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A new akuma appears?! Level 2-point-filler!!
Now caught up on the entire D. Gray-man anime, apparently for no reason. It wasn't as bad as I expected it to be, perhaps because I skipped approximately 30 episodes of filler. It was beautiful: there is a vast, tangential difference the moment you go from "Lenalee and Allen are investigating a nonsensical hospital drama situation for what amounts to no reason" and "Crowley goes on his first mission to a town where everyone wants to hold hands with their local akuma" to "OH MY GOD SUMAN DARK AHHHH ALLEN'S ARM HOLY CRAP".
The filler was very annoying, not least because it didn't seem to know where it was going. Like, at least three episodes of the filler were about Allen telling his backstory to everyone who would stand still long enough to listen. They actually had to make up a second traumatic backstory for him to tell Lenalee about, and it was perfectly redundant to the previous traumatic backstory he had told her about.
(I say this like I resent it, but I am not really resentful of the anime giving Allen a first boyfriend in India. I am taking that to heart, yes sir.)
I was starting to get annoyed by the signs of them cramming Allen/Lenalee implications down my throat. I think they're adorable -- as presented in the manga. That means Allen occasionally finds her flusteringly cute and she's oblivious, and they fall asleep on each other's shoulders, and not that Lenalee gets jealous and bitchy whenever Allen finds someone else pretty. And I like that despite finding her flusteringly cute, Allen doesn't seem to care one way or another about Bak stalking Lenalee, except when he can use it as blackmail material.
Anyway, I think it's really adorable, but I don't really like it as a pairing. Of course, I'm rapidly growing to have a complete disinterest in Main Male/Main Female pairings, so when I like it you know it's because it's good or sweet in a sincere way and not just because That's How It's Supposed To Happen... But I have legitimate reasons for my reservations about this particular pairing.
It's established very well that Allen and Lenalee are extremely similar. Allen says that he's a small person: he can't think in terms of the whole world, only in terms of what he sees in front of him, and so he can't let the people who are within reach be harmed, no matter what that means for "the whole world". Lenalee says essentially the same thing: she thinks she's a terrible person because she doesn't give a damn about the whole world, her world is defined by her friends and loved ones.
And they're both willing to sacrifice anything, even and especially themselves, for what they see in front of them. This is something they have in common.
It's also established that Lenalee likes people she can feel strong with. After the Ark, Komui is sobbing and mewling and mourning on her bed for her hair and Lenalee is the tough one, telling him she's okay, shoving him out the door, and Miranda observes that Lenalee was, for a change, really, genuinely happy about it. Perhaps it's just being with Komui, hooray, incest, but I think part of 'being with Komui' implies a certain amount of acting on his part. I think Komui likes for her to think that he needs her that much, and she's the strong, independent one, even though she's equally as dependent on him.
She retreats to Kanda's side when Leverrier comes to visit, because it's easy to push away her problems with him, to be sort of stoic and serene. And in the end she feels better because Kanda confesses that he thinks she's a strong person. Kanda said that! Imagine him saying that to Allen or Lavi. (In case you're confused, no, he would not.) And she is strong with him, too: she isn't intimidated by his attacking them on the Ark, and she downright bullies him into telling her what she wants to hear.
Lenalee doesn't feel strong with Allen. She always feels weak, helpless, even when she isn't. Allen worries her, all the time. She saved his stupid life during the Rewinding Town incident and she still felt helpless, powerless to do anything but hate the fact that he does the same foolish martyring things that she would totally do in his place. She hates the eye that makes him do it, and she hates the smile that he does it with. And that's the entire purpose for his existence -- his right hand to save humans, his left hand to save akuma, no hands left for himself, or for her.
They are extremely similar, which actually drives them apart instead of bringing them together. It's not common ground -- it's another way for Lenalee to feel bad about herself.
But more pressingly, for me: I'm not someone who says, "They're the same! OTP!" often. I like the way differences make characters work together, and how they create little conflicts that can be solved, or see how they complement each other. Allen and Lenalee are adorable and I love them to death, but I don't think Allen is good for her -- and I don't think Lenalee is interested in him right now in canon kthnx anime -- and I think they're too similar for me.
Now, my question is, why does she have a backbone when Kanda is trying to sacrifice himself, but when Allen does, she just feels helpless? Kanda/Lenalee for strong!Lenalee winnings
The filler was very annoying, not least because it didn't seem to know where it was going. Like, at least three episodes of the filler were about Allen telling his backstory to everyone who would stand still long enough to listen. They actually had to make up a second traumatic backstory for him to tell Lenalee about, and it was perfectly redundant to the previous traumatic backstory he had told her about.
(I say this like I resent it, but I am not really resentful of the anime giving Allen a first boyfriend in India. I am taking that to heart, yes sir.)
I was starting to get annoyed by the signs of them cramming Allen/Lenalee implications down my throat. I think they're adorable -- as presented in the manga. That means Allen occasionally finds her flusteringly cute and she's oblivious, and they fall asleep on each other's shoulders, and not that Lenalee gets jealous and bitchy whenever Allen finds someone else pretty. And I like that despite finding her flusteringly cute, Allen doesn't seem to care one way or another about Bak stalking Lenalee, except when he can use it as blackmail material.
Anyway, I think it's really adorable, but I don't really like it as a pairing. Of course, I'm rapidly growing to have a complete disinterest in Main Male/Main Female pairings, so when I like it you know it's because it's good or sweet in a sincere way and not just because That's How It's Supposed To Happen... But I have legitimate reasons for my reservations about this particular pairing.
