Yu Kanda

Yu Kanda
D.Gray-man character
Yu Kanda by Katsura Hoshino
First appearance	D.Gray-man manga chapter 7
Created by	Katsura Hoshino

Yu Kanda (Japanese: 神田ユウ, Hepburn: Kanda Yū) is a fictional character from the manga and anime series D.Gray-man by Katsura Hoshino. He is an Exorcist from the Black Order group in charge of destroying enemies known as Akuma. For this, he uses an object referred to as "Innocence". Kanda is devoted to the Black Order and their fight against a group of enemies known as the Noah Family. However, he is cold and antisocial toward his teammates, often choosing to engage in fights with the series' protagonist, Allen Walker. Later in the series, it is revealed he is the result of an experiment from the Black Order that created his artificial body and merged it with the brain of a late Exorcist. Kanda was voiced by Takahiro Sakurai in the first anime series and by Takuya Satō in the anime sequel D.Gray-man Hallow in Japanese. He is voiced by Travis Willingham in English.

The character was created with the intention to bring a change to the series' Western setting, with his design being based on samurais. Kanda has been popular with the series' readers, often appearing in top ten lists of character polls and taking first place twice. His character development, dynamic with Allen and backstory have earned him praise. Merchandise based on him has also been released. On the other hand, publications for the manga and anime series have had mixed reactions due to his lack of social qualities.

Appearances

A young adult wearing a coat dual-wielding two swords.

Kanda dual-wielding his anti-Akuma weapon, Mugen.

Yu Kanda first appears in D.Gray-man as a quick-tempered and cold Exorcist. He openly objects to the paternal way his master General Froi Tiedoll treats him,^[ch. 135] and he and fellow Exorcist Allen Walker often throw insults and offensive statements at one another.^[ch. 5] Kanda refuses to die until he finds a "certain person". His anti-Akuma weapon Mugen (六幻, Mugen, lit. Six Illusions) is an Equipment-type Innocence that takes the form of a Japanese sword.^[ch. 186] Mugen is capable of unleashing several techniques, dubbed "illusions".^[ch. 10] He uses these powers to fight the Akumas as well as the Noah Family. Once he joins his comrades in Edo, Kanda is trapped inside the Noah's Ark alongside them.^[ch. 86] There, he engages the Noah Skin Bolic to let his allies move to another room. Although Kanda defeats Skin, the room is destroyed after pushing Mugen to its limit. Later Allen manages to restore it by taking control of Ark's piano, which grants his wish of recovering his allies.^[ch. 97] Kanda later returns with them to the Black Order.^[ch. 133]

It is later revealed that Kanda is a Second Exorcist: an artificial body possessing the brain of an Exorcist who died thirty years before the storyline. The Black Order had launched the Synthetic Disciple Project nine years before, hoping that Second Exorcists would be able to synchronize with their original Innocence.^{[ch. 186, 187]} In order for him to survive the synchronization tests, his body was created to heal much more quickly than that of an ordinary human.^[ch. 190] This ability is connected to a variation of Om tattooed on the left side of his chest.^{[ch. 16][ch. 12,198]} Kanda was the second Second Exorcist to awaken. He was a friend of Alma Karma, the first Second Exorcist.^[ch. 190] Alma learned the truth about Second Exoricsts and killed the research staff. Hoping Kanda would die with him, Alma attacked Kanda but he was instead sliced to pieces by his friend.^[ch. 193] Alma is afterward found to be alive as an Akuma, and tries to kill Kanda again in revenge. It is eventually revealed to Allen that Alma is the woman that Kanda had been looking for.^[ch. 198] Kanda finds out after overhearing Alma discussing this with Allen. Allen helps him and Alma run away together.^[ch. 199] Alma dies shortly after telling Kanda he loves him.^[ch. 200]

Three months later, Kanda returns to the Order.^[ch. 207] Kanda's willingness to return and be an Exorcist causes Mugen to evolve into a Crystal-type weapon.^[ch. 208] However, he does not forgive the Order for what they have done to him and Alma; he refuses to reveal the location of Alma's body. Shortly afterwards, Kanda and a scientist named Johnny go on a mission to find the disappeared Allen—who escaped the Order after being treated as a Noah—in order to thank him for giving him and Alma their happiness, as well as self-redemption for never caring that Allen was turning into a Noah while going on missions with him.^[ch. 210]

