Yu Kanda

Character Outline
Yu Kanda is an Exorcist of the religious organization known as the Black Order. He is a Second Exorcist, an Exorcist raised in a test tube and artificially modified to bear the Innocence of the previous Exorcist his brain formerly belonged to. He is also the second incarnation of the lover of fellow Second Exorcist Alma Karma's former incarnation.

Appearance
Kanda is a handsome Japanese teenager usually found in a foul mood. Kanda has long black hair, which he washes with soap, and dark eyes. Lavi comments that Kanda is a "pretty-type character", and Allen occasionally calls him "girly face"; Inspector Galmar also called him a "pretty boy". Kanda is testy about others touching his hair, getting mad at Lavi when he attempted to braid it. Recently, when Mugen became a crystal type, he gained two stigmata on the underside of his forearms where his blood exited his body to form Mugen's new blade.

On Kanda's chest is a tattoo that is the seal of his Second Exorcist regenerative abilities. Though the ring around the symbol changes (seemingly depending on the severity of his injuries), the symbol in the center remains the same; it is a variant of the symbol for "Om", a symbol/sound/syllable featured in such religions and belief systems as Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.

Personality
Kanda comes across as cold, stoic, and arrogant, even to his fellow exorcists. In battle he will do anything to win, sometimes at the risk of his teammates. He once made a sarcastic joke about leaving them to die. It is his opinion that exorcists are not saviors.

Yu is Kanda's given name, though he dislikes being called by it or even introducing himself as such. He calls Allen "beansprout" (モヤシ, moyashi, English Dub: "Short Stack"). Kanda seems to know Lavi, though he does not hesitate with his usual threats if Lavi calls Kanda by his given name. However, though he claims differently, it is clear that Kanda does care for his fellow Exorcists and the Finders, constantly stepping in to save their lives.

He tends to mask his emotions and often claims, "It's none of my business." In spite of his intentions, he and Allen are often at each other's throats and rarely see eye-to-eye on anything.



Kanda's personality seems not to have changed since he was young. At age nine, he was moody and easily annoyed, especially towards another "second exorcist", Alma Karma, who often followed him around. However, his final conflict with Alma seems to have hardened him further, for, though he was seen laughing with Alma as a child, no such display of frivolity has been witnessed since then. Kanda's favorite foods are soba noodles and tempura (especially pumpkin, shishitou [a small, sweet green pepper], and lotus root). Kanda dislikes many things, to the point that "there are too many to write down". However, Kanda himself points out that he hates people with naive personalities, people who do not keep their promises, cursed people, people who cannot keep their mouths shut, people who call him by his given name, and "sweet things".

History
Kanda was originally an Accommodator and Exorcist of the Black Order, but he was killed by an Akuma about thirty years before the series. There was also a woman in his life whom he loved, a fellow Exorcist who died alongisde him

Kanda was "reborn" a second generation Exorcist, created by the Order, nine years previous to the current events of the story through the efforts of the Epstain and Chang families as part of the Second Exorcist Program. His body was modified to heal incredibly quickly in order to survive the synchronization tests. He regularly underwent a shockingly cruel and painful procedure to force them to be able to synchronize with his Innocence, literally tearing him apart in the process. Due to his Second Exorcist strength and ability to regenerate, the procedure was repeated even after he had "died" several times. Although initially extremely hostile towards Alma Karma, another child of the Second Exorcist Program, the two eventually become close friends due to their shared experiences at the hands of the Order.

Kanda began seeing an illusion of a woman who Alma initially assumed was For, the guardian deity of the Asian Branch since she had appeared to Alma whilst he was crying over the pain of the syncrhonization test. Kanda also started to dream of her and of his death at the hands of an Akuma. The Order realized this and, fearing Kanda would turn into a Fallen One like others who had experienced symptoms like his before, decided to kill him. Alma overheard this conversation and attempted to rescue Kanda, only to be apprehended by the CROW and be force to kick Kanda into a deep, swift river running through the Asian Branch.

After landing in the, Kanda was washed up in front of a younger Bak Chang and Noise Marie. Eventually, after a brief exchange, Kanda was taken by the members of CROW to be "terminated". The "procedure" proved a failure as Kanda's past memories of an unknown woman reanimate him and allow him to summon the Innocence of Mugen in a sword form which he used to free himself. During his escape, he found an mortally wounded Marie and, while examining him, some of his (Kanda's) blood dripped into Marie's head wound, healing him. Kanda then took Marie to save him from experiencing his face, and while listening to a tearful Marie thank him for saving him, Kanda thought about how Alma had tried to do the same for him by just being there for him, and came to the conclusion that he had to escape with Alma and run from the Order.



