D. Gray-man vol 2 by katsura hoshino

Allen sets off on his first mission as part of the black order with a partner who doesn’t like anyone very much, Allen included. The two are sent to Italy to retrieve some Innocence that is under the attack of many akuma. Kanda, Allen’s new partner, explains that humans find pieces of Innocence around the world and they are the basis of many ghost story and tall tales, so the Order investigates many of these happenings to recover the Innocence materials behind them. Once Allen and Kanda arrive in Italy, they find an akuma that has transformed thanks to the deaths of many humans, and it had many powers that other akuma haven’t had before.

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Now that we’ve landed on this storyline of chasing down material as being the main motivator, the action and plot development is a little more even than it was in volume one. Some of the action sequences in this volume were slightly hard to track, but within a few panels, everything gets figured out. Most of volume two is consumed with battling the akuma and Allen learning to fight a much more advanced enemy than he's ever fought before, which allowed for his character to develop slightly, but didn't leave much room for many others. Kanda is a dark-and-broody type with an interesting foundation of mystery in this volume.

Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1

Publisher: VIZ Media
Publication Date: August 1, 2006 (also available in 3-in-1s collecting volumes 1-3, July 2, 2013)
ISBN: 9781421506241 (3-in-1, 9781421555676) (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 7/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, Action Adventure, Horror, Grief, Supernatural, VIZ Media