(Untitled)

Sep 28, 2008 05:22

This is mostly posted because someone on dgrayman asked me to ( Read more... )

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Comments 25

blackwhite_rain September 28 2008, 06:27:44 UTC
Now I understand about its flaws better. I thought something was strange when I watched the anime, but I could not name them ( ... )

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halftonesaviour September 28 2008, 10:16:50 UTC
Still me, just on a roleplaying journal. Sorry about that. :X

The fillers adapted from the manga are Kanda's lotus storyline and the storyline with Allen's mentor in a small English town. However, both are misplaced in the timeline and thus fail at delivering the original message. :/

I did like the first three openings, because it's obvious that guys at abs and Access read D.Gray-man. If you read the lyrics, all three are distinctly written from Allen's POV, which makes them more pleasing. However, first and second lyrics are far too into shipping Allen/Lenalee, much like the filler of the series. Don't get me wrong, I love the pairing, but I love it because it's subtle. I don't like it shoved in my face.

I was actually asked in the past why I refuse to use anime icons for Allen on my RP journals. It's awkward to answer that it's because Allen in the anime looks nothing like Allen. \o_O/

I actually own the Shueisha-produced Lenalee figurine and it's really pretty from up close. However, it is based on her first uniform, which is ( ... )

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blackwhite_rain September 28 2008, 11:43:04 UTC
You RP Allen? Ooo, I'm like, trying to app for Lenalee now.

Well, I didn't check the lyrics. ^^; But the rhythm just doesn't sound quite right for the series. I have a bunch of them in my mp3 though, since they are just so nice. I'll check that up. :D

Totally agree. ^^; But people are actually asking you about that? It's actually absolutely normal for an Allen-muse without anime icons. :3 The one I know doesn't have any.

The ones I saw in HK are poorly made, and I don't like it. Maybe that's a fake one after all. I still want something that's newer than the oldest uniform though. That's the reason why I bought the fan-made bookmark: The Lenalee over there is in her second uniform. ^^

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halftonesaviour September 28 2008, 12:20:32 UTC
I do! I RP him mostly on jardin_du_ciel. He's the canon character I RP the most, Lelouch Lamperouge from Code Geass coming as a close second. Can I ask where you're apping your Lenalee, out of curiosity?

I do think that D.Gray-man openings were too techno for a series like it. I'd like a more classical sound. Still, the lyrics to Doubt & Trust are here. I find them pretty close to Allen, all things considered.

It was just a matter of curiosity, I think. It is strange when a character with a 50+ episode series uses no icons from said series. And not everyone shares my opinion that D.Gray-man anime was awful. :X

They could be fakes, yeah. As far as I know, the only figurines of D.Gray-man in existence are those of Allen and Lenalee in their first uniforms, distributed by Shueisha. You can see images of them here.

Still, these are only two figures. They look good together, but I want more. D.Gray-man certainly has powerful enough designs to deserve extensive merchandise.

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Ironic icon is ironic. minato_arisato September 28 2008, 06:46:05 UTC
Even though I didn't watch the anime, I can agree with all of these points. I thought that the character design was horrible from the start, and hearing about fillers that last for longer than 20 episodes only makes that worse.

Like you, I found it disappointing that Lenalee was largely ignored. She appears so little on the merchandise that the difference becomes glaring; obviously not a good thing when you consider that Lenalee is very important to the story.

Uh well, headdesk basically.

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halftonesaviour September 28 2008, 10:29:25 UTC
I'll never understand the change in character design demonstrated in the anime. The series had a distinct, instantly recognizable art style in its manga run. Changing it into generic shonen anime just felt retarded.

It felt generally ridiculous how pretty much everyone beyond Allen, Kanda and Lavi was ignored for merchandise. However, Lenalee is most glaring because she's a major character who has the second biggest screentime in the series. Ignoring her like that is just stupid.

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lost_sunlight September 28 2008, 10:47:07 UTC
Felt? It was definitely retarded, and this brings back memories of how I stared in horror at the initial character designs. Essentially, one of D.Gray-Man's main selling points was its stylistic art style and not reflecting this even somewhat accurately while distorting all of the proportions in the process is just...no words.

