can't wait hoshino to reveal his name and his relationship with past lavi and bookman. sometimes I wonder if he's current lavi's father 😮💨 or if he is past lavi older brother 🤔
In this blog post, I will sum up with bullet points what has been said.
But before that, a bit of context :
As some of you know, during this livestream, Hoshino Katsura has explicitly asked people to DO NOT share the content of her livestreams on other SNS (Twitter, etc.) She has not explained the reason, but after speaking with other fans, I assume it might be because she doesn't want us to take too seriously what is supposed to be a fun behind-the-scenes content. In short, it is not supposed to be the Holy Gospel of D.Gray-man, but more like personal insights on the series. For instance : in this livestream, Hoshino has stated she thinks Timcampy is a female. It doesn’t mean that canonically Tim is a female, and it has no impact on the story. But, if she had to choose, Tim would be a female. You see what I mean?
But here is the thing : those livestreams are free, public and available to everyone, there is even a replay! Anyone who understands Japanese can listen to it. When you are a best seller mangaka, I think you should take your responsibilities : if she is not comfortable with speaking on a livestream (because she is afraid of people twisting her words) she should not be speaking at all. I might sound harsh, but this is basic Internet common sense, especially when you are a public personality. Those are the rules of the game, I am not the one making the rules. As long as those contents are free, public, and available to everyone, I'll keep summing them up in English.
Now that’s been said, two disclaimers:
if you have not read D.Gray-man 257, spoilers ahead !
As explained before, this is not the absolute Gospel, do not take those anecdotes too seriously ;)
LONG POST AHEAD, please have some tea or something while reading !
- The Animate benefit, the holographic card, and the chapter: everything is about Lavi. It was not meant to be. It is a pure coincidence.
- The teaser lines (aoribun) on the chapter cover were written by her editor. It is always the editor who writes them. She discovers the teaser lines when she receives the chapter. On the last page, the editor wrote a teaser line about a “curse,” and she was like, “WTF?” She has no idea what the editor meant by “curse.” (lol)
- She drew Allen and Lavi holding a ribbon on the cover: the Bookman clan has always had deep bonds with Allen’s background as a character. This is what she wanted to represent.
- About the title of the chapter “Anomaly Encounter”: of course, Hoshino is the one who decides the title. She hesitated a lot about it. The fact that Lavi is at the Campbell mansion is one of the anomalies. Also, what is happening to Lavi, Bookman, and Allen, everything is an anomaly.
- About the chapter playlist : for every chapter, Hoshino makes a playlist to help her draw. The playlist is made of songs whose vibes match the chapter. It is not about the lyrics, but the overall atmosphere of the song. That being said, if there is one sentence or one word that matches the vibe of the chapter, she also uses the song. This time, the image song was Lemon by Kenshi Yonezu. The first sentence of the song, “If it were a dream,” matches Lavi’s feelings for this chapter perfectly. She felt like Lavi was speaking. She listened to it from the beginning until the very last page of the chapter. She thinks the vibe and rhythm of the song are perfect for Lavi. That being said, she thinks the sentence “if it were a dream” would also match Lenalee. She also listened to Wind Scene (Kaze no Jōkei) from Chrono Trigger.
-About the story board : Actually, she made the storyboard for this chapter before the COVID pandemy (so before 2020). Obviously, some elements changed between the storyboard she drew back then and the actual chapter. She had drawn the storyboard up to the middle of the chapter (she stopped just after Bookman’s death). When she first drew it, she was very satisfied with the scenario, but she tried to adapt it to her current situation. She had decided on many lines a long time ago, such as “The Bookmen are not your useful dictionary” and “We are the ones who decide to whom we speak and when we speak.”
She didn’t want to plan the storyboard too far in advance, so she stopped at the moment when Bookman says, “You’re the Bookman now,” back before the pandemy. She felt she didn’t have the strength to draw it because she didn’t want to kill Bookman. She loves him very much.
- About Lavi fighting: it is the first time she has drawn Lavi being serious about fighting. Lavi using his full power. At the Order, when Lavi fights with Kanda, he never uses his full strength. The same goes for the fights in the Ark. The reason is because Lavi is a Bookman: he cannot interfere with events and can only use his power to protect himself. So he has always been restraining himself. She thinks Lavi is the strongest among Kanda, Allen, and Lenalee, but he never uses his full strength in battle.