When Kanda found Alma, though, Alma had slaughtered the personnel of Laboratory 6, and then turned his blade on Kanda. As he fought back, Kanda realized that Alma had regained his memories, as well, and that Alma's memories had led to a divide between them. Determined to survive and see the woman in his illusions again, Kanda fought back against Alma, hacking his body up until Alma couldn't regernate anymore. For nine years, Kanda would serve the Order under the impression that he had killed his best friend, never knowing until the events in North American Branch that Alma was alive and had been salvaged for a continuation of the Second Exorcist Program.

Introduction Arc
Kanda is introduced into the series when the gatekeeper of the Black Order mistakenly identifies Allen Walker as an Akuma. Kanda, the first to respond, attacks Allen and damages his left arm (Allen's Anti-Akuma weapon). After questioning Allen about his arm, Kanda attacks again, only to be stopped by Lenalee Lee. Allen then attempts to introduce himself civilly, but Kanda coldly brushes him off, stating he doesn't want to shake hands with a cursed person. Allen later clashes with Kanda again, this time over Kanda's insensitive treatment of the Finders, and their mutual dislike grows.

Ghost of Mater Arc
To both Allen and Kanda's dismay, they are paired with each other for Allen's first mission (which is to find a piece of Innocence in Mater, Italy). They are accompanied by Finder named Toma. Upon arrival, they find that the Finders there have been killed by an evolved Level 2 akuma. Allen takes on the akuma while Kanda heads off to retrieve the Innocence, which allegedly serving as the heart of a living doll known in rumors as the Ghost of Mater. Kanda finds the Ghost of Mater named Guzol, who is apparently accompanied by a young girl named Lala. Unfortunately, the they run away as soon as Kanda's attention is diverted. The akuma takes the appearance of Toma, springing an ambush upon Kanda while his back is turned. The akuma badly wounds Kanda, and jeers at him to "die already." Kanda seems to die after saying, "Die? I... I can not die before I find that person." But then Allen knocks the akuma away with his Innocence in a rage, and realizes Kanda is still alive. He then takes Kanda and Toma in a search for a place to rest, and unwittingly chances upon the Ghost of Mater and Lala after following the song he hears Lala sing, overhearing their conversation. The conversation reveals that Lala is the doll, the Guzol is in reality just a human with a badly disfigured face. Kanda, who awakens wants to take the Innocence immediately, against Lala and Guzol's wishes; however, Allen objects to this idea. They argue until the akuma appears, stabbing Lala and Guzol together. Allen attacks the akuma, but just when it seems like he's about to win, his weapon rebounds. However, Kanda steps in (despite his own injuries) and protects Allen, and they destroy the Akuma together. Kanda's wounds, though serious, heal in three days (to the great surprise of hospital staff), and he departs on another mission.

Edo and Asian Branch Arc
Kanda next appears in the company of his teammates, Noise Marie and Daisya Barry. When Daisya is killed by Tyki Mikk, Kanda and Marie continue on and find their master, General Froi Tiedoll, who is searching for people compatible with Innocence. Together, the three of them travel to Edo to help General Cross Marian's group fight the Millennium Earl. Kanda arrives in time to save Chaoji and Lenalee from Tyki Mikk.

Noah's Ark Arc
After the battle, when Lenalee is kidnapped by Lero, Kanda enters the Ark with Allen, Lavi, Chaoji, and Baron Arystar Krory III to save her. Inside the ark, Kanda engages the Noah Skinn Bolic in a one-on-one battle, allowing the others to go ahead. He promises Lenalee that he will survive and carry on, but it is his own desire to live that wills him to survive (maybe backed by his wish to find the person he's mentioned before). After an intense fight, he defeats him, but at the cost of some of his life after invoking his third illusionary style. Mugen is also shattered in this battle; however, it is only broken into fragments, not destroyed like Allen's was, so Kanda is able to remain as an Exorcist (later, in a comic manner, the shattered Innocence of Kanda and also Lavi are shown in burlap bags awaiting Komui's repair). However, Kanda is too late to rejoin the others, and he is "lost" as the Ark collapses. Later, when Allen restores the Ark, Kanda (along with the other "lost" exorcists) are revived.

