Humans and demons are two sides of the same coin, as are Assiah and Gehenna, their respective worlds. The only way to travel between the realms is by the means of possession, like in ghost stories. However, Satan, the ruler of Gehenna, cannot find a suitable host to possess and therefore, remains imprisoned in his world. In a desperate attempt to conquer Assiah, he sends his son instead, intending for him to eventually grow into a vessel capable of possession by the demon king.
Ao no Exorcist follows Rin Okumura who appears to be an ordinary, somewhat troublesome teenager—that is until one day he is ambushed by demons. His world turns upside down when he discovers that he is in fact the very son of Satan and that his demon father wishes for him to return so they can conquer Assiah together. Not wanting to join the king of Gehenna, Rin decides to begin training to become an exorcist so that he can fight to defend Assiah alongside his brother Yukio.
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Archaeon
"Satan has been the best friend the Church has ever had, as He has kept it in business all these years!" - Anton LaVey One of the constants of many religions is the idea that sin and evil stem from a higher power. In some cases this means another deity that works in opposition to all things good, but for Christianity, Islam and Judaism such things are viewed as the domain of Satan (or "Lucifer, Fallen Angel, Prince of Darkness, Bringer of Light, Ruler of Hell, Lord of the Flies, Father of Lies, Apostate Supreme, Tempter of Mankind, Bringer of the Apocalypse, Old Serpent, Prince ofthis World, Seducer, Accuser, Tormentor, Blasphemer" - Glen Duncan).
Whatever name is ascribed to this being, the idea of him being the enemy of all things good is so deeply ingrained in society, he is usually depicted as the epitome of darkness and evil. While there are tales out there that try to cast Satan in a different light (for example, DC Vertigo's "Lucifer"), most writers find it easier to go with the prevailing opinion - which is a bit ... lazy to be honest.
Adapted from the ongoing shounen manga by Kato Kazue, Ao no Exorcist follows the adventures of Okumura Rin, a boisterous teenager with superhuman strength and a problem controlling his temper. Together with his younger twin brother Yukio, they live in a small Christian monastery run by their father, Fujimoto Shiro, and several monks who have helped raise the two boys. The series opens with a group of priests who are frantically praying in unison, but one by one they are being killed by a mysterious blue fire.
The scene shifts to Rin, who has just punched a delinquent for shooting pigeons with a crossbow.
Because this is a shounen anime, the plot adopts the action oriented, fight-of-the-week format that is so common in the genre. While this method is formulaic, it does have two advantages, the first being that the story becomes very easy to follow. Overly complex details and anything truly thought provoking have been discarded, which is more than a little ironic as, in true shounen anime style, this simplistic approach is reflective of the content of the series. The second advantage is familiarity, and while it doesn't seem like an important factor, it does play a key role when it comes to enjoying this show.
Sadly, Ao no Exorcist also suffers from many of the problems that plague the shounen genre, partly because of the formulaic plot, but mainly because the series lacks the much of the depth needed to keep the story interesting. The lacklustre narrative is filled with bland humour and pointless angst, and because of these factors, the series has a tendency to veer off track. Although there are attempts to keep everything running smoothly, the underlying lack of creativity and complexity make this difficult to achieve. In addition to this, only a part of the manga has made the transition to anime, and much like the first adaptation of Full Metal Alchemist, the latter portion of the series is completely original - and it shows (more on this in a bit)
When it comes to looks, Ao no Exorcist is on surer footing, although a part of that is because this is a manga adaptation. The majority of the character designs are very typically shounen in style (even down to the short, bald guy), but while the source material adds a degree of refinement to their composition, there are also a few inherent limitations. That said, there's a surprising degree of creativity in the supernatural elements of the series, and a few of the weird and wonderful concepts really steal the show. There are also a few imaginative settings that make a nice contrast to the rather humdrum everyday scenery, and when everything comes together the overall effect can be colourful and slightly outrageous (in a good way).
As for the animation, A-1 Pictures have done a decent job for the most part, even with the typical shounen posturing and theatrics. The characters move well, if at times a little unrealistically, and the majority of action scenes are fluid and well choreographed. Unfortunately there are some noticeable occasions where the standard drops, and sadly these aren't limited to periods of frenetic activity.
The strong shounen theme is prevalent in the two opening sequences, both of which are filled with action, posturing, and a smattering of angst. In addition to this, the two introductory tracks, "Core Pride" by Uverworld (episodes 1 to 12), and "In My World" by Rookiez Is Punk'd (episode 13 onwards), are very typical rock songs that one might find at the beginning of any shounen anime. Ao no Exorcist also features two ending sequences, the first one being a CG "journey" through a city that is accompanied by "Take Off" by South Korean boy band 2PM. The second features a montage of the characters against a variety of patterned backgrounds, all to the tune of "Wired Life" by Kuroki Meisa. The rest of the soundtrack is features dramatic orchestral pieces and strange little comic relief ditties, and while these are generally well choreographed, as a whole there's nothing really special about the background music.
One of the biggest problems with the shounen genre is that it can often be too formulaic, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the dialogue. The script appears to have been written by people with no idea of how teenagers actually talk, and the conversations are filled with pointless banalities, angst ridden diatribes and cumbersome bravado. Everything's a bit too contrived, and to further compound matters, the voice actors have obviously been instructed to play their parts with extra "oomph". The result is that emotions like anger, frustration, joy, fear, etc, often involve lots of shouting, while the rest of the acting has enough ham to start a business making sandwiches.
The characters are a veritable "who's who" of stereotypes, and it can sometimes seem as though the mangaka has followed the instructions in "How To Make A Shounen Character" to the letter. Rin is the typical lead male - all brawn, very little brains, and tries to solve every problem by hitting it, and surrounding him are people who epitomise their archetypes. In addition to this, Ao no Exorcist makes the age old mistake of assuming that overcoming trials and tribulations equals development, and while some of the characters do learn a thing or two over the course of the series, much of what passes for growth is nothing more than window dressing on a mannequin.
