【D.Gray-man】One of Jump’s best-selling manga!! Set in an alternate 19th century, the story of exorcists as they defend humanity

D.Gray-man is a gothic/action manga with a dark narrative, written and illustrated by Katsura Hoshino. The manga series was serialized from May 2004 in Weekly Shonen Jump by Shueisha. By November 2021, the manga has reached its 27th volume and still on-going.

Hoshino’s artwork and writing style of D.Gray-man was praised by critics for its use of gothic elements, visually appealing character designs, along with a well-developed story. Because of that, D.Gray-man has become one of Shueisha’s best-selling manga.

The adaptation of D.Gray-man anime TV series and its sequel, D.Gray-man Hollow has reached a whooping number of 116 episodes and was aired across multiple streaming platforms.

It was the end of the 19th century. Street patrol officer Moore and her partner Charles were investigating a local abandoned church. Apparently, there had been many reports and complaints from the citizens about people disappearing in this church. Some even said that it was cursed.

While they were inside, Moore and her partner was startled by a stray cat jumping on their feet. Following the cat was a swamp of bat, from which a strange deformed hand grabbed Moore and flung her to another room.

Quickly reacted when she got a chance, Moore cuffed the deformed hand. But when she looked up, she discovered that it was only a young kid with a strange left arm. After questioning the boy, Moore found out he was a traveler who just came to town that morning and took shelter at this abandoned church. He was chasing after the cat to retrieve a valuable item of his.

While they were talking, the two was interrupted by a loud scream. When Moore ran toward the source of the scream, she found her partner Charles’ body. He was impaled and pinned to a pillar; his chest had large holes in it. Strange star-shaped marks appeared on his face and quickly spread all over his body. Finally, his body crumbled, leaving nothing but his uniform and a cloud of dust.

As Moore moved closer to inspect the remains of Charles’ uniform. She noticed that it was becoming harder and harder to breath. The traveler quickly covered her face with a piece of cloth, explaining that the dusty cloud was highly poisonous. From the look of it, the traveler said he was killed by the “AKUMA” (literally translated to “Devil”).

Moore’s consciousness faded away as the word “AKUMA” lingered in her mind.

By the time Moore regained consciousness, she was already carried back to the police station. The mysterious traveler, named Allan Walker, was being interrogated by a detective. He was suspected for the death of officer Charles and the proof was right there on his bloody left hand......

...... or so the detective thought. When they finally had a closer look at his strange hand, it was definitely not blood. His hand was crimson red, wrinkled and deformed. In the middle of his hand, a cross was deeply burned in.

“This is an Anti-AKUMA weapon”, Allan explained. Allan Walker was a member of the association known as “Exorcist” – a group of holy priests who fought against the AKUMA, and Charles was unfortunately one of their latest victims.

“Exorcist? What the hell is that?”, said the detective, not like anyone would believe something like that from a mere traveler. Moore was sent home along with Allan to watch over him while the investigation went on.

Waiting for Moore at the door was her brother in law – Mark. His body was frail and his eyes had a strange color. He had collapsed after the death of his wife, Moore’s sister, and had been in the wheelchair ever since.

He hadn’t even touched the food that Moore prepared earlier that day, but kept insisting that he was already full. Moore told her brother to rest, as she went to another room where Allan was staying to discuss about AKUMA.

Allan explained to Moore that the AKUMA he told her before was not the devil described in stories and the Bible, but actually the name of a weapon against humanity. It would normally take the form of a human and was very hard to distinguish.

In the middle of their conversation, Mark barged into the room. Allan’s left eye suddenly changed its color, detecting the present of an AKUMA. Mark’s body then began to transform into a weapon within mere seconds.

Without warning, Mark disappeared and the weapon named AKUMA started firing in all directions, completely destroyed Moore’s house. Allan, with his barehand, caught the bullets and saved Moore.

The patrol officers and detectives rushed to the scene and started firing at the AKUMA. Their weapons had no effect, and in one instant, the whole squad was wiped out. Just like Charles, they all turned into dust, leaving nothing but their clothing on the ground.

Allan stepped up and called upon the power of the cross on his crimson left hand. At his commands, the cross lighted up and Allan’s left hand grew into a giant silver weapon that made for destroying AKUMA.

Allan moved with lightning speed and plunged his silver hand through the AKUMA, saving the soul that got trapped inside.

The battle was over and Moore was saved. She fell down to the ground, tears rolling from her cheeks.

However, to Allan, this was nothing but a small victory in his grand quest to protect humanity. The one who created these AKUMA weapons and Allan’s ultimate target – “The Earl of Millennium”, was still at large, terrorizing mankind with his hideous creations. It was the goal of the “Exorcist” to bring an end to “The Earl of Millennium” and Allan still have a long road ahead of him.

Will Allan be able to defeat “The Earl of Millennium” alongside “The Exorcist”? Will mankind be saved from these terrible creations called the AKUMA?