- About Lavi fighting (again): this time, Hoshino herself drew Lavi’s attacks (it is usually her assistant). She hates snakes, but she looked at so many snake pictures for reference that she felt sick. In the original version (pre-2020), she had not planned to burn Sheryl so much, but she felt the need to show how strong Lavi is. She likes it when Lavi says “no restriction.” She was deeply moved by how strong Lavi has become.
- She knows that the edges of her drawings will be cut when they are printed in a volume, because a volume page is smaller than a magazine page. So she voluntarily censored herself and drew Lavi’s attack smaller so that volume readers can see the full extent of the attack.
- She asks readers not to focus only on Lavi’s abs (lol).
- The most difficult scene to draw was the moment when Sheryl kicked Bookman.
- She really loves Bookman and loves drawing old men. She did not want to kill him. She also loves drawing Lavi and Bookman together. She had known for a long time that his death would come, but it was still very painful for her. She wished she could have given them a calmer environment for their separation.
- Her sister read the chapter in front of her and shared her impressions. Her sister was angry at Sheryl for calling Bookman an “old geezer.” She also found it funny that Sheryl still had enough strength to insult Lavi when Lavi was about to attack him.
Apparently, her sister was sad that the last person Bookman thought of before his death was Lavi, and not his own son, Past Lavi. But Hoshino thinks Bookman sees Lavi as his last hope. For her, this is natural and obvious. As readers, we have not seen much of Bookman’s true feelings yet, but later in the story we will learn more about his personal situation and emotions. His family (Joe, Lucia, Past Lavi) will also appear more in the future.
- She loved drawing small Lavi and thinks he is very cute.
- About Bookman’s family: her editor was amazed that readers could understand from just one word (“mother”) that Joe is Lucia’s mother.
- Hoshino had imagined many different versions of Allen’s arrival at the Campbell mansion. However, after drawing Bookman’s tragic end, she felt like drawing something bigger would be too much, so it became a small panel. In the storyboard she drew years ago, the arrival was more serious and dramatic. Still, she is satisfied with what she drew, as all the other versions felt strange to her.
- About Urcampy: it bites! She thinks of it as male. For her, Tim is closer to female. That said, golems do not have a gender. Tim might be Allen’s little brother, but it’s a girl (lol). “Don’t you feel Allen is better with a girl?” she asks.
It is the first time she has drawn Ur and Allen interacting, and she loved it. She felt like she was drawing Tim and realized how much she wanted to draw him, which made her cry.
- In the last scene, her sister criticized Ur for taking Tim’s spot.
- Of course, there is a reason why Allen has been sparkling in recent drawings.
- Past Lavi looks like his mother. Joe looks like his father.
- She always thought she was bad at drawing people carrying other people (the Wisely and Lavi scene), but she was satisfied with the result this time. She paid the most attention to Lavi’s tights when drawing this scene. If it had been Kanda, she would not have paid attention (lol). Obviously, Wisely can carry Lavi because he is a Noah.
- She cannot say much about Wisely (it’s suspicious), but because he has the magic eye, he is close to Bookman in many ways. Wisely also knows what happened 35 years ago, so he has a lot of respect for Bookman. Out of respect, he helped Lavi. By the way, this whole situation (Bookman and Lavi being captured by the Noahs, and Bookman being killed by Sheryl) is unforgivable for Wisely. It was not supposed to happen.
- The last scene between Lavi and Allen: she knows this scene can be misunderstood. That said, she thinks she drew it in the least ambiguous way possible. It is obviously not a romantic scene. For her, it is an emotional face-to-face. She had imagined two versions of this final scene, and those two versions were very different.
-She thinks that even if Lavi stayed in bed for three months, his abs would not disappear.
- Lavi will have scars from his fight with Sheryl, but they will not be as big as Allen’s. They will be small and almost invisible.
- She does not feel excited at all when drawing Kanda’s abs (lol) she’s like, “Yes, yes, we know you have abs, thank you, next.” But she did feel excited when drawing Lavi’s abs.
- She apologized for not drawing Lavi naked in the helix at the end of the chapter (lol).
