D.GRAY-MAN 200

[kohikari]

CHAPTER INDEX
CHAPTER 193
CHAPTER 194 (was not interesting enough to take notes on, apparently)
CHAPTER 195
CHAPTER 196
CHAPTER 197
CHAPTER 198
CHAPTER 199 (a.k.a. "the D.Gray-version of Naruto #347 and #386, combined")


200 - "SEED OF DESTRUCTION"  (that doesn't sound ominous at all)

p01
- "mater"  *desperately wants to make an alma mater joke, but doesn't know any songs about it*
- "far-off land unreachable by any being" uh, honey, it's plenty reachable, you and Kanda and Touma and that annoying mirror Akuma sure found it easy.  and Italy isn't that far from the Vatican and the Order's HQ and so on and so forth.  not to mention the fact that the Earl might still have access to Alma, seeing as he's currently, like, made of pieces of the Earl's soul and all.
- (also, by this point I'd kind of expected the art to be getting less weird; instead, Allen's hair is rebelling.  this makes me sad.  I kind of miss how things looked before the hiatus.  It was easier to tell characters apart, at least.)

p02
- molokidan again~

p03
- oooh, we get to see their entry?
- how convenient, they crash-land on sand instead of marble.  no splattings, hurrah.
- "the final land" ...are you trying to hint at something, Hoshino?

p04
- I'm going to be mature here and not make a sex joke.  *go me*
- so the bookending and the symbolism--blue sky, back to the beginning--though if they stay down there it's not like they're going to see the sky again.  hm.

p05
- ...did that gate shard just set his hand on fire?
- and what's the significance of the question mark?
- somehow I'm reminded of the falling stars in Howl's Moving Castle.  "let me fall!  let me fall!"
- (tho' I call that more disintegrating than collapsing...)

p06
- also when is Kanda's hair going to be dark again.  all this not-shading of it makes me think bad things about Hoshino's penchant for purple...
- "poor thing... / I understand... / Akuma, offshoots of the Millennium Earl, can feel...it... / that child is a Noah..."
- (alt trans from one of the spoiler threads: "poor child...I understand that...the Akuma part of me that's of the Millennium Earl can...feel it...that child is a Noah...and also...badly, with the Earl--!"  what with the Earl?  cursed?  in love?  WHAAAT???  *flailflail*)
- (oh wait no, I was wrong, there is a separate globe in Alma's Akuma body, my b.  that's what was the epicentre of the self-destruct explosion, not the heart.)

p07
- couple things: (a) goddammit Alma why do you never finish your damn sentences (" [...] and I...the Earl...") (b) why, again, does he/she/ze not want to be, y'know, saved?  I totally understand the hatred of Innocence, but not so much the willingness to have your soul be crushed into oblivion by Dark Matter.  also Kanda going along with this, whut?
- "lol you get to watch me die :DDD"  [/is a terrible person]

p08
- ah, Touyi/Twi.  the D.Gray-world will forever mourn the loss of your epic hotness.  (and, um, yeah, Edgar was nice too...)
- hm.  something tells me the translation for this chapter is a bit off.

p09
- yeah, but if she's erased, what's left of her but memory, and what's left at all once Kanda and Allen and Road and Wisely die?  (I think those were the only ones to bear witness to the memories...)
- geez.  Hoshino really isn't laying it on subtly, is she?  next thing you know Alma will ask Kanda to sing him/her/zir (or whatever the genderqueer 'whom' pronoun is) a lullaby.
- (if that's Lulu bell, I'm'a cut a bitch.  LET THIS STORY ARC END ALREADY.  just let it die.)
- (however, if it's not Lulu bell, then it's just a cute tarantula.  say it with me!: awww~)
- (wait, are tarantulas even endemic to Italy?)
- (seriously, WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TARANTULA?????)

p10
- may this be the last of the Alma shouta buttshots ever inflicted upon us.  amen.
- also, whut?  hallucination à la what got him frozen disposal treatment?  overblown metaphor for a soul passing on?  (except it's not passing on, dammit, it's disappearing, it's been drilled into our heads over and over that Innocence, for all its foibles, is the only way to free a soul from an Akuma and allow it to move on into the afterlife.)
- (I'm so happy Kanda's torso has looked like an actual flesh-and-blood human's these past two chapters.  it's refreshing to be anatomically correct.  pity about the arms, but one can't have everything...)

