D.Gray-man Hallow - Reviews

Hmmm lemme it's been 8 Years since this anime was aired.  Didn't quite like the new opening mainly because I'm still stuck on the original opening,  ending was very good..

 Same characters and it follows the Manga to the T!  if you don't know about this Anime you should definitely watch the original D.Gray-Man 

Episode 2-8 update: Wow people. I have turned a 180. After being suckered in by a great pilot, I was forced to sit through what is essentially a semi-gothic, demonhunt Dragonball, with never-ending multi-episode battles, shit dialogue(seriously bad shit), zero(and i emphatically stress zero) character building, and a story going in so many directions that I doubt even the makers know the point of the show. I hate being a wet blanket, but some parades need to be rained out. D.Gray Man Hallow has none of the aspects that kept me watching the original for 103 episodes.  Main characters are being completely sidelined while bullshit conspiracies build one on top of the other. Marian's "death", which shocked me in the very first episode, hasn't even been touched. Nobody cares that the strongest marshall and Allen's master is just gone? Seriously? Instead we get Kanda flashbacks to his old boyfriend, Alma, who comes back as an Apostle, Second Order Exorcist, Level 5 Akuma, gay, dark-matter, male awakened Claymore, bullshit, half-episode villain. And everyone arbitrarily rips off their sleeves and/or shirts with little or no provocation. Below is my initial review after episode one. I weep for myself and my idiocy. But now I know. Hopefully I can spare you the pain and frustration of watching this circus of stupidity. Summary: Screw D.Gray Man Hallow. I have better things to do with my time.

First Episode: First impressions of D.Gray-Man Hallow are very positive. I just finshed the original series. As a whole, DGM is very good for a shonen series. My biggest gripes with the original were (you guessed it) the crappy fillers, slow start, and a bogus arc or two. With a run of 24 episodes, Hallow looks like it will stay on task and tell the story with little filler. As far as a slow start goes, Hallow jumps right into the thick of where the original left off. Plus, the rough animation of the 2006 series was given a total upgrade, and now looks stunning. I haven't made up my mind about the new voice cast yet. To summarize, D.Gray-Man Hallow had an extremely solid first episode and I can hardly wait for the next one.

STOP! This is a review of a continuation of a series so I highly recommend watching the original before you read this review so you don't come across major spoilers!

Boy, I didn't think I'd ever be writing a review for this show again. Honestly, I fell pretty hard for the original anime and I was pretty bummed when it was over. I followed the manga for quite some time too but lost interest when it wasn't updated regularly. That being said, I was pretty stoked when I saw the announcement for this new season of anime and I really anticipated it. After watching these first 13 episodes my feelings towards the show are a little confused though...

Story 8/10

So, the original concept of the show is still very present in this revamp of the series. You've got Exorcists that fight with specialized powers to keep Akuma from stealing human souls and generally wrecking up the place. Hallow begins where the end of the original season left off with Allen and friends learning about the Innocence Heart, the existence of the 14th Noah and Allen's potential to succeed Nea the original 14th Noah who betrayed the Millennium Earl. Doesn't sound familiar? That's okay, I had to do some memory refreshing before beginning this series. From what I understand and remember though, the reboot is following the manga pretty closely. Hallow also introduces us to the 2nd and 3rd generations of Exorcist experiments; created by the Black Order with the hopes of finding new ways to fight Akuma. We are also reintroduced to Apocryphos, the humanoid Innocence, who guards the Heart and is said to be the Noah's number one enemy. All in all, the story is pretty rushed and it packed way to full of information each episode without really giving the viewer time to digest what they just watched before springing another enemy on them or coming upon a new major plot twist. So, the story itself is good but the pacing is pretty horrible.

Animation 7/10

The series got a fresh new look with the reboot that I personally enjoy. I know a lot of people are upset about the new style but I didn't really care for the cartoon feel of the original anime anyways. I do feel like some of the fight scenes lose the detail of outfits or Innocence releases, but overall the characters have a much sharper and edgier look than before.

Sound 7/10

The opening is good. The voice acting is good. Stuff's good.

Characters 6/10

This rating is really for the new characters introduced. Like I said, the pacing is pretty bad for this series so I think some of my distaste for new characters may come from introducing them too quickly and then moving on to a new antagonist. If you remember, a good number of the Noah from the original anime are killed so in the new series they have been "reborn" and their new forms just aren't as good as the previous ones. Even Tyki Mikk has changed quite a bit and I really enjoyed his character before. Alma Karma is also an antagonist for most of the series and while his story is definitely interesting, it was hard to get into it and try to remember just how everything fit together and who was really evil and who was just being used by the Earl or by the Order. Like I said, better pacing could have really helped ease us back into the story and reintroduction of the characters. Not to mention the severe lack of air time by most of the Exorcists besides Allen and Kanda.

