D. Gray-Man

I just started watching this interesting anime series, D. Gray-Man after it came highly recommended by my cousin (who is a big anime fan). The series (based on the manga created by Katsura Hoshino) follows 15-year-old Allen Walker, an exorcist who carries the burden of a dark past. Allen has the unique ability to see evil akuma (demons) when they are disguised, as well as a left arm that can transform into a weapon that can destroy the akuma. Allen joins a team of exorcists in the Black Order to battle The Millennium Earl. The Millennium Earl is an evil being that promises those in grief that he can bring back a deceased loved-one simply by having them say their name. Once they do that, the deceased comes back as an akuma and The Earl commands them to kill the one that brought them back. The Black Order is in a race with The Millennium Earl to collect all the pieces of “innocence,” which can be used as anti-akuma weapons while The Earl wants to destroy them.

The show has a total of 103 episodes in the series. This is a lot, considering that the majority of anime series last between 13 and 26 episodes. The sets (parts 1 & 2) each contain 13 episodes. So far the episodes have been well paced and exciting. I can only hope that this continues and we don’t see too many of the requisite “filler” episodes that many long-running anime shows tend to produce. This is definitely a series that warrants a look.