D.Gray-man

D.Gray-man (103 episodes, 2006-2008)

Synopsis

The general story of D.Gray-man revolves around a group of "Exorcists" known as "Black Order." These Exorcists fight against the evil forces of Akuma, led by the "Millenium Earl," a character told of in ancient prophecies, who will supposedly bring the world to ruin. It's up to the Exorcists to protect and utilize an existence referred to as "Innocence," which the Millenium Earl is determined to destroy. This Innocence is a mystery, even to the Order, but it is what grants them the power needed to extinguish the Akuma. Most important, however, is a specific Innocence, referred to as the "Heart of Innocence" (a.k.a. the "Great Heart"). Finding this Innocence ensures victory for the Black Order, but they have no way of locating it, other than gathering all the Innocence they can, before the Earl finds and destroys it.

A 15-year-old boy named Allen Walker is the main character of D.Gray-man. Allen was cursed by an Akuma at a young age, leaving a pentagle-shaped mark over his left eye. Because of this curse, Allen is able to see through disguises of Akuma, and is able to see the suffering of the souls used to create them. His left arm also possesses the power of Innocence, which leads him to join the Black Order as an official Exorcist.

As time progresses, Allen travels around the world with the Black Order, and he discovers many new threats and mysteries, including the group known as the Noah, evolved forms of the Akuma, further complications with the Innocence, and especially mysteries concerning his own past. As the struggle over the Innocence continues, Allen must not only aid his allies in the ongoing battle, but is also left with many personal questions of his past which he must find answers to.

Main Characters (click names for images)

• Allen Walker: Abandoned by his original parents, due the his "deformity," Allen was eventually adopted by a man named Mana Walker, who died three years later, leaving Allen alone. With a cursed left eye and an Innocence-possessing left arm, Allen continues to live on his own until he is recruited by the Black Order. Allen's Innocence is a parasitic type, and is originally unnamed. However, it is later referred to as "Crowned Clown." It first takes the form of a metallic claw-type weapon, but takes on various other forms and abilities as the series progresses.
  
  
• Lenalee Lee: Lenalee is the younger sister of the Supervisor of the Black Order, Komui Lee. Because of her ability to use Innocence, Lenalee was forced to become an Exorcist at a young age, and continues to live at the Black Order headquarters with her older brother. Lenalee's Innocence is an equipment-type called "Dark Boots," which allows her to move at high speeds, maneuver atop water, and travel through the air.
  
  
• Lavi: Although he is also an Exorcist, Lavi's primarily training to become a "Bookman," a person who is meant to record major historic events and other significant information that is not openly available to the world. Lavi's Innocence is an equipment-type called "Tettsui" (Iron Hammer), and can not only increase/decrease its size on command (without Lavi feeling a difference in its weight), but is also capable of producing seals with various powers.
  
  
• Yū Kanda: Yū is an ill-tempered young swordsman, who frequently gets into arguments with Allen. His Innocence is an equipment-type called "Mūgen" (Six Illusions), which not only can be used as a sword, but also possesses abilities referred to as "illusions."
  
  

• The Millenium Earl: The Millenium Earl is the main antagonist. He is a sorcerer from ancient times, able to create demonic creatures called "Akuma" from the souls of the dead. Using the Akuma he creates, the Earl intends to rid the world of Innocence and plunge the world into oblivion.

Other Notes

• Shortened Anime: The anime series spans a total length of 103 episodes, divided into two seasons (51 and 52 episodes, respectively), but the anime ends early, unfortunately. (I'm not 100% certain of the reasons behind this, but I assume the manga was lagging behind.) The manga is still ongoing, though, so if you watch the anime and are curious about where things go from there, then you should check out the manga. (I believe the anime ends around chapter 155-156 or so.)

• Characters: I only listed four of the main protagonists and the main antagonist, but believe me when I say there are several others. Most of these characters have plenty appealing personalities and nifty Innocence abilities, too, so many of them should catch the viewers' interests.

• English dub: From what I've heard of the dub, some of it is less than desired, but overall, I'd say it's okay. Todd Haberkorn does okay with Allen, and Luci Christian seems to do Lenalee's voice fairly well. Jason Liebrecht as Lavi does okay, though I think his voice is a bit too light (whispery at times), and his delivery of some lines is questionable. One of my greatest problems with the dub is this next character: Travis Willingham as Kanda. While Willingham is a pretty good voice actor (as far as I can tell, based on Roy Mustang in Fullmetal Alchemist), the voice he provides for Kanda is way too deep (comparable to many of Crispin Freeman's voices). They definitely could've done better with him. The last specific character I'll cover here is the Millenium Earl, who also happens to be voiced by Jason Liebrecht. Liebrecht's voice for the Earl sounds fitting, though it's a drastic change from the original Japanese voice. It could take some getting used to, but I think it seems fitting for him. I've actually noticed that many of the less significant characters' English voices seemed pretty well done, though there are a few poor choices scattered throughout the cast.
  

Conclusion

While D.Gray-man is a bit of a lengthy series, it's a pretty consistently great series, unlike some other long anime series. Personally, I think the series really piqued my interest the most starting around the time that the third opening theme was first used, and it continued to get even more interesting for the remainder of the anime. (Things have been getting really intriguing in the manga lately.) One of the many great things about D.Gray-man is that the heroes are very far from overly powerful. In fact, they lose their battles fairly often, and several characters even die in the series. Things start to look really grim for the protagonists, believe me. If you're sick of the good guys constantly overwhelming their enemies with ease in anime, then this series should definitely please you in that regard.

I honestly can't think of much to add on to my explanation of this series, but it's really great, so I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who is into this kind of stuff (Bleach and Naruto fans should enjoy it, but not exclusively them), and has the time to dedicate to these 103 episodes.