p11
- also, why are there two of them?  is this to symbolise how the Second Exorcists can never again truly be the people they once were?
- also: yay, flowerzzz.

p12
- mud metaphor?  (bloop bloop bloop...)

p13
- wait, what?  your lolsoulmaet's last words are "I love you" and your only response is "yeah"?  XD;;  like we needed more proof that the kid's emotionally stunted.

p14
- is that a breast or a man-tit?  I mean, I've heard that this proves that Kiredori was a guy, buuut I'm not seeing it.
- also, what effect does Alma's change and dissolution have on his/her/zir? offshoots?  does it make it better?  worse?  Tevak's holding on, but that might just be because Link's there to distract her with his badassery.  mmm, Link. ♥  we haven't heard from Madarao in quite a while, last we checked Bak and For were holding off Tokusa, and Kiredori and Goushi are presumably getting their asses handed to them by the Generals and Lenalee and Krory.  (Lavi, Marie, Bookman, and Chaozii, meanwhile, are somewhere in China with a Noah in their faces and absolutely no freaking clue as to what's going on.  must be maddening.)
- hm.  also, what's the prognosis on Kanda's life?  is it all used up?  is he going to die now too?  I don't think the fangirls would like that very much.  [/understatement]  (although I'd love to see the reaction of the Yullen fangirl who spoiled 199 for me; she's under the impression that Allen will defect to join Kanda and they'll live happily ever after and Alma doesn't even matter.  ah, fandom, how well you support the delusional.)

p15
- mmm, Socalo.  that man gets things done.  had he been in North America instead of Allen, this story arc wouldn't have lasted more than fifteen pages.  nothin' but carnage, baby.
- (nice earrings, dude.  XD) (although, why doesn't he wear his mask anymore?  did Hoshino realise his power of fanservice?)
- XD he even has a blade of grass between his teeth.  this is a walk in the park for him.  (I forget, I know he was in Mexico, but the translations I've seen of the fanbook disagree as to whether he was an executioner or actually on death row.)

p16
- "once they become Akuma, they aren't allies anymore.  they're just targets that need to be smashed."  I love you, Socalo.  You and your random-ass tattoos and your gratuitous bling-bling and the fact that your Innocence is named "Madness"... ♥
- (poor Miranda PTSD-ing in the background.  it's okay, dear, they weren't main characters.  most of the fans have probably forgotten them already.)

p17
- I kind of miss pre-puberty JasDevi.  still flamboyant, though.  "you can't believe this?  I can't believe this!"
- nice PR move, announcing to all the Exorcists that their Christ-figure is about to fall.  they don't mention a thing about his Noah ADD, though.  somehow I doubt he'll ever remain Fourteeny for more than thirty megalomaniacal seconds before getting distracted by a forsaken soul or something.
- (o-tay, Lulu bell looks kinda freaky today.  maybe it's the fact that her human face is worming its way out of a dragon's muzzle.)
- "attention exorcists: kanda yuu woke up the '14th.' / allen walker will become a noah very soon now. // you need to make another choice now. / believe the '14th' / or, just like you destroyed the thirds... destroy allen walker. // he will definitely become a seed of destruction to you all.  this public service announcement was brought to you by the foundation for a better life"

p18
- nice.  who harpooned Goushi with a friggin' stalagmite?
- lol ultimatum.  like that's going to go over well.  when Allen's involved, it's always Supposedly Nonexistent Option Number Three.
- (poor Lenaleeeee.  she's such a woobie.  *squishes*)
- (wait, she didn't have to kill Goushi all on her own, did she?  where are Timothy/Tiedoll and Klaud in this scenario?  girl's already had enough nervous breakdowns to last a lifetime, and considering that all she values in the entire world are her precious people and the rest can go to hell for all she cares it's kind of bad for her psyche to be forced to execute a comrade.  like, Allen Walker kind of bad.)

p19
- Chaozii's having an aneurysm and the Bookmen have pulled a Cross.  unsurprising in and of itself.  (oh man, Marie.  oh, man, Tiedoll.  how're they going to react to Kanda being gone?)
- I figure Chaozii's ailment is linked to either the Fiddler's 'Corrosion' power or the strain of finally being proven right on the treasonousness of Allen Walker.  must've been tough to be only backed up on the subject by Lvellie, Link, and Kanda-senpai.
- Bookman, on the other hand, may have finally decided that they're in too deep and decided to pull out of the Order, taking Lavi with him (that should elicit some fun angst).  this may have been prompted by the Noah's Public Service Announcement or some other indication that the water is getting too hot and we must skedaddle.
- I like using small font too much.