Invasion of the Black Order Arc
Upon his return to the human world, Kanda is forced into the infirmary with the other Exorcists. He tries to leave, but General Tiedoll makes him stay. After a while, he is released, and he returns to his own quarters. When the Level 4 Akuma attacks headquarters, Kanda protects Komui Lee with a normal sword, since Mugen has not yet been repaired. He had also protected Komui by covering himself over Komui when the Level 4 Akuma attacked, but quickly recovered. Joined by Lavi and Allen, he fights the Level 4 with everything he has, taking a lot of damage in the process, in order to save Komui, Lenalee, and Hevlaska. When Allen holds back an attack from the Level 4, Kanda and Lavi both grab onto Allen's sword to help. After the battle is over, Kanda is seen sword fighting with Allen in a bet where the loser of the fight has to cut off his hair. Later, he is seen as a child, just like Lavi, due to the effects of a potion found during the HQ moving process.

Komuvitan D Arc
Thanks to one of the Science members creations, Kanda and Lavi are turned into miniture/chibi versions of themselves (But Kanda still has the same temper as always). Outraged, he accused the science division for 'fooling around' and 'not getting on with their work'. Because of his size, Lenalee questions Marie in what to do with his clothes where Marie replies 'they (Kanda and Lavi) can wear Bookmans'. Funnily enough, the manga comments that 'it fits perfectly. Hence, throughout this Arc, Kanda is shown to be wearing Bookman's clothes until the end of the Arc.

Later on when most of the central branch members got infected by Komuvitan D (turning them into zombie-like characters), Allen and a few comrades (including Kanda, Lavi, Johnny, Lenalee, Link and Reever) managed to escape the chaos relatively unharmed. However, when the Generals, infected by Komuvitan D, ambushes them, Kanda also gets infected, while Allen attempted to fight them away with his innocence.

In the end, Kanda played a part in infecting Lenalee and it was noted the Bak had to come from China to sort out the zombie outbreak. Things resumed to normal afterwards.

Disappearance of Cross Marian Arc
Kanda does not appear in this arc.

Phantom Thief G Arc


Ten days after the disappearance of General Cross, the arc begins showing Kanda is finishing a mission with Allen and Miranda where Kanda battles with an akuma with his new Mugen, which now appears to be like a more traditional Japanese Katana.

The group succeeds in claiming the innocence and begins to return home with the use of the ark. While waiting for the ark to open, Kanda gets into another minor brawl with Allen, thanks to Miranda's spineless attitude towards Kanda. Allen comments that Kanda is probably in a bad mood because Allen is getting on his nerves. We realise then that Kanda, and the rest of the exorcists, has recieved a long standing order from Komui to kill Allen if he is to cause damage to the order as the 14th Noah. The truth about Allen being a Noah is explained to all the exorcists as well.

After this, Kanda, Allen and Marie are sent to another mission to solve (and retrieve the innocence) the mysteries around the 'Phantom Thief G'. Kanda and Allen appears to be on better terms with each other and even effectly work together as a three-man team to ambush and 'capture' Thief G. However, G easily escapes but thanks to Marie's hearing, the team manage to follow the thief to an ophanage.

When arriving in the orphanage, a kid named Timothy accidently bumps into Allen on the forehead making Timothy's soul go into Allen. This is where the team realise that 'Phantom Thief G' is in fact Timothy as their abilities are the same (hence why he is able to escape from the police everytime). The team discuss with the director of the orphange about Timothy's future to become an exorcist as he is possibly capatible with the innocence on his forehead.

During the discussion, a barrier is set around the ophanage by the Skulls working for the Noahs and the team find themselves trapped. A few akumas, disguised as humans, walk into the orphanage and begins their attack to the exorcists, among them is a Level 4. The three exorcists attempts to fight and defend the children especially Timothy as he could be a much needed exorcist.

Kanda struggles fighting with the Level 4 with Marie while Allen defends the children with Link. Kanda is shown to be shocked and worried about Marie as the Level 4 injures Marie with his bullets. Angry for what the akuma's done to his comrade, Kanda attempts to counter attack with his Three Illusions but fails against the Level 4. In a when-all-hope-seems-lost situation, Timothy manages to fully activate his innocence 'Divine Posession' which gave some time for the team to recover from their injuries they received.