In all honesty the only interesting person in the whole show is Yukio, but given how shallow everyone else is, this may not be saying much.
Ao no Exorcist isn't a new concept, and much of the inspiration for the story has obviously come from Mike Mignola's "Hellboy". The sad part is that although the latter work is a gripping supernatural horror/thriller that touches upon many different cultural beliefs, legends and aspects of folklore, virtually none of that is present in this anime. The decision to make this a shounen tale has placed severe limitations on what can and cannot be done, and this means that the narrative can't achieve the atmosphere, the tone, or even the level of complexity of Hellboy.
Which brings us back to the latter portion of the anime.
Once the series moves away from the source material the story takes a slightly darker turn, and several themes are introduced that, if they had been used earlier, could have raised the show above mediocrity. Unfortunately these concepts are only lightly touched upon, which is a shame as there was an opportunity to take the anime in a direction that would have made it far more interesting than it actually is. That doesn't mean it should have gone done the path used by The Omen trilogy though (i.e. Rin becomes The Antichrist), but it would have been nice if the wistful, almost melancholy desire of his father was examined in more detail.
With all of its flaws it may seem as though Ao no Exorcist has nothing to offer, so it's surprising that the show is reasonably enjoyable. That said, the best way to treat this anime is to think of it as a rather long action movie that has difficulty getting to the point, and if it's watched for the sole purposes of no-brain entertainment, then viewers can expect a decent return for their time.
That said, with two live action movies, two animated features, and a world of difference in content, some people may find Hellboy a better proposition.
Randomman
I started this show with high hopes; needless to say I was let down. I liked the aesthetic, the characters seemed ok and I liked the premise. All signs pointed in a positive direction. Unfortunately, that's exactly what this show lacked: direction. Aside from establishing the premise, very little is done to advance the plot throughout the show. Most of the show is episodic, and the archs don't build up to anything. It really seemed like the creators didn't know where it was all supposed to go. One of the things that disappointed me was the fighting, or the lackthereof. From the beginning they establish a universe withpotential for awesome, supernatural fighting, and even introduce a number of characters that would probably be pretty awesome for that kind of show. In the end, there was really only a couple of fight scenes, and most (if not all) of them involved the same couple of characters.
It's also disappointing considering those fights ultimately meant nothing. They had nothing to do with any overarching plot because there was none; at least, not until very late in the show.
The ending for this show was pretty bad. It didn't do anything interesting with what the show brought to the table, and was downright terrible from an action standpoint. If it had introduced some kind of twist or something, then it might have redeemed the show a little bit, but it didn't.
Since both the action and the plot were nonexistent, there's really not much reason to like this show, though I will give it that the aesthetic and comedy were nice. It's a show that could have been nice had they decided whether or not fighting was what they were going for, but they couldn't make up there mind, and in the end they had nothing to show for it.
sjvgrift
Story: 5 An interesting enough premise, but Blue Exorcist turns out to be just another school-setting shounen with a main character with the typical daddy complex and a shallow/unfinished romance. Art: 5 The colors were bright, which is always enjoyable, but the character designs were lacking and some features came out awkward-looking. Ex: Shura's oddly boxy midsection and Yukio's unusually wide face Sound: 3 None of the OSTs stood out to me, but I loathed the jazzy opening. Characters: 4 I really enjoyed Rin and Shirou's relationship, and Shiemi's smidgen of character development was nice to see. But there was little depth in the characters otherwise. Instead, the writers took theeasy route and focused on Izumo's (spoiler) easily-predictable somewhat transformation and Rin and Yukio's unorthodox relationship (which came off as awkward and forced to me). Though I must applaud the series for (spoiler) letting Noriko go, which shows some resolve.
Concept & Execution: 5
The daddy complex was nothing new, though I thought the religious overtones and occasional references were interesting and almost Neon Genesis Evangelion-esque.
Enjoyment/Overall: 4/4
I was rather let down by the series after hearing so many good things from friends. The first few episodes are still wonderful and emotion-filled, in my opinion, but the rest of the show fails to follow-up and the conclusion is horrifically anticlimactic, (spoiler) with the exception of the relationship between Rin's mother and Satan, which I found surprisingly touching.
Overall, it feels like a textbook shounen that could have taken an edgy turn with the religious overtones and instead wimped out.
WildNeptune
Ao No Exorcist is set in a battle of exorcists versus demons. It is a typical shonen with a good main character as the backbone. The backdrop of the story is that Rin and brother Yukio are the sons of Satan and a human mother. Rin inherited the demonic powers, while Yukio didn't. They are taken in by the current Paladin, Shiro, who raises them as sons. Soon, they are thrust in an ongoing battle of the Exorcists versus Demons. The story gets off to a very fast start, but from what I understand, lack of material for the spots the manga covered caused somemore prolonged fillers than usual. Towards the end when the story picks back up, there are some "jumping the shark" moments which try to add to the intrigue and plays well on the Rin's character, but ultimately falls flat.
Rin makes an excellent main character. As the son of Satan who wishes to fight demons his very existence challenges the traditional views of the vatican, the major "good guy" base, in the series. He's foremost, a character you like to root for.
His brother Yukio is somewhat a foil to Rin. His personality is pretty much the opposite of Rin's, and even his weapon choice (guns) are contrary to his brother's (A sword). The strong point about both characters are that both of them have a good mix of personal strengths and weaknesses.
As good as the brothers are, the supporting cast fails to meet the same marks. Most of them have some sort of character episode or small backstory, but none of them really have any true development. In comparison, a show like Soul Eater (while having twice the episodes) managed to handle all of the characters in a way that made all of them seem important, this is not true for Ao No Exorcist.
The show has a fairly good mix of comedy and action. Some of the more comedic episodes are actually the stronger ones as they tend to focus more on a characters personality rather than the kinda middling story.