p20
- whoops, there goes For.  we'll miss you, For.  ragdoll Road and falling-out-of-her-top Renny just aren't enough to balance out the insanity on their own.
- (of course, since this is a manga, Bak doesn't lose an eye to the crystal shrapnel.)
- hee, what a cute way to go.  oh, For~  ♥
- (tho' I do miss the Noah's distinct and unique powers.  this generic hadouken/kamehameha stuff is really cliché.)

p21
- I'm sorry, I can't see "the organisation" anymore without thinking of Kingdom Hearts.  'minds me of all the conflicting translations of "Black Order," too--"Dark Religious Organisation," anyone?

p22
- Lvellie has lines!  :D  ♥ ♥ ♥
- (is the Earl still tied up with Clown Belt?)
- srsly though.  why is it with the "ALLEN WALKER!" as if you're shocked that's he's continuing to be a battle busybody and riding in to save the day.

p23
- Lvellie has more lines~ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
- (at least this answers my Kiredori question.  Tokusa has the same moobs.)
- (wait, why is Allen on fire?)
- "how could you let both alma karma and kanda yuu escape" um have you not learned anything about allen walker in the months you've had link stalking him.  he doesn't like to see people die.  ergo him giving Kanda and Alma their happy ending in the bowels of a forgotten city in the Mediterranean, instead of killing one and forcing the other to continue serving the organisation it's already been established he has damn good reason to hate, not to mention the fact that I'd like to see Lvellie try to make Kanda Yuu do something he doesn't want to do.  (like herding cats, that one.)

p24
- Lvellie continues to give Allen a righteous scolding, Allen looks grim, and jellified Tokusa is crying.  awww.
- (btw where are the Noah in all this.  they didn't just ~maaagically~ disappear.  I think.)

p25-26
- hm.  shades of Suman Dark and Allen diving into the body of the togaochi to rip him out.
- oh, Earl.  you're not helping yourself.  you'd be better off letting them think Allen's wilfully extending the Thirds' suffering than broadcasting that the kid hasn't wavered from his save-all-things message.

p27
- Allen Walker, ladies and gentlemen.  never afraid to get his hands dirty.
- "so this...is an expression of our sins?"  yes, Zuu.  it is a literal personification of the Black Order's sins of human experimentation.  how have you not gotten this yet?  it's only been the point of the past dozen chapters.
- if only who didn't exist, Renny?  you would what?  god, people, finish your damn sentences.  (someone else's interpretation of that remark points toward her blaming the Earl; that would make sense, yes, it's just painfully vague.)

p28
- ah, Lvellie.  still going on thinking Allen's going to listen to him.  you delusional man, you.  I think you're better off baking delicious delicious pastries and writing recipe books for Link to pore over.
- (you must admire the man's fortitude, though.  all this shit going down in front of his face, kidnapped and tortured by sexual predators Noah, and he still has the strength and presence of mind to nag at the kid saving all their asses.)

p29
- (pfff.  as if anything short of fanfic could separate Allen Walker from his Exorcist mission.)
- Allen, of course, learned long ago to ignore anything that comes out of Lvellie's mouth during a crisis.  he just resigns himself to extra paperwork with Link afterwards.

p30
- "these are just Alma's cells" yeah, permeating his entire body.  lol biologyfail.  (unless he was going for 'you are more than the sum of your parts'?)
- awww, the good ol' appeal to their sense of honor/ego approach.  "get it together, man!"  *slap of sanitifying*

p31
- (of course, by now the Allen/Tokusa ship probably has its own manifesto.  sail on, yaoi fangirls.  sail on.)
- aaand Allen still has Mugen in hand.  are they ever going to be able to revert it to pure Innocence form while Kanda is still alive?  something tells me no...

p32
- *snicker*  oh, Link.  you picked the absolute worst time to show up.  and still remembering how Wisely put that idea into Tevak's head.  you should have learned by now not to listen to Noah, dude.
- d'awww, and he has Tevak in a little ofuda'd bundle under one arm.  yeah, I so ship them.

(Seriously, though, if that was Kanda's death scene, the only thing preventing me from cutting a bitch will be the fear of getting lumped in with all the scandalised Kanda/Yullen/etc. fangirls.  Ain't no fandom like shameful, guilt-tripping, self-hating fandom~)