Through bad mouthing and arguing with each other, Kanda and Allen gains the strength to stand up and face the remaining Level 4 again for a second time. Kanda attemps to use Three Illusions again and succeeds against the Level 4. He, again, appears to fight well with Allen.

The duo appeared to be winning against the akuma. Through an attempt to attack the akuma, Allen also impales himself believing that Crown Clown will not affect him as it only 'affect those who are evil' i.e Noah and akumas. However, to his dismay and confusion, Crown Clown affects his as well and causes Allen severe pain. Kanda is shocked and worried by this and runs towards Allen, to impale the akuma again in an attempt to stop the Noah awakening in Allen. Allen appears to be affected by the Noah inside him and glares evily at Kanda similar to how Tyki would to the exorcists. In a final struggle to try and wake Allen up, Kanda shouts 'Idiot Beansprout'. Allen finaly regains his control and together, the pair draws out their swords out of the akuma while slashing sideways as well. This finally give a bloody end to Level 4. While recovering, Allen ironically replies to Kanda 'I've told you before, the name's ALLEN'. This confirms their close yet 'destructive' relationship.

A few members from the science division manages to destroy the barrier around the orphanage where Kanda and group was fighting. They then take Timothy back to the Headquaters to begin his training as a fellow exorcist.

Third Exorcists Arc
Kanda goes back to Headquarters and the manga begins by showing Kanda training with Bookman. He sees the Third Exorcists when they attack Allen.

Kanda is then called to the Asian Branch by the sword smith, Zhu, who wishes to talk with him. Kanda instead encounters Bak, and they have a conversation about Kanda's past while For is looking for Zhu. Kanda then has a short flashback of himself as a child while Zhu is talking to him. A part of his conversation with Bak involves him being a second exorcist created by the Order in a "synthetic disciple project" that Central came up with.

While on a mission, Waizurii (the 5th Noah) appears in front of him atop a pile of dead bodies. When Kanda asked, "who are you?" before challenging the Noah, Wisely says the name "Alma" which shocks Kanda. Kanda loses to the Noah and is dragged to the North American Headquarters.

Before the invasion of American HQ order members of the science division were assembled in the building for a meeting on the Third Exorcists. During this meeting a portion of Kanda's backstory was shown when Teacher Zhu sees the body of Alma Karma (stated moments earlier to be the first womb of the Third Exorcists). As Zhu argues with Malcolm, he claims they should have told Kanda that Alma was alive. He later states the two were friends who they then made "fight to the death".

Having invaded the headquarters the Earl and Noah line up the surviving members. Amongst this line up is Johnny and Reeve, who notice a motionless Kanda on the ground before them. The Earl and Waizurii (both seeming to know about Kanda's past) then put their plan in motion stating to the order members "You will be killed by the demon that you yourself created".

At this point Kanda appears to regain consciousness and see the image of a person beneath him, he then has flashbacks to when he first met a child named Alma. A bird's eye shot shows him kneeling over the body surrounded by flowers. Moments later Allen arrives only to have been baited into what seems to be a trap.

While Allen fights with the Millennium Earl, Kanda aids him but is fought off by Tyki. After an explosion, they see that Waizurii and the Noah family brought out Alma. Kanda then asks "Who the heck is that?", shocking everyone. Zhu states that there is no way Kanda does not recognizes Alma, but when Road mentions it is Alma, Kanda gives her a menacing look and replies "He's dead." Road continues to taunt him, while Wisely creates an eye under her. Allen and Kanda both looking at her, see it, and appear to be sucked into some other dimension where Kanda's past was being unraveled in front of Allen and Road. In the latest chapter, it is revealed that Kanda, Alma, and the other "Second Exorcists" were, in fact, created by transporting the brains of dead or dying Exorcists into artificial bodies in order to see if the compatible Innocence would be carried over to the substitute body.

