D.Gray-man HALLOW Episode 105 (a.k.a. Episode 2): Battleground Orphanage and the Enemy Evolves!

Quick Summary of D.Gray-man HALLOW Episode 105

In D.Gray-man HALLOW episode 105 (a.k.a. episode 2), “Lonely Boy,” Allen Walker was under suspicion for murder. The episode moves on to Yu Kanda, Howard Link, and Allen on an assignment that leads them to an orphanage; and ends with an encounter with an Akuma who has, unfortunately for our heroes, learned to evolve.

What Happened in D.Gray-man HALLOW Episode 105 (Spoiler Free)

D.Gray-man HALLOW Episode 105: The thief didn't know that Allen's sword didn't harm humans, so he balled his eyes out. Loudly, too. Capture from the Funimation stream. — The thief didn’t know that Allen’s sword didn’t harm humans, so he balled his eyes out after being stabbed. Capture from the Funimation stream.

Malcolm C. Lvellie accuses Allen of arranging for Cross Marian’s murder in the last episode. Allen is having none of that; he accuses Malcolm. In actuality, Malcolm has another idea of who was behind the murder, and he shares his fear with Howard.

After Malcolm announces to the whole European Branch that Allen possesses the hidden memories of The Fourteenth, the Black Exorcists are dispatched to help apprehend Phantom Thief G. This supernatural thief takes over people’s bodies and steals high-profit items with those “borrowed” bodies. Kanda thinks he has arrested the thief, who then jumps into a policeman’s body and tries to escape via the rooftops. Allen and Howard stop him there, but he jumps to Howard’s body. Howard fights so well that it forces Kanda to come to an angry conclusion.

Working together, Kanda and Allen impale Howard on Allen’s sword. That sword can’t harm humans, but the thief doesn’t know that, and he begins to cry loudly and obnoxiously before he jumps out of Howard’s body. The crying was so unique that Noise Marie could easily track it to an orphanage.

There, the Exorcists try to convince the thief, a young boy with a blue orb in his forehead, to come back with them to the order. That’s when they find out they weren’t the only ones interested in the potential Innocence in the boy’s blue orb.

The rest of this review may have spoilers, so please be careful!

What Happened in D.Gray-man HALLOW Episode 105 (Spoilers!)

Suspicious about Cross Marian’s Murder

D.Gray-man HALLOW Episode 105: Allen was aghast at the sight of Cross Marian's shattered and bloodied mask. Capture from the Funimation stream. — Allen was aghast at the sight of Cross Marian’s shattered and bloodied mask. Capture from the Funimation stream.

Director Komui Lee and Inspector Malcolm C. Lvellie investigate Cross Marian’s room. The window is broken and the body’s missing; only his blood, pistol, and half mask are still there. Timcanpy leads Allen to the room, and he stands in the doorway, aghast. Later, Timcanpy plays what amounts to Cross Marian’s last will and testament. The General tells Allen to create his own path.

Allen and Malcolm suspect each other of orchestrating the murder. Privately, Malcolm tells Howard Link that no, Malcolm didn’t order the murder — but someone in Central Agency, the Agency both he and Howard belong to, did. And they didn’t keep Malcolm informed.

Later, Malcolm gathers all of the Exorcists together and announces that Allen has the memories of The Fourteenth buried in his mind, but that he’ll remain an active Exorcist. When Director Lee falters trying to explain what that means, Allen helps him by telling everyone that if The Fourteenth possesses him, they are to kill him.

Allen and a Museum Robbery

That night, the Black Order deploys its Exorcists to assist the Paris Police, who are guarding a museum. It’s the target of a supernatural thief, Phantom Thief G, who announces his targets ahead of time. The police are deployed all around the target — a crown — when the thief just appears and bounds away with the target. Kanda easily stops him, and everyone thinks it’s over; but the thief’s consciousness jumps into a policeman’s body and makes off with the crown again.

This time, Allen and Howard intercept him. The Thief distracts Allen by throwing the crown, forcing him to dive after it. Then the thief possesses Howard, who, as a Central Agency Inspector, has considerable fighting capabilities. During a lull in the fighting, the thief-possessed Inspector marveled at his own strength in a very childlike way. The Exorcists were also surprised at how well the Inspector could fight. Eventually, Kanda and Allen work together to trick the possessed Inspector into impaling himself on Allen’s sword. The thief didn’t know Allen’s sword couldn’t harm living humans, so he begins a very obnoxious crying and evacuates the body.

The crying was so obnoxious — and unique — that Noise Marie could easily track it.

