#mana d. campbell

[eclipsepetals]

Sketch pages~✩ There was this lovely sketchbook template I found on the CSP assets store; and needless to say I love it. (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ) It gives the feeling of sketching on an actual sketchbook, 10/10. Yes I am probably going to be using this template a lot for my doodles and sketches.

[lovesitcomsandgaystuffs]

what do y'all know about doomed siblings

[dearloonies]

Why I think that Mana was in fact truly an Akuma and not some form of false memory

Dgm is filled with mysteries and paradoxes, and the relationship between Mana and the Earl of Millennium is one of those. On the surface, it is contradictory that Mana could have been turned into an Akuma when he is later revealed to be the Earl. However, the narrative provides subtle hints that may reconcile this paradox. (Bear with me guys)

1. Dual Identities and the Split of the Earl

The Earl of Millennium isn't a singular, static entity, this we already know. Over 52 or so years ago, Adam split himself into two infants in front of Katerina who would adopt and name the infants 'Mana' and 'Nea', raising them as twins. Mana and Nea were both integral parts of the Noah family, and there's this suggestion that Mana might have been a vessel of Adam's memories and thus was the one who became the Earl of Millennium while Nea could not, because he likely lacked something. When Mana lived as Allen’s foster father, he have suppressed/lost his memory of being the Earl due to his grief-stricken mind and deteriorating mental state. This allowed him to exist as a separate individual while being consciously aware of the Earl's existence.

2. The Akuma Creation Mechanism

The Akuma creation process involves a soul being bound to a body after someone calls it back from death. If Mana’s "human side" died and was mourned by Allen, the Akuma process could have targeted only that fragment of Mana’s identity. If the Earl of Millennium that appeared in front of Allen is indeed Mana at that time yet still present for when "Mana" was turned into an Akuma, there's a possibility that the Earl at that time was simply the Golem Suit, Mana himself but his body usurped or, as mentioned above, because the Akuma is Mana's human side.

3. Mana’s actions as an Akuma

The corrupted Mana attacks Allen, since his human persona was overridden by the Akuma’s violent instincts. However, his plea for Allen to "keep walking forward" does suggest that Mana's original personality wasn’t entirely lost. One is free to think of Allen's cursed left eye, which gives him the ability to see the souls of the Akuma, is a punishment but i saw a theory that the eye is the Earl's eye(?? I forgot the exact wording or speculation/theory but I got some of it from: @poppystheories ) although in a sense that Mana's curse serves to warn Allen of the presence of Akuma, of the tortured souls and also of the fact that the Earl's "arms and legs" (or was it "eyes and ears"?) are near. And we know from Alma that Akuma are offshoots of the Earl, which is how he knew that Allen was a Noah.

4. Foreshadowing and Symbolism

Hoshino frequently employs themes of duality and identity in DGM. Mana’s transformation into an Akuma while also being the Earl symbolizes the conflict between the Noah and humanity, as well as the tragic cycle of grief and that drives the story. This paradox could serve as a microcosm of the series’ central conflict, also the duality of having humanity and an inhumane identity can also be seen in this.

In Short: Mana’s transformation into an Akuma despite being the Earl of Millennium is because Allen called for Mana Walker rather than his Noah identity as the Earl of Millennium. Thus why the Akuma Mana could exist at the same time as the Earl's, his curse also have warned and er- "protected"? Allen more than once. It's also undermining if the Akuma summoned by Allen turned out to be some rando soul that the Earl used, since it doesn't make sense. The only plausible reason my mind could come up with is that the Akuma Mana summoned was the human aspect known and remembered by Allen.

[poppystheories]

Allen's in serious trouble. He was already in bad shape from everything that's happened so far, considering the hits to the head he's taken and bite Krory took out of him. But just as he can't find the strength to continue fighting...

My first thought was: Allen's Innocence has activated on its own again! But that’s wrong; it doesn't seem to be activated. Something just made Allen's hand move to catch the axe.

A certain someone has awoken!

This isn't an illusion, or a hallucination. This is not in Allen's head. This actually happens, as Eliade sees it. Akuma!Mana is right here.

First there's the Spiral, and then the entity has the D from the logo too, though we don't have a clue as to why. Mana D. Campbell? Something to do with what the D stands for?

You'll also note that the skulls is incomplete, and its right side references the spiral again. Souls can be called back from the Spiral by their bonds with the living, so long as they have an anchor: the upside down star that represents matter prevailing over spirit, which Allen has carved in his face.

The curse evolves right in front of our eyes, then retreats back inside him. Akuma!Mana even talks to him, saying "I'm back". Back from being temporarily destroyed by Road, or is this the first time the consciousness with the curse has awoken at all?

We've seen these black eyes on the Earl and Nea. Allen's star is also now filled in. Was its shape before indicative of some kind of incompleteness? Meant to represent that before, it was empty, but now it is properly housing something?

