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.