Review for D. Gray-Man: Series 2 Part 1 (Review)
Wednesday, 25th August 2010, 16:58

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Introduction
The way things are in the UK industry at the moment is that Beez usually inherit the titles that Bandai licence, Manga distribute the titles that Funimation and Viz get, and both are trying to cut down the gaps between Japanese and US release, as well as US and UK release. MVM on the other hand have been focusing more on those classic titles that missed the UK by the first time around. But in some ways, MVM have got it easier. At least when they start releasing a title, they know that it has been released in its entirety elsewhere to the English-speaking world, and the UK release will be complete as well. Manga on the other hand often have to take a chance with an anime series, hoping that the US company licensing it will get the show and dub it in its entirety. That's the situation with D. Gray-Man, as Funimation are dubbing and releasing the 100 plus episode series in the US, or at least they were. They have released the first four instalments, half the series over the space of a year, but the show has been on hiatus since January. There's plenty of speculation as to why, but Funimation hasn't licensed the second half of the series as yet. I'm only guessing, but the six months gap between parts 2 and 3 from Manga could have been a pause to see what happened in the US.

It's not the end of the world of course, as many shows don't get a conclusion. And as Berserk has proven, it's the journey more than the destination that counts. If D. Gray-Man gives good journey, then the DVDs should be worth buying regardless. Also, with the current vagaries of the anime market, the lack of a dub needn't be the impediment to watching anime that it used to be. Of course this wool gathering and random speculation is pointless when there are discs to be reviewed.

It's the end of the 19th Century, and a 15-year-old exorcist named Allen Walker comes to Britain to join the Black Order, a group of exorcists tasked with keeping the world safe from Akuma, or demons. Long ago in the mists of antiquity, there was a war between the ancients and the Millennium Earl. The Millennium Earl sought to destroy the world and he did so by creating Akuma, mechanical demons, fusions of machine, a soul and a tragedy, feeding on human souls to evolve into ever more powerful killing machines. The only thing that could stop them was a fantastic substance known as Innocence, and weapons fashioned from it were the only things known to destroy Akuma. 109 fragments of Innocence were scattered around the world during the Great Flood, and now the Black Order searches for it to use in their fight against the Millennium Earl, while at the same time, the Millennium Earl seeks it to destroy it. Allen has a piece of Innocence embedded in his disfigured left hand, giving him the ability to sense and destroy Akuma. Together with the Black Order, he joins the battle against the Millennium Earl.

In the previous volume, the Millennium Earl finally made his move, going after the Heart of Innocence. It's the key piece of Innocence with which all the other pieces can be controlled. His thoughts are that if someone possesses it already, he or she would be a powerful accommodator, which is why he and the Clan of Noah attacked General Yeegar of the Black Order. As this set of episodes commence, it becomes clear that all the generals of the Black Order are potential targets for the Millennium Earl.

Manga Entertainment releases the next 13 episodes of D. Gray-Man in a two-disc collection.

27. My Mentor, General Cross
Realising the potential danger to the generals of the Black Order, Komui orders that the exorcists be recalled and reassigned to protecting each of the generals. Since Allen is already acquainted with General Cross, he and Lenalee are assigned to find and protect him. Of course General Cross has vanished off the face of the Earth, although Komui believes that only means that he is shirking his duties as usual. It's an assignment that sends shivers down Allen's spine, but orders are orders. Their first clue to Cross' whereabouts is in Liverpool, and Allen takes the time during the crossing to describe his upbringing and training under Cross, in excruciating detail.

28. Exorcist Krory
Arystar Krory, the craven would-be vampire accommodator of Innocence has graduated as an exorcist, and his first mission is to protect a cluster of rural villages from a marauding Akuma that is reaping the unsuspecting villagers. But when he, Lavi and Bookman get to the village, they find a community that have befriended an Akuma, a gentle beast who plays with their children, and helps in the fields. Could Arystar have located a good Akuma?

