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dgrayman manga
14 Oct 2006 11:55 pmAlthough I'm 80% of the time of the school of thought that an author can't possibly write their own character out of character and that inconsistency is a separate issue that equates to bad storytelling (e.g. Sara Douglass), volume 9 of D.Grayman bothered me ~~;;
I'm not sure what it is. It could be that Allen all of a sudden look like some caricature art lifted from the Modernist movement ~~; It could be that he had this sudden burst of confidence and surety, or the wtf-ness of his "I love the akuma, I live for the akuma, and when I met all these humans, I lost sight of that" (wtf).
The only thing that really holds D.Grayman for me is Allen. The other characters don't appear enough or rise out of the masses to catch attention. Rabi is your standard happy-dappy-very-powerful-sidekick-with-mysterious-angst-possible, Kanda is the standard cool-scary-perfectionist-guy-with-mysterious-angst, Linali is the sweet-good-natured-sensitive-nice-very-pretty-girl-ala-potential-love-interest. It's the more minor characters that are more interesting, the "scary guy with a soft heart" Crowley (kinda like Cassanova-kun from Host Club *cackles), and the "can stay up for ten days in a row moping" Miranda.
Allen's the only character for whom I've felt "innocence" in its holy sense meant anything and suited him. He's not naive and stupid and hot-headed, but he has principles that he will adhere to with his main-character-trademarked-stubbornness. Cleverly, the mangaka has given him a reason to go about his main-character-goodness without making it run-of-the-mill. He will go to any lengths to save complete strangers, based purely on a promise to himself, based purely on the fact that it had been his only motivation to live.
It's that altruism (or at its most melodramatic...matyrdom) that's appealing, when matched with his utter lack of hauteur. In short...he doesn't piss me off as much as other main characters.
Volume 8 bothered me because it started to get a little too excessive, the brandishing of Allen being "the saviour" or whatever. I liked his decidedly unheroic way of fighting, the way he never fought to win, the way he was willing to injure himself as long as he could save his opponent.
And personally I've never thought of D.Grayman as goth (right, they dress in black and there are demons...how's that goth?), but the recent art seems to push that a little too far.
At least, now that his Innocence obtained "its true form", it can't possibly get any uglier. Right?
PS: What is it about the name "Walker" that appeals to the Japanese? ==; The odds of two unrelated manga using the same English last name for an important character is pretty rare. Rinslet Walker made sense at least, since she was a thief, but Allen Walker?
I'm not sure what it is. It could be that Allen all of a sudden look like some caricature art lifted from the Modernist movement ~~; It could be that he had this sudden burst of confidence and surety, or the wtf-ness of his "I love the akuma, I live for the akuma, and when I met all these humans, I lost sight of that" (wtf).
The only thing that really holds D.Grayman for me is Allen. The other characters don't appear enough or rise out of the masses to catch attention. Rabi is your standard happy-dappy-very-powerful-sidekick-with-mysterious-angst-possible, Kanda is the standard cool-scary-perfectionist-guy-with-mysterious-angst, Linali is the sweet-good-natured-sensitive-nice-very-pretty-girl-ala-potential-love-interest. It's the more minor characters that are more interesting, the "scary guy with a soft heart" Crowley (kinda like Cassanova-kun from Host Club *cackles), and the "can stay up for ten days in a row moping" Miranda.
Allen's the only character for whom I've felt "innocence" in its holy sense meant anything and suited him. He's not naive and stupid and hot-headed, but he has principles that he will adhere to with his main-character-trademarked-stubbornness. Cleverly, the mangaka has given him a reason to go about his main-character-goodness without making it run-of-the-mill. He will go to any lengths to save complete strangers, based purely on a promise to himself, based purely on the fact that it had been his only motivation to live.
It's that altruism (or at its most melodramatic...matyrdom) that's appealing, when matched with his utter lack of hauteur. In short...he doesn't piss me off as much as other main characters.
Volume 8 bothered me because it started to get a little too excessive, the brandishing of Allen being "the saviour" or whatever. I liked his decidedly unheroic way of fighting, the way he never fought to win, the way he was willing to injure himself as long as he could save his opponent.
And personally I've never thought of D.Grayman as goth (right, they dress in black and there are demons...how's that goth?), but the recent art seems to push that a little too far.
At least, now that his Innocence obtained "its true form", it can't possibly get any uglier. Right?
PS: What is it about the name "Walker" that appeals to the Japanese? ==; The odds of two unrelated manga using the same English last name for an important character is pretty rare. Rinslet Walker made sense at least, since she was a thief, but Allen Walker?