Overall 6/10

Pretty solid above average rating. I think some of the positive feelings stem from my long time interest in the series but I do think the show still has potential. Getting back into it has made me pick up the manga again and hopefully if they keep getting feedback from it they can figure out the pacing and really make the show great again.

Another time, another review.

It does start off from the original story but i still wish it would have done much more in the beginning.I was very hyped like all the D.Gray Man fans when i heard a second season would come out but became instantly disgusted in the change of character art and the silly voice actors. I dont't think i will continue this but i probably will stall this piece of sh*t. In the first episode they left a stupid cliffhanger just so they can forcefully make me watch the next episode, even the producers know this anime is trash and needs to be taken off he air now. It sucks and will never return to its full potential in the past years. Should have just stopped with the manga this anime season is a fail entirley.

Anime Review #7 - D.Gray-Man Hallow (season 5)

[ Completed Anime on monday 19-02-18 ]

Rewatched and Completed on saturday 21-05-08

SPOILERS AHEAD

(here's my biased review because i love this series) For starters, in my opinion, the art is way better now, but i guess that’s expected since there was such a long break before animation. I kinda like the new style, even though they changed a lot of the character color palettes (ie: miranda’s hair is a lighter brown now and allen has purple eyes now) i know they changed some of the voices too but i honestly couldn't tell that much though i did notice lenalee and lavi sounded diff (obviously allen's voice changed in the sub from female to male since he got a bit older, but that was fine). If you watch in dubbed i dont think the voiced changed much but the sub voices changed a lot but werent too noticeable for me. Anyways let's get into this review yay!!!~

(Here are some of the episodes that I particularly enjoyed: 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13) *cough* release more *cough* :(

The plot: The continued fifth season of “d.gray-man” picking up from when the exorcists move headquarters and Allen is being monitored due to his connection to the 14th noah, Nea, and his realtionsship with Mana and controlling the Noah's Ark. We also finally get Kanda’s back story and learn about the Second Exorcists plan that was being conducted in the Asian branch 9 years ago, as well as why the lord millennium wants the 14th in the first place. Also, there are these new half exorcist/half akuma type people called the Thirds which i’m still kinda confused about but ehhhh and there's also these people called Crows who cast incantations and binds and stuff like that to monitor and protect ?? i guess lol i’m soo bad at explaining stuff idk why i even write reviews in the first place hhh. Agh just go read the manga >m<

Main Character Time!!! *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

-Allen: my precious boy! He’s so pretty and sweet i just love him so much. So allen is the host of the 14th apostle (aka the noah nea) which is highkey fun asf even though it sucks because he’s such a sweetie and all this bad shit has to happen to him,,, but now he’s gotta go find himself and walk alone and suffer lolz so all the exorcists at the black order are like “allen is not an exorcist anymore! He’s a traitor!!! Grrr” but obviously that isnt true hh here comes those classic anime misunderstanding am i right ladies! Basically I love allen. I love it when the MC has a demon inside of them<3

Other Characters I Enjoyed/Wanna Talk About!!!･:*:･ﾟ☆

-Timcanpy: him BIG boy now! <( o W o )> we love timmy he is so cute! best golem companion

-Lord Millennium: aw he’s just a misunderstood thicc clown boy who just wants to be by his brother the 14th’s side again :/

-Marian Cross: i love this man! He cannot die! He is a cute dad! (ep 13 was adorable okkkkk thank you) immortal being.

-Kanda: his character design looks very much the same expect perhaps he got hotter lol. Kanda grew on me though, i have to say! I really like him :3 his backstory is rough though like damn i feel bad for him :( also i knew his ass wasn't dead like come on kanda can't die you sillies :p i like how we finally got the relationship between kanda and allen to build aside from yelling at each other for no reason. It’s cute. He’s cute. I stan. This man is fine as hell. (ALSO THAT SCENE WHEN HE SAID ALLEN'S NAME INSTEAD OF MOYASHI,,,, :(((( SO CUTE)

-Road: wow okay i love her? She’s a ‘bad guy’ but also highkey a good guy at the same time plus she’s cute and i like her ‘relationship’ with allen~ also her little doll transformation is cute! Also sis really took a hit for allen like wow she’s so adorable i love her even though she disappeared or something but we know she’s not dead either becauseeeee um well she can’t die!

-Tyki: what a king :D <3 !!!!! he still lookin fine as ever with his tall dark and handsome ass self and his little butterfly golems + he has long flowy hair now which is muy bien! Now that his full Noah is awakend inside of him, he's changed a bit and it seems he doesn't really care about his human friends anymore which is fine lol, but i miss soft boy tyki. Still, I like how he helped Allen :)

-Howard Link: even though he could be kinda dumb dumb stick up his ass at times, he was a nice guy whom i appreciated! Rip dude :( jk I have a feeling he isnt dead. Also he got way hotter in the new animation like he was UGLY rat boy before but now i appreciate it.

