I was really late into this series. Got into it around the year, 2008 or so. So, this was after Hoshino had a break and switched from weekly to monthly. Honestly, I think that was a good thing. Most manga stories are MUCH better when they're monthly than they're weekly. (Even if one of her monthly releases pumped out 25 pages at one point in time.)

Before 2008, I thought this would be a pretty shallow typical filler ridden cliche shounen that was all about exorcists verse Akuma. Good verses evil, and nothing more to it. I avoided it like the plague. Then, I stumbled upon the certain spoilerish words through Google associated with D.Gray-Man, and I thought, "what? There's a _______ involved?" I then spoiled myself a little as to what the significance of the ________ meant. Following that, I started to read D.Gray-man from the first chapter up to whatever chapter was available at that time.

I couldn't believe I avoided DGM for so long. It's pretty much the only Jump series that I'm buying with pride. A lot of the DGM characters are likeable. (Even Johnny, who represents us "humans". He doesn't just wait to be saved. He tries to make a difference in the story. I don't mind his perky personality either. It compliments Kanda's personality. *grins*)

The fan-service is very tame, in my opinion, for a shounen and I'm happy for that. I noticed that in the beginning set of volumes, the story formula almost went typical shounen. You have your introduction. You have character arcs and some battles that last a few chapters. But, even these battle arcs are sooooo much more bearable and understandable than just about 90% of other action packed shounen stories that have characters screaming things like "I'm gonna attain Golden Rank after defeating you so don't get in my way!!"

When it comes to the "typical" shounen battle arcs, sometimes the artwork becomes a little confusing with the blood popping up and people's heads being smashed. Then, I can't tell who's who. But with DGM, since it's exorcists verse Akuma, it's a lot better than seeing human verse human fights. Hoshino's action scenes aren't really her strong point but I can tell who's who when they occur.

Another plus with these character-battle arcs, is that, all of these are NOT filler. A lot of these arcs help move the story to go forward since Allen, as the protagonist, is involved with each of them. Each arc holds a bit of significance for character development or future development. Example (spoiler for volumes 20+):

The last exorcist related arc with Timothy

There is only one arc, in the entire story, that I felt was almost the closest thing to a filler arc, because it contained a Deus-Ex-Machina ending. That was the silly

Going back to the story formula related talk a bit more, I like that things suddenly changed from the traditional shounen set-up when the manga shifted from SJ to SQ Jump. You're no longer seeing "Akuma making trouble arcs with exorcists saving the day", but arcs that focus more and more on the mystery of the Noah and how they're related to Allen. That's a far departure from other shounen stories, which would usually focus a lot more on good verse evil fight arcs on a constant (annoying) basis.

Speaking of mystery, DGM is one of the few shounens that can give me that "sense of anticipation" feel. There are definitely a lot of mysteries that show up throughout the story, which goes beyond the question of "who has the Heart?"

Among some of these questions, we have some answers to. Others, we don't know. The further we go on in the story, we get more answers and more questions. I enjoy this sense of anticipation that's on the same level as "Pandora Hearts" and "Bokura no Kiseki" for me.

In terms of the DGM artwork, the changes in the art styles don't bother me at all. It happens with every single mangaka. I can also tell who's who so that's not a problem at all. I've come across other manga art styles where you really can't tell who's who sometimes. (i.e. Peach-pit.and shoujo characters. ....... Koge Donbo's artwork is worse though. Raggh. Big eyes. Similar hairstyles. What to do?)

Bottom-line, if you're looking for a shounen that doesn't exactly go black and white, but gray, with some religious references, D.Gray-Man is worth every shot. Especially, if you're tired of shounen cliches, shounens with simple plots, and shounens that don't really move any of their plots forward.

All that's required of you is to use SOME of your brain to think out of the box as well as a bit of patience as it's a monthly release. I recommend old readers to just read the story from the beginning if they felt, in any way, lost. The story really makes sense, minus the arc with the Deus-Ex-Machina ending.

... Last updated on October 1st, 2012, 12:56pm

D grayman used to be one of my top read, but after 200+ ch, the scanlation started to slow and with all those changes, I decided to hold the book off. Haven't read after the ch 200 something.

So, yeah, I give this upper-mediocre rating as I truly enjoy this at the beginning.

at first i really liked it, i thought it might defy shounen conventions and be awesome, but its not. The humor is a little off, the tone isn't consistent, and its hard to really care about the characters.

All around its like a really badly done Full Metal Alchemist, same plot, attempt at similar characters (Allen is edward, Kanda is roy, lavi is al), and the same religious symbolism, all tied up in a save the world plot. So skip this and read FMA instead.

I loved the English anime, with the voice acting of Kanda and Allen and Kroary and Lavi and all the others! I bought both seasons in English and can't wait for the next season!!! I finished reading the series quickly because i also wanted to know what was going to happen next. I love it, especially Allen's reaction to Cross! I love all the random hilarious moments!!

