Checking for life signs

[prettyarbitrary]

You know what, I don't know whether anybody's still alive in here, but I'm going to throw down a post just in case. I only just found D.Gray-man, SO many years late, but I'm vibrating out of my skin wanting to talk about it.

Comments

[nagaina]

I am waaaaay out of date on recent releases but I'm still here!

[prettyarbitrary]

Yeah, I imagine that's how I'll end up approaching it too. They come out so slowly; better to just occasionally remember they're there and then go on a reading binge.

I really kind of want to launch into conversations about child soldiers and the innocence as shackles and complicated villainy, but I don't know if that's the done thing around here.

[mudousetsuna]

That sounds like a really fun conversation to me, so you can count my interest in!

[mudousetsuna]

HOLY CRAP HI! Never thought I'd see this community alive again!

[prettyarbitrary]

Many things are possible in times of great chaos. :D

Honestly, ever since I saw the anime and read the manga a few weeks ago, I've been bugging friends about it, and it seems everyone I know loves DGM, they've just been too distracted to think about it in a while.

[mudousetsuna]

Sounds like you're ready to rally all the straggling exorcists up, lol!

So you're new into it? I admit I've fallen out of it, but mostly because things have been so slow getting new content, and the quality has been hit or miss (in my experience) in trying to understand what's going on. But a few months ago I caught up a bit and did like some of the latest stuff, especially regarding Link!

Who is your favorite character? What drew you to the series?

[prettyarbitrary]

Yeah, when the new issues come out so slowly, it's a little rough when you have one or two slow ones. But having basically mainlined the entire thing in the space of a week, it all seems like it falls together really well.

Link is fascinating! My favorite is Allen, probably because I'm always easy for the main characters, but everyone's been given such loving attention and terrible...terrible backstories, dear lord, this woman is some kind of evil genius of character torture.

Which, uh, leads me to what drew me to it. I'm of the school that believes you can judge the main character in a story by who gets the crap kicked out of them worst. So, you know. Aces there.

[mudousetsuna]

I looove when characters go through dramatic stuff so they can grow from it! For me it gets boring fast if they aren't struggling, so I agree with you! And Allen is great! I like Komui too, for that matter. He puts up with so much. He has sacrificed so much even though he isn't on the front lines. When the Black Order gets attacked, somehow he manages to hold it together even when Lenalee has to give up more of her freedom so she can fight properly. Though he almost didn't. That is one of my most favorite parts of the manga, when all of the regular people without abilities had to band together and hold out against the attack.

So on that note, Komui, Johnny, Reever, Allen, Lavi, Bookman, and Link are probably my biggest favorites!

[prettyarbitrary]

Komui is a PRECIOUS BEAN. Who drinks way too much coffee and is clearly permanently loopy from sleep-deprivation. But what a good.

And I know what you mean. I am REALLY thrilled that the non-powered folks get so much screen time. It's wonderful to see more than one way of being brave, and frankly it makes the exorcists and the way they live and fight more meaningful too.

I adore Linali as well. When she fought that first level 3, I was floored because I realized how seldom I get to see a female character go all out, take a beating and make sacrifices for victory just like the men do. And then again when she and Allen fought the level 4: same thing but also we got to see her being treated as a comrade and equal in combat--even leading the fight at some points. Pretty awesome.

[mudousetsuna]

HE DOES DRINK TOO MUCH! It's like an alcoholic but with the chronic sleep-in/work avoidance instead! I tried keeping coffee in hand for a day when I cosplayed him once and ended up with pains in my side! He is not human.

Yeah, she balances the character development really well, I think. Though I got frustrated with later chapters seeming to hyper focus on only the Noah clan and all of that. I know it's what we all want to know, I just hope that Krory, Miranda, Chaoji and the rest of the Black Order aren't lost in the dust for a bit. Lenalee and Miranda are great girl characters and I want to see more of them!

[summerbutterfly]

I can't remember even where I last left off, but I'm SO EXCITED to see things coming up on my Friends page again, I wanted to say hi!!!

[prettyarbitrary]

Yay! I'm thinking about posting a couple metas in here at some point, because one of the ways I enjoy shows is by thinking about them too much. And I still see a couple of new fics being posted into AO3 most days, so things aren't totally dead.