182 Talk ~ Kanda, Allen, and the 14th.

[white-arc.livejournal.com]

I'm currently very sick and with nothing else to do I come here asking the fans thoughts of the dynamic between Kanda and Allen (and 14th) this chapter. (Please, no pairing talk).




Now I thought it was pretty obvious from what we've seen so far that despite the tension and dislike for the others' type, both Kanda and Allen do care about the other as friends (not that Kanda would ever admit that). XP

It's not so much that Kanda is any less caring so much as it is he is the type to always let himself off the emotional hook with his own somewhat cowardly proclaimed reasons.

But I find the theory of Kanda being put with Allen so much lately because Central expects him to be the one to kill him if the noah surfaced interesting. Ecspecially if during this chapter Kanda did notice the noah transformation would that mean he somewhat disobeyed orders already in that he was supposed to kill him if he showed signs of becoming 14th? Maybe if that's true he has more faith/trust in Allen then one would think.

I've read quite a few posts saying he'd only spare Allen like that because it would make Lenalee happy if he did. Now Kanda cares a lot about Lenalee, but I don't think he's willing to disobey orders like that for someone he didn't at least have some sort of attachment to as well.

He is a soldier, not a dog.

Meaning Kanda wether he wants to admit it or not, is someone who is ruled by his emotions like all humans. He's not usually going to do something be it for a friend or a superior unless he feels there is a good purpose by it.

He's not going to stop himself from killing a person who may/is turning into a possible enemy (from their view) just because it's going to make another person happy if he does. If he does it, it's going to be because he also has some sort of faith in that person as well in not becoming like that.

Otherwise he's letting a potetial hazard loose to come back and bite them in butt later.

What this means for the future for the 14th awakens more? Not sure, probably more tension. XP I could see him fighting back, perhaps if he saw no hope he could rationalize that killing Allen with the way he is now (if he was in noah gear) would be better than letting some crazy noah run around and use his body for who knows what that Allen himself would disaprove of.

Poor Kanda, being possibly the most sane of the main four must be no easy task.

Comments

[kagami-pon.livejournal.com]

Hm... that some good thoughts there. I never thought too much about it - the relations between, Allan, the 14th and Kanda.

There's no way Kanda would spare Allen because of Lenalee. He;s a 'duty first' man. I think Lenalee, when it comes down to it, would somehow end up accepting it when it happened. And Allen would accept it too- just because of his personality, so forcing the others to reluctantly deal with the fact that he may have to be killed.

That said, I don't think though, Allen would be killed off. They'd find some way to help him first, Lenalee, Komui and the rest of the order. They would exhaust every last option before they killed him.

re: strikethrough comment

[grayhour.livejournal.com]

I totally agree.

[white-arc.livejournal.com]

kagami_pon: Yep, Kanda does have a strong sense of duty to his job.

I know Allen won't be killed off like that, he's the main character after all. XP I was just thinking of a what if scenario.

Re: strikethrough comment

[white-arc.livejournal.com]

grayhour: Thank you.

[murasaki-mary.livejournal.com]

Good article! You make some good points about Kanda. :3

"But I find the theory of Kanda being put with Allen so much lately because Central expects him to be the one to kill him if the noah surfaced interesting." Hey! I find that interesting too. Even if that isn't what Hoshino intended, it does make a lot of sense. Though, maybe she's just including him because he didn't get as much show time in the first half of the manga. XD

[authoressarktos.livejournal.com]

I think Kanda's bizarre dynamic with Allen is potentially the most interesting part of his character. You get this feeling that, even if he's winning to do anything to achieve his goals, he has some attachment to the people around him. Case in point, his brief but very noticable flicker of emotion when he heard his former teammates were gone. Secondly, his strange habit of always coming through for Allen and the others (way back in the second volume, during the Noah's Ark fiasco...) despite all the while saying he doesn't care about them and they shouldn't expect any free rides.

My opinion? He means half of what he says. Kanda is very focused on getting done what needs to be done, and if saving his teammates or partnering up with Allen gives him an advantage, he'll go for it. But despite his jerkass behaviour, this doesn't really explain why he does throw himself in harm's way when there's no logical reason for it. Hence, he either respects or at the very least tolerates them and doesn't let his dislike override his ethics. It stands to reason he's a lot more loyal to his fellow Black Order members than he lets on, but prefers to play it low-key.

Not to say that he secretly thinks of them as friends or anything, but it's...more a case of loyalty towards them, from what I can see. This adds an interesting edge to his relationship with Allen because our favourite white-haired exorcist probably recognizes this to some extent. There's no real other explanation I can think of for why they make such a good team, but bicker and fling insults at each other constantly. The question is whether or not Kanda holds his loyalty above his goals, which by this point is pure speculation...although I'd like to say he values his loyalty more because I'm a sucker for guy-guy friendships. XD

[kowaiki.livejournal.com]

I agree with a lot of the points made above, such as Kanda is too, a human being who has emotions (though his unwillingness to show them is extreme).

