FUNimation has announced that it has secured DVD, licensing, digital, and broadcast rights to 51 episodes of the D. Gray-Man anime series, which is based on Katsura Hoshino’s Gothic D. Gray-Man manga that has been running in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump since 2004 (Viz Media is releasing the D. Gray-Man manga here). The D. Gray-Man anime, which is produced by TMS and directed by Nabeshima Osamu, began its run on Japanese TV in October of 2006, and the on-going series has now reached 83 episodes.
Described variously as “steampunk” or “Gothic,” the D. Gray-Man saga is set in a fictional 19th Century and revolves around the activities of Allen Walker a member of a group of exorcists known as The Black Order. The Black Order is dedicated to thwarting the evil machinations of The Millennium Earl, an ancient being intent on purifying the earth by destroying all vestiges of carbon-based life forms. The Earl is aided by demonic spirits known as Akuma, which he creates using the grief of family members. Thinking they can bring their loved ones back to life via a skeletal doll, the grief stricken are themselves killed and turned into Akuma, which have human form but do the Earl’s bidding. Only Allen Walker can see the difference between an ordinary innocent human and an Akuma.
FUNimation, which acquired the series from Dentsu (former parent company of Geneon), plans to release the D. Gray-Man anime series in the traditional single-volume format with the first volume due out in early 2009. Viz Media has just released the 9th volume of the D. Gray-Man manga here in the