- Lavi’s body (eye) reacts to the beginning of the succession ritual. When Bookman pronounces the words (Dia-ru?), the ritual begins. That is the sign, and Lavi’s body reacts.
- She was worried for years about drawing Lavi without his eyepatch, but she is satisfied with the result. She cannot say more about Lavi’s eye (suspicious).
- About Bookman’s last words: she hesitated a lot about what words to use. Those words are not from Bookman to his junior, but from a grandfather to Lavi. They are words of love. She tried to imagine what she would say to her cats in that situation. Those words will leave a deep mark on Lavi. By the way, those words are also linked to the fact that Lavi was shot by a stray bullet (cg. Bonus chapter). We will understand the connection later in the story.
- About the sentence “A Bookman has no need for a heart”: this sentence will still be important in the future. Even though Bookman has died, he remains a relevant character for the story going forward.
- She put a lot of effort into Joe’s outfit.
And that’s all for this time. I am sorry if this post was a bit long, I thought about making two parts but anyways...! Thank you for reading, as always ! And do not hesitate to comment or leave your impressions, I love to see other DGM fans' reactions 🩷
[LIVE TRANSLATION] HOSHINO KATSURA ABOUT D.GRAY-MAN CHAPTER 257 REACTIONS (29/01/2026)
Hello everyone, happy D.Gray-man day!
Hoshino sensei talked a bit about the new chapter in today's livestream, so here is a small translation.
Actually, there is no spoiler here, so you can read it even if you have not read the chapter yet. It also seems Hoshino sensei will be doing soon a livestream to speak about chapter 257, so I will translate this as well when it happens!
_________________________
I. ABOUT THE NEXT ANIMATE BENEFIT
"I have so many things I want to say, but I’ll just keep quiet for now (laughs).
As you may know, I’ll also be the one drawing the next Animate benefit card, but I plan to make something VERY different. When you see it, you might think, “Wait, has she ever drawn something like this for merchandising?” It will be a bit… how should I put it? Cute. Anyway, please check it out!
I’ll wait a bit before making a livestream about D.Gray-man 257, because I want everyone to read it before the stream. Is it 257…? You know, I’ve lost count since it entered the hundreds, ahaha. I’d love to speak about the new chapter, but I can’t right now.
Please send me your comments about the new chapter.
Even if you are just screaming your lungs out or getting crazy. If I see you are all getting crazy, I feel like my mission is accomplished. I’ll feel satisfied. So please send your comments.
II. ABOUT HER SISTER'S REACTION
Anyway, my plan for today is to ask Yu what she thought of the chapter (*Yu is her sister). She has very poor vocabulary (laughs). How should I put it? Each chapter, she gets mad at me. I become her punching ball. Each time, I’m like, “Hey, what did you think of the new chapter?” and each time, she starts to hit me. Yu is definitely the kind of person whose hands act before she can speak. Whatever I do, no matter how much I draw my best, she just hits me. She’s like a hitman.
It is so hard to ask her what she thinks of the new chapter. But me, I want your opinions! It becomes my fuel for the next chapter. Recently, when the chapter is released, I’m like, “Oh, so today is the day of the new chapter…” But it is just a normal day. I don’t receive any comments on the new chapter, and I just start alone drawing the next chapter. But I feel so lonely. So, I call my sister on the phone and ask for her opinion. But she has no vocabulary, and then she gets mad at me. But me, I just want to know what she thinks. Isn’t that so sad? Don’t you think it is awful?
Besides, Yu is always criticizing me. She is like, “Why did you draw that? Explain to me. I don’t like this. Don’t do that.” Also, she often tells me, “Don’t make Link shine too much. Don’t draw him too sexily.” It is not even comments on the new chapter, it is just pure criticism. But I only have her, so those are the only comments I am listening to. Poor me!
And the worst? She is deadly serious about it. She tells me very coldly, “Don’t make Link too sexy.” It is not a comment, it is a threat. For real.
Also, yes, next time, let’s do a special live for chapter 257!"
So yeah, that’s to tell you how much I am eager to read your comments on the new chapter. The older I get, the more difficult it gets to draw manga, you know? (laughs) But I really want to keep doing my best to draw it.
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