D.Gray-man: Volume 22 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”

Allen Walker roams a 19th century Earth that is different from the way our 19th century was.  The 15-year-old searches for a substance called “Innocence,” some of which has bonded with Allen’s left arm to form a bladed weapon.  Allen is an Exorcist, one of many fighting the evil Millennium Earl and his minions, the demons known as “Akuma.”  Allen is also a very special Exorcist, and the Earl knows that.

As D.Gray-man, Vol. 22 (entitled Fate) opens, Allen resolves the pitched battle between Second Exorcist Yu Kanda and Kanda’s former colleague, Third Exorcist-turned-Akuma, Alma Karma.  Then, things turn really crazy.  The Millennium Earl just has to have Allen as a possession.  Now, Allen is caught between the Earl and his Noah and the Order, the boss exorcists.  Can his fellow exorcist, Howard Link, save him?  And why are the Noah, Tyki Mikk and Road Camelot, trying to save Allen?

THE LOWDOWN:  The 22nd volume of D.Gray-man is one those volumes that really lets loose in terms of action.  If you forget that this gothic-inspired series is a battle manga, this volume will remind you.  Of course, the previous volume was also one long battle – a conflagration of monstrous flesh and transforming bodies.  The first difference in this current volume is that the narrative is coherent.  The second thing that stands out now more than it did in the previous volume is the character drama.  The relationships between the characters actually make sense, which in turn, makes the fighting more than just battle manga sound and fury.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Readers looking for superhero action/fantasy in a manga will enjoy D.Gray-man.