Kanda used gentle persuasion to convince the boy to un-possess Allen. Capture from the Funimation stream. — Kanda used gentle persuasion to convince the boy to un-possess Allen. Yes, that’s a sword Kanda’s holding. Capture from the Funimation stream.

The Exorcists and the Orphanage

The Exorcists converge on an orphanage. They hear a commotion inside, and a young boy comes flying out of the door and smacks foreheads with Allen. Turns out the boy has a blue sphere in his forehead, and he was using it to possess people and steal things. He tried briefly to possess Allen, but Kanda convinced him to go back into his own body. Noise Marie tells the Sister running the orphanage that they need to test the orb for Innocence. Their enemy must have heard them mention Innocence. They find themselves and the orphanage inside of a magical barrier.

A powerful level 4 Akuma attacks (a level 4 is the most powerful). As the Exorcists defend, Howard rushes the children and staff toward the basement. Allen’s amazed that his left eye doesn’t react to the Level 4 Akuma at all; it taunts him, saying that Akuma wouldn’t lag behind forever.

Howard tries to get the kids and staff to the basement, but he finds that all of them except one adult and the little thief have been turned into puppets — a level 2 Akuma had been waiting for them. Howard tries to protect them, but two more Akumas, this time level 3s, counter attack.

Allen hears the fight below and turns to help. The level 4 Akuma he had been fighting shoots him with a new Gatling gun-type spirit energy weapon. Allen falls, the telltale purple stars of an Akuma viral infection on his face.

Howard falls, turned into a puppet like the Sister.

The level 4 Akuma’s gun pushes Kanda and Marie to the limits of their strength.

What I Liked about D.Gray-man HALLOW Episode 105

Malcolm accuses Allen of being involved in Cross Marian’s death. But Allen wasn’t in the least bit intimidated. He leveled how own accusation before storming out.

D.Gray-man HALLOW Episode 105:
The fight scenes were exciting to watch -- pretty usual for D.Gray-Man! Capture from the Funimation stream. — The fight scenes were exciting to watch — which is usual for D.Gray-man! Capture from the Funimation stream.

The fight scenes were exciting to watch, starting with the fight on the museum’s roof. The show sprinkled in more humor this week, in an appropriate way. It flowed with the fight scene and actually furthered the plot, as the child’s unusual crying helped the team track him to the orphanage. Humor and plot development — great combination!

Kanda, angry that the Inspector had revealed himself to be a CROW (soldiers trained from childhood)*, remarked to Allen that the CROWS have a “gratuitously high level of fighting power.” The adverb made me laugh.

Kanda seemed almost happy when he said that since Phantom Thief G was not in a CROW’s body, they didn’t have to hold back.

Very sad back story for the little thief. When he was smaller, his father was a professional thief. The police were hot on his trail, so he forced his son to swallow the loot. The blue orb in his forehead appeared shortly thereafter.

I thought the shot of the Level 2 Akuma trudging through the people it had turned into puppets was horrifying. The crunch as their bodies shattered under his feed was particularly effective.

Two of Marie’s fingers took a hit from the Akuma’s gun; the purple stars indicating the virus infection immediately appeared. Without hesitating, Marie wrapped his weapon’s wires around those two fingers and sliced them off. I can’t accuse these Exorcists of lacking dedication!

* These CROWs have no relation to this site!

What I Liked Less about D.Gray-man HALLOW Episode 105

Nothing in this episode annoyed me enough to end up in this section! I sure hope it stays that way.

Thoughts about D.Gray-man HALLOW Episode 105

The Akuma are evolving -- and that's bad news for our heroes. Capture from the Funimation stream. — The Akuma are evolving — and that’s bad news for our heroes. Capture from the Funimation stream.

In this episode, I got to see something I find all too rare: an enemy adapting to the hero’s tactics! The Akuma have apparently been studying Allen, and they’ve not only developed counter measures to his eye. They seem to have also devised new weapons! That ups the ante. The battle at the beginning of last week’s episode was fun to watch, but it was a lot of “more of the same.” Sure, our heroes were in danger, but it’s the same danger they’re always in, and they know how to handle it. In this episode, I felt a lot more apprehension for Allen and company because of the Akuma’s change in tactics.

The episode raised another question that I thought was interesting: why would four such powerful Akuma to go after the possible Innocence in one child’s forehead? Is this more than just an Innocence retrieval for them?

What do you think?

D.Gray-man HALLOW Episode 105 (a.k.a. Episode 2): Battleground Orphanage and the Enemy Evolves!

Quick Summary of D.Gray-man HALLOW Episode 105

What Happened in D.Gray-man HALLOW Episode 105 (Spoiler Free)