exist to stop the Earl’s plans and he stumbled across the unfolding tragedy. Unfortunately the plight of humanity isn’t limited to a single individual and Allen encounters another person in need of his help soon after his arrival in another town. The newest person who will require his help is a young boy named John who has some knowledge of the Earl which his researching father left behind- knowledge which may place him in harm’s way as the Earl is keen on eliminating all who have learned anything about him as he aims to keep humanity as unaware of his existence and plans as possible until it is too late. During this latest fight when Allen clashes with an Akuma the secrets behind how Allen became an exorcist are revealed as both John and the audience discover that Allen has a very personal connection to the Earl and firsthand knowledge of how he operates. With so much on such a small set of shoulders it looks like Allen finding the Order his master has sent him to join is going to be necessary if he is to survive as there is only so much he can do alone- but what happens if that Order is distrustful of strangers and his introduction goes astray?

This first volume kicks off a series that has become a fairly good seller since its launch and which also has had an anime adaption that helped raise the series profile in the US. Probably the biggest weakness of this volume is on full display from practically the first page as it seems to follow a rather standard “other world/alternate time and place” shonen story staple (though this certainly isn’t limited just to shonen comics or used in all of them) introduction with the main character meeting and saving a character with no idea of part of the world.

This narrative device exists for the audience to have the world explained to them without seeming like things are horribly forced with the character who is being saved being used as a stand in for the audience. For example rarely does a story in the modern day take pause when characters are in an airport for an explanation of just what jet travel is because it is simply a part of the world but if someone 100 years ago had dreamt it up they’d need to have a convenient way to slip in the how’s and whys for an audience to follow unless they just wrote it off and figured the idea would be accepted. While some level of explanation can be ignored if one is just going from one place to another it is harder to do so if the series focuses on these flying machines and the pilots who operate them and so a convenient character is inserted to make for a plausible device to allow for the series to explain itself.

Now the above two paragraphs seem a bit harsh and might be a reason to ignore the title but they aren’t meant to really. Given the nature of the story the author needs to throw a good deal of information at the audience and she chose an effective and easy- if somewhat common and close to bordering on cliché at this point in time- manner in which to launch her story. While the mechanics may come across somewhere between familiar and well worn at this point the ideas she incorporates around them certainly are not. While it might be easy to write the tale off a simple one with a chosen character who will defeat a menacing evil it would be a disservice to the reader and material to do so and it certainly isn’t the only tale that could be discarded as such as one could make the argument that even the Lord of the Rings trilogy can be seen in this light.

What the author does though to counter this possible perception is lace her introduction with a number of new and powerful ideas which give an immediate weight to the characters though the trade off is there is the risk that presenting them right off and the bat complete with some of their deeper motivations might lessen some of the impact of the revelations as the readers have likely yet to bond with the characters and so they don’t get the jolt some other stories push by saving the shock revelations. In addition to her early introduction of some character points of her lead she also brings in her series antagonist earlier than most stories do which allows for the reader to get a feel for the evil Earl when they see his schemes in motion which allows for both the display of enmity between the two as well as the ability for the author to show off her skills when it comes to the action parts of her manga which she does very, very well. Along with this the audience is also treated to some of the humor that the author infuses to her material to allow for a psychological break from both the action and the tragedies at play and which work with other elements to create a very strong introduction to this brand new world

In Summary
D.Gray-man kicks off with a solid, if somewhat predictable start given some of the books narrative mechanics, to introduce the author’s imaginative world. Given her the solid character background and motivation she presents this somewhat formulaic start may be more of a temporary and necessary evil to bring the reader up to speed on the elements she is creating for her world. Throw in a malevolent villain complete with the horrors of the nature of his schemes which prey upon the pain of those left behind when a loved one dies that is used as a wedge to enslave the dead and one is greeted with a series that right from the start doesn’t hide the cards it holds when it comes to displaying the emotional toll that will be playing out throughout the journey. While some of the ideas don’t particularly come off as incredibly smooth in their explanation (the Innocents that allows for the power of exorcists to fight the Akuma and its origin for one is a bit on the wonky side) there certainly is a fertile field that has been sown with some impressively imaginative seeds that present the possible promise of a bountiful harvest of a spectacular series waiting in the future.

Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B-
Packaging Grade: Digital Review
Text/Translation Grade: B

Age Rating: 16+
Released By: VizManga.com
Release Date: May 2nd, 2006 (Print)
MSRP: $7.99 Print / $4.99 Digital

John Rose

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