Ao No Exorcist is nothing new to the Shonen world, it suffers from some pacing issues and a bland supporting cast, but has strengths with the mains and overall theme. It's a decent show with some demons to deal with.
ForeverFizz8
Ao no Exorcist is a short shounen that has become memorable. That's not the same as saying it's great though. Here's why. Story (6/10): Rin and Yukio were raised by a priest, yet are the sons of Satan. Sadly, it turns into more of a school setting- based anime. While there are still some good, fast action scenes, there are too many plot holes as the story goes on. They train to be exorcists in this school, even though they are part demon themselves, so that becomes a large plot device. One of the better ones too. It's OK, nothing spectacular. Art (8/10): I love the art. It complementsthe action scenes real well. It can be dark or light depending on the scenario. Well animated and colorful enough to not loose my attention.
Sound (7/10):
Cathy openings and endings. The ost's, though could use some work outside of battle themes. The English dub was not quite as good as it could have been, as it does not fit the character roles all the time.
Characters (8/10):
This has to be the most memorable part of the show. Rin is calm and collected, and only freaks out when a normal person would, unlike most main characters. This is not to say he's not fun, he knows fun more than any stuck up snob in the academy. This is what I do NOT like. Yukio is the most legalistic person on the show. Whenever they argue, I find myself wanting to have Rin beat the living shit out of his brother.
Enjoyment (7/10):
Good popcorn flick. The beginning was great, then slowly turns into a typical shounen that has semi-fulfilled potential, that does show up at times in the series. Once I was finished watching it, and listening to the ending themes over and over, I could move on with it always in mind. Don't rush into it expecting very much and you'll like it.
Daimyo
Well guys let’s start off with the awesome characters in this awesome manga. First and foremost we have Rin Okumura our principle protagonist, followed by his younger twin brother Yukio Okumura, and then we have Rin Okumura, and then Yukio Okumura, Rin Okumura again, some blond haired chick, random people and some dude named Shiro (and guess what he has white hair, har har har… weaboo) oh and did I mention Rin fucking Okumura. Theatrics aside, we essentially only have two or three characters with important roles throughout the whole TV show. The rest are just ballast. However, seeing as this is a review andnot a rant, I must divulge in the sweet juicy details. As I said earlier our primary protagonist is Rin Okumura, but what I neglected to mention earlier is that he is the son of satan (oh sh-). Now would be a good time to hide your nuns. It is almost as if the Japanese people live in an unreligious society and are completely unaware of the ramifications and controversy that would ensue from pursuing such a plotline. That being said, as far as shounen characters go he’s as typical as they get. Out of place, just found out he’s not like everyone else, has a tendency to fight a lot, not very intelligent. You’ll find him very reminiscent of Naruto(among others) character wise. Through his character we are expected to sympathize with him, the son of satan. Likewise, his younger brother Yukio, serves pretty much the same purpose. Although, much more akin to the role of a character like Alphonse from Fullmetal Alchemist. I mention these well-known shounen because that is essentially what this anime (and I assume manga) is; a bastardization/ hot pot of various other well-known shounen titles. While originality is not really known to the shounen genre (or all anime these days) this anime makes it blatantly obvious which minds it is melding from. More on this though when we reach the story section. The blond girl has a role but it’s more of the not really romantic, love interest that we are so used to in anime by now. Her and this big voluptuous chick named Shura are pretty much this show’s cockteases. The rest of the characters are not really important and seeing as the show simply abandons them half way in, I will do the same. Sure we have an episode where they celebrate everyone’s birthday but that’s just an excuse to do stupid crap for 30 minutes while displaying the whole cast. Those crazy Japanese! And that even crazier Daimyo for watching shows not originally intended for Western audiences. 6/10
Indeed going by the story it would not be hard to pinpoint who this show was originally intended for. A predominately nihonjin audience, most likely in school, more specifically junior high- high school, and while the manga is published in a shounen magazine, it is subtle enough to appeal to both males and females. In other words, it’s a McDonald’s anime, full of everything but substantially nothing overall. Yea you’ll eat it when you’re hungry but after you salivate it for a while you’ll feel nothing but cold guilt, despair and diarrhea as you ponder on why you didn’t find anything better and less regurgitating to eat. Opps, did I ramble off again? Sorry about that. The story is pretty much this, troublemaker boy who everyone avoids finds out he has a demon side to him, then goes to school for exorcism, wants to be the strongest exorcist which is called hokage…Paladin. Does this sound familiar to anyone yet? That was just the basic plot outline. We also neglected to mention that this show steals…gathers inspiration from other shounen titles like d.gray-man, souleater, fullmetal alchemist, among others. As naruto like as this anime is you’ll be verily disappointed to find out that a filler episode of Naruto has better and more exciting fights than this. Action- wise this show climaxed when Rin had to face Amaimon the earth king (2 lazy to add him to my character section). Everything else after this moment was just depressingly bad. Many times I looked forward to this character named Mephisto(opps left out another) to kickass but every single damn time he failed to deliver. Ultimately, that is what this show does, it fails to deliver. It tries to cater to a shounen audience but lacks the impact of better more successful shounen. Now Daimyo you might say that this anime is more story driven and thus does not need to rely on cheap acts of violence. Well, then OBJECTION! This show’s story is just as terrible as any other is, if not worse. There are a lot of useless plotlines that don’t even get properly resolved. Like who was it that brought Neuhaus’(at this point just screw the character section) wife back to life in the first place. That eyebrow’s girl story was pretty much thrown out the window too. We do not even know who the antagonist is the majority of the show’s run. When we finally find it out it’s satan, of course the Japanese have to make us try to sympathize so they paint satan as more of an anti-hero or at the very least an anti-villain(tv tropes motherfucker). He is trying to usher in a new world where the demons of Gehenna and the people of Assiah (more terms I ignored) can live together. So we get a satan that sounds more like Lelouche fucking Lamperouge than well satan. You know the absolute evil, cursed by the big G(google?), hated by all, yadda, yadda, yadda(for more info pick up your nearest Bible, Torah or Quran). Just as they had extinguished Mephisto’s flames right before his crowning moment of awesome, I felt they had extinguished my ability to enjoy this show.5/10
Let’s recap this a bit shall we. We are given a show with essentially two or three characters, a poor clumsy attempt at a storyline, topped off with disappointing fights. Basically, what we have is a wet mess. However, seeing as we had 3 paragraphs full of my failed attempts at comedy let’s get serious here. I am left somewhat confused as to how to finally score this anime. There were many moments throughout the course of the show’s run where I felt this show truly did deserve its rating of 8.20. Had this show ended right after the fight with Amaimon I would have scored it somewhere between the 7.0-7.5 range. The reason is not length. I mean the show is only 25 episodes, so perhaps I might be able to add this to the oh so common manga-anime adaptation failure’s list. Then you might say that this show is simply not my taste. Not quite if you were to view my anime and mangalists you would see that the majority of the shows I complete are in the category of shounen. Some might say this has caused me to lose out on other great animes from different genres/demographics over the years (alas only shounen and seinen satisfy my young manly soul). I feel modern anime in general tries to cater to too many different tastes at once and overall just ends up being tasteless. This is not to say I did not enjoy this show, it just felt rather bland. It’s not the type of show that left an impact. And ten years from now if someone asked me to name the animes from this era that left the biggest imprint on me, ao no exorcist most likely would not be part of the conversation. Who knows though? Anime is like fine wine, much better when it’s aged. Hopefully, by then Daimyo will be sufficiently aged as well.
