Product Description

A Hero is only as good as His Enemies

Darkness is moving in, and young exorcist Allen Walker is humanity’s greatest hope against the wicked forces conspiring to bring civilization to its knees. Akuma – cruel spirits born of tragedy and lost souls – lurk in every shadow, willing and eager to do the bidding of their leader, the dread Millennium Earl. With an eye cursed to see evil in its truest form and blessed with an arm to slay soul-devouring demons, Allen stands ready to confront the gathering storm. Should he fail, Innocence will be lost forever.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13451 in DVD
• Brand: Funimation
• Released on: 2009-03-31
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: Japanese, English
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: 5.00 pounds
• Running time: 325 minutes

Features

• Darkness is moving in, and young exorcist Allen Walker is humanity s greatest hope against the wicked forces conspiring to bring civilization to its knees. Akuma cruel spirits born of tragedy and lost souls lurk in every shadow, willing and eager to do the bidding of their leader, the dread Millennium Earl. With an eye cursed to see evil in its truest form and blessed with an arm to slay soul-devo

Amazon.com
The supernatural adventure D.Gray-man (2006) takes place at "the end of the Fictional 19th Century," when the human race is in trouble. Millennium Earl has created a race of ferocious zombie-demons called "Akumas" from the souls of the dead. They retain the appearance of humans until they attack, then turn into grotesque mecha. Battling the Akumas are the Exorcists of the Black Order, humans with special powers augmented by the mysterious substance "Innocence." Fifteen-year-old Allen Walker has an Akuma-fighting weapon in his arm and a mutated left eye that can pierce the demons' disguises. White- haired and skinny, he's not an impressive hero: the grim samurai-exorcist Kanda, who sometimes serves as his reluctant partner, refers to him as "short stack." D.Gray-man was clearly modeled on Fullmetal Alchemist and Bleach. Millennium Earl looks like a cross between Shou Tucker, the creator of chimeras in Fullmetal Alchemist, and the Mayor of Halloween Town in The Nightmare Before Christmas. But director Osamu Nabeshima can't quite bring off the correct mixture of fantasy-adventure, flashy special effects, broad comedy, and emotional warmth. D.Gray-man feels disjointed in both tone and story. (Rated TV 14: violence, grotesque imagery, alcohol use, potentially offensive religious imagery) --Charles Solomon

(1. The Boy Who Hunts Akuma, 2. The Black Order, 3. The Ghost Of Mater, 4. Old Man Of The Soil And a Lonely Night's Aria, 5. Let Me Hear the Lullaby, 6. That Which Calls forth Disaster, 7. Tombstone Of Memories, 8. The Black Order Annihilation Incident, 9. The Rewinding Town, 10. The Bad Luck Woman's Innocence, 11. Miranda Lotto's Feelings, 12. And Snow Falls over the Town, 13. With the Coat)

Customer Reviews

Walking on
If Tim Burton were ever to attempt a steampunk horror story, then I imagine the results would be something like "D.Gray-man."

And the first thirteen episodes of this gothic, deeply quirky anime attempts just that kind of atmosphere. "D.Grayman: Season 1 Part 1" starts off relatively slowly as it introduces the main storyline, the akuma and the sweet-natured Allan Walker. But the story really blossoms as our likable, haunted hero begins his new life among other exorcists.

Two cops are investigating an abandoned church when Officer Moore encounters a strange boy with a deformed hand, Allen Walker. After her partner is killed, Allen manages to save Moore from an akuma -- an enslaved human soul under the control of the evil Millennium Earl. When Allen is placed under house arrest in Moore's home, he reveals that the akuma is nearby... and its origins lie in a horrific tragedy from Moore's own past. Only Allen can stop it.

Later Allen arrives at the clifftop Exorcist Headquarters to introduce himself as an official exorcist. But things don't go very smoothly -- he's mistaken for a spy, the exorcists are weirdos, and the place is governed by mad genius Komui and eerie Hevlaska. But Allen finds out just what "Innocence" is, and why the exorcists are racing to find it.

