"It's been awhile Mikail..." Thursday January 17th, 2008

I know a lot of you were looking forward to some sweet action sequences, but you can think of this as a teaser for more bad assery to come. Whether that is next week or some time in the future, is up for you to find out. All I have to say is that it's been awhile since I've had to draw Mikail and rust shows in his first appearance in Chapter 5 in P7. I'm much more happy with the effort put in P9 and in what I've drawn so far for next week's comic.

I should be going to see Cloverfield tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it. Everything I've heard so far seems to indicate that it will be a positive experience. I will let you know how I felt about the movie in next week's post.

I am currently running through a D. Gray-man kick. I had read the first few chapters and felt it was pretty good. I ended up buying the first volume for GZA as a Christmas gift and after that I decided to catch up on the manga on my own. Holy cow did that series end up getting better after the first volume. It's easily the next best action manga in Shonen Jump after Naruto. The only nagging point for me is that the parallels between DGM and Full Metal Alchemist are really noticeable. I don't know which one I like better to tell you the truth so I decided to break it down to figure out which series I liked better.

Main Characters
DGM's Allen Walker VS FMA's Ed Elric: They both have odd limbs and are both new members of a bad ass organization. They both have had tragic pasts with both having done something unspeakable to one of their parents. That event has given both characters their motivation to become better in their chosen fields; Exorcism for Walker and Alchemy for Elric. Both have had hellish teachers/mentors that have scarred them for life in a funny way. Both have these high pitched voices. Both wear fashionable trench coats. This list could go ON AND ON. However I need to pick one. Let's just tally up the points between the comparisons I've listed above. Allen's Anti-Akuma weapon arm is just definitely cooler than Ed's automail. Ed's fucked up parent moment was definitely more fucked up than Allen's. He gets the nod simply because you get to SEE EXACTLY what he did. Yeah... While Allen's Exorcist skills are cool, they don't hold a candle to the awesomeness of Ed's alchemy. Though both Allen and Ed's mentors were psychotically tough, Allen's mentor Cross Marion totally pwns Ed's Izumi Curtis. I mean his Anti Akuma weapons are SPOILER!!!!

...a fricking gun with bullets that don't miss and a corpse he controls!! While their voices are kind of high pitched, I really expected Allen to have a lower voice than what he ended up having. Ed's on the other hand is pretty spot on. While Ed does have the cool red trench coat, Allen's is a bit more practical and more decked out and his Victorian garb is a cooler than Ed's black wife beater, black pants, black boots combo. So while it was close, I'd have to give the nod to Ed Elric simply because after being tied three points a piece I gave it to the short guy due to his hand clapping use of alchemy is a touch more cooler than Allen just busting out his huge arm. ADVANTAGE: Full Metal Alchemist

Secondary Characters
Again the parallels between the two stories is eerily similar. Let's break down the similar characters and give points to the series for who had the cooler version. FMA's Roy Mustang is definitely more bad ass than DGM's Kanda Yu. DGM's Lenalee Lee is that much more kick ass if not more so than FMA's resident chick character, Winry Rockbell. I guess the closest DGM gets to FMA's Al Elric is Lavi in which case Al is just the winner no question. The comedic higher up in FMA's Maes Hughes is also funnier and cooler than DGM's Komui Lee. DGM's Miranda Lotto is a hell of a lot more useful than FMA's Riza Hawkeye and had the "Naruto-lite" backstory to boot. While I love FMA's Alex Louis Armstrong to death and laugh whenever he is on the screen, I give the slight edge to DGM's Ayrstar Krory only because his backstory again... was flat out awesome. The respective support characters in the DGM's Black Order are a bit more fleshed out than FMA's State Alchemist Branch. Also DGM gets the bonus points from their Exorcist Generals, all of which (like Cross Marion mentioned above) BEAT ASS. Hence D Grayman wins the battle here. Advantage: D. Gray-man

Villains
I haven't finished FMA so I can't say just who the main villain is so I have to compare what I know. That pretty much boils the battle down to FMA's homunculi and DGM's Noah Family. No matter which way you look at it, the Noah Family destroys the Homunculi. Road kicks Lust's ass. Tyki Mikk OWNS Greed, Jasdebi are more than a match for Envy and Wrath, Lulubell creates cooler stuff than Sloth. The weakest Noah, Skinn is still cooler than Gluttony. Though I haven't see the main villain for FMA, the edge is far too great when you factor in the Millennium Earl and the truth about the Akuma themselves. Advantage: D. Gray-man

So far I'd have to give the slight edge to D. Gray-man, but honestly, I would have to wait till I finish FMA and DGM ends to deliver the final verdict. I still haven't factored in things like the Nina Tucker episode for FMA and which series had the best story arc so far. What I can say is that both series are excellent and while they do bear passing resemblance to one another, they both offer up solid entertainment for those seeking it.

Alright I need to get some sleep. I will see you next week where we'll get back to the business between Yuki, Kimen, and now Mikail. Have a great weekend everyone!!

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