After managing to escape the cryogenic sleep by synchronizing with Innocence, Kanda leaves and finds Noise Marie unconscious on a table. Kanda manages to heal and wake him up with his own blood (accidentally). He then saves Marie and attempts to escape the base but thinks of Alma and goes back for him. He finds Alma among the mass of dead scientist and Crow corpses, Alma having just murdered Edgar. Kanda questions why and asks whether Alma's memories have awakened or not. Alma then states he must kill Kanda too and attacks, cutting off Kanda's arm. After Alma states they can die together, Kanda finds his resolve and decides he does not want to die, even if it means killing Alma. Kanda delivers two devastating blows to Alma striking him down and apparently "killing" him.

After witnessing this, Allen snaps (because Yu was letting himself being used) and punches Kanda in the head with Crown Clown, sending him spiraling out of sight. However his memories awoke Alma's hatred and subsequently Alma himself. Alma's awakening blows the entire Branch. Kanda is lost in the explosion with everyone else present, minus Alma who calls out and asks if Yu is there in the debris. Yu survives the explosion and turns to Alma who has now become a fully fledged Akuma.

As Alma continues to taunt Yu about his continued survival and the friends he has made, Yu activates his Innocence and attacks with Third Illusion. After more taunts from Alma, Kanda activates Fourth Illusion. His iris's gain four pupils in them and he suddenly and severely strikes Alma. Allen berates him for fighting so seriously.

When the Millennium Earl asks Allen to join him, he mentions that if Allen joins, he will eradicate the dark matter within the Third Exorcists and Alma. Alma says that he does not care about dark matter, and he "just wants Kanda to die." Alma then attacks Kanda and stabs him twice. Lotus flowers appear everywhere; one is shown wilting. "That person" appears and says, "I will wait for you...I'll wait forever..." Kanda smirks, and Alma asks him what he is thinking of. Kanda activates Fifth Illusion and cuts off Alma's arm and leg. Alma smirks and hurts Kanda. Kanda then repeats "destroy" over and over again and prepares to attack Alma once more. Allen, however, intervenes with his Crown Clown.

Kanda glares at Allen and asks him "what mockery is this?". Since Allen, instead of answering, tries to find out why Kanda is having such an ominous expression, Kanda snaps and attacks both Alma and Allen with "Fifth Illusion Style: Ripping Flash Claw", injuring the latter seriously. He continues attacking Alma cruelly. At that point, old man Zhu states that Kanda's hair have turned light purple because he has sublimated his soul too much and that he is going to die. Alma attacks with a heat ray and gets Kanda right in the chest. The force of the continual blow is so immense that Kanda's skin starts to melt away.

Alma pleads Kanda to use up all of his regenerative ability and die right there. However, Allen intervenes again, while Kanda collapses. Alma's regenerative ability begins to wear of as well, and he falls to his knees. Kanda gets up and tries to kill him again, but Allen protects Alma.

Kanda then battles Allen in order to get to Alma. At first, Allen also fights back, but is hit from the behind by an attack from Alma. Allen then notices from Alma's expression, and lets Kanda stab him, which makes Kanda pause his attack. Allen then tells him to look closely at Alma and asks him why he is making a conflicted, pained expression, before falling and his skin turning gray. Yu comes back to his senses but Alma still attempts to kill him. However, Allen's body begins to rise and blows both back with a shockwave. Alma, the worst for wear, crashes into a wall but Kanda catches him.

They watch on as Allen begins to transform, the Earl informing Kanda he released the 14th by messing Allen up too much with his innocence; the Noah cannot forget their hatred of innocence. Allen's transformation is abruptly stopped as his left eye activates, and an illusion of Mana calling out to him appears. He awakens to see the soul within Alma, which is actually the woman Kanda has been searching for. Alma screams for Allen not to say it and in a last attempt to kill Kanda, Alma begins to self destruct. He cries out "Why, Alma?!" to Alma as Alma detonates. As the smoke clears, Kanda's body crumbles to the ground. Sheril notes that to be adequate revenge for Skinn Bolic, while the Earl muses how Kanda, who prided himself as a powerful member of the order, was so "brittle" before Alma. As he begins to regenerate, he calls to Allen, saying "Beansprout," while Alma's soul begins to be eaten by Dark Matter. Allen assists Kanda in reaching Alma, asking him to open a gate to where they had their first mission, so he and Alma can be at peace there, giving Mugen to him. Before he catches Alma, Allen calls him and says that Kanda is the only one capable of helping Alma. In response, Kanda smiled at him and says "Thank you. Allen Walker." He then catches Alma and tells him they will get away from innocence and the church together. Alma cries happily, their childhood bond reaffirmed. However, Kanda also sheds tears as he and Alma fall through the gate, knowing that Alma doesn't have much time left, and arrives at the underground stage that Lala had sung her last song on Allen's first mission.