When Akuma evolve from Level 1 to 2, they become a lot more sentient, with their own thoughts and personalities. Allen's eye is doing something similar; Allen himself even points that out, with the Dark Matter evolving to the next stage within him. Still, the whole-ass consciousness that came with that evolution does not get acknowledged enough.

Allen's thoughts are presented to us like this.

This:

is someone else entirely. There's an entity inside the eye now, with its own separate thoughts.

Allen recognizes that Mana is the one speaking to him, somehow using the Spiral of Life. We see them them standing together within it, at least.

Allen tells Mana the conclusion he's come to: he has finally found a place to belong, a path to walk. The tragic fate of an exorcist is his choice. He appreciates Mana's gift to him (Mana's desire to protect him), but he would've chosen the path regardless, even though it's dangerous.

In this moment, there's no doubt that this "Mana", whatever part of the original he is, knows Allen is his own person, the child with Innocence, not Nea or a dog.

He is also dressed like "Mana Walker", nothing like the youthful Mana D. Campbell's more casual clothes or the beige suits the Earl wears.

All of this makes me think that Akuma!Mana is the "soul" of all the memories from in-between meeting Red and Mana "dying" that the Earl wanted to discard, alongside any inconvenient sentiments like fatherhood that may hold him back.

If that turns out to be true, that might mean this remnant of Mana doesn't even know who Nea is.

Don't get up on the "fall" wording here, the translations vary. I think "sink" might have been a better choice.

Akuma!Mana encourages Allen, and even gives him what could be some advice or a some kind of hint. Did Mana also see the world of black and white, when he was alive? Is that one of the Earl's abilities? The ability to see the souls is leading Allen to some kind of answer; he definitely grasps at least some of that truth when he uses the knowledge to take his body back from Nea much later.

This whole scene is one of the most interesting in DGM, but I really don't think its discussed enough. Again, this is not some symbolic or metaphorical meeting of Allen connecting with his own grief, this very much happens. Eliade witnessed the skull and everything.

Mana is somehow using the curse as an anchor and connecting to Allen from or through the Spiral or something like that. He is conscious and aware and "back". Maybe Road's candle really did do something that allowed him to gain so much consciousness, and even move Allen's body.

Regardless, this will not be the last time this entity within the curse interferes. He doesn't talk much, but he is very much present going forward, and saves Allen on several occasions.

The names of these chapters are "return" and "merge", by the way.

So yeah. Akuma!Mana is in Allen's eye and he's along for the ride. Neat.

[annafall]

oh look, the similarities between those two

im sure this means nothing at all

[metiredlr]

''We've long since missed the chance to catch the train on the opposite side / If I had to put it all into words, then what I've run over was my repentance and love''

Adipocere/あだぽしゃ by Iwoya

[poupeesdecirque]

Weekly Photo 52/2024

Summing up this year with the Millennium Earl in .... various forms. Similar to the year their life is a huge clusterfuck and nobody really knows what will happen in the future.

[justacynicalromantic]

🥲

🥲

[frankencanon]

[ray-nick-sen]

Sketches with Nea and Mana :3

[cinammonelles]

I was going through old screenshots in my gallery a while back and i found this

And it awakened something in me so I speedwrote this in feverish daze

[eclipsepetals]

Face blindness and memory loss.

Fun fact, this is also a bit of a personal piece with Mana, kind of like back when I did a monthly Nea to reflect the agonizing struggles of those migraines I was getting back to back at the time. Mana is definitely someone I can explore some of these elements with. I love him dearly.

[namikazegirly]

Why would you hide this in the tags!!

All the possibilities!!

Hey if anyone is still around from my D.Gray-Man theorizing days, I’ve got another crumb for you.

I’m almost certain that what Cross meant by “you will kill someone you care about” is that should Neah take over, he will kill what remains of Mana. A lot of people have also caught onto that!

But… I also think it has a double-meaning. Cross doesn’t want this to happen any more than we do. I think… I think part of him hopes Allen can win. And, I think, if that happens, Neah’s memory will be destroyed and he will die.

And if Neah is to be believed, Allen offered himself as a sacrifice willingly.

Now, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Past Allen did this entirely logically, if he really was the previous Bookman Junior. Maybe he looked at this from a detached perspective and decided this was the most likely solution to save the world. But something tells me that’s not the case.

Allen as a person… even before Mana, even as Red, he was emotional and empathetic and felt things extremely deeply.

I think he loved Neah.

And I’m afraid now, what he will do when he remembers that.

[magekrove]

Left hand is for the akuma

[poppystheories]

The Lala and Gozul Containment Post:

This was admittedly the part I was looking forward to the least in my reread. Not because of anything bad, but because, well, there's a lot of foreshadowing here and lot of conclusions you can draw and a lot of them make me deeply unhappy.

Upon actually rereading, I came to several realizations that actually made me more optimistic about Allen's future haha

But lets take it from the top.

Starting off with an incredible chapter cover: Kanda and Allen, back to back, the cross inbetween them. Yes, it gives me Pillar vibes too. We're gonna ignore that for the moment because I don't have a clue how to interpret that. It could mean anything. Or nothing.