Rating/Overall Thoughts!!♩♪♩

Overall I rate this anime a 10 it's my favorite piece of media ever! The art style got updated and it looks so pretty~ (i’m sure a lot of people would disagree with me on that one but i also liked the older art style too so who cares!) But yeah what can i say, i’m a sucker for drama and i love it when my favs are in pain SUE ME! I thought this 13 episode little sequel was good and yes i watched it all in one day! I literally went from watching all 103 eps of d.gray-man to watching all 13 episodes of hallow one after the other~~~ it’s a timeless show that grows on you okay.. IT'S A GOOD WATCH! (i binged it)

Now here’s me ranting about stuff,, lol idk you don’t have to read it i am a crackhead!

I still don't really understand this cardinal Innocence dude who just shows up out of nowhere lookin like that lizard dude from the amazing spiderman, but i support allen teaming up with the noah’s to get away from him! Also what the heck why can't everyone just live in peaceful harmony in the end smh like the noahs are all peachy keen doing their own thing and the exorcists can do their thing and they can be friends or something! Like this shows preaches ~friendship~ so come on now let's come to a consensus! Does the Earl HAVE to make Akuma, or does he just like fucking around? What is his end goal? I'm sure they can find a way to get along smh.

Here’s another tangent: Literally none of the ‘og exorcist gang’ did anything in these 13 episodes like lenalee, lavi, krory and miranda barely had any screen time lol but still i’d watch another season if they continued it because i like it! (though i doubt they will lmao) I’m probably gonna read the manga as well right after this~

If you’re considering watching this show but think it’s too long, lemme be honest with you. A lot of episodes in “seasons 1-2” of the 2006 series were sooo boring. Like a majority of those episodes were fillers and it was so tedious watching the same format for every episode play out like: the exorcists go on a mission to a new town, “oh no! There’s akuma here!” :O, time to kill the akuma!, yay we saved the town!, now we go to new town :3, the end! Like seriously episodes 10-40 were like that only. But trust me bois, once you get to episode 50 the plot actually gets good! I know it takes a hot minute to get there but i recommend watching only episodes where new characters are introduced but not like those one episode only characters. I know this isn't helpful at all lol but like just skip all that junk! you only need to watch the first couple of episodes to get the feel of the characters, then watch the episodes where they meet miranda and road, then watch where they meet lavi and the bookman, then watch krory, (i love kanda but you don't need to watch any of the episodes that are just about him lol unless you want to idk go for it i guess), just wait it out trust me the plot does start to pick up once allen stops being a pussy bitch and his innocence evolves into cool stuff throughout the progression of the anime. Also, another option would be read the manga up until the chapter that corresponds with ep 50 in the anime and do it that way. But yeah d.gray-man episodes 50-103 and then all of d.gray-man hallow 1-13 were good imo you just gotta push through and get to that juicy content!

Anyways, my reviews are always super weird and contain 0 actually valuable info, but whateves. Moral of the story is, i love allen walker and yu kanda (i kind of have a thing for cute boys with shitty pasts and cool ass powers!),  I also really started to like the Noahs as well like they’re justs rad guys! (Jasdevi for the win!) Some of the exorcists, however, started to annoy me with their self-righteousness ‘all akuma must die’ ideology like the noahs are sweeties and so is the millennium earl! Also can everyone stop turning on Allen for hm idk 5 goddamn minutes? (I'm lookin at you Choaji)! Like it’s just misunderstanding after misunderstanding at this point with these guys. Like come on, were any of the exorcists really allen’s friends in the first place if they go on second guessing him everytime he does anything.. I mean Lenalee and Miranda seem to still like him but sheeeeesh. I'm so exicted about Kanda coming back though and going to look for allen because he felt bad for stabbing him<3 eck that's gonna be so fun to see them become friends!!!

Anyways, I still got a lot of questions and no answers so imma go read the manga now! Peace and love... (edit: i love the manga)

Edit 2: I rewatched the whole series a second time through, and they really did cut out a LOT of content in Hallow and just showed the highlights lol (aka kanda's backstory and allen's fourteenth awakening) Personally, I didn't really mind it since, if they had left everything in, it would've taken like 50 episodes for anything to even happen just like in the first 4 seasons of the show where the plot was dragged out forever, and honsetly i dont care about seeing lenalee fight lulu and seeing other exorcists fight random noah, so thanks for cutting that out lol. I am also going back and reading all the manga chapters again, and i still love this show and fandom so much<3 Just thought I'd make a comment to show that i know this season is confusing and is super rushed and you get a LOT of information thrown at you at once, but it's cool and i love the story regardless!

(to be completely honest with you, i think about this show legit EVERY DAY, and i'm super attached to some of these characters at this point that it's a little weird but idc <3)

that's all folks :-)

-doux