D. Gray man spoilers
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Duality: D. gray man's main theme.

throughout the first few arcs of d gray man what's always been a focal point of defining allen walker and the cast is saving humanity and fighting the akuma it's simple allen and the cast are designed to be humans and the akuma are monstorous looking creatures....

hellbent on destroying humanity lead by a terrifying although jovial clownlike antagonist,,,,well as you get deeper into the series you'll begin to notice that things aren't as black and white as they seem...

...nuance and intricacies are something d gray man has an over emphasis on whenever it comes to revealing the mysteries surrounding its cast. Especially as it pertains to the Noah clan and the Black order.

When we learn of the noah they're depicted as human like with their own separate personalities equipped with their own separate back stories separate powers and seperate dynamics...

...the more the noah are on screen the more human they feel and the more human they feel the harder it is as for us as an audience to distinguish between the noah and the humans which is a good selling point for driving internal conflict in the plot

even the akuma as they evolve become more humanoid and human like as they develop a conscience formulate battle strategies and question they way humans act and process emotion as they even begin to discover basic human sensation

such as surprise, confusion, anger, regret, and seomtimes even sympathy, this is further substantiated by their ability to mimic human speech and transform into humans

right to self autonomy from akuma wasfirst explored during the The Vampire of the Old Castle Arc with Krory's would be inamorata eliade who was an akuma the reality of whether or not the reciprocity of genuineness is left relatively ambigious and left open to interpretation

but given how often humanity is brought into question i think this was an intentional move on hoshino's part to make the audience pontificate about the morality of killing off akuma despite the fact their very existence hinges upon the torturing of souls

another theory i have is that the more tortured a soul inside of an akuma is the more human the akuma becomes

level 4 akuma is a soul inside of an akuma at its most tortured state so much so that allen couldn't even look at the level 4 without collapsing and crying however the affliction that the soul feels is a necessity for the existence of an akuma without it the soul is set free

that agony the feeling of extreme emotion is transferred into the akuma's conscience which would explain why whenever an akuma grows to another level the more intelligent to "conscious" they become

when looking at the main cast itself it's interesting to see how they've matured from being one dimensional archetypes to fully fleshed out viscerally flawed characters that work within a corrupt system

kanda started out as a strong silent but arrogant archetype lenalee started out as a mediator between the cast lavi started out as the fun loving but logical archetype noise as the calm big guyt etc etc

but once you begin to explore each of their respective backstories as they play a bigger role in moving along the story other members of the main cast become a lot more compelling and charismatic

the one trick pony nature of the characters then becoming incredibly multiplex characters is symbolic in the nature/goals of the black order and the vatican as well

when first introduced to the story we're given the impression of this system being virtuous and ambitious whilst also being relatively oblique and mysterious in reality it's an internally corrupt institution that heavily relies on exploitation demoralization coercion and deceit

Lvellie being the most extreme case of which but the actions of the central comittee of the black order is being in one way or another tacitly supported by members of each respective branch due to their unwillingness to act and the decisions made by the pope

it then makes us question what is truly moral and immoral the goalposts of morality is constantly being moved and reframed characters assumed to be friends stabbing eachother in the back at a moment's notice it doesnt make it immediately clear in the latter half of the series...

...who the bad guys truly are. Even when more corrupt members of the cast seem irredeemable hoshino is able show remorse and sympathy though silence and subtlety

imo i dont think there are any good or bad guys in d gray man after all history always has two sides and depending on how you structure it the side that's seen as radical and extreme (the noah) may be acting in self defense or out of oppression and the vatican are...

...in actuality the ones on the wrong side of history constantly perpetuating extremity and radicalism. It's intelligently formulated with no obvious answer.

its a commentary on the nuances of war and history as well as humanity while also being a critique on religious extremism much of the actions committed under the black order being done under the guise/justification of the will of god and those who stray well...turn out like suman

suman's entire arc and the church's battle with the noah shows how religious intolerance excludes all of those who dont follow the rigidity of the rules set by a singular institution, which is wholly rejected by Allen in his actions and conviction.

think of it as Allen is to atheist, Black order is to christian, Noah is to satanist.

duality is also reflected upon in the identity crises of the vast majority of the characters like pandora hearts dependency and insecurity are two major factors in leading people down dark paths

and explores the decrepitness of the human condition as i've highlighted in this thread how often times our psychological disposition are two sides of the same coin

allen's history with mana/earl is a duality of itself how it eventually shifts from earl manipulating allen to nea manipulating mana and mana's battle with fulfilling his role as the millennium earl vs being himself

this thread exploring the duality of allen and earl's dynamic and identity https://twitter.com/Jarred_nii/status/1317522679210147841?s=20

being used as a means to an end or instrumentality ties all of it into a cohesive masterpiece of duality and nuance

it's funny how what d gray man turned into is a duality in and of itself
it went from a battle shonen with a mystery behind it to a HxH like shonen incorporated with the constant internal and external battle of institutionalized war

i forgot to use some pictures to further illustrate some of my points but oh well