Kanda watches the Gate disintegrate, realizing that Allen has helped him stay alone with Alma for the little time they have left together. Alma, who is still alive, tells Kanda that the akuma, can tell that Allen is a Noah. Before Alma can say anything more, he thrashes around, and Kanda coaxes Alma, saying he should not say anything at the moment. Alma tells Kanda not to use his Innocence, but instead watch his soul disappear. Alma discusses how much he hates the Order for doing terrible things to both him and Kanda, but also talks of his guilt since he killed so many people as an Akuma. Kanda comforts Alma until Alma finally dies, leaving Kanda to watch the illusion of Alma and Alma's former self walk away in the distance, holding hands in the garden of lotuses.Just as Kanda continues to mourn, he hears Alma's voice confess that he loves Kanda, and a ripple in the lake of lotuses occurs. Kanda then smiles slightly before closing his eyes, still cradling Alma's body. After further investigation the order found Mugen covered in a strange rust, which was interpreted as meaning that it lost its compatibility. Because of this, Yu Kanda was presumed dead.

Seed Of Destruction Arc
Later, however, he is shown to be alive and well, approaching Lenalee and Noise Marie in France. When Marie asks why he came back, Kanda simply smiles and asks why he wasn't welcomed properly. After arriving in the Asia Branch, much to the astonishment of the Black Order personnel, commenting on how Allen's comment about always being an Exorcist sounded like him. He states stoically that Lenalee looks "quite ugly" because her face is blown up and swollen by her crying, which results in Marie having to hold her back. When he arrives in the room Komui is in he is greeted enthusiastically by Komui who a first thought it was an "Art of Kanda" General Tiedoll had made.

He is then questioned by Lvellie, who asks him where Alma's body is. Yu responds by say that he will say nothing because he hasn't forgiven the Order. He is silent when Lvellie points out that Allen commited treason to protect the two. As he approaches Zu Mei, who is dying in his bed, he is informed by Bak that the rust covered object he is holding is Mugen. Zu Mei questions why Kanda returned, stating that he was free. Zu Mei then admits that he was the one who proposed the Second Exorcist Project. Kanda touches Zu Mei's hand and lets him see the lotuses that he sees, smiling and telling him that he's going to hell, too. While holding onto Zu Mei's hand, he calls for Mugen to awake, causing it to revert back to it's original cube form and a shocked Bak notices it has become a Crystal Type.



Before he can swallow it, Lenalee stops him and asks him if he really wants to, seeing as he has been bound to the Order for so long. The Innocence turns into liquid in Lenalee's hand and Yu swllows it, much to the outrage of Bak and Komui after telling Lenalee not to be angry. He says that he has decided by himself to become an Exorcist as a crystal figure arises from his stigmata, before transforming itself into the new Crystal Type Mugen.

Later, when Johnny Gill is successfully able to resign from the Order under the pretense of returning to his home to care for his grandmother, his plan really being to look for Allen and help him, Kanda appears on the train Johnny is on and saves him from being arrested by two CROW, beating the men unconscious before announcing to Johnny that he will be escorting him in his search for Allen.

Powers and Abilities
Enhanced Artificial Regeneration: Kanda can recover much faster than ordinary humans and is able to withstand the blood of Akuma due to a secret skill created by the Chan family. , He is seen being able to rebirth after death ("approximately during 580 seconds", [Chapter 189]),regenerate lost limbs, and even survive a crushed skull. His blood is also enriched with healing power, even allowing him to accidentally save fellow Exorcist Noise Marie from a wound that had been deemed fatal.

Physical Prowess: Kanda is noticeably much stronger than the average human; while his Anti-Akuma weapon does enhance his power, when none of its abilities are activate he is able to cleave Akuma in half using the blade alone.

Speed: Kanda is faster than most other characters in the series and can leap beyond average distances, though this may be attributed to his regenerative abilities, where such jumps on normal humans would result in damaged ligaments in the feet.

Expert Swordsman: Though his Innocence makes him already inclined to swordsmanship, Kanda is shown to be powerful with a blade in his own right. He has been seen using regular swords to hold off Akuma as evolved as Level Four, and can use various forms of Japanese swords without changing his fighting style.