Lala and Gozul in front. The composition here definitely highlights all the Lala and Allen parallels we're going to cover below, but Gozul parallels both Allen and Kanda a bit, so he's in the middle.

Lala is very, very Allen-coded. The lie is she is a child abandoned by humans, found and kept by a malfunctioning ancient being.

The reality is Lala is not a real child, she was not abandoned by any parents, and she is created by Innocence. Likewise, Allen was also not a "real" abandoned child, but someone remade by Innocence.

Her left eye and left arm are also, well, fucked up.

She even fights the same way Allen did earlier this same arc, by using her strength to tear apart the crumbling city and throw it at her enemy:

But Gozul is also kinda Allen coded, right? In terms of role, as a disfigured human raised by malfunctioning ancient being. Gozul feels responsible for destroying Lala himself, because he loves her and doesn't want anyone else to do it if it has to happen. It's not hard to think as this as the probable end of Allen's story with the Earl.

It is also a parallel with Kanda and Alma, and how both Kanda and Alma felt like they had to be the ones to destroy each other. Someday, Alma will die in this same place.

But there's another person we're missing in this story.

Nea.

If Mana has to die, Nea wants to be the one to do it. If the original Allen was going to be erased, Nea wanted to be the one to do it. If the current Allen, all that's left of Nea's friend, has to disappear, Nea wants to be the one to do it.

The wish to "stay together forever" comes up repeatedly between various pairs of characters throughout the story, but especially Allen/Nea and Mana/Earl. It also comes up between Kanda and Alma. They all just want to be together with their loved ones until the end. This desire is without a doubt Hoshino's idea of "love".

Allen clearly sees himself in both Lala and Gozul and their ongoing tragedy. He can relate to them both, and he got to stay with Mana until what he thought was the very end, as Mana gradually slipped away.

He understands how they both were desperate for acceptance, abused by everyone they'd ever met before. How Lala was getting angrier and angrier at the world's rejection of her, just like he was as Red. How Gozul clung to the first hint kindness, just like he clung to Mana and Allen the dog.

Gozul and Lala "saved" each other and lived their lives together. Alma and Kanda got to be together, at the very end. They found their own peace together.

Notably, one of each pair did not destroy the other. Gozul did not take out Lala's heart, like he said he wanted to. Kanda thought he'd killed Alma, but it wasn't true, and in the end Alma asked Kanda to not destroy him with Innocence, but to let the Akuma-transformation kill him. Kanda agreed, and Alma crumbled to dust.

The "one destroys the other out of love" is not the conclusion reached here.

But, Allen is both sides of his own equation here. He's got a lot in common with Lala and Gozul. He's got a lot in common with Kanda and Alma. He's both Nea's Lala and Mana's Gozul.

There's also a big emphasis on Lala's heart. And this cover, with Allen placing a hand over his own heart. Later on, we'll see a very similar cover with Krory.

Yeahhhhhhh. Time will tell how that ties in to everything. Let's just keep it in mind going forward.

Lala gets reset after they retrieve her heart from the Akuma and attempt to restore her. The parallel with Mana, after being devastated by Red's Innocence, is obvious. He's no longer "Mana"—Nea already lost his chance to destroy "Mana" himself.

But this also parallels Allen becoming "Allen", no longer remembering Nea or the previous Junior, just a living puppet of the Innocence. Much like Lala was broken by the Akuma before Gozul could break her himself, the friend Nea was going to erase was erased by Apocryphos long before Nea even woke up again.

To Nea, both the Earl and Allen are broken dolls.

But, that's now how the story ends. Despite it seeming hopeless, Lala does remember who she is, in the end. Because Gozul didn't break her, at some point over the three days Allen patiently let her sing, Lala remembered herself.

The idea of managing to keep a promise at the end, despite having lost oneself, is very important here!

We haven't seen what Mana was like before he "died"; Allen's retelling of it is bleak. But I'm not so sure that's accurate. Maybe Mana regained awareness at some point of the time they spent together, maybe there's more to the story Allen doesn't know. Or maybe Mana will regain awareness, will remember who he really is, and the Earl will peacefully surrender his "heart", like Lala did, after fulfilling a promise.

As for "Allen"...

Allen is Nea's Lala, but "Allen" is Mana's Gozul. If "Allen" remembers being Allen, restores himself like Lala did, what of current "Allen"? And what will it cost? If Allen surrenders to Nea, Nea will kill someone they both love.

Kanda says that to save something, something else must be sacrificed, but what's actually established in this arc is: destroying what you love with your hands isn't the answer. Nea is wrong.

[metiredlr]

''We've long since missed the chance to catch the train on the opposite side / If I had to put it all into words, then what I've run over was my repentance and love''

''I'll keep walking on, even if we never come to understand each other for the rest of our lives / I hope we both find happiness, so that we'll never cross paths again / I hope we both find happiness / A bell is chiming''

Adipocere/あだぽしゃ by Iwoya

Bloody version of the last gif undercut: