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Turns out my newest cat Juno really enjoys dgm rewatches too.

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i think it is time to bring them back

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Jump SQ Rise 2023 Spring Postcards (D. Gray Man)

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I love how we collectively as a fandom have just glossed over the fact Bookman has loads of kids running around.

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I think what’s also interesting is seeing how dgm has changed over time. I’ve been a fan for 16+ years and when I first got into it, it was still squarely shounen, and part of the top 3 series in Japan at the time.

But then it went on a long break, so long that people kind of forgot about it, unless they were already big fans. I went to Japan just as Hallow was finishing and could only find one person who had even heard of it, even the series itself was broadcast at 1am.

But I also think this step away from the limelight has helped Hoshino and dgm break away from shounen conventions. Hoshino herself has been noted to of wanted to take the series down a seinen/sci-fi route over shounen, making it a much more mature story.

Which is honestly, the best decision she could’ve made, considering even by shounen now dgm is brutal and tragic, but it’s kept up with the old fans who grew up (OGs here in our 30s don’t want to read about “friendship always wins!” Cos we are too old to get with that) and encourages new fans who want a more approachable seinen or mature story (because I think in general, the generational shift has made typical shounen harder to get along with. It’s also not full of gore and boobs like a lot of seinen).

I love how dgm tells a really mature, tragic story and doesn’t ignore the horrific events these kids have to go through, and the people that put them through it.

It’s… more D.Gray-Man meta.

Anyway, something I really love about D.Gray-Man, which I think confuses a lot of people, is that it’s a tragedy hiding in a shounen. A lot of the things which are framed as Positive Shounen Growth are actually the setup for tragedy.

I think this turns off readers on two counts:

A) Though I don’t think Hoshino’s perfect, I have a lot of trust in her ability to know when a plot beat is tragic, even if it isn’t portrayed that way at the time. There’s a lot of really dissonant plot beats where the show is playing it like a victory, but, if you think about it for five seconds, are Pretty Messed Up. I think, without that trust, it can easily feel like “wait, why is this being played like a win??? Isn’t this bad???“

B) On the flipside, if you trust shounen convention, you’re going to end up feel like your ‘wins‘ keep getting ‘stolen‘. The characters keep doing things that make them powerful and selfless! Why does that keep making things bad.

Because, at the core, it’s a series about how the traits that make a good shounen hero ARE tragic. Shounen values self-sacrifice, power, and perseverance. D.Gray-Man understands that these are BAD things for a teenage child soldier. In the face of the apocalypse, having those traits may keep the characters alive, but characters becoming more ‘powerful‘ and ‘motivated‘ in D.Gray-Man often means they are actively turning away from the stable, healthy option. Often, the healthy option is not survivable, but even when the unhealthy option is heroic, it’s still tragic.

Let’s talk specific moments

Keep reading

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As I near turning 31 I think back on my time as a dgm fan for 16 years.

And realise that the last time we saw Lavi I was an actual teenager. Now I get heartburn after a cup of tea and wake up with random knee pain, I have to plan social events in advance to prepare my body for staying up late. I can’t get up from kneeling without grunting and I barely know how to use Snapchat and get confused over slang, and STILL NO SIGN OF LAVI.

Also, in all my time being a fan, Lavi has been away longer than he was actually there.

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Considering he’s British, which used to be super Christian, he probably has at least an inkling, though I get he might not understand his importance as a religious figure, maybe more like the tooth fairy or something.

Just had the realization that, given all of his education came from Mana (who was Unwell and a Noah) and Cross (who didn’t even explain what innocence is), Allen Walker, the literal exorcist that works for the Vatican, might not know who Jesus Christ is

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Honestly me to anyway who says “so what’s it about?”

SO THIS CLOWN OF A KID THAT IS NAMED AFTER A DOG THAT HIS FOSTER DAD AND HIM DID SHOWS IN THE SAME CIRCUS WITH BUT THEN HIS DAD GOT AMNESIA CUZ HE FORGOT THAT THE KID HAS HIS TWIN'S BROTHERS MEMORIES INSIDE HIM AND THAT HIS BROTHER AND HIM FORM AN IMMORTAL IDENTITY AND THEN THE KID ACTUALLY TRIES TO KILL HIS FOSTER DAD CUZ HE GETS CONFUSED...

... AND THEN THERE IS THIS OTHER GRUMPY KID THAT GETS REENCARNATED INTO...

... AND THEN THERE IS THIS OTHER KID THAT THINKS THAT THEIR FRIENDS ARE THEIR WORLD...

... AND THEN THERE IS THIS OTHER KID THAT IS PART OF A SECRET SOCIETY OF HISTORIANS...

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Me just zooming in on Kanda’s calf in that top left panel 👀

kanda and allen but the do you still have eyelashes vid https://youtu.be/s0Ols3LJGtM

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It’s even better when you know JJK author is a DGM fan and referenced it.

Also JJK is really good.

I don’t think many people understand what my struggle was as a long-time D.Gray-Man reader when Jujutsu Kaisen (a manga I won’t touch with a 10ft pole) became big.

Because this dude at first glance, whoever he is

LOOKS LIKE TYKI

DAMMIT, it’s the forehead and the hair

I couldn’t unsee it and even now I STILL CANNOT

Anyway now every time this JJK dude pops up on my dash I just see Tyki Mikk

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I can’t get enough of this dgm Wuxia Au, so i drew more in the past few days. Got some more inspirations from Hanfu, and I had to retouch their outfit a bit more. I personally really like Lavi and Kanda’s outfit, what’s your guys preference? 

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📖 A-Z CHARACTER CHALLENGE 🔤

WITH @HANAE-ICHIHARA

↪ 25/26 - Yū Kanda ✧ 神田ユウ { D. Gray-man Hallow }

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I finally got a couple of days off so I’m taking the time to revisit old fandoms <3 

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Considering HQ is in the UK, and a push for socialised healthcare had been a thing since 1909, and considering this is an alternate history, I’m going to go with the NHS already being a thing. For the exorcists sake.

The Order absolutely does not provide health insurance. Everyone is just fucked

okay you're most likely right, but on the other hand I can totally picture Komui going to hell and beyond to make Health Insurance a thing there.

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god gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers

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It was my birthday over the holidays, I’m now as old as Komui.

And I too drink 50 cups of coffee a day while ignoring my research and responsibilities.