| Yu Kanda | |
|---|---|
| D.Gray-man character | |
 Yu Kanda wielding Mugen as drawn by Katsura Hoshino[a] | |
| First appearance | D.Gray-man manga chapter 5 (2004) |
| Created by | Katsura Hoshino |
| Voiced by | Japanese Takahiro Sakurai[2] Takuya Satō (Hallow)[3] Tsubasa Yonaga (Hallow, young self)[4] English Travis Willingham[5] Ian Sinclair (2nd voice)[6] |
Yu Kanda (Japanese: 神田 ユウ, Hepburn: Kanda Yū) is a character from D.Gray-man, a manga series created by Japanese artist and writer Katsura Hoshino. Kanda is a young adult who is an exorcist from an organization known as the Black Order. Like the other exorcists in the order, he is in charge of destroying demonic enemies known as Akuma, created by a man known as the Millennium Earl. For this, he uses an object referred to as "Innocence" sealed within a Japanese sword. Kanda sides with the Black Order in their fight against the Earl's group, the Noah Family. Kanda is often cold and antisocial toward his allies, even disliking it when people refer to him by his given name, Yu. He often engages in fights with his frequent ally, the series' protagonist Allen Walker. As the series proceeds, 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 deceased exorcist. Outside the main series and the two anime adaptations, Kanda has also appeared in the D.Gray-man light novels, the two video games of the series, and the crossover game Jump Ultimate Stars.
The character was created to bring a change to the series' predominant Western setting, with his design being based on the samurai of feudal Japan. Hoshino found Kanda's physical attractiveness difficult to illustrate; with many details to consider, she concentrated particularly on his eyes and hair. Due to the draft for his original backstory having multiple plot holes, Hoshino rewrote it. In the official one, Hoshino created Kanda's first friend, Alma Karma, who plays a major impact in his backstory and growth across the manga. Various voice actors have been employed for the character, in both the original Japanese and the English dubbed version.
Kanda has been popular with the series' readers, often appearing in top-ten lists of character polls and taking first place twice, much to Hoshino's surprise. He has also appeared in other polls focused on anime characters in general. Merchandise based on him has also been released. His appearances in the manga and anime series have been met with mixed reactions as result of Kanda's antisocial qualities, comparable with those seen in other series that have similar characters. On the other hand, his character development, specifically his relationship with Alma, his dynamic with Allen, and his backstory have earned Kanda praise. Response to Kanda's voice actors has also been both positive and negative.
- ^ D.Gray-man Illustrations: NOCHE. Viz Media. 2011. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-4215-4124-2.
- ^ "櫻井孝宏(Takahiro Sakurai)＝マイケル田中" (in Japanese). Voice Artist Database. Archived from the original on July 30, 2009. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
- ^ "Noriaki Sugiyama, Tomokazu Sugita, Ami Koshimizu, More Join D.Gray-man Hallow Anime's Cast". Anime News Network. May 7, 2016. Archived from the original on March 13, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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AnimationInsiderMoraleswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "D.Gray-man HALLOW Broadcast Dub Cast Announcement". Funimation. August 3, 2016. Archived from the original on August 1, 2016. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
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