Introduction
The review for this anime, D.Gray-man, is written by Llama-Guy.
Review
On the surface, D. Gray-Man sounds like just another shonen anime with an organization of good guys with special weapons fighting evil monsters. Yeah, that's the base of it, but DGM turns into something more, something deeper than many other shonen anime series. In fact, I feel that it sneaks around seinen territory.
While the setting is standard shonen all the way, you'll find yourself surprised when watching this show. It starts off a bit slow, with many fights, small arcs (~1-4 episodes) and nothing special to it. However, it quickly picks up, and some way into season 2 or 3, DGM starts to show its qualities. The story soon blends in action, emotions and last but not least, realistic power-ups. The story is overall more deep and serious than most shonen anime. Where I am now - almost at episode 100 -, the show has just gotten better and better, and I definitely hope that it will continue doing so - or at least stay very good and not decrease in quality.
The characters are without a doubt the strongest point of DGM. I mentioned earlier that DGM is sneaking about in seinen territory, and the reason for this is the characters. They don't think "You bastard! I need to suddenly get stronger so I can defeat you" and get stronger and defeat the bad guys. The characters here aren't all about brawling against the evil guys. They have emotions. Emotions which they have to face. And that's what makes it into a semi-seinen series; it's a bit more character-driven and not so much plot-driven.
The animation quality of DGM is also astounding. There's a lot of detail put into the environments, and character designs are great too. Special effects are really great, and the same can be said about lighting effects. When you consider that DGM is a bit dark and serious, the coloring is really great too; it's just as dark as it needs to be to fit in with the series.
The soundtrack is definitely the weakest point of DGM. The background music isn't especially memorable, and not really great. I hope they decide to get a new soundtrack soon so I can get something better. Also, using the same stuff for 100 episodes is a lot. OP and ED themes are okay though, and I like the more heavy style of the OP themes - it fits with the tone of the show. Voice acting and sound effects are great though.
Final thing which I should mention is that the fillers in DGM are actually good. "What fillers?" you may ask if you've watched the show. To be honest, I asked the same question when I first heard that there was a lot of filler in the show. The thought never even came close to my mind. So that's a plus.
All in all, I feel that DGM mixes shonen and seinen into something special and unique. It may not appeal to all shonen fans, but those of you who like more serious action anime will enjoy DGM even more.
Download
Rest assure, downloads for this incredible anime will be uploaded some time in the future.