Creation and conception

The character of Yu Kanda was carried over from one unpublished title created by Katsura Hoshino. Hoshino designed Kanda to introduce a change to D.Gray-man's Western setting. Kanda's design "came out very naturally" because she typically drew boys with Japanese swords in her amateur manga and she liked samurai "who are like young lions" such as Okita Sōji of the Shinsengumi special police forces. Kanda wears a long coat, and though Allen Walker wore a similar coat, she felt that the design better suited Kanda's defensive personality and the long coat became Kanda's "trademark" design. Additionally, she found Kanda difficult to illustrate due to his beauty.^[vol. 2:24] Hoshino said that she took more care in drawing the highlights in Kanda's hair than she did with Lenalee Lee, another character with long hair. She paid most attention to his hair and eyes especially, as she characterized Kanda as one who "speaks with his eyes". She noted that Kanda's early design featured large eyes because she had difficulty drawing finer eyes. Hoshino derived Kanda's surname from mitoshiro (御戸代), a rice paddy of which its rice is offered to the gods, a meaning shared by kanda (神田). She also referred to Kanda as the "dumbest" protagonist in the series.^{[vol. 3:106]}

Once Alma Karma's story arc finished in the series, Hoshino was able to finish Kanda's backstory which she had promised to the manga's readers. It was originally very different and had too many inconsistencies. Kanda was given his feminine look because he was to be the reincarnation of the same woman he was looking for. When the series was moved to a monthly serialization rather than weekly, Hoshino had rewritten Kanda's backstory. Once new prominent characters were introduced in the series, Hoshino felt the it was possible to tell Kanda and Alma's story.

Across the series, Kanda sees illusions of lotus flowers but Hoshino says this holds no particular meaning for him. The flowers were actually seen during Kanda's previous life. For Kanda, seeing the lotus sinking in dirt would mean his death. The illusion is also noted the first time Kanda nearly kills Alma, and he began to think it was a curse. For the flashbacks, Kanda's first meeting with his future comrade, Marie, was shortened. The original idea was for Kanda to see the corpses of all the people taking care of him. However, she thought this scene to be too horrific.

Reception and other media

Yu Kanda has been highly popular with the D.Gray-man reader base, often ranking in top tens polls and taking first place twice.^{[vol. 7:117][ch. 121][ch. 171]} Multiple types of merchandise based on Kanda's character have been released such as cosplay costumes, his sword Mugen and wigs. Outside the main series, Kanda has made appearances in two video games for the Nintendo DS. He also appears in the crossover game Jump Ultimate Stars.

Kanda has received mixed reactions by publications for manga, anime and other media. UK Anime Network's Kevin Leathers simply referred to him as "the resident emo." Erkael from Manga News compared the character with several other anti-heroes such as Vegeta from Dragon Ball, Sasuke Uchiha from Naruto based on their personalities. Sandra Scholes from Active Anime found Kanda and Allen to be "not the standard anime variety", comparing them more with fantasy stories. Sheena McNeil from Squentialtart said that while she found the character's personality to be "cold", she still found his design and his anti-Akuma weapon appealing. Despite finding issues with the anime adaptation of the series, Anime News Network's Casey Brienza commented "Fan favorites Kamui and Kanda in particular are sketched out strongly, with their dominant traits facing forward". Animation Insider's Kimberly Morales enjoyed the contrast between Kanda and Allen due to their different personalities. John Rose from The Fandom Post liked Kanda and Allen's team up, considering it to be the greatest strength of the manga's second volume.

Since his appearance in the manga's second volume, Kanda has made minor appearances in the series. His return in the tenth volume was praised by Erkael, as well as his battle against the Noah Skin Bolic. In a later volume review, the same site's writer expressed surprise at how dark Kanda's past was, noting the impact in which it had on the character. Chris Beveridge, a reviewer from the Fandom Post, also enjoyed the flashbacks that detailed Kanda's past due to the impact it could make on future volumes as well as his dynamic with Allen. Leroy Douresseaux from Comic Book Bin enjoyed the fight between Kanda and Alma, but instead preferred the situation Allen was put into and said that he wanted to see more of that. Similar to Beveridge, Douresseaux expected to see more of Kanda's dynamic with the characters when the former and Johnny went in search for Allen. Morales criticized Kanda's English voice actor Travis Willingham as "his portrayal of the cold and mysterious Kanda makes the young man sound more like a bodybuilder than a lithe swordsman".

References

D.Gray-man manga volumes by Katsura Hoshino. Original Japanese version published by Shueisha. English translation published by Viz Media.

