D.Gray-man / First Impressions

Summary:
Allen’s ordering of a ton of food in the mess hall is interrupted by a fight between Kanda and a Finder named Buzz. Because Kanda is showing no respect for the Finders, Buzz tries to punch him, though to no avail. Kanda instead grabs Buzz’s throat and claims that the Finders weren’t the ones chosen with Innocence. All the other Finders in the dining room rush to defend their comrade, but Allen steps in the way first by grabbing Kanda’s arm. Kanda still hates Allen’s type, and he thinks Allen will die soon, much like these Finders. Their argument is cut short by the arrival of Lenalee and Reever, the latter of whom tells them that they’ve got a mission. After Reever wakes Komui up by telling him that Lenalee is getting married, Komui tells Allen and Kanda that they’ll be working together in South Italy where Innocence has been found.
Before he leaves, Allen gets a black coat – proof that he’s an Exorcist. Then, along with Kanda and a Finder, Allen’s group of three jumps onto and boards a moving train. The two Exorcists are given a First Class room, though the Finder has to wait outside. Reading up on their mission, Allen realizes that their target is the Ghost of Mater, but is confused what connection a ghost has with Innocence. The Finder explains that a lot about Innocence has changed between the time of the great flood and now. It can exist in various forms, but it always causes a mysterious phenomenon. There is said to be Innocence in mysterious places, which is why they investigate them. At this point, Allen goes outside his room and introduces himself to the Finder, whose name is Toma. He tells Allen more about the Ghost of Mater, who was a previous resident of the city of Mater. In order to cure its loneliness, it drags off people who get close to the city. The Finders go out to investigate the rumors on the off chance that there is truth in them. If they do happen to find Innocence, that’s where the Exorcists come in.
On site, a group of Finders have confined two Akuma in barriers until the arrival of the Exorcists. However, they come under sudden attack by a third Akuma. As Allen’s group rapidly approaches the city by foot, Kanda warns that he’ll abandon Allen even if Allen is going to be killed if it is getting in the way of them accomplishing their mission. Allen doesn’t agree that sacrifices are an indispensable part of battle, but the three of them continue on. They find the Ghost of Mater protected inside a barrier erected by the Finders, but now under heavy attack by an Akuma. Allen sees more fighting going on in a different direction and rushes off to help. With the power of his arm, he manages to destroy one of the two Akuma, but is too late to save the Finder. Kanda meanwhile uses his sword to destroy the third Akuma and then gets the release code, “Have hope,” of the barrier device from the remaining dying Finder. Deactivating the barrier then reveals two people: a guy named Guzol and a girl named Lala – the Ghost of Mater.
Allen goes up against the one remaining Akuma, but it suddenly starts to evolve and levels up into a more humanoid form. He also sees that Kanda has rescued the Ghost of Mater, but Kanda refuses to help Allen because Kanda blames him for acting on his emotions. And so, while Kanda escapes with the Innocence, Allen faces off against the evolved Akuma. After trading hits, Allen sends a large slab of a wall at the Akuma, forcing the Akuma to destroy it. Allen was hiding on part of that slab and uses the opening to slay the Akuma. However, he then realizes that what he destroyed wasn’t the Akuma – it was only a fake. He suddenly finds a reverse copy of himself standing behind him, and the copy digs its left claw arm into Allen’s chest. There now appear to be two Allens.

Preview

This starts out as an innocent episode (no pun intended), but gets plenty of action in the second half. We see that Level 2 Akuma aren’t just mindless blobs with guns and actually have personalities, though they remain just as ugly if not uglier. Speaking of looks, Guzol bears quite a resemblance to Black Mage. Anyway, Allen and Kanda get to show off their stuff, and Kanda also gets to show that he’s quite a jerk to almost everyone, especially to the Finders and to Allen. But I’m sure Kanda will warm up to Allen eventually, whether he admits it or not.
Next week, we’ll probably get to see Allen fight himself in the continuation of this arc, which is likely going to take two more episodes.

22 Comments

  9. But I’m sure Kanda will warm up to Allen eventually, whether he admits it or not.

    Nah, even in the current chapters they don’t get along at all. But after this mission they don’t see each other again for around 8 volumes…>_>

    My main complaint with the anime is that it’s so dark, hard to see what’s going on.

    Kim
    Reply

  14. I got hooked on this series when the first ep came out (read the whole manga series to the current chapter) but what bothers the hell outta me is that I really can’t see the detail of the ep due to it being taken place at night.

    Bakanekokun
    Reply

  17. T^T I haven’t read that far in the manga [only done with 1st volume] was Allen really that week against the akuma? D:
    Nice eppy, I wonder what happens with Kanda, Allen, and the Finder. =]

    Shii
    Reply

  19. Well, Akuma level 1s are pretty much cannon fodder against any exorcist, even Finders can handle those with barriers… Most of the time. Level 2 Akumas are worse though. They’re at a whole new level, pardon the pun, and it’s at this point Akumas start to become a real danger to Exorcists. You’ll see plenty more level 2s from here on out.

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Vincent
    Reply

  21. “I’m sure Kanda will warm up to Allen eventually, whether he admits it or not.”

    Show Spoiler ▼

    kurotsuki
    Reply

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