There are a lot of parallels between Mana and Allen’s relationship and other relationships in D.Gray-Man, and they are sending me into so much angst.
1. Road and Earl. The Earl is CLEARLY emotionally unstable, and Road often acts as a grounding presence to him, like Allen was implied to for Mana in Lost Fragments of Snow. She seems to genuinely love him, and they often get up to antics - see the Earl doing her homework, for example - that I can often imagine Mana and Allen doing. At the same time, I’m not entirely sure how much the Earl loves her in return, which... is another parallel that makes me cry. Also, the sitting on shoulders thing, Allen/Road’s alternate dimension that they can access through a door they summon, their inner worlds being pretty much equally fucked up and... The doll thing. Allen’s inner-self looked like a doll, and it’s mentioned a lot that he considers himself a weapon to be pointed and fired, an object for other people’s happiness and entertainment. In many ways it feels like he’s Mana’s doll, a toy made in his likeness to do anything to make him happy. The doll thing really gets me.
2. Lala and Gozel. Again, the doll thing. In this case, it’s even more obvious, because Lala isn’t just a doll in appearance. Her sole purpose in life is to make Gozel happy, and she plans to die as soon as that purpose is no longer there, and let Gozel kill her in the process. Anyone whose caught up on the series might see that and be like “Hm, isn’t Allen’s reason for fighting to end the Akumas suffering for Mana’s sake?” and then remember what we learned in recent chapters about who Mana is and go “Oh shit.” Also, can’t forget that Allen’s loneliness and bitterness prior to meeting Mana can be compared to Lala’s hatred for humanity in general before meeting Gozel as a child. At the same time, and I can’t avoid spoilers here, so skip to the next number if you aren’t caught up, the reverse can also be true, which is also worrying. After all, someone who hates humans, who’d kill any who disrespect them, finding a small child, lonely and desperate for any form of affection? If that was the case, wouldn’t the ‘Earl’ as we know him be Lala after her Innocence was removed and returned to her? Just going through the motions, a doll to be pointed and aimed and manipulated, with no memories of the bond they share? Does that mean Mana will wake up when Allen dies, and then die himself??? Because that will hurt. This parallel is made even more obvious by the fact that the first time Allen really saw Mana, Mana was singing.
3. Lvellie and Link. Don’t kill me for this but uhhhh.... yeah.... This one gets to me because Link’s blind devotion to Lvellie, regardless of his own opinions, and the way Link tries to mimic Lvellie in many ways, is just like Allen to Mana. Can’t forget the “street rat picked up off the streets and given a home for the first time” or the fact Link apparently talks just like Lvellie, but has been slipping up lately as he relaxes more, a parallel to Allen himself who has been letting the Mask of Mana slip. Now this one worries me for a different reason than the others. Link is following Lvellie’s orders even if he doesn’t agree with them, even if he feels they are the wrong thing to do, even if it means he has to attack his own friends or abandon people who might as well have been family to him. He still loves them to death, but he’s choosing Lvellie’s side because he’s devoted to him... the same way Allen is to Mana. And, for people caught up to the manga.... Well...
Might add more. Pls reblog with ideas if you have any.
