D. Gray-Man Volume 1

D. Gray-Man Volume 1


By: Katsura Hoshino
Reviewed by: gothiclolitamaiden, 15
Rating: Really liked it


“A born excorcist, Walker's primary anti-akuma weapon is the cross that's embossed on his red and 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.”

For me, D.Gray-Man is a little bit like a cross between Chrono Crusade and Fullmetal Alchemist, with a strange title that doesn’t really make sense. It’s not the most original story, but it is still entertaining, even if exorcists are becoming very common in manga these days.

The story is fairly fast-paced, but lacks the emotional impact of other series like Fullmetal Alchemist, which prevents the first volume of D. Gray-Man from being a truly memorable experience. The action scenes aren’t even that thrilling, since Allen’s a (this is a really old figure of speech, forgive me) one-trick pony.

The character designs are distinct, so that you won’t start mixing them up. The characters themselves have little quirks that distinguish their personalities and make the more character-driven parts of the story more interesting. The villain, the Millennium Earl, is especially fascinating, for me, because he is quite whimsical in appearance and demeanor, but he is extremely cold and cruel as well. He smiles toothily (his smile is now one of the top ten creepiest things I’ve ever seen in a manga) as he leads his victims to their own undoing.

The amount of detail in the art and character designs is remarkably high for a shonen series. However, the akuma designs are all virtually identical, which gets boring after a while. Some of the action scenes lack backgrounds, which almost makes it seem as if the characters are fighting in space.

Overall, D. Gray-Man is definitely worth picking up, and I expect that future volumes will be slightly more exciting, as long as the plot doesn’t get repetitive.


Recommended to: Manga fans 15+ Mainly for violence. Fans of exorcists, supernatural manga, and shonen manga