... Last updated on July 5th, 2013, 12:15am

For someone who has stuck to this manga from the start, I have always enjoyed it. The starting is fast paced and you see and learn about new characters and stuff. After a 100 chapters, things start to get a bit fishy and little by little the plot increases obscurely. Next thing you know, the art has change, the characters increased, abilities increased and the vulnerability of the main character is shown. Recently, the story focuses solely on Allen which is what everyone's been waiting for since the Ark arc. Kanda has also been on the go too! Just wished the three month time skip was explained clearly...

I loved D.Gray-man. The key term being "loved". Everything about it was great. It had a great story-line that always kept you wondering and wanting more, the art was really detailed and mature, and the characters were always evolving.
Now, it's just unbearable to read for me personally. The story isn't as interesting anymore and the characters have seemed to stopped growing especially, Allen (the main character), who should be the one who experiences the most growth. Not to mention the art style has changed dramatically, in what I believe to be a bad direction, and it has lost all that Victorian charm it used to have.
This manga used to be so awesome. I know the mangaka is sick, but the story is lacking a lot of the good stuff it used to have.
I only gave it a 7 because of where the manga is headed now, but had it not changed for the worse I would have definitely given it a 9.5. However, this manga is still a must read!!! I recommend it to anyone who likes a manga with a decent amount of action, humor, and an interesting story-line.

at first it was great, but it went downhill like others have said but has rised up a bit in previous chapters and I am happy about it! I hope it will be as good as it was before and I hope I can enjoy it like I used to

This is tricky, as D.Gray-Man has been a long time favourite of mine. Lately however, it seems so different, to the point I can't even recognize anymore. It really is like a whole new mangaka had taken over.


First off to begin with, the manga is a solid and excellent read for many many chapters/volumes. The plot is unique and grabs your attention, there are enough characters (Both the protaganists and antagonists) that are fluid, evolving, different and you will know doubt have at least one favourite. The pace is very good, with a blend of great humourous scenes as well as many dark, deep, Victorian-style scenes. And for those who lean towards the fighting scenes, there is a comfortable amount of that, which include plenty of meaning behind them - even if they might take longish sometimes.

Eventually however...things start to dwindle a little. Many aspects start to change, even the drawing style and the characters physical appearances. The original plotwists were interesting, but now there is too many stretched/repeated plottwists, and feels like the main story has fallen off the rocker a little.

If you love 19th century themes, that will also eventually start to die off slowly.

So, it's hard. I love D.Gray-Man, but there is definitely an adjustment period going on.


I highly recommend, to anyone who reads this review, to absolutely try beginning the series anyhow. There is a nice long portion of great material. It's just that there is a bit of a transition phase, particularly with the most recent chapters, and you will just have to decide then what to do - some people will like it, some people won't care, or in the case of people like me, it will feel really strange, and just not the same. While I will still read new releases, I am not as eager or anticipating them anymore.

Maybe it will get better - as of now I'm writing this in April, 2012, and am talking about disapointing chapters prior to that. So who knows *shrugs*. But nevertheless, as of now, I have not been as content as I used to be.


D.Gray-Man....I miss the old you.

... Last updated on April 27th, 2012, 7:53pm

first off, i am avid shounen/seinen manga reader so battle manga is not new to me. however, d gray man have too many battles that i became battle fatigued. i found myself constantly flipping forward just to get over the battle and get to the new plot only to find more battles. is it because i read this in bulk from the first ch to 212th? i dont know, but it sure is tiring. the art also dont help. to me, it is a very beautiful style with lots of shadow and glaze, i actually take time to appreciate some panels while in most manga i just zoomed on. however, too much glaze make the battle even more confusing than it need to be. probably it is too artistic that it is hard understanding.

eventhough i really am bored with the battles, i really like the underlying plot. i want to know who have the true god, that's why i read it till the end. i want to know more about noah, the church, 14th, innocence...i think with all that happen theres still very much that needs to be uncovered. i am also liking the way that the church seems to do a lot of evil deeds in the name of god.

as a character, i could care less about allen. he is such a generic shounen hero he is forgettable. actually i find none of the characters in this manga worth caring about, worth to be hated or worth to be loved, they are just vehicles for the plot to move on. well johnny is annoying and that as much as i can to muster any feeling. well, as this manga is plot driven rather than character driven i suppose it is okay.

all in all, go for it if you love battles, pretty art, and internally dark themed manga. but i wouldn't recommend this manga as i personally have read far better ones that actually make me care. i am not impatiently waiting for the next release and it wont impact me if i never get to read this again, however it is not a total waste to anyone who want to read this.

... Last updated on April 2nd, 2012, 5:15pm

Its in my top 10 (cant tell you the exact ranking because my top ten has like ...20 different mangas lol..its hard to choose ;~;..)

Very VERY good fighting scenes in my opinion, they don't drag on for more than like...3-4 chapters? unlike other mangas where its 20 frickin chapters just to kill one annoying ass idiot GAH!

anyways, the drawings are wonderful from the start and get even better in the recent chapter (allens so sexy~)

The plot IS a little scattered, but ya know that's to be expected, you've got like, 20 different characters and even MORE gets added as the story goes on, if i was her I would get very lost haha XD


So...I would give it a ...9/10