Chapter 169 Discussion - Kanda fanservice. Oh joy.

Can't understand why a chap like this came before the 2 weeks pause (Hoshino-sensei is evviiillll... >_<).

So, the question hanging for me are:

1) Who killed Cross and took his body away (assuming that the killer and the one who took his corpse are the same)?
2) What was decided for Allen?
3) Why Link seemed at ease after that night (Allen still under his supervision, isn't he)?
4) How come there's no Lenalee in this chap (:D)?

I kinda see a different meaning for Cross words (when he said that Allen'll kill someone he loves when he became the 14th). For me, it's the inverse: the death of someone he loves will "trigger" the awaken of the 14th.

Not necessarily. The killer probably was inside the room, or else they'd have had to break in from the outside... and would they have had time to move to the outside? Why not wait and push Cross out the window? (Could be multiple people, but... again, why not stay inside?) If it was someone different, how would they know Cross was dead, and what would their motive be for removing the body and nothing else?

Allen is probably still under Link's supervision, hence why Link is there... unless it was known ahead of time that getting the Innocence would involve playing chess and no one was better to send along than Link. I'd be surprised if he wasn't still under supervision in case something bad happened; better to wipe him out before he could kill anyone potentially valuable to the Order (ie: an Exorcist).

I don't think that meaning of Cross's words is necessarily correct unless the translation is wrong. :/ Not that it couldn't happen, of course, but I think Cross meant exactly what we read. And anyway, who COULD die to trigger that? Cross is dead and nothing happened. Who the heck is more important than Cross? Probably Lenalee... and I can't see her dying at this point in the story. She's probably one of those humans Allen is supposed to kill - or so he thinks - but at least that can be worked around somehow.

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Originally Posted by Digital_Eon

I don't think that meaning of Cross's words is necessarily correct unless the translation is wrong. :/ Not that it couldn't happen, of course, but I think Cross meant exactly what we read. And anyway, who COULD die to trigger that? Cross is dead and nothing happened. Who the heck is more important than Cross? Probably Lenalee... and I can't see her dying at this point in the story. She's probably one of those humans Allen is supposed to kill - or so he thinks - but at least that can be worked around somehow.

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Yeah... I was thinking this way too, but something clicked and the whole Cross talk made me confused... This is a shounen manga, so I thought in all shounen mangas I've read, the typical "triggered by anger" thing, but well... D gray it's not the typical shounen afterall (thank god).

I'am wishing (praying would be the right word) Hoshino-sensei don't pull anoter "important-character-have-to-die-to-bust-the-history" thing. I mean,
Cross death was cool and all, but seeing how Allen have suffered until this point, i'm scared of who she will kill next (remember FullMetal Alchemist? >_<)

So, let's pray for good things, at least once, for Allen

thread link for the RAW: mangahelpers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36739

the thing is that is Cross really dead? It would cry if he is really dead. He is, well, one of my favourite character after all.

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Originally Posted by Feanor

I have to say that the chapter disappointed me a bit.
I expected something to happen.

No announcement what they'll do with Allen, instead we get a ten days timeskip and see him do normal Akuma hunting. They don't have him in custody under their eyes and just let him do his job? And it seems he hasn't gotten the message yet.

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Well, I think there is subtext in the chapter that hints to what may have passed in the last 10 days.

Allen is subdued after defeating the Akuma -- there's definitely a sense of grief, of weight on his shoulders, and of pain in his eyes.

That one center panel on page 15, where Allen and Kanda have their backs to each other after the fighting was over, says quite a bit too. The two are completely silent -- there's no name-calling, no one-upmanship, no taunting that defines what is "usual" between the two. Kanda's cold banter has been transferred to Link instead.

Overall, it seems like the announcement did go ahead, and Allen's friends are still standing with him. I would interpret Kanda's silence to be a sign of his respect for Allen's troubles. While it could also be interpreted as a distance created by the revelation that Allen is the host for the 14th, the fact that they're standing almost shoulder to shoulder in the final panel suggests otherwise.

I supected that to happen. I never thought his friends would distance themselves from him. But his grief (and their's) comes from the fact that Cross is dead. It was clear that they know that much.

But there is no sign that Allen got his message yet. And I doubt that he told them that he'll turn into the 14th. I think Hoshino wouldn't do that off screen.
And while they have Allen under supervision I'm surprised that they let him go on missons. He's out of the order and could turn against his friends any second for all they know. And since Allen is no weakling he could do some serious damage.
I had imagined that they'd restrain his arm like in the meeting with Cross and have him in his room under guard or something like that. Not that they would let him go out to hunt Akuma with one guy watching him.
But maybe they need him or they really trust him.

It's likely that Allen got the message as the narration said "soon after that rainy day" or something along those lines; it's been ten days now, longer than what I would consider to be "soon".

About Kanda - it's really hard to tell from this chapter. For all we know, Kanda could just be doing his usual ignoring thing or is now cold to Allen because of what he is. We didn't see friendly attitudes from anyone else. I think the next chapter will be a flashback to what happened after Cross's death and we'll soon see how everyone DID react and what Allen's status is now - if the announcement happened.

It makes sense that the Order would allow Allen to go on missions since Allen himself is not a Noah nor against the Order. They know that now.

(Sorry I've been away, guys; I'll try to get back into things now. ^^;; )

They probably don't worry so much about Allen. But they should worry about the 14th. They don't know much about him besides the fact that he's the enemy of the Earl. But the enemy of my enemy isn't always my friend.
And they don't know (at least I think) when Allen is supposed to change into him. I doubt he'll have this much freedom for a long time.
Because he could turn into the 14th while Allen is on a mission and that could make it easy for the 14th to get away. And I seriously doubt the order will just let him leave like that (they probably have many questions for him).

Oh, I'm sure they worry about the 14th, at least as much as Allen does. What can they do about him, though? The Order needs Allen's Ark-controlling abilities, and with him on missions, no more time needs to be wasted travelling back to the Order. Besides, why not let him out? If the 14th attacks Exorcists, better it be a select few while on a mission (assuming they can't subdue/kill him) than allow him to cause damage to the Order. Allen's still under supervision, it seems, so they're not totally letting him go...