1. Vol. 1 (ch. 1–7): Opening. October 2004. ISBN 978-4-08-873691-4. (in Japanese). and Opening. May 2006. ISBN 978-1-4215-0623-4. (in English).
2. Vol. 2 (ch. 8–16): 土翁と空夜のアリア. December 2004. ISBN 978-4-08-873760-7. (in Japanese). and Old Man of the Land and Aria of the Night Sky. August 2006. ISBN 978-1-4215-0624-1. (in English).
3. Vol. 3 (ch. 17–26): 巻き戻しの街. March 2005. ISBN 978-4-08-873784-3. (in Japanese). and The Rewinding City. November 2006. ISBN 978-1-4215-0625-8. (in English).
4. Vol. 4 (ch. 27–36): 元帥の危急. May 2005. ISBN 978-4-08-873810-9. (in Japanese). and Carnival. February 2007. ISBN 978-1-4215-0623-4. (in English).
5. Vol. 5 (ch. 37–46): 予覚. July 2005. ISBN 978-4-08-873832-1. (in Japanese). and Announcement. May 2007. ISBN 978-1-4215-1053-8. (in English).
6. Vol. 6 (ch. 47–56): 削除. October 2005. ISBN 978-4-08-873865-9. (in Japanese). and Delete. August 2007. ISBN 978-1-4215-1054-5. (in English).
7. Vol. 7 (ch. 57–67): 時の破壊者. December 2005. ISBN 978-4-08-873888-8. (in Japanese). and Crossroad. November 2007. ISBN 978-1-4215-1055-2. (in English).
8. Vol. 8 (ch. 67–76): メッセージ. July 2006. ISBN 978-4-08-874029-4. (in Japanese). and Crimson Snow. February 2008. ISBN 978-1-4215-1543-4. (in English).
9. Vol. 9 (ch. 77–86): 僕らの希望. November 2006. ISBN 978-4-08-874293-9. (in Japanese). and Nightmare Paradise. May 2008. ISBN 978-1-4215-1610-3. (in English).
10. Vol. 10 (ch. 87–97): ノアズ·メモリー. February 2007. ISBN 978-4-08-874318-9. (in Japanese). and Noah's Memory. August 2008. ISBN 978-1-4215-1937-1. (in English).
11. Vol. 11 (ch. 98–107): ルージュの舞台. May 2007. ISBN 978-4-08-874341-7. (in Japanese). and Fight to the Debt. November 2008. ISBN 978-1-4215-1998-2. (in English).
12. Vol. 12 (ch. 108–118): Poker. October 2007. ISBN 978-4-08-873691-4. (in Japanese). and Fight to the Debt. February 2009. ISBN 978-1-4215-2389-7. (in English).
13. Vol. 13 (ch. 119–128): 闇の吟. December 2007. ISBN 978-4-08-874435-3. (in Japanese). and The Voice of Darkness. May 2009. ISBN 978-1-4215-2599-0. (in English).
14. Vol. 14 (ch. 129–138): みんなが帰ってきたら. March 2008. ISBN 978-4-08-874486-5. (in Japanese). and Song of the Ark. August 2009. ISBN 978-1-4215-2600-3. (in English).
15. Vol. 15 (ch. 139–149): 本部襲撃. June 2008. ISBN 978-4-08-874528-2. (in Japanese). and Black Star, Red Star. November 2009. ISBN 978-1-4215-2774-1. (in English).
16. Vol. 16 (ch. 150–160): Next Stage. September 2008. ISBN 978-4-08-874566-4. (in Japanese). and Blood & Chains. February 2010. ISBN 978-1-4215-3038-3. (in English).
17. Vol. 17 (ch. 161–171): 正体. December 2008. ISBN 978-4-08-874605-0. (in Japanese). and Parting Ways. May 2010. ISBN 978-1-4215-3160-1. (in English).
18. Vol. 18 (ch. 172–181): ロンリーボーイ. June 2009. ISBN 978-4-08-874642-5. (in Japanese). and Thief? Ghost? Innocence?. August 2010. ISBN 978-1-4215-3543-2. (in English).
19. Vol. 19 (ch. 182–188): 聖戦ブラッド. December 2009. ISBN 978-4-08-874675-3. (in Japanese). and Born of Love and Hate. November 2010. ISBN 978-1-4215-3773-3. (in English).
20. Vol. 20 (ch. 189–193): ユダの呼. June 2010. ISBN 978-4-08-874764-4. (in Japanese). and The Voice of Judah. February 2011. ISBN 978-1-4215-3919-5 . (in English).
21. Vol. 21 (ch. 194–199): リトル グッ. December 2010. ISBN 978-4-08-870133-2. (in Japanese). and Little Goodbye. November 2011. ISBN 978-1-4215-4077-1. (in English).
22. Vol. 22 (ch. 200–205): Fate. June 2011. ISBN 978-4-08-870240-7. (in Japanese). and Fate. June 2012. ISBN 978-1-4215-4210-2 (in English)
23. Vol. 23 (ch. 206–212): 歩みだすもの. April 2012. ISBN 978-4-08-870392-3. (in Japanese). and Walking Out. December 2012. ISBN 978-1-4215-5085-5
24. Vol. 24 (ch. 213–218): キミの傍に. November 2013. ISBN 978-4-08-870539-2. (in Japanese). and By your side. August 2014. ISBN 978-1-4215-6312-1

See also

• List of D.Gray-man characters