If the recent wave of strong, wonderfully-produced dark fantasy anime is any indication, the fandom is increasingly drawn to its impressive blend of grim, often gothic aesthetics with touches of action and horror. While this results in anime often clamoring for similar lasting cultural appeal as “Berserk successors”, one dark fantasy property has been mishandled across multiple anime.
Shonen Jump’s D.Gray-man is one such series, and a particularly unique one when it had every right to be just another generic shonen anime. Despite an excellent, beautifully-drawn manga that is about as infrequently released as fellow Shonen Jump classic Hunter x Hunter, the series’ gorgeous artwork by creator Katsura Hoshino only flourished more with its quarterly release.
But now with the manga releasing in Shueisha’s Jump SQ. Rise, the manga is given breathing room to accommodate Hoshino’s health concerns, yet its anime adaptation is in a tough spot. From its original 2006 anime’s fan-favorite release moderately dulled by filler, to 2016’s D.Gray-man Hallow, the franchise has gotten more love than most, but deserves a definitive production.
D.Gray-man’s Anime Needs to Return
Originally produced and released in 2006 by TMS Entertainment, the first D.Gray-man anime adapted the original source material of the 2004 manga, ending in 2008 while reaching partway through chapter #158. Of its two projects, D.Gray-man fans generally agree that this series was superior in terms of character designs, animation quality, and even a solid English dub.
Telling the story of Allen Walker, D.Gray-man’s 2006 anime was a strong introduction to its self-sacrificing protagonist. It opens into a gothic atmosphere full of Victorian Gothic and Steampunk elements, with demonic threats as Akuma seemingly being a “monster-of-the-week” proof of concept. However, as the story of D.Gray-man matured even by episode #4, new fans were hooked for life.
The anime of D.Gray-man is largely the gateway for fans to discover the superior manga, if entirely because it has more of the story anime fans crave but may never get. Exorcists of the Black Order accept Allen into their fold, using Innocence to fight Akuma, created from twisted human souls and Dark Matter with the help of the villainous Millennium Earl.
The result is a manga experience similar to Fullmetal Alchemist, while remaining unique as its theological elements, including their ties to the Millennium Earl and even Allen, emerge in the later plot. Yet, unlike FMA, D.Gray-man has yet to receive a complete, start-to-finish satisfying anime, with D.Gray-man Hallow, still hardly inspiring confidence.
Anime Returns Are All the Rage: Why Not D.Gray-man?
While it’s obviously an exciting idea to have D.Gray-man return, there are significant roadblocks in place. D.Gray-man Hallow haphazardly picked up from the 2006 original, adapting roughly 50 more chapters before having to stop while the manga released new chapters. Its production even mysteriously shut down preorders and cancelled home media releases for the 2016 sequel.
These circumstances, beyond any rumors about promo art affecting this decision, don’t inspire confidence in a new anime, especially since there’s even less material to adapt for another sequel. D.Gray-man Hallow barreled through its run, skipping through much of the source material in the process.
Instead, it could be worthwhile for the series to get a full remake, sporting the visual fidelity standards of modern anime, and ditching the odd redesign choices made going into Hallow. TMS Entertainment would be its natural choice still, especially since it’d unlikely change, although D.Gray-man’s dark fantasy aesthetic and character designs would also fit perfectly under Madhouse.
Modern Shonen Fans Would Love D.Gray-man
Shonen anime fans may appreciate the waves of emerging do-gooder protagonist which, while not necessarily entirely influenced by Allen, certainly felt his presence. After all, characters like Tanjiro Kamado, similarly kind and even bearing a scar with a story, have come and gone since then.
Yet, it’s unsurprising that D.Gray-man isn’t prominent in modern discourse. The manga’s hype is largely kept in smaller fan circles after its especially popular Weekly Shonen Jump run spanning from May 31, 2004-May 11, 2009 before its broadly limited new schedule. From here, the manga underwent increasingly noteworthy publication changes, hiatuses, and inconsistent page counts doubtlessly to prevent overburdening Hoshino.
The manga’s hype is largely kept in smaller fan circles after its especially popular Weekly Shonen Jump run spanning from May 31, 2004-May 11, 2009 before its broadly limited new schedule.
With 27 million copies in circulation, more than Black Clover, one may be surprised that D.Gray-man isn’t discussed more frequently. But after shifting to Jump SQ., a monthly magazine, from November 4, 2009-December 29, 2012, then the quarterly Jump SQ.Crown from July 17, 2015-January 19, 2018, and eventual landing at Jump SQ.Rise, fans regularly see, at best, 4 chapters a year.
While this has paid off enormously with beautiful artwork, it’s a difficult sell for newcomers until the series eventually ends. However, at its now glacial pace, it’s uncertain how long this will take. But bringing a D.Gray-man anime, with modern seasonal standards, zero filler, and high production values adapting the full story, could tie over fans while they wait.
- Release Date
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2006 – 2008
- Directors
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Osamu Nabeshima
- Writers
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Reiko Yoshida