It's established very well that Allen and Lenalee are extremely similar. Allen says that he's a small person: he can't think in terms of the whole world, only in terms of what he sees in front of him, and so he can't let the people who are within reach be harmed, no matter what that means for "the whole world". Lenalee says essentially the same thing: she thinks she's a terrible person because she doesn't give a damn about the whole world, her world is defined by her friends and loved ones.
And they're both willing to sacrifice anything, even and especially themselves, for what they see in front of them. This is something they have in common.
It's also established that Lenalee likes people she can feel strong with. After the Ark, Komui is sobbing and mewling and mourning on her bed for her hair and Lenalee is the tough one, telling him she's okay, shoving him out the door, and Miranda observes that Lenalee was, for a change, really, genuinely happy about it. Perhaps it's just being with Komui, hooray, incest, but I think part of 'being with Komui' implies a certain amount of acting on his part. I think Komui likes for her to think that he needs her that much, and she's the strong, independent one, even though she's equally as dependent on him.
She retreats to Kanda's side when Leverrier comes to visit, because it's easy to push away her problems with him, to be sort of stoic and serene. And in the end she feels better because Kanda confesses that he thinks she's a strong person. Kanda said that! Imagine him saying that to Allen or Lavi. (In case you're confused, no, he would not.) And she is strong with him, too: she isn't intimidated by his attacking them on the Ark, and she downright bullies him into telling her what she wants to hear.
Lenalee doesn't feel strong with Allen. She always feels weak, helpless, even when she isn't. Allen worries her, all the time. She saved his stupid life during the Rewinding Town incident and she still felt helpless, powerless to do anything but hate the fact that he does the same foolish martyring things that she would totally do in his place. She hates the eye that makes him do it, and she hates the smile that he does it with. And that's the entire purpose for his existence -- his right hand to save humans, his left hand to save akuma, no hands left for himself, or for her.
They are extremely similar, which actually drives them apart instead of bringing them together. It's not common ground -- it's another way for Lenalee to feel bad about herself.
But more pressingly, for me: I'm not someone who says, "They're the same! OTP!" often. I like the way differences make characters work together, and how they create little conflicts that can be solved, or see how they complement each other. Allen and Lenalee are adorable and I love them to death, but I don't think Allen is good for her -- and I don't think Lenalee is interested in him right now in canon kthnx anime -- and I think they're too similar for me.
Now, my question is, why does she have a backbone when Kanda is trying to sacrifice himself, but when Allen does, she just feels helpless? Kanda/Lenalee for strong!Lenalee winnings
no subject
You bring up some good points in your quasi-essay. I've always been a fan of Allen and Lenalee separately, but a bit 'meh' on the pairing, cute moments aside (and I generally go for pairings that are less popular among the fandom, with a few exceptions like Axel/Roxas)
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And amen on the filler. Gotta love Allen's eye getting better between the battles with Road and Krory. And then the studio realizing they had to injure him again, so he'd fit with canon. *snort*
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You did well to skip over the fillers. The Lulubelle arc is HORRIBLE. Entire episodes of nothing but random Akuma fights and empty platitudes about teamwork – it's like bad Sailor Moon. (Not to mention Lavi spouting empty platitudes about teamwork is ENTIRELY at odds with what we learn about him later in the Ark).
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Do you have any DGM ships?
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I like a lot of pairings, and I love Lenalee's relationship with all the boys, but I have difficulty reconciling Allen/Lenalee right now. They're just too similar and not enough complementary. I can see that changing if Hoshino develops them in that direction, because I certainly do "eee" a little when Allen has an admiring moment, but right now I just don't see it. XD
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But the exact moment that I started shipping Kanda/Lenalee was on the Ark, when Kanda attacks the whole lot of them and only Lenalee knows better than to think he actually intended to hurt them, and when she refuses to take his broodiness and demands that he come back. It's such a striking difference than her helplessness when it's Allen: she just sort of thinks, "I hate that smile, I hate that eye," but when Kanda does the same thing she understands, and she's capable of standing up to it without telling him he can't do it.
And each guy has had his chance to comfort Lenalee when she was down -- and only Kanda actually was able to make her smile again.
So, yeah. Kanda/Lenalee is definitely the other half of that equation. :3
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I think Allen/Fou is adorable, but Fou is like.. ignored in the whole fandom ;o;
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I love Allen/Fou zomg. Fou really touched me with the way she really bent over backwards trying to comfort him even though it was out of character for her, and the way he reacted to her sacrifice, and... I totally ship them. :\ Even though I mostly ship Allen with Lavi. I'm flexible that way.
I clearly must now write a fic for them, if they are ignored. Rawr.
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I actually RP in an Allen/Fou pairing in an LJ game, and the two of us went looking for Allen/Fou anything and came up with absolutely nothing. Not only the pairing but Fou herself. Even went looking in the Japanese fandom. Fou is like... completely ignored everywhere. ;o; and it's sad because she's so awesome and well rounded for not actually being in the story that long.
I think it's a really neat dynamic because she's not human at all, she's like.. a door. XD She's a really cute, 4'8 chinese version of the giant crying face that was scared of Allen in the beginning of the series.
What would their friends think? The Order? The Vatican(because we all know how accepting they are of things)? Were also running on that her character is loosely based on Fou Lions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_guardian_lions) which is just neat.
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Yes.
OTHERWISE ... good points. I agree that where it stands, I can't ship it.