D.Gray-man – 35

Summary:

Lenalee’s orders from Komui are to head to Spain to join up with Allen in searching for Cross, but Gozu to go to a border town to help a different Exorcist search for General Sokaro. Since he doesn’t want to go alone because of a rumor of wolf attacks in a nearby forest, Gozu convinces Lenalee accompany him part of the way. Inside the forest, Gozu starts running in fear as soon as he hears the howls of wolves, and he happens to run into an armed group of villagers. These people have escaped from their village that was under attack by wolves and are heading to town to get help for those that they left behind. However, they then discover that one of the children Jessica is missing, though her subsequent scream allows them to find her. Surrounded by a pack of wolves, Jessica’s life is in danger when suddenly a strong burst of wind blows all the wolves away. The person who saved Jessica is an Exorcist whom Lenalee recognizes as Suman Dark. It seems that Suman is the Exorcist that Gozu was supposed to meet up with, and Suman wants to leave right away, but Lenalee suggests that they escort the villagers to town. Suman at first refuses to do it because it’s not an order from headquarters, however when they come under attack again by wolf-shaped Akuma, he and Lenalee fight.

With Lenalee’s help, Suman is able to destroy the Akuma, and ends up escorting the villagers to town. Gozu and Lenalee then suggest that Suman help save the people left back in the village, but Suman again refuses because it’s not part of his mission. It is not until Jessica cries for Suman to save her sick mother and offers him a coin as payment that he finally agrees. They eventually arrive at Jessica’s house and reunite her with her mother, but it’s too late in the day for them to return to town, so they decide to spend the night. Later in the evening, Lenalee notices Suman looking a pocket watch, but he closes it before she gets close. Lenalee asks him if he still is bitter about being brought to the Black Order because she knows that he hadn’t wanted to become an Exorcist. In response, Suman questions who would willingly exchange their life for Akuma and monsters. Lenalee then recalls how she was forcibly brought to the Black Order and was restrained until her brother arrived three years later. However, she feels now that the Black Order is her everything, and she fights for the sake of her comrades. The Black Order is the same as family for her, and she will do anything to protect her family. Jessica then comes out of the house wanting to play chess with Suman, and he agrees to do so.

The howls of wolves soon alert them to the fact that the house is surrounded. Wolves suddenly burst through the windows, so Suman uses his wind power to blow them all away. Unfortunately, there are two more wolf-shaped Akuma who are a lot tougher than their brethren. One of them grabs Jessica, and when Suman tries to save her, he gets bitten by the other one. Because he has a parasite-type anti-Akuma weapon though, Suman isn’t affected by the Akuma’s poison and uses an opportunity to blast away one of the Akuma. After Lenalee kicks the other one to free Jessica, the two Exorcists work together to finish of the two Akuma. In the aftermath, the group brings Jessica and her mother to town, and Suman returns Jessica’s coin before leaving with Gozu. Lenalee meanwhile meets up with Allen and tells him what happened. Allen thinks that Suman is actually quite a kind person, and Lenalee feels that he definitely has a family that’s precious to him. In fact, Suman does have someone – a daughter – whose photo is inside his pocket watch.

Preview

Once again, this wasn’t a bad episode, but not great either. It was pretty obvious as soon as the girl Jessica was introduced that this episode was ultimately going to be about the nice kind of person Suman is and how he has a daughter. It sets us up nicely for what happens in the manga, but I have my doubts about if we’re ever going to get there. Suman’s parasite-type anti-Akuma weapon was also interesting to see, but overall not that impressive. Still, they did a good job animating the first fight scene, particularly with Lenalee’s parts.
As for next week, the preview makes me hope next week sets us up for more appearances by the Noah family.