xMintyPie
(Scroll down for my... second review.) I don't know how to rate this anime. I feel guilty for even liking it all. Everything is so cliche. If you based a drinking game on this show, where whenever someone or something cliche came up, take a sip. You'd be sick for the rest of your life. So why did I even like this as much as I did? I don't know! As a reviewer, it frustrates me not to know what I even sort of liked about a show, so in this review I'll be attempting (probably in vain) to find that reason. Story~ Nothing new. We've all seenit before. When I first started this, I wondered why I was bothering. The religious subjects could have gone deeper, and then that would be my reason for liking it-- but did they? No, I think they purposely tried to keep it stereotypical. Why? There were so many dang good directions they could have gone. After I finished this, I just sat down and thought about it. I wish they could have taken this to a better light, but nah. Oh well, what's done is done I guess.
Art~
Me oh my. What to say here? Typical style for this genre, but still done very well. The movement for the fight scenes was definitely not skimpy, and was pleasing to my eye. Just because the style is a bit cliched doesn't automatically make it bad. I still think they gave us a nice bit of work of art to watch. But oh dear... When the animators DO skimp out, it's apparent, at least I thought so. Sometimes the quality takes a dip, but then raises later on. Erm... One problem though. This was supposed to be a shounen fighting anime right? Or was it? With the lack of fighting it makes you wonder. I hate drawn out fights where that's all the anime is about, and they last more than one episode-- it just bugs me. But this just didn't have enough fighting. Oh well... The art was still good when they did fight, though.
Sound~
...Good. The voice actors give a lot of emphasis to their roles, though sometimes way too much, which... sometimes ruins the mood. The openings and endings were present, but not memorable by any means whatsoever. I likedsome of the orchestral music that really built upon the mood when it needed to, but for the most part it went... unnoticed. But it's still overall good.
Character~
They were very cliche, even when fleshed out. Some developed more than others, but nobody really grew up too much. They all stayed their same old selves, with their same old goals and things. But they were entertaining somehow. I kept slapping my head while watching this show, hoping my brain would wake up and tell me the truth-- these are just cliche characters. But it never did. I still somehow enjoyed them, and though a lot of humor was dry, it sort of... mademelaugh. I know, you're going to kill me. But the characters were still somehow fun to me despite being so... well, unoriginal. But because of that, I can't give them a high score, no matter how much I sort of enjoyed watching them supposedly "grow" in whatever way they did.
All in all, Ao no Exorcist does a decent job, but nothing above that. The show itself takes a darker and stranger turn which was... to me, expected in a way, yet unexpected. I don't know how to explain it. I can't find what it is I liked about this show, but I did enjoy it very much as it was on-screen. Other parts were much less enjoyable but I still had fun watching this as a whole.
Depending on your taste, you'll either love it or hate it. Maybe I liked it because I watched all of it in one day and finished at about 4:00 in the morning... so if I give it another try while my brain is less asleep (the darn thing) then I can give it a more accurate review. Overall, it's entertaining but it didn't escape its cliches, and could have gone an entirely different and better direction-- but didn't. Yet somehow it was still so much fun. AGAIN-- I'll watch this one more when I'm actually awake, and maybe I'll re-review it with a more accurate score.
..:::..:::..
SECOND REVIEW
All right. As promised, I watched Ao no Exorcist a second time, and my rating hasn't dropped TOO much, but it still has lowered. I'll show you why.
Story~
I don't want to go into this again. It's cliche. It takes a few twists and does this and that, and the religious themes can be fairly enthralling-- but it's just cliche. That's all.
Art~
Yes, yes, if you read my first review you know what I think here. It's again-- cliche, but smooth and cute, and I thought very nice. The movement was eye-pleasing, but when they made mistakes it was... very apparent.
Sound~
...The review for the soundtrack remains the same. Please refer to my first review above.
Character~
The characters for Ao no Exorcist seemed as if taken out of "Anime's Book of Cliche Characters". The first time around, I actually enjoyed them, though they were admittedly cliche. Even when fleshed out they were still rather... overused. The second time around, my enjoyment didn't actually go down one bit-- except for Izumo and Paku's small arc. For some reason, the enjoyment there went down considerably, and I almost couldn't stand it. I pointed out every dang cliche thing about them and could only groan at it. For the rest of the series, it was still entertaining until episode 22. There's something about the ending (I have NO idea what) that just angers, irritates, and annoys me. I just dislike it, and I have no idea why. The characters are developed enough but still... yes, cliche.
