Oh D Gray-Man, WTF

[eiliem]

Chapter 197: and this is why I can never, in good faith, rec DGM to anyone.


I love Allen (the main character), I do. I love Lavi and Kanda and Lenalee and her crazy crazy brother &hearts

I love (most of) the (many many omg @_@) art styles the manga has gone through.

I love the crazy, terrifying, amazing world.

I miss the story.

I miss when it felt like there was a story going on.

Recently it's felt like the manga is nothing but (sometimes utterly incomprehensible) fighting barely carried along by the last workings of plot laid down so long ago.

I want so badly to enjoy it again, but I just read chapter 197, and for 31 pages I could only sit in front of the computer and go O_o

There was one moment of payoff at the end. One moment that should have been exciting and O_____O and OMGWTFBBQ!!!!!!

I should be really worried and tense and flaily and AAAAAHHHHHHH PLOT!!

Instead I'm sad because what the fuck was that chapter??!?!! DGM was so good, so good! And I loved it and now it's just a mess. Not because shortly after my favourite arc the whole thing turned into an angstfest. Not because it feels like the art style changes every other month. Not even because the whole cast is split up and it's been forever since we saw most of the other characters.


IT JUST DOESN'T MAKE ANY FUCKING SENSE ANYMORE!


And it makes me sad that I can't rec it, because when it was good it was great and there were some really beautiful moments - and really beautiful art!

But I can rec the anime! Because it ends just before shit gets horribly depressing and long before everything stops making sense! :D (although it does mean you miss the really epic crack; you'll live.)

And now I'm going to distract myself from being sad thinking about how good it used to be.

Comments

[gordy21.livejournal.com]

Hey where did u read the raw or scanlation cause I can't find it lol

[eiliem.livejournal.com]

http://mangahead.com/Manga-English-Scan/DGray-Man/DGray-Man-197-English-Scan

Not as easy to use at mangashare or onemanga, but it works.

I hope my reaction doesn't spoil it for you! ^^;

[gordy21.livejournal.com]

Its alright, I'm a huge spoiler lol. And thanks, I just finished the chapter right now on my phone. And Kanda is getting on my nerves (sorry if u like him), and I like Allen too, he is an awesome protaginist (sorry I don't know how to spell that lol). I loved the Earl's reaction when Kanda stabbed Allen lol. I think I love the Noah family way more than the excorcists especially Tyki Mikk, I LOVE him hahahaha xD
Overall, the chapter was alright, I was just hoping to see Allen in Noah form before the chapter ended...I also wished it went back to weekly instead of monthly :(

[metisket.livejournal.com]

;_;

Man, I had such high hopes when it went monthly. And I keep waiting for it to make sense again. I KEEP WAITING. Kanda backstory--so much potential awesome! Sssseemingly wasted. *weeps* *tears hair*

...And okay, Kanda clearly did most of that in some kind of alternate brain space, and now he's snapped out of it and has the expression of a guy who just woke up from a nightmare. Which is why I still have hope that this arc can be saved. PROBABLY THIS HOPE IS FUTILE, but.

...

...At least it still makes more sense than Reborn? Okay, that's not really any consolation at all. o_O

[eiliem.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

I know, I know!. T_T

The Kanda backstory was heartbreaking, and I really didn't mind the overly long flashback because it was going somewhere! At least.... it felt like it was going somewhere.

Kanda spending this chapter in "alternate brain space" I can buy ¬¬ sort of

But Allen's behaviour made no sense to me.

It made sense for him, at the end of last chapter, to stop Kanda from destroying Alma. Allen's crazy like that.

But he went through so many mood swings in this chapter @_@ Why, you crazy crazy boy, are you trying to have a conversation with a batshit insane AKUMA!!??!!?!?

Maybe it was the art that threw me - but he seemed disproportionally angry at Kanda - and just... AAAAARRRRGGHHHH THIS CHAPTER! WHAT.

The one moment, the one moment when Allen really felt like Allen to me was right after Kanda stabbed him and he did his "this-is-how-I-smile-when-I'm-in-pain" and said it made no sense to him. You and me both, Allen, you and me both.

It was also beyond stupid that they were both trying to kill each other in a room full of Noah. And the Earl. =_=

The art >_< - I really liked the gothic feel of the early chapter, but I'm not going to argue with Hoshino prettying things up. This chapter though. What. What was going on!? I couldn't tell anyone apart half the time, the lines were all over the place, I could barely follow what was going on! And I really cannot forgive Kanda's hair. THIS IS NOT DRAGON BALL!


I can't believe this, but I'm kind of almost excited that the Fourteenth has finally shown up. PLOT! Sweet Jesus plotis happening again! Maybe. Hopefully.

Now Kanda snap out of it and get Allen... 's body the fuck out of there!


I... have given up on Reborn ^^; Maybe it's the art, I don't know. I will stick to your fic, it is sweet, and sad, and nakama-y &hearts

[metisket.livejournal.com]

It's like she had the Kanda backstory worked out long, long ago. Maybe back before she LOST HER MIND. So it was an island of awesome in a sea of wtf.