And yeah, the lack of someone who is pretty much the other main character of the series? Plain stupid.

Edit: Before I forget about it, the timeline...just the timeline.

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halftonesaviour September 28 2008, 12:59:38 UTC
And sad thing is, even ugly new designs could function if done with decent animation. But animation in D.Gray-man was awful, so even that failed.

I think my Lenalee figurine is the only piece of Lenalee merchandise in the universe. That breaks my heart more than you can imagine. :(

I wept for the anime timeline. The moment it turned the prologue story from Reverse into a filler arc, it all collapsed onto itself.

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rii_namuras September 28 2008, 09:34:39 UTC
Out of curiosity, what rules did they break in the fillers? I didn't watch them, so I have no idea.

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fidchell September 28 2008, 09:58:23 UTC
One of the filler arcs involved a DEMON SWORD, a 'Berserk Innocence' - according to the script, an actual type that was observed in the past - that operates by taking control of the wielder and using them as a puppet in order to blindly attack its opponents.

Don't you think that kind of diminishes the huge deal the manga makes out of Innocence ever going out of control and acting out on its own?

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rii_namuras September 28 2008, 10:14:28 UTC
Oh yeah, I remember that one. It does seem really out of place with the whole Fallen One thing, though one could say that it was showed before they got to Suman in the manga - I have no idea, though, because I only started reading a few months ago and don't have the slightest clue of the manga/anime timeline relation.

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halftonesaviour September 28 2008, 10:22:11 UTC
It's not just that. Lavi in the manga explicitly states that Allen and Lenalee are the only recorded cases when Innocence acted on its own accord in order to protect its wielder. All other cases were the Fallen.

He goes as far as saying that those two are major exceptions in the entire history of Black Order and might completely change the flow of the Millennium War with their presence.

It's just weird how there could be a recorded type of independently operating Innocence when an enormous point is made out of Allen and Lenalee being special cases.

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usagi_alchemist September 28 2008, 16:34:30 UTC
This is a perfect and well-written explanation of why I didn't like the anime. Glad someone else thought of these things!
What do you think of Suzumura as Lavi, out of curiosity?

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fidchell September 28 2008, 21:57:21 UTC
I thought Suzumura as Lavi was okay. Neither good nor bad, just mediocre. He did his job, but he didn't inspire me in any manner. He succeeded at voicing the character, but he did so without providing any memorable impact.

If I would have to choose an actor for Lavi, I would choose...

Tomokazu Sugita - Kyon in Suzumiya Haruhi, Gintoki in Gintama, Hideki in Chobits, Sirius in Genesis of Aquarion.

Or...

Masaya Onosaka - Vash the Stampede in Trigun, Leeron in Gurren Lagann, Don Patch in Bobobobo Bobobo, Balladbird Lee in Gungrave.

This is because both specialize in comedy roles or narrator characters. I think it would be fascinating to have Lavi speak his more comical lines in a cheerful comedic tone of a comic relief character, only to switch to a rich, carefully paced narrator voice during inner monologue and serious moments.

If forced to choose at gunpoint, I would pick Onosaka without regrets. He demonstrated the shift I described in Vash, so I think he would put some incredible atmosphere into Lavi's character.

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usagi_alchemist September 29 2008, 01:27:50 UTC
I see! Yes, I didn't like him much because I was suspicious that he was too comic-reliefish and didn't know how he'd do with the more serious side of Lavi. I like your ideas, or at least the principle behind them, since I'm not terribly familiar with most of the actors.

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fidchell September 28 2008, 22:01:41 UTC
Pardon me for a double comment, but...

Coincidentally, Vash the Stampede was voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch in the American dub. While imagining my perfect D.Gray-man dub cast, Bosch is the one I immediately picked for Lavi.

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ginzai September 28 2008, 17:33:15 UTC
Oh, this is a very interesting list. I've had issues with the anime for some time and I'm one of those who stopped watching when the filler eps started up. It wasn't until the Ark arc was starting that I began to watch again and then only because it felt like they were doing a much more faithful transition to the small screen than what we'd seen before. (Out of curiosity, have you heard anything as to why that change occurred? It didn't seem like they had any problems with messing with major plot points beforehand ( ... )

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