All in all, Ao no Exorcist is actually very entertaining the first time around, if you don't mind cliche shounen and don't mind shutting your brain off for just a little bit of action and random yet cliche twists. I have a hard time knocking the enjoyment level down, because it's still fun for the first time around-- but the second time, I had to force my way through some parts.
If you love shounen genre, you will love this. I highly recommend this to you if you're like that. If you like a good, unique twist or something deeper, then maybe *maybe* try this if you just want to shut your brain off and not care about what happens on-screen. If you're hardcore mystery, dark plot twists, unpredictable things happening, and deep characters, don't try this at home. Just... Oh, I don't know.
Overall, I think it's another addition to the cliche shounen thing, but at 4:00 in the morning I was highly entertained the first time around. The second time-- I... wasobsessedwithRin'stail-- I mean, it was all very old and cliche. .../shiftyeyes
Basically, this entire show depends on your opinion, but the second time around I hated Yukio even more, disliked Paku and Izumo arc-thing, and hated the ending. Everything else was equally fun as the first time around. Do whatever you feel like based on this review (and some of the others).
Saul_L
Ao no Exorcist (Blue Exorcist) The first impression of this show was impressive, especially the first episode. An incredible start that set the scene for the series which had me hooked. (Including the theme song!) Sadly as the show progressed, my interest began to waiver. It has to do with the bulk of the characters and lack of progressive to flesh out the main story arc which really disappointed me. Character and Plot development. (4.5) Rin is the MC (protagonist) of this story and by far the most interesting character alongside his father Shirou Fujimoto. The rest of the cast isn't really worth mentioning because theylack development on their identity. Sure you could argue that they have either subtle or obvious agendas in regards to their relationship to Rin but there's no growth to this intriguing introduction which sadly makes them a background addition to fill in for the off-screen time of Rin. This also translates to the plot there is no exploration of the Demon World and very little development of the outside world for an exorcist. Instead, the creators settled for a high-school setting with contrived situations and melodramas. The only substantial plot development is when Fujimoto is on-screen and given he's on-screen time is probably one of the shortest of the cast, this is pretty laughable and disappointing. One thing I will mention though is that the different forms of exorcists is interesting and is one of the few bright spots of the plot that they explore.
Art, Sound and Action. (8.5) I must admit, it is done quiet well. Especially the Art of when Rin unleashes his Demon powers. (blue flames) The fast action scenes are also very pretty and great to watch. You'll be popping eye and ear gasms throughout the series which makes up for the lack of plot. Looks a bit like the action of Bleach using their zanpakutos, only better animated.
I enjoyed Blue exorcist for the most part. It has a great start and builds an ethos worth exploring. Sadly they don't venture outside the realm of school very much but when they do its very limited and thus creates unexplained plot holes. So be ready for the melodramas and misfits of high school life. I would recommend watching with a lowered expectation of the ratings on MAL (currently 8.09 at the time of this review) or only watching the first 4 episodes to get the idea and then decide whether to drop or continue. Its certainly interesting and has the pieces to become a great anime, just lacks the execution to deliver a plot to bind all its characters, art, sound and action together.
Randomshell
At first I became curious of this anime. Seemed a lot of people wanted to watch it and the name "Ao no Exorcist" Popped up everywhere. It was always in my recommended bar. Finally i decided to watch it and now that I have I feel like it was a complete waste of time. I'm sure the manga is great. I thought the basic story was a good one. Son's of Satan and then coming of age to inherit his powers, Great! The anime had a few great things in it. Some parts of the story was really beautiful but when you put it alltogether it was just a big mess.
(I'm only reviewing the anime NOT the manga).
There were plot holes everywhere. They would end an episode in a certain way and then start the next one entirely different with a new character all of a sudden.
I also had a problem buying the fact that they were twins. Yukio felt more like a middle aged man throughout the show and it kept bothering me a lot. I see how he couldn't have been older and I see why they couldn't be half brothers but the least they could do was give him a personality fitting a 15-year old.
This anime also contains a love story with no end.
Not to mention the poorly set up episodes.
What i mean is (judging from anime only, haven't read the manga) They had filler episodes that really weren't needed at all which they could have replaced with more important episodes that would've carried the main story better. What happened now is that they waited with the actual mission till there were only 5 episodes left. Everything felt rushed and i couldn't really comprehend what the heck was happening.
The goal was kind of unclear through the whole thing until the brothers revealed what they were fighting for in a final battle with fancy words.
Beautiful personality change in Satan, Yukio and Shiemi. (Add a ton of sarcasm)
Fear of killing main characters turned in to constant reviving or ridiculous "solutions"
SPOILER
Satan only wanted to unite the two worlds so that humans and demons could live in harmony in honor of his beloved "Wife" (apparently). Rin and Yukio should have wanted that more than anyone considering how they have gone through life, still they refuse to help Satan in the name of friendship. They killed their parents dream and the potentially wonderful lesson you could learn from this anime was killed along with it. instead they settled with a weaker message turning the entire series into a joke.
irkuyer
Alright time to take the fanboy hat off and give this show a review... Now while I did enjoy this show, I'm not going to recommend it to anyone else, unless you are a mindless fanboy who likes shounen, boobs, demons, possible Yaoi pairings, other stuff that I could care less about. Story- 6 Now if you want a really good story in your daily dose of Japanese animation then.... you're show is in a different castle. The story had so much potential, but it didn't use everything that it had to really get you into the story. I'm not going to criticize the show forusing the overused "demon within" thing, because let's face it, originality is hard to come by these days. Now what I will criticize is how poorly this was done. There were parts that showed how Rin is looked down on, hated and/or feared for being the devil spawn, these parts I liked, but they could have been better... or at least gotten deeper into the plot with that.