Yes, it does seem like an odd time to be having what might as well be a sibling squabble. Meanwhile, what are the Earl and the Noah even doing? Apart from being decorative and making smirky faces, that is. Aren't they meant to be evil and ruthless? They are failing evil right now. WAH.

...IT COULD STILL TURN OUT OKAY, THOUGH. I thought the zombie arc was proof of Hoshino's descent into madness, but that turned out okay. Basically. o_O

Don't worry about the art, though. It'll be different by next month. XD

Oh my God, Reborn, I have NO IDEA why I keep reading that series. I have un-recommended it to so many people. And yet...STILL READING IT. WHAT.

Conceivably it's all on account of Tsuna's little face. Or Gokudera's pants. Possibly Hibari's handcuffs. Or Bianchi, as a phenomenon. idk, it's sure as hell not the plot. *shamed*

I'm happy you like the fic, though! ♥ There's a lot of awesome fic for that fandom. It's sort of strange.

[eiliem.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, I kind of loved the zombie arc. Partly, I think, because in my head it feels more like a side-story than... actual canon... plotiness.

And it was such delicious cracky madness. Oh Allen. And the robot. *giggles* &hearts

Yeaaah, the Noah. =_= Well... Tyki Mikk is attacking Fo. But yeah... >.>

On the other hand, they are generally chaotic evil, and seeing as they don't actually need to do anything because Kanda and Allen are fucking each other up all on their own >_< they could just be enjoying the show. The freaky mind-control one certainly seems to be doing so.

What was weirder was when Road was practically comforting Allen in Kanda's flashback.

I don't even. What.

Don't worry about the art, though. It'll be different by next month.

ORZ

That... mostly the art is awesome and shiny and really good, it just...

It gives DGM a lack of... cohesiveness. And affects the feel and the atmosphere and the tone and... it doesn't feel like the same story, sometimes. Which makes me sad.

Oh Reborn. Ahaha~

My One Piece fan-buddy naye has started watching the anime. Partly because she is addicted to shounen, partly to see just why it has such a huge following in Japan.

In her attempts to make it make sense oh god she has put together some pretty cracky theories. lol

Me, I read her posts and smile and nod and say "I will stick with shiny fic, thankyou". Though she seems to have discovered that (one of?) the lure(s?) of Reborn is the yaoi fangirl bait. And the pretty pretty doujinshi. You can't argue with pretty pretty doujinshi.

[metisket.livejournal.com]

Oh, the zombie arc. XD When it was ongoing, I was deeply, deeply worried. But then it turned out to be a random little series cul-de-sac, and suddenly it was fine and cute. :) Just...I remember all those weeks thinking, "This isn't what the series is going to be like from now on, is it? D:"

Road and Allen have always had kind of a hm relationship. Road doesn't seem to like anybody maiming Allen except for her. Bless. It's part of her creepy charm. She, at least, still makes sense to me. The rest, though, sigh...

Yeah, the art. ;_; I don't mind if she changes, I just wish she'd SLOW DOWN. You don't even have time to get attached to a style anymore. !!!

Haha, Reborn. XD You definitely can't argue with pretty doujinshi.

But I read naye's entry, and it caused me to give the series way too much serious thought, and I have decided! It's the potential. That's why people keep reading Reborn. It has all kinds of potential to be great, and even though it almost never delivers, SOMETIMES IT DOES, and you just can't stop yourself from hoping. Series is for masochists? But I'm pretty sure that's why a lot of fic is better than canon. The fic takes that potential and DOES something with it.

But canon does have its moments. There's one panel wherein Squalo has broken into a top-secret base with a giant tuna, and he's standing there, tuna in hand, calling everyone a bunch of fuckin' amateurs. I love that panel.

Plus, character development, which is sometimes amazing. For no one more than Tsuna, obviously, who started out genuinely reprehensible and believably ended up JESUS. It clearly drove naye crazy (lulz ^_^), but I actually love what a fail!shounen hero he is. I love that he doesn't want anything to do with any of this, because he SHOULDN'T, because it's INSANE. And I love that despite all that, he eventually comes to deserve the over-the-top affection people have for him. Somehow.

When Tsuna at long, long last, like after 150 chapters or so, starts saying ridiculously shounen things like, "I want to protect my friends!" ...that is a THOUSAND times more exciting than when Luffy or Ichigo or some actual shounen hero says something similar. A tear comes to your eye. "Oh Tsuna," you say, "I remember when you wanted to change your name and run away to Tahiti. They grow up so fast!"

So, yeah, when it's bad it's very very bad (this is most of the time), but when it's good, it's AWESOME. Reading it is some kind of mad exercise in Zen acceptance, though, because the story never makes sense, never, not ever. Every week I read the new chapter, say wtf was that? and then have to check makeste's journal for guidance on how to feel about it. o_O

God, I don't even know. The fake!mafia drives me insane without exception. INSANE. And the first, oh, 60-70 chapters were pretty much a waste of paper. Sigh.

So yes. That is why I read it. Also why I don't recommend it to anyone. ^_^;

/babble. :D