dgray_man | 189 RAW is Out! =D

Um. So. Aaaammm I the only one that sort of gets the feeling that maybe Hoshino-sensei went and watched a bunch of Ai no Kusabi during her break? Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, I'm just...not really sure if I want it in my D.Grayman. But yeah, the new style is just not doin' it for me, not at all. I know artists' styles change and develop over time, but I think maybe that's part of my problem. Instead of watching things go through a gradual evolution, she left us with one style and came back with a hugely different one, and now my brain is just refusing to recognize a lot of the characters. Does anyone else feel this way or am I just bein' a killjoy? They just don't look like themselves to me anymore. ~~Not that that stopped me for a second from screaming~~ ~~over scan_002, not at all >_>~~

Also, scan_021 for the tentacle raepz and holyshit, Tokusa's not dead! Whoo!

Edited 2009-12-02 07:32 (UTC)

The style has changed a lot, but the characters more or less look like themselves to me. Usually. Sometimes there are panels of Allen where I was like "Who the hell is that?" and that spoiler pic panel where I thought the 14th was Wisely....I prefer the style from the midpoint of the manga, but the current style doesn't look bad to me. I'm more focused on the plot and characters, though.

YAY LINK. And the other Crows...that alone made me fangirl this chapter like woah. I still think there are issues with the atmosphere and story, but things have picked up compared to 187. :)

Lol Tentacle!Alma. The placement of the Earl's hat on p19 is worse, though. ;A;

I am honestly over sensitive to art style changes, my friends have made fun of me for it for years, but I just can't help it -_- Maybe part of it's because I draw a lot - or I used to anyway. Right now with DG I feel like everybody's gone all round-faced and pretty overnight. There's a certain, mm, sameness to all the character's faces that makes them a little harder for me to distinguish now. I feel like certain body and facial features that kept the characters looking especially unique and distinct from one another have disappeared. One (really quite unimportant) thing that weirded me out was how much smaller and feminine Renee's suddenly gotten. A lot of the Victorian fantasy feel seems to have gone too. < /autism >

But. BUT. There was Link. And he looked basically Link-ish, spots, split eyebrows and all! Now I just have to find out what the heck he's saying. I'm mostly just relieved that he hasn't been forgotten, though. And as for the other Crows, Tokusa tumbling out of that coffin was not something I was expecting at all. I wonder if maybe Hoshino had a lot of fans writing in that were disappointed over his death, so she wrote him back in?

Despite my whine-ry over the art, I do agree with you on the overall chapter feel. Atmosphere and plot are still a little up, down, and all around, but things are looking much more promising. And I am ashamed of myself for not noticing the placement of the Earl's hat on p19. The placement of the whole Earl, really. Perhaps EarlxTykki is the new KandaxAllen?

Btw - did anyone else think the Earl's human form was a bit reminiscent of the little slice of Mana you see back in Chapter 135? (http://www.onemanga.com/D.Gray-Man/135/DGM_135_pg15/)

It's certainly a noticeable art change. It's one that happens to not bother me that much, though--but I do prefer Renee's more distinct old look, and Link's more angular face.

I didn't read the spoilers that closely, so when I saw Tokusa's name there I thought Allen was having a flashback. XD That part of the chapter was a pleasant surprise. I wonder if Hoshino did change her mind about Tokusa...The part where he "died" felt like an actual death scene, but then again manga series do fake-outs all the time. (Although, in contrast, I've never thought Cross was dead, despite that bloody "death scene.") If Editor Y really did come back, perhaps it was his advice. However, I also feel like Hoshino has been reluctant to kill of any remotely likable characters since many volumes back. I mean, for the supposedly tragic death scene after the Akuma attack, she chose to kill off Topp.

Whatever the reason was, I'm not complaining. :D

Hm, I'm not sure what parts of the dialogue were in the spoiler posts, and therefore what's been translated already...but Tevak had a dream that ended in her killing Allen, and Link's protectiveness kicks in. On p.4, after he grabs her hand:

Tevak: ...What is it?

Link: As the one inspecting Allen Walker, I've just heard something I can't overlook.

Tevak: ...And?

Link: I'm placing you under my surveillance until I confirm Allen Walker's safety.

Anyway...when it comes to the atmosphere, IMO all the humor in this chapter seemed misplaced at times. Other times it worked, though. ...Yes, the whole Earl, alas. XD

Quite a few people were discussing the Earl's similarity to Mana in prior chapter discussions.

Link and Renee, along with certain other characters, are definitely better suited to the sharper lines from before, imho. Is it stupid that I miss his funny eyelids? Oh well, Imma try to roll with it.

Tokusa's death scene definitely felt like it was intended to be final to me. Not only was it violent, but being so newly introduced, there wasn't any solid reason not to kill him. Killing Cross would be a much bigger deal, and his "death scene" was left very open to interpretation. I don't believe he's really dead either, and I'm happy that Hoshino decided that Tokusa was worth keeping around too.

Thanks for the Link/Tevak translation! It made me happy to know Link's still got his duty on his brain ^^

Yeah, the funny was a little oddly distributed in this chapter. Way to go Mister Mikk, squashing your boss.

Eesh, I kind of figured people would've had to have noticed the Earl/Mana thing, but by the time I thought of it there were so many chapter comments I sort of lazied out on going through all of them. 'Cuz I'm lazy :D;;

Renee weirded me out too. I'm pretty accepting of the art change, but she changed WAY too drastically, WAY too suddenly.