The main character is consumed by his demon powers and is throwing a fit like how most teenagers would when they're mom takes away their phone, but then the power of friendship or the love interest's voice (his brother) wakes him from his mood swing. It is your typical shounen anime so don't expect much, but this is just boring now. The first few times I saw this in an anime I was like, "...cool?", but now it's just stupid.
The ending... well do you remember your favorite 25 episode shounen anime's ending? Well it's just like that... there's lame music in the background, the characters team up and defeat the Big Bad, but not before saying something friendship related.
Now I'm just going to assume that the manga is still ongoing because, it doesn't take much to impress an anime fan. So while we wait for the next season let us foolishly hope that it will get better and that the author is just warming up.
Art- 6
It's anime the greatest art form to plague the internet what else do you want? Oh wait I know! Something that catches my eye and makes it look different from other shows.... it gets a 6 for looking decent, and like the story, it had cool design for some characters, but failed to take advantage of that. I did like the school though and a number of the demons.
Sound- 7
Ummm.... I don't remember the OST... and maybe because of that it deserves less than a 7, but I loved the both openings and the two ending were aight. Sound really helps set up the mood and atmosphere, while it certainly did the job, it's not enough to make them memorable. Like I said, loved the openings so it gets a 7.
Character- 5
... They all suck... not really. The characters are entertaining I give the show that one. Rin is like your typical delinquent, but the author did a decent job in making him just notch higher than most anime delinquent characters. A number of the characters help prevent the show from being dry, but it really is just not trying hard enough. I'm just glad that the characters have enough personality to be individuals and not stock anime characters. Is there character development? Yes. Is there good character development? Ehh... as much any other anime...
Now I want to point something out, and that is Satan... watch out for spoilers... this isn't really part of the review, it's more like a nitpick. Ok, so Satan in the first episode was this crazy maniac that tried to take Rin away, but then over a dozen episodes later, we find out that he is actually a pretty decent dude that just wanted live on earth. He fell in love with Rin and Yukio's mother... I think... and is shown to be very protective and caring. But fast forward that 5 minute in the same episode, Satan is batshit crazy again... The lack of consistency with him just baffles me.
Enjoyment- 6
Eh... it was pretty dry. I really have nothing else to say, it was just dry. There were moments that were funny, but no action scene that really got my testosterone pumping the same way other shows do... so yeah 6.
Overall- durrr this anime so good it gets a 10... no it gets a 6
Maybe I'm a little harsh on the show, but maybe I'm also just tired of the same crap over and over again. I criticized the show for lacking originality, and I'm staying with that. I'm not really looking for something completely new, but what I'm looking for is a fresh new take on something overdone and this show just didn't do that for me.
magaiverix
I will start from the beginning, I opened my MAL, plan to watch list and at last I decided to watch this anime, as if after recommendations looks like this show I might like, and it was also. Story 7/10- The very beginning, I really liked it, the fact that main hero reaches adolescence, and begin to see what others do not see, after which the life of the main character changes forever, and to overcome or to win his greatest enemy, he must study at a special school, to learn everything you need to win the evil. After that, new friends also appear, humor appears,then drama and other unexpected events in his life. The story I liked in overall.
Art 7/10- Could be better and fair, because it looks a little funny, no i'm not saying bad, the main characters and others seem to have been pushed out of some sort of comedy, but the main thing I liked was because it was interesting to watch.
Sound 10/10- At first, I did not understand where I've heard this masterpiece of music and then it reminds me of a bit of bios ost from the guilty crown, later a little attack on titan osts, I'm looking at the internet and it turns out Hiroyuki Sawano he is so masterpiece, and the other sounds were just a hat off.
Character 8/10- Almost all characters are told a bit, except Okumura, Rin and Okumura, Yukio about which I found out only to the end (last episodes) completely everything, and this is also what I like best.
Enjoyment 8/10- Every day I watched by three-four episodes and everything was satisfying me.
Overall 8/10- So.... I look forward to the continuation and bad or good, show in the memories will certainly stay.
Social_Elitist
Blue Exorcist Review: (Ao no excorcist) MINDSET: Aw, no excrement why am I seeing this with eights and nines?! SYNOPSIS: Rin Okumura is living through he's slice of life as a pubed teen with he's family and brother, soon finding out that he's excremental we don't care a jack prehistorically grown ash father gotten the fecies kicked out of him by Satan. Now its up to our run of the mill protagonist to shaft satan at he's new high school who teaches the art of excrementations, sorry, I mean rex-cor-cis-mmm. And lots of other jazz that needs explaining that will drag out five minute review! And he's brother isan excorcist and Rin is the son of satan, cuz the author thought they were cool...
REVIEW:
Basically, if You imagine all of the tropes and most generic archetypes in all of shonen add “excorcist” because it sounds cool BUT make it shorter, we get this horrendous piece of abomination! BTW You make them worse (and obviously, here is why)
a majority or even all of the entire cast don't seem to have enough depth, the show focuses way to heavily on the protagonist, anyone else who get more screen time and some characters that none of us give a damn. They show there back stories giving a decent or sometimes half-ashed explanation on why they have become that person.
However, that do not develop, or develop enough to show our empathy and care. All or most of the characters in some way shape or form, does not show a large amount of complexity or depth, they are governed by Archetypes and show no sign of originality or multiple factors and traits.
(That Anime Snob has much more detail on this subject from he's ten dimensions video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob3ReizUo1c) Sure there are characters that do actually develop, however, they still had the same issue with lacking enough complexity and have not developed just enough for us to care when they are at a rough situation. Also, there are like 3 characters that meet this criteria out of like more than 10 side characters and villains!
If we talk about those “other” characters who seem to be the majority out numbering the three characters who show “some” overall depth, Blue Excrement does not repair the damage it has done by having a bunch of badly written characters with only three average characters! Those characters can go to a tentacle hentai if they truly become 100% forgettable pieces of writing!