His first missions are no less stressful: first Allen is called to accompany antisocial swordsman Kanda to an abandoned city haunted by a "ghost"... and a shapeshifting akuma. And he encounters a young boy determined to fight the akuma, but unaware that someone close to him is one -- and a face-to-face encounter with the Earl reveals the horrifying reason Allen became an exorcist.

Then Komui's sister Lenalee is sent with Allen to a town that is repeating the same day over and over -- and only the pitiful Miranda Lotto notices. But their mission is complicated by a mysterious human girl who has come to locate the hidden Innocence... and take it for the Earl.

Cyborg demons, cross-embedded magic arms, virus-filled biobullets, giant glowing worms with collagen lips, and a mountain fortress filled with eccentric exorcists out to save the world from a grinning, rotund demon who looks like a Blue Meanie and may (or may not) have rabbit ears. Yup, "D.Gray-man" is not your typical manga series, even as quirky horror goes.

And "D.Grayman: Season 1 Part 1" does an excellent job sticking to Hoshino Katsura's manga series, introducing a gothic Victorian world and introducing the akuma, the Earl, and the exorcists. It also lays the groundwork for what the Earl's plans are, and what the exorcists are doing. It's a pretty standard "get the artifacts before the bad guys do" goal, but with a couple interesting twists.

And along the way, we're given plenty of explosive, horrific action with macabre creatures, graveyards, little shadowy towns, and the tragic, horrific origins of the akuma. But lest the series become too grim, we get plenty of funny stuff as well -- including an entire episode devoted to Komui's deranged robot rampaging through Headquarters, trying to operate on the exorcists.

Allen is a pretty endearing hero from the start -- polite, apologetic, selfless and courageous, even when people are nasty to him. But he becomes truly striking character it's shown how got his cursed eye, white hair, and ability to kill akuma. He's backed by a solid supporting cast -- the snotty Kanda, sweet-natured Lenalee, eccentric Komui and frenetically depressed Miranda. And the Earl is a very creepy villain -- not just because he wants to kill God, but because he smiles cheerfully even as he destroys people.

"D.Grayman: Season 1 Part 1" has a few episodes that don't quite reach "superb," but it's an excellent start to an outstanding anime series. Absolutely brilliant -- and promises to get even better.

One of My Favorites!
The series does start out slow but picks up later. The first part indroduces you to characters, backgrounds, concepts, and you start to dip your foot into the plot. Later on, you're fully submerged into the plot and you cling to the end of your seat waiting for what comes next. Fights don't drag on forever but don't end too quickly. It's filled with lots of action, some dark stories, and humor that will have you laughing out loud.

I love the charaters in D. Gray-Man. They range so much and have so much personality to them. You get to know both bad and good guys and love them both, even the Earl.

I recommend this series to everyone.

An Entertaining, Dramatic, and Comedic Anime Worth A Look
If you've seen and enjoyed the series Trinity Blood or Full Metal Alchemist you'll truly enjoy this series as it seems to be a combination of both. The main story seems to follow on two groups the Black Order a holy order trying to protect mankind from destruction by the dark group lead by the nefarious leader The Millennium Earl. The shows main cast character is a young exorcist Alan Walker who's left arm is imbued with an anti-akuma weapon(A mystical weapon use to destroy the akuma and free the trapped souls within). The show has a lot of hilarious parts so you'll won't see just straight drama and action and I truly appreciate that, I don't mind hardcore drama and action within a series but sometimes it gets a little monotonous seeing the characters like that all the time and seem to never loosen up. The animation is decent and clear for what you expect for recent animes and the voice cast for the Japanese and English characters were good too. Now my only problem is having to wait for Funimation to release the rest of this great series which hopefully won't be to long. So for fans of Full Metal Alchemist, Trinity Blood, or Hellsing try this series out you'll be shocked at how much you'll enjoy this show...