Innocence
Mugen (六幻 (ムゲン), Rokugen (Six Illusions)). Kanda has a sword with supernatural powers. He runs his index and middle finger along the back of the blade to activate it, whilst saying Mugen Unsheathe, Innocence Activate, which turns the blade silver. The shape of the sword has changed throughout Kanda's Timeline, during his childhood, it takes the form of a small butcher blade with multiple small wings on the hilt, upon Kanda's introduction in the beginning of the series, it took the form of a chokuto (a straight Japanese sword without a tsuba) with a black cross-emblazoned hilt and sheath, but after his battle with Skinn Bolic, it was reforged into a traditional Katana.


 * KandKaichuIchigen.pngFirst Illusion: Netherworld Insects (界蟲「一幻」, Kaichū: Ichigen): Kanda swings his sword and releases a small swarm of supernatural creatures that devour his opponents.
 * Double Illusion Sword (二幻刀, Nigentou): Kanda covers his sword and scabbard in a coat of energy and generates an energy blade, creating two impossibly sharp weapons. The second blade that he creates over his scabbard can also be just a pure energy blade if the scabbard is not used.


 * Eight Flower Mantis (八花蟷螂, Hakka Tourou): Using Nigentou, Kanda quickly slashes the enemy eight times. The slashes collectively resemble a flower.


 * Ascending Flower (昇華, Shouka lit. Sublimate): Kanda activates the power of his tattoo, and his pupils change into three dots. Veins also rise around his eyes. Once it is activated, Kanda can activate Triple Illusion.


 * Forbidden Spell: Triple Illusion (禁忌 「三幻式」, Sangenshiki): Kanda drastically increases his speed and strength at the cost of some of his life.


 * Because Triple Illusion feeds directly off of a being's 'life force,' Kanda can reallign and reforge Mugen's blade if it is broken as long as he has life to spare, using the command "Drink up".


 * Exploding Spirit Cut (爆魄斬, Bakuhakuzan): Kanda needs Sangenshiki to be active to use this, and makes a slash that seems to create small explosions and is strong enough to cut through a Level 4 Akuma. Kanda can also use it with the Fifth Illusion Style.


 * Fourth Illusion Style (四幻式, Yongenshiki): Kanda's pupils changes to four dots and he gains another drastic increase in speed and power as shown by being able to severely damage Alma Karma.


 * Fifth Illusion Style (五幻式, Gogenshiki): Mugen's blade changes color and emits a large amount of dark, lightning-like energy. Like the Triple Illusion, it uses up Kanda's life, though on a larger scale. Forcing the Fifth Illusion causes excessive strain on Kanda's body and soul, eating away at his life quicker than any of the previous Illusionary Styles. It also causes him to enter a berserker-like state, and causes his hair to turn a light purple.


 * Ripping Flash Claw (五幻・裂閃爪): Kanda unleashes seven sharp energy beams.

Crystal Type: Upon returning to the Black Order, Kanda went directly to Asian Branch and took Mugen from Zu Mei Chang, who had refused to let it go. Kanda ordered Mugen to invoke, and the rusted sword turned into a black cube and liquified, much like Lenalee's had. He then drank the liquified Innocence (from Lenalee's palm), and stigmata opened up on his arms, drawing his blood out of his body and reforming it into a new Mugen.

Trivia

 * In the English dub, "Mugen" is pronounced mew-gen, often calling it "Mighty Mugen".
 * According to the -Gray Ark- Fanbook, Kanda's interests include gardening and making soba and he dislikes anything group-related, and he and Lavi are listed as "Friends?".
 * Hoshino notes that Kanda is the dumbest out of the four, behind Allen, Lavi, and Lenalee.
 * Hoshino's comments on Kanda's profile that it's "not easy drawing beautiful people".
 * Kanda placed 2nd in the first official popularity poll. 1st in the second and then 2nd again in the third.
 * It is implied that Kanda cannot swim.
 * In one of the Discussion Rooms, it is noted that Kanda washes his hair with soap.
 * His favorite foods are soba and tempura, and he likes pumpin, sweet pepper and lotus root tempura.
 * According to D.Gray-Man Reverse, vol. 3, Kanda's first kiss was with Jiji when Kanda was thirteen (physically; chronologically three) and Jiji was drunk.