Because this is a Shounen, it is the characters that will drive the plot on being actually good. So yes, the story is bad. Soo to summarise a lot of details while having a clear image, far too much of the story heavily relies on plot conveniences. Too much feels forced, it doesn’t feel as if stuff happens naturally like how the show portrays that not all demons are bad and are just trying to protect there territory like animals. That could have been very interesting if we seen there side of view. However, the scenes about the concept seem to be rather few and far between, and none of us even care and none of the more “monster-like demons” seem to develop.
And now because I felt like it, here are a few reasons why Naruto is the better show: (despite of them being both sh!t)
-Naruto gives actual character exploration and some development through quite a lot of characters. (until the author thought we need to mix in some Yaoi)
-Some back stories make actual sense and logic.
-They had this whole concept of teamwork (before Sasuke becomes gay) ninjas MUST co-ordinate to become successful. In Blue Exorcist, we all know that the protagonist is going to kill everything at the end, so why not bother if the going gets rough if he was the son of satan?
CONGRABULATION NARUTO... YOU ARE RETARDED, YET YOU ACTUALLY MANAGE TO BEAT SOMTHING THAT IS NOT A TRAINWRECK AND YOU ARE AN ACTUAL EXAMPLE ON HOW MUCH THE 21ST CENTURY SHONENS HAVE WORSEN OVER THE PASSAGE OF TIME.
*CLAPS VIGORUSLY*
SCORE:
3/10 – Characters. HOW Can WE CARE?
3.5/10 – Half of the show was filler. The story was still bad any ways.
6/10 – Good Animation
6/10 – WHY IS THE OP SO F**KING AMAZING?!
PERSONAL SCORE:
3/10 – I feel nothing when I watched this show.
Micsupreeme
*Pure Review (Anime Only)* A dark, gripping, action enriched adventure from the very beginning... Despite its often harsh reputation; i found Ao No Exorcist both exhilarating, and although the premise is not completely original - an interesting watch. The whole show retains an effective sense of scale, and an appropriately dark, suspenseful overriding tone. Its shounen identity becomes clear pretty soon on, and although it follows a formulaic structure, it's well executed. Alike most viewers, i particularly praise the beginning on its intricate and vivid setup; it starts off while fulfilling every criteria... A great starting point in terms of character development and story - that demonstrates theshow's action-related and emotional capabilities.
After a few episodes of brilliant drama, action and attention to detail, a notable amount of filler does unfortunately come into light. At times i feared that the show may cease to progress as seamlessly as in the beginning, though these were at least temporary setbacks, and overall, the whole story and the development of Rin in particular continued to deliver.
If there's something this show does right, it's the fighting, and although it became a tad repetitive, this was already acknowledged, and the very relevant scenes documenting Rin's growth, came paired with the introduction of more characters, THEIR stories, and extensions to the theory behind the premise.
One recurring theme of Blue Exorcist is discovery - and those who have completed will know the extent of this word's connections. The main thrill, the main kick behind the story comes often in the form of twists, making everything more unpredictable in the short-run, and therefore intensifying the action. Rin's circumstances continue to become more real in time, and this conveys the friction between the forces in the story very well.
Each episode is rather cinematic in the way it congeals action and drama from multiple perspectives, which is great - though it must be said that the minor comedy/innuendo elements just plain interfere with the shows intensity at times.
The characters all have their own bit of development, but alike most other action-based shows, it's not quite comprehensive. In terms of story, i'm sure you don't have to scroll much to gather that it's a cliche, but particularly nearer the start and finish, it's incredibly well presented, and works wonders for illustrating the plot.
With a divided reserve of strength, it's hard to think of something Ao No Exorcist truly excels at, though nothing is too weak either... I guess you could say that to conclude, the whole thing is a touch self limiting in terms of potential.
But...
Ao No Exorcist works!
The interesting premise brings about a refreshing, dark and suspenseful array of attributes that add a lot of great drama and detail. The particularly story-heavy ending was my highlight, as i'm sure you know what i mean when i mention discovery: realization and unpredictability. When this anime gets going, it really does go all out!
So who would i recommend this for? Well, like with Attack on Titan, the show thrives on the opportunity to fuse drama and action - so for action/epic-style and plot twist appreciating viewers in particular,
if the whole religious war theme is something that works for you... You'll really enjoy!
lawlmartz
"I'm going to beat the sh*t out of Satan!!" - Rin Okumura. If there was an award for the most pure shonen of all time, that award would not belong to any of the big names in the business... No, One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, and any other series that comprises the collective of instantly recognizable "shonen" can't touch the perfection with which the myriad of shonen tropes were implemented in Blue Exorcist. Artwork and Animation: 8 As with most A-1 Pictures productions, Blue Exorcist looks very good. The traditional animation, particularly with the signature flames, is very crisp and smooth. There are a few moments where thebudget wore thin and some fidelity was lost, but overall a good looking series. No terrible 3D, and no overly repetitive scenes- consistent.
Sound and Voice Acting: 8
While the sub sounds rather generic, with the exception of Jun Fukuyama (Lelouch, Code Geass) as Yukio, the dub brings out some of the best of Aniplex. The every-shonen-protag Bryce Papenbrook (Kirito, Eren, Shiro Emiya) stars as Rin, with some definite imitation of Vic Mignogna's Ed Elric- at times I really couldn't tell if Vic had stepped up to the mic (which was a good thing.) Papenbrook's best role, definitely.
Opposite Papenbrook we have the ever great Johnny Yong Bosch as Yukio, Kyle Hebert as Suguro, Wendee Lee as Shura, and the spaztastic Christine Marie Cabanos as Shiemi. Aniplex always puts together a good dub cast, and this is no exception. All around well done.
As far as the soundtrack goes, there's not much to bring to attention. It does its job with tension in exciting moments, and letting the air out in sad ones. The openings and endings are solid tunes, your standard issue J rock, with a little techno for the 2nd ending.