Didn't think as much about Kanda hesitated with killing the 14th because of Lenalee. When I think about it though, it is possible so. However, in a tight situation like this, Kanda's own sake probably comes before Lenalee's. Perhaps his "friendship" with Allen may be what triggered him to yell "baka moyashi" (stupid Allen for stabbing yourself with your anti-Noah[?] sword!). If the Central did send Kanda on the same mission as Allen so that he can kill off the 14th anytime, it makes sense. What's written on Kanda's Black Order profile probably goes something like: High battle skills, extremely obedient, 98% mission success rate....

After reading this chapter, I think I grew to like Kanda more :D

[satrugha.livejournal.com]

in a way, it almost looked like when kanda shouted allens name, he did it to bring allen back and push back the 14th.

it might be that kanda's not there to kill allen unless the 14th completely took over, which is why there was that shout. he also might be there to watch and make sure the 14th doesn't surface.

i do agree. he's the most sane right now and also the one who wouldn't go against orders.

[saya22.livejournal.com]

I love Kanda's unparalleled ability to kick/shout people out of their funk. That is all.

[nobeansprout.livejournal.com]

Amen to that. <3

[willowchan.livejournal.com]

What I got from it was that Kanda really did attempt to kill Allen but due to the quick reaction time of the Noah he didn't, and those high emotions of killing one of your own kind would make anyone upset. Then, finding out that you didn't need to kill them would just piss anyone off. I mean, Allen shows he was still killing the bad guys, therefore still good.. even though his sword was registering him as bad.

What I wanna know is why hasn't Allen's eye been reacting to Akuma and activating all of the sudden? Most of the time he doesn't have that gear on his face, regardless of if he is facing an akuma. I would understand if they explained it but I feel they kinda skipped over some sort of revelation Allen had that he could control it better.

[willowchan.livejournal.com]

Oh riiiiiiiight something about magic... Forgot... X.x This whole mission has taken so long to get over with I seriously forgot... What with Hoshino's illness and all. I remember now! But still, I hardly see it anyway besides the mission where it makes sense!

[kupodesu.livejournal.com]

To me it seemed like Kanda kinda expected to for Noah!Allen to dodge. Like "I'm gonna stab this thing and you could get killed too, but you're not stupid enough to let it hit you." I dunno. THOUGH I did get a huge shock when it looked like Kanda stabbed Allen through the face. I was about to scream at that page :|

Also, Allen's eye wasn't reacting because of the spell thing the Skulls put on that area. They did something so that Allen's eye wouldn't react to Akuma while in that force field :)

[willowchan.livejournal.com]

:x yeah I stupidly remembered right after posting and I was way too lazy to change it, so I just replied to myself. XD

Yeah, that scene where it looked like Kanda stabbed Allen nearly made me scream too! o.o;

And yeah, I agree. I guess I was thinking that too, but I was still formulating my opinion so that was all I had solidified. Yeah, so some mix of Kanda knowing he would dodge too. Maybe it was some sort of warning shot?

Kanda: GET BACK INSIDE ALLEN YOU CREEP!
14th: Okay okay ^.^ Sure thing

... I dunno.

[kupodesu.livejournal.com]

And thus, Kanda shows his awesome ability of scaring off ghosty/spirit-like/whatever-you'd-call-the-14th creatures ;D

[grey-damaskena.livejournal.com]

What's the chapter and page of the "flicker of emotion" you mentioned? ::curious::

[authoressarktos.livejournal.com]

Uh...well, 'flicker of emotion' sounds a more dramatic than it actually is, but comparing Kanda's body language and expression on this (http://www.onemanga.com/D.Gray-Man/156/11/) and the way he turns away quickly onthis (http://www.onemanga.com/D.Gray-Man/156/12/) page seems to indicate he feels regret and wants to get away. A stretch, I'll admit, but the fact it jumped out at me and I still remember it months later makes me think I'm right. ^^'

[grey-damaskena.livejournal.com]

::laughs:: I still remember that part, too, it's a favorite scene of mine. Wonderfully subtle. My interpretation of it was that he came to check on Lenalee, and left after he saw that she was okay-- he didn't want to be anywhere near the messy emotional cry-fest for the various fallen members of the Order. So I took it as proof of Lenalee and Kanda's friendship, and proof that he does actually care (about her, though not necessarily about anyone else), rather than him reacting to the deaths of other members of the Order to which he did not have such a strong connection.

There was another Kanda moment that I loved from that scene, where he's escorting Komui down in the elevator, and he and the two Finders are all hit by the akuma virus . . . the Finders fall to dust, and Kanda gets up and walks away. I felt like that said a great deal about what Kanda's life is like, and where he gets his coldness . . .