HOW THE ARTIFICIAL EXORCISTS ARC CHANGED D.GRAY-MAN FOREVER

DEVON NGUYEN - Writer, 3rd Year, Anthropology

I believe in Yuu Kanda and Alma Karma Supremacy

SPOILERS FOR D.GRAY-MAN!

In every manga series, there’s that one story arc that changes everything, both in terms of plot relevance and reception from the fans. For Jujutsu Kaisen, it was the Shibuya arc. For One Piece, it was the Marineford arc. And for D.Gray-Man, it was the Artificial Exorcists arc. From 2009-2010, readers of the dark fantasy shounen manga were treated to an arc that pushed the story in a much different direction than what they were used to back then. It changed the game for the entire series, and yet, it still has yet to receive the proper appreciation from the fans.

What makes the Artificial Exorcists a real stand out is the fact that it doesn’t center around the series protagonist, Allen Walker, instead focusing on his comrade, Yuu Kanda, and his mysterious past. In great and gruesome detail, Kanda’s backstory is unraveled before readers, allowing them to understand the reason for the coldness and anger that he displayed prior to this arc. He was horrifically experimented on by the Black Order and was treated like a lesser being, a mere tool that was crafted to serve as a deadly weapon in the Holy War that they were fighting. Kanda’s friend, Alma, also endured these violent experiments, albeit, with a glowing smile and infectious joy during the aftermath. The bond that Kanda and Alma had was steadfast, and even when they were fighting each other to death after Alma’s resurrection, their love for each other was never a question.

And it’s their love that really makes everything so special. Up until then, Kanda hadn’t undergone any significant character development—he was a little stagnant, having no real relationship or connection to someone else the way the rest of the cast did with each other. Alma’s introduction fixed that. Suddenly, Kanda was someone who was other than the stone-cold swordsman readers had known him to be. He now had the depth that he was so desperately missing. Alma had humanized him.

Additionally, this arc showed a whole other side to the Black Order. Up until then, the Order was portrayed as a morally virtuous organization on behalf of humanity against the Noah Clan. They were like a second family to Allen and his friends too, providing a space where they could feel like they belonged. It’s within this arc that we see a much darker and questionable side of the organization. For years, they conducted brutal experiments on the children that have come underneath their care. It was really unnerving to see how much they didn’t care about the torture that they were enacting in the name of their cause.

The rug was pulled under everyone’s feet, characters and readers alike, leaving only an unending feeling of dread whenever the Order makes an appearance or is mentioned. From this arc onward, the righteous aura of the Order began to dim away, replaced by a morally enigmatic ambience that has remained in the series past this arc.

There are a myriad of other things that I can gush about in regards to the Artificial Exorcists arc, but that would entail major series spoilers that I can’t bring myself to spoil here. Kanda’s well deserved character development and the depth that the Order is given in this arc was what D.Gray-Man desperately needed and I couldn’t be more satisfied with the way it all played out. It makes everything that happened before and after all the more exceptional, making sense of the early storyline while also setting the foundations of the current events. Truly, it’s a masterpiece of an arc that’s only seventeen chapters long.