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Even after its conclusion in September 2024, Jujutsu Kaisen’s popularity has hardly diminished as it’s still one of the best-selling manga currently. While the main story has already concluded, the anime studio is currently working on Season 3, which will adapt the Culling Game Arc. Additionally, a compilation film, Jujutsu Kaisen: Hidden Inventory/Premature Death—The Moviehas been released in Japan and will hit the U.S. theatres on July 16th, 2025. While these anime projects are enough to keep up the hype of the show, there are always new series fans can read in the meantime. Jujutsu Kaisen is a dark fantasy series that often plays a major role in making the story much more captivating.
This is especially why fans can’t miss out on reading D. Gray Mananother dark fantasy manga created by Katsura Hoshino. The series debuted in 2004 and was later adapted into an anime by the TMS Entertainment studio. The manga transitioned from a weekly to a monthly series in 2009 and then went on an indefinite hiatus in 2013 because of Hoshino’s health. The manga returned in 2015 and then again transitioned to a quarterly schedule. The anime production also faced challenges due to the irregular schedule, which is one of the reasons this masterpiece is not popular among the new generation of anime fans.
What Is the Plot of D. Gray Man?
Thousands of years ago, a chosen few were gifted with divine power, the ability to wield the “Innocence,” sacred relics capable of purging Akuma, artificial creatures created by the Millennium Earl, primarily composed of human souls. The Millennium Earl uses human souls to create those monstrous weapons of destruction in hopes of annihilating the Innocence and plunging the world into chaos by bringing about the Great Flood from a hundred years ago. He is aided by the Noah Family, descendants of the biblical Noah, who possess inhuman powers and memories of their ancestors.
An organization known as the Black Order was created that aims to find the fragments of the Innocence and their Accommodators, individuals born with the rare compatibility to synchronize with the Innocence. These Accomodators are trained to be full-fledged Exorcists within the Order to stop the Earl’s threat. The story is set in the late 19th century, following Allen Walker, a new and young recruit of the Black Order who has a rare Innocence infused in his left arm.
His Innocence isn’t the only thing unique about him, but it’s also his ability to see through the souls of the Akuma who disguise themselves as humans. The world Allen sees is much darker than what other Exorcists face on a daily basis. This is why he swears to help the tortured souls of Akuma find peace and to protect humanity from the Earl of Millennium.
Jujutsu Kaisen and D. Gray Man Share Thematic Similarities
While the setting and plot are vastly different in both series, we do see similarities in the way Jujutsu Sorcerers from JJK and Exorcists from DGM “exorcise” grotesque monsters. Both series have creatures that are formed or created from humans’ grief or negative emotions. These “creatures” explore the themes of how human sufferings breed monsters that cause even more tragedies in the world. Even their unsightly appearance tells us how negative emotions can be shaped into something so repulsive.
The more the story progresses, the more powerful enemies these characters face. Both series humanize evil, creating villains whose ideologies make you question the broken world, question what is right, and show that evil often comes from disillusionment, grief, or twisted justice. Just like Jujutsu Tech High School, the Black Order oversees the training and missions of the Exorcists. Additionally, both protagonists are cursed with unexplainable powers.
Yuji is the first human ever to become a vessel of the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna. While Allen’s powers come naturally to him, he is also considered “cursed” for having something out of the ordinary. The powers these protagonists possess also make others wary of them. These powers evolve in a short time, thanks to their “cursed” nature. Furthermore, since both are dark series, they include various tragedies and deaths that highlight the cost of living in a cruel world.