29. The One Who Sells Souls, Part 1
30. The One Who Sells Souls, Part 2
Allen and Lenalee arrive in the Lake District, hoping to find a few leads to General Cross' whereabouts from his sponsor, Mother. But the peaceful little village has become a bustling town in the last three years, full of new arrivals, and dominated by a grand hospital. With the population explosion comes Akuma, as Allen and Lenalee realise when a funeral cortege turns nasty. Mother tells them that it's only been in the last six months that the Akuma menace has grown, and suspicions fall on that hospital when a grieving young girl pays Mother a visit for advice. Liza is in love with Lenny, but Lenny is a terminal patient. It's part of a pattern that has been repeated once too often, and it becomes clear that someone in the hospital has made a deal with the devil, or in this case, the Millennium Earl.

31. Lost Miranda
Miranda Lotto is the accommodator of Innocence that Allen and Lenalee discovered previously, and invited to join the Black Order as an exorcist. Since then, the morose girl with terminally low self esteem has been travelling to the Black Order, and has got completely lost in the process. It's been so bad that Komui has recalled Lenalee to go and find her again. But at least she's in the right country, even if she's unable to ask for directions, lugging a grandfather clock with her, and having had her pockets picked. She's at least run into a kindly nomadic family of magicians who are giving her a lift. She's beginning to think that maybe the exorcist business is overrated, and she'd be better of as a magician's assistant.

32. Mysterious Ghost Ship
Allen's next stop on his search for General Cross is a port where he waits for a liner. But there's been trouble, a spate of sea wrecks that are seriously cutting into shipping in the area. Everyone thinks it's down to bad weather and the reefs, but a local gang of kids are sure it's because of pirates. They have a plan to hunt the pirates down, but they'll need help, someone older than them, stronger, tougher, but at the same time young enough to be more gullible and open-minded than the adults. Enter exorcist Allen Walker.

33. The Village Where A Witch Lives, Part 1
34. The Village Where A Witch Lives, Part 2
Yu Kanda is supposed to meet the exorcist Daisya to look for another general of the Black Order to protect, but his journey takes him through a fairy tale forest and some idyllic villages where some rather odd events have been taking place. There are bad rumours about the forest, that people who venture in don't come back, and that it's come to be known as the Forest of No Return. Indeed, three of the Black Order's Finders vanished into that forest. Kanda is only focussing on his mission, which means getting through the forest, and if it happens to be full of Akuma, he won't take too long to deal with them before continuing on his way. The last thing he intends to do is to investigate the Dan Kern village, around which all of the Akuma are centred, but when he encounters the sole survivor of the Finders, a nervous man named Goz, he gets drawn in regardless. But there is something very strange going on in the village of Dan Kern, centred on the ominous Witch's Shed.

35. Exorcist Clad In Wind
Lenalee is on her way to meet up with Allen again in Spain, while Goz has been assigned to meet another Exorcist named Suman Dark. They wind up travelling together for a while, which is good for Goz as the forest they are now in is rumoured to be infested with man-eating wolves. Those rumours are confirmed when they run into a bunch of refugees, escaping from a beleaguered village. A little girl named Jessica runs into trouble when she gets separated from the group, but fortunately it's the perfect time for Suman Dark to show up and save the day. Jessica was trying to get back to rescue her mother, who was left behind because she was too ill to travel. But now that Suman Dark has arrived, she's found a hero to rescue her mother. Except Suman Dark isn't the hero type.

36. Shroud of Darkness
37. Charity Bell
38. Froi Tiedoll
39. Silent Coffins
It's time for the Millennium Earl to make a move against the generals of the Black Order. He's set forth an army of Akuma to hunt each of the generals down, and it isn't long before Allen and Lenalee get a preview of what is to come. All over the world, Akuma are gathering, and heading for where the generals are rumoured to be. It becomes a race against time as the Finders gather to fortify any potential targets, and the Exorcists gather to find and protect the generals. General Tiedoll is rumoured to be in Barcelona. He's the General that found and recruited Yu Kanda, and it's Yu Kanda along with his fellow exorcists Daisya Barry and Marie who are put in charge of defending Barcelona and the General. But this will be a battle on a level that the exorcists haven't experienced. Sacrifices will have to be made, and friends mourned. When Allen and Lenalee learn of the import of the situation, they race to Barcelona to help, but they are too late. What happens in the city is echoed all over the world. But this is just the opening salvo in the Millennium Earl's war on the exorcists.

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