Manga Review: The Awakening of Alma Karma by Katsura Hoshino

Title: The Awakening of Alma Karma 
Series: D.Gray-man #21 
Manga-ka: Katsura Hoshino
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Graphic Novels, Older Teen Ages 16+
Publisher: Viz Media, Shonen Jump Advanced, Shueisha Inc.
Format: Paperback, 189 Pages
ISBN-13: 978-1-4215-4077-1 
Release Date: November 1, 2011
Source: Borrowed from Wentworth Library
Rating: 4/5

Tagline(s): ~NONE~

Summary: Allen has been dropped into a flashback of his surly colleague Yu Kanda's past, where a parade of disturbing secrets reveal themselves--including one that could at long last explain what makes Yu tick!

Review:

The Millennium Earl and the Noah have attacked the North America branch of the Order, trying to awaken Yu's childhood friend, Alma Karma. While the battle rages around him, Allen sees Yu and Alma's past. But when Allen breaks through Waizurii's spell, he finds that Alma is awakening as an Akuma.

Allen feels things really deeply and it pains him when he can't protect those around him. This is one of the things that I admire about Allen. It also makes him a great exorcist.

Alma's hatred leads him into a vicious battle with Yu. The reason for Alma's hatred is never really clear--all I know is that it has something to do with the woman that Yu cared deeply for and the promise he made to her. There was a revelation about Alma and this woman that I totally wasn't expecting, though.

The Earl was really devious in this volume. He uses the pain being caused to Allen's friends because of Alma's hatred to goad him into leaving the Order. The Fourteenth, who is a part of Allen, was the Noah that tried to kill the Earl, and when Johnny asks the Earl why he wants Allen, the Earl said, "To be by his side. I want to be by the Fourteenth's side." This is an intriguing answer. I hope we find out more about the past between the Earl and the Fourteenth. The Earl's main goal in pitting Alma and Yu against each other, knowing that Allen would intervene, was to awaken the Fourteenth!

That is probably my favorite part of this volume. Each time Allen is attacked by an Innocence, the Noah memory inside him, that hatred of Innocence, is awakened, therefore awakening the Fourteenth. Seeing Allen slowly, and I mean SLOWLY, change into a Noah was exciting. Not that I want Allen to be a Noah.... It was so cool meeting Nea, who is the Fourteenth Noah who destroys everything. I was wondering what the Fourteenth would look like, and I wasn't disappointed. And the display of the Fourteenth's power when the barrier surrounding the North America branch was destroyed was so AWESOME!

Allen's great show of friendship at the end when he sent Yu and Alma through the Ark so no one could ever bother them again, was so awe-inspiring. I can't wait to see where the story will go next.

About this Manga-ka:

Katsura Hoshino ((星野 桂 Hoshino Katsura) was born on April 21, 1980, in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, as the younger of fraternal twin girls and the second of three children. She drew her first manga at twenty-one. In 1998, Hoshino moved to Tokyo. She dreamed of bringing her mother to the city and was able to in 2006.

She made her debut with her comics in July 2003 with the publication of her first manga series Continue and is known for her work, D.Gray-man, which began serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump in May 2004.