English: Blue Exorcist
Synonyms: Ao no Futsumashi
Japanese: 青の祓魔師(エクソシスト) (Ao no Exorcist)
Episodes: S1-25, S2-12
Aired: S1 (Apr 17, 2011 to Oct 2, 2011), S2 (Jan 7, 2017 to Mar 25, 2017)
Studios: A-1 Pictures
Genres: Demons, Fantasy, Shounen, Supernatural
Duration: 24 min. per ep.
Rating: PG-13 – Teens 13 or older
My Rating: S1-9, S2-7 out of 10
Whether it’s a book, a movie or an anime, I always love it when there’s supernatural theme in them. So after crying my eyes out watching Your Lie in April, I decided to look for some supernatural anime and tadah! I came across Blue Exorcist (Ao no Exorcist). It’s honestly my first time hearing about this anime so I don’t really know what to expect. But when I watched its very first episode, I was really surprised how it easily captured my attention.
As usual, for this review, I am going to break up my thoughts through the following points:
Plot
I absolutely LOVE the plot plus I love that it was straight to the point and gave me what I wanted early. There’s no dilly dallying and Blue Exorcist gave me action as early as its first episode. We can already guess that this anime is going to include some praying and chanting so I kind of anticipated some boring chanting scenes in this anime, but surprisingly, there’s none. There was obviously some chanting and reference about Vatican and church and things like that, but for me I guess that made this anime even more interesting. Plus the exorcists here we’re kind of badass, *wink.
There were only 25 episodes on season 1 and 12 on season 2, but it felt enough for me to get to know the important characters especially, Rin. Personally, I prefer season 1 from season 2. The second season was kind of a letdown for me, there’s some slight difference from the first season plus I wasn’t a fan of the drama. But it was still a decent watch though, plus the final episode was really cute.
Characters
I absolutely love the main character. It also didn’t help that he has a twin brother (I’m a sucker for twins!) but unlike him, didn’t inherit their father’s power until on the last few episodes in season 1. The character development was good too and I love seeing how Rin is improving in controlling his power. He’s troublesome alright, but he genuinely like to help everyone and doesn’t want anyone to get hurt. His twin brother on the other hand is alright. Well, he was actually alright in the first season but he started to get under my nerves in the second season. His issues are warranted but it’s just annoying to watch, that’s all.
And speaking of annoying, there’s this 1 particular character that I learned to hate when I watch season 2. She’s so annoying that I just mentally erased her entire existence in this anime, haha lol. Excluding her, I actually think that Blue Exorcist has some great character line-up plus I love Kuro!
Animation/Graphics
I absolutely love the animation and think it was of high quality. From facial expressions to background scenery, everything is just so pleasing to look at plus the character designs were also excellent. The animation studio should be proud of their work in this anime.
Soundtrack
The first time I heard Blue Exorcist’s OP and ED songs, I didn’t instantly became a fan. But as I get to listen to them everytime I watch a new episode, I learned to really appreciate the music. I guess you could say that it’s one of those that gets better everytime you hear them, *wink.
Plus, didn’t I tell you that Blue Exorcist is one of those rare anime that I watch from the very beginning ‘til its closing song in every episode? So yep, I guess that speaks a lot from this anime eh?
Voice Actors
I actually don’t have any complaints at all. I think the voice actors were able to portray each character so well, there’s no need for me to elaborate more eh?
Summary
Despite the letdown in season 2, overall, Blue Exorcist is still a very enjoyable watch for me. Haven’t read the manga counterpart yet but I’ve been hearing that it suffered from the usual adaptation pains, with a rushed ending and lack of power development which is quite unfortunate but luckily not enough to ruin the experience. It may not have reached greatness, I still think that Blue Exorcist is a good series to watch.
Movie – I’ve seen it right after watching the first season and some may say it was more of the same but I genuinely enjoyed it. If you liked Blue Exorcist, be sure to check out the movie once you finish the series, *wink.
