It's definitely not perfect, but this series has completely captured my heart and soul. Being a part of this fandom is heart-tearing, painful, and absolutely wonderful, and I've enjoyed all 8 years of my fandom. Its tragic moments clobber you with feels, and the comedy (though often disruptive to the mood) is hilarious. The worst part, is of course, the constant hiatuses and cliffhangers and mysteries solved only to create more mysteries. The author deals with tendonitis. The series has suffered in quality ever since the editor changed (think of Y-sensei as Hatori from Bakuman in terms of competency, and her current editor as Miura). Everyone around me surfs from one main fandom to another, from DGM to KHR to Ao no Exorcist to Magi... Each time, leaving behind the previous, but with me, this has remained my absolute favourite series.
D.Gray-Man actually has a real theme, not just only of friendship, and isn't all ultimate good vs. ultimate evil. It's centered around the idea of the "grey" between the black and white of good and evil. It doesn't seem so at first, but gradually you realize that the villains aren't completely evil and they have human sides to them. Then, the "good" sides starts showing signs of evil. It reminds me of Dorian Grey, with the same theme, with all the gay and UTS between the two protagonists, and sometimes I wonder if that's what the D stands for... (Kanda is Henry, Allen is Dorian? Pfttt)
I've never read anything else with characters so deeply lovable and endearing. The character designs (pre-v18, anyway, before the Noahs went gay disco) are flawless. The art is absolutely stunning, and it often takes me half an hour just to read a monthly chapter because I'm savouring the art. The art is ever-changing, which is unique to this series alone, I believe--each art style has its own appeal, and personally I love them all, but I especially like the art styles during v8-10, and v18-23+ best. Hoshino-sensei's weakness is drawing battle scenes (they're usually unclear), but she's improved a bit. There's this one battle scene in chapter 182 that literally took my breath away (Allen and Kanda, with how well they don't get along, sure fight together in perfect sync.)
The character designs are so flawless, they even happen again and again. (see: the protagonists of No.6 and K)
The relationships are deep and have real foundation, each bond has their own flavour. Instead of One Piece, for example, where the bonds are mostly all hearty and light, simple and straight-forward.
Allen and Lavi are best buddies, like Harry and Ron. Allen and Lenalee have a weird "love each other but not IN love" kind of thing, while I think Lenalee's the only girl Lavi is seriously interested in. Kanda loves her like a sister, and he's only really somewhat tame with her. Kanda and Lavi have a subtle friendship, they mostly don't communicate much, but Lavi thinks he's interesting (to tease). Lenalee is like the mother hen of the three.
Kanda has a very deep and extremely tragic love for Alma. So deep, it transcended from his previous life before his artificial rebirth. A lot of people fuss over the gender of Alma. Her soul is female. Her artificial body is male. Either way, who cares. Love is love.
...As for Kanda and Allen. Well, Kanda is Allen's foil character, rival, arch enemy, reluctant partner, and they are each other's salvation. They have by far the most interesting relationship. They absolutely hate each other because, as Marie put it, they're so similar. They're very much alike, and yet exact opposites. They don't hold back with each other. Allen never puts up his gentlemanly facade with him. Nevertheless, they care way more for each other than they would ever admit. Also, their bickering scenes are absolutely hilarious, and the funniest parts of the series.
The salvation comment--Kanda and Alma were both saved because of him. And Kanda is to bring "salvation" to Allen--by being the one to kill him, should he turn into the 14th completely. The others love Allen too much to do it, and apparently Kanda's different, so it's practically an unspoken promise between the two. He's even possessive of this exclusive right of his. Of course, we know Kanda likely won't go through with it... Either way, I find it ridiculously romantic. Remember Guzol and Lala? Lala wanted to die only by Guzol's hands. "Kanda came back for Allen's sake", just to do this. He chose hell for Allen. My point is, their relationship is absolutely beautiful, regardless of its nature.
The main idea of halting the apocalypse and recreation of the world isn't anything new in terms of plot. There's the "item collection" trope, too, since they're scouring the world in search of Innocence. This manga has many cliches, but there's nothing wrong with cliches if the author manages to rock them--and rock them she did and beyond.
There are some original aspects of this manga I really, really love, such as the idea of akuma. Demons are a common theme, but she took that and completely made something new and interesting.
The idea that the akuma are borne out of love--humans wishing back their dead ones, trapping their souls in the machinery, which then crawl into the host human's body, is very romantic, dark, and super interesting. The fact that they evolve, too, is kind of cool.
Her monster designs are grotesque, unique, and absolutely sick. I really like her pop-goth style for Yoshi and the akuma. The form the Ark takes is completely different from what you'd imagine Noah's Ark to be (a ship)--it's sci-fi, and super cool. There's science, alchemy, and sorcery all in there in a perfect blend. The spells are different from the typical magic you usually see. The science is more advanced, and thus makes it an alternate history. There's manga like Toriko, where the attack names are just plain stupid, and then there's D.Gray-Man, with cool names like "Cross Grave" and "Edge End". And we've seen nyoinbo staffs, but this is the first time I've seen a nyoinbo hammer! Fusing bodies isn't new, either, but the way Jasdero and Devit shoot each other to combine is awesome.
This gothic neo-Victorian world that Hoshino created is wonderful. This manga is very much character-driven, and each arc is very touching. Miranda is my favourite female character from this series--and she's extremely relateable, and quite inspirational. Krory is a bad-ass "vampire"--why can't vampires these days be like him when he's in bi-polar mode? The Ark story has a lot of mixed reviews, but I absolutely loved it. The zombie filler arc was friggin' hysterical, and it's even better than Kuroshitsuji's Titanic-Zombie arc. The idea of the Noahs, how they each embody a different Noah memory, is extremely interesting. D.Gray-Man does resemble FMA in a lot of ways, actually, as many people have noticed. But to comment that it's a copy is completely asinine, as each manga has their superior elements. And for another, the memories aren't all sins. "Dreams", "Pleasure", and probably eventually "Love". "Love" seems to have its own meaning in this series, too, when Hoshino talks about it. I'm sure it has to do with the Heart.
In no way is this manga religious, thankfully. It centers around religious themes, but as Lenalee so accurately addressed God, "to the God whom I hate so much" (I love that line), none of them are actually religious. How could they be, after all, when they've gone through so much despair. The fact that they've all forsaken god, and are just fighting for each other, has me shaking in feels.
I'm sure I'll still be in this fandom until the end. (Unless Lenalee and Allen become a couple.) Hopefully, it will end properly, without a rushed ending, or have it get axed. This series is very dear to me, even if the fandom is so inactive. In the end,
I don't care if Allen dies. Actually, I'd rather if he and Kanda died together. Neither of them have much time left, anyway... Well, if I could have it the way I wanted, I'd make them immortal together, but that's not just not going to happen.
I hope Lavi finds the answer he's looking for. I hope Kanda can find peace with no regrets. ...I hope Allen keeps walking up to his very last step.
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