I think Hoshino's definitely trying to tell us something with the Earl looking so much like Mana. I just wish I knew what. >\

Allen also calls the Earl "Brother" when he's all 14th'd out. Cross said that the 14th and Mana were brothers. I think the hinting has become ham-fisted enough that we can say "the Earl is Mana," or at the very least, that there were THREE brothers, and Cross neglected to mention that. :P

The only reason I'm not assuming that Earl = Mana = Earl = Mana is that Allen sure raised someone as an Akuma. I guess the Earl could have made a toy to seem like an Akumana, and given Allen his special eye etc., but that seems unnecessarily convoluted. The simplest explanation as far as I can tell: the 14th, Mana, and the Earl were all brothers.

I'm still a little confused about what all went on in 187, but from what I was getting I guess all of the Noah are more or less "related" and all of humanity has at least some Noah genes.

On the other hand, the "brother" thing might just have been a term of implied familiarity instead of a sign of actual blood relation. I guess finding out will be part of the fun.

I... really want to find out a bit more about their relation to one another. Hoshino better have a good explanation to it. :c

Augh, yes. I am protective of Tyki, who seemed a lot more distinguished before with his elongated face and more er... sharp? features. Now he's round, Kanda's round, Allen's round, everyone's sort of the same. So yes, a lot of... sameness.

oh god you -- the hat-- oh god. ~~Allen gets his face in Alma's crotch, which I thought was hilarious. BUT NOW I SEE THE HAT POSITION-- oh Hoshino!~~

& I forget if I had a point or not here. I think Hoshino died and someone took over, because this isn't really... D.G-M anymore. It's like some bondage boyband in space with artificial people and devils and MPD. With badly drawn hands.

Too much roundness--I liked the variety of more masculine faces. Tokusa's changed so much in the space of a few chapters, and he looks waaaay younger and more feminine than he did initially. And Tyki looks more generic now, which is sad.

The hat killed me. :(

The special Noah outfits, at least, could have been avoided. ~~I still blame Sheryl.~~

Too toooo much roundness. And yeah, when Tokusa first showed up he was honestly a tad creepy looking. But I liked that.

I am choosing to ignore the hat from here on out, if only out of self preservation.

And as for the Noah family's new clothes, um - I think Sheryl is absolutely beside himself with joy. ~~You know he designed them himself.~~

Indeed--I think Tokusa is supposed to be creepy.

SAME.

Yeees, the design just screams "Sheryl's fault." ~~He designed Tyki's first. Possibly years ago.~~

Ah, yes. Chapter 187 marked the day Tyki finally understood why Sheryl'd been following him around with a tape measure since puberty.

I wish he'd cut his hair like whoa, because that'd keep him from looking too much like Cyril/Sheryl - but I think Hoshino has a thing for long haired boys. :| I sort of mourn the way he looked in the Arc, nicely dressed and not showing off his hips aaaaahhhhh.

I c-can't look away from the hat!

(He probably made them to be supa fab. Or had Tricia hand sew them...)

I'll always miss the way he looked the first time you saw his "black" form ;_;

And why does the image of Tricia lovingly hand sewing those outfits make me laugh so hard? XD

Your icon killed my brain, btw.

Yes, he could use a haircut. I liked the curly, pulled-back hair he used to have.

Now I'm picturing the entire hat area blurred out...censorship might only make it worse, though.

Thank you for the much better picture of Tricia placidly sewing the Noah uniforms and asking "What are these for, dear?" *is a closet Tricia fan*

Your icon wins.

IAWTC ->>bondage boyband in space with artificial people and devils and MPD. With badly drawn hands.

Also with the contagious roundness. What's up with that? I miss the sharper features and details. I also miss Tyki's curls when they were swept back off of his face, but that's been gone for a while now :(

I liked the sharpness and the sort of sketchy feel, which is now getting stamped out of existence. I'll mourn those curls too, but I figure they have to show up sometime (if he ever goes back to his white life, because it might be hard to explain the growth, sob) or well. I hope. ;=;

I only just noticed this chapter, although it's been showing since 187, that Tyki's got his Stigmata on his throat. I feel like such a derp for not noticing it. :|

Other than that, he seems to be controlling his leafy-vines. (Wtf is with Noah and tentacle-like things.) Like in page 19 when he's blocking Kanda's attack. Which leads me to believe the Armor he had back in the Arc consisted of the vines? They seemed to engulf him then, anyway. I found it interesting. ♥

And hrrrgh. Where is Lenalee and Lavi. They need to show up soon. & I must know what Kanda says to make everyone throw an ellipse-party.

Hm, Allen and Tyki have gotten pretty scarred since their encounter on the Ark....

Kanda's reaction to Alma was "Who the hell is that." Thus the ellipses.

Lavi has been absent for so long considering he's one of the most central characters. Lenalee too, to a lesser extent.

I don't even remember the last time I saw Krory or Miranda, either. Sigh.

After cycling through a translation, I'm just deflating again due to the fact it'll be another month before more manga. /sadfaaaaace

I periodically forget that Crowley exists.

I'm still happy because of the Crows in this chapter. XD

*sniff*

Mediafire link please? Thanks in advance!

~~Is going to be out for camp from next morning to Friday night so she's desperate~~

189 RAW is Out! =D

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