Story: 5
Now, what was that I said about shonen? Oh yeah- how this show took the tvtropes list for the genre and used it as a checklist for this series. The story fares better than the characters, but with one glaring, and impossible to ignore problem: It's incomplete. Right, it's been said before that after episode 16 this show takes a turn for the filler, and this is truth. It deviated from the still-being-written manga to an anime original ending. From our experiences with this... it typically does not end well, right? Blue Exorcist doesn't have a horrible ending- it just has a non-ending. All the struggle through the beginning of the show culminates in a giant "eeeeehhh" at the end where nothing gets resolved. But hey, the big bad was defeated, right? Only for there to be another to crop up in its place and set the story up for a sequel that may never come.
It wouldn't be the first time that this's happened, nor will it be the last, but when it does happen, non endings typically stick- and audiences rarely eat them up. For an engaging start of a timeless Father/Son struggle with a unique setting, and the feeling of growing strength and power through self discovery, the story has a particularly inauspicious ending.
Characters: 4
Protagonist with undiscovered superpowers? Check.
Protagonist with daddy issues? Checkeroo.
Protagonist who gets beaten down with self guilt and lacking the strength to go on until spurred onward by female love interest character? You betcha.
Takes place in a magical high school, with a ragtag gang of friends? Of course.
Headstrong, "must save everyone", will stop at nothing to gain more power to protect their loved ones, it goes on and on. This show gives shonen a living, breathing body.
Other things like "annoying girl that nobody likes who turns into a useful member/saves everyone", "enemy turns into friend after being defeated", and "hidden evil family member" all make themselves known. The "believe in yourself and succeed against impossible odds" trope checks in too, nearly every episode.
While these, on paper, read like "wow, I've seen this in every show already, why's this any different?" The truth is that Blue Exorcist embraces this. It's not pretentious, and it's not pushy or hamfisted in some ideal or moral, it's just taking these tropes and making a popcorn story out of them.
The dynamic between Rin and Yukio is, however, fairly interesting. While not characterized on a basis of say Edward and Alphonse Elric, there's still quite a few good moments, between them, cliche as they may be. The classic "being outdone by the other" and sibling rivalry through Rin and Yukio's disparate personalities arises. While at times it drives them apart, and they have to face their challenges alone- as expected, they manage to work together and do something great.
Enjoyment and Overall: 7
Although I've really ripped on the characters being the embodiment of shonen cliche and the story getting really off track in useless filler territory that leaves nothing resolved, I have to say, I don't hate Blue Exorcist.
I watched Blue Exorcist alongside Neon Genesis Evangelion, and it was an excellent break from the dark and depressing but intricately crafted character drama of NGE. Watching Blue Exorcist was like watching TV, where NGE is more like reading a book. It didn't require any real thought of me to watch, no presence of mind- it was just for fun.
For a lighthearted, shoneny romp through a vibrant and imaginative fantasy world, one can do a lot worse than Blue Exorcist.
PorcupineHead
NOTE: I have previously made a review for this series 10 years ago, but it was pretty poorly written so I decided to rewrite it completely. Blue Exorcist is a perfect example of a series which was supposed to be the next big thing but killed its own hype due to many factors such as long hiatuses and sloppy execution so most people have just lost interest and moved on to the next hyped up thing. The premise of the series might seem generic, taking elements from other shounen titles such as Soul Eater, D. Gray-Man or Fullmetal Alchemist, which would be fine if it waswell executed, the problem is that the series just doesn’t do anything interesting with it.
The anime was made by A-1 Pictures, so we have above average production values with well animated fights, good looking backgrounds and characters and catchy opening themes. The endings are decent pop songs but not as memorable.
However, once we get past the stylish presentation there are lots of problems with this anime. The setup of the series is intriguing at first, we have a caring adoptive father who takes care of our main character Rin who is in fact the son of Satan. He’s also a pervert who likes reading naughty manga. Unfortunately he quickly dies so later he only appears in some flashbacks. But after the exciting start and when our main character enters the exorcist academy things quickly get boring and instead of doing something fun like training or missions, most episodes are wasted on standard slice of life and school moments which have nothing to do with his task to defeat Satan.
Most of the characters are not particularly memorable or unique, Rin is our typical shounen protagonist, a kind hearted person with a dark side whose notable trait is that he likes cooking. His brother Yukio feels like a waste of potential, they could really do something interesting with the dynamic between the two brothers but he just comes off as jealous and cold despite also being Satan’s son. The Academy is led by a goofy principal Mephisto Pheles who is similar to Shinigami from Soul Eater. The classmates are also painfully bland, we have a guy with pink hair and some weird staff who loves flirting and hates bugs, a short tempered ambitious kid, a girl who is only notable for her ridiculous eyebrows and another girl who is supposed to be caring and friendly but just ends up being whiny and useless. Also one of the exorcists is a woman with big boobs who makes sure to always reveal her cleavage but she is actually competent and not treated just as a token fanservice bimbo.
The sword and gun fights in this show are well made but the fights with praying and summoning beasts look pretty dumb. The religious symbolism and syncretism also feels kind of pointless because it lacks any depth and doesn't add anything. It just looks weird seeing one guy fight with a cross and another one with a Buddhistic prayer.
But then we get to the biggest issue, like many anime, it started airing when the manga was far from complete so what the studio decided to do is adapt the first half which is mostly pretty boring and the second half consists of anime original content. There’s nothing inherently wrong with anime taking a different route and the anime actually gets kind of interesting and has a decent but incomplete ending, but it's a bit too late at that point. However 6 years later we finally get a second season which basically completely retcons the story by ignoring the second half and continues following the manga more closely. But at that point most people did not care anymore and neither did I. After over 10 years the manga still hasn’t been finished and even if third season is announced it’s not certain if it gathers enough interest now.
Honestly I really can’t think of a good reason to check out this series anymore, it’s not offensively bad, it has solid animation and it is not painfully long at 24 episodes, but it quickly throws away its interesting premise and the second half is basically fanfiction which is completely discarded by its sequel. As far as fighting shounen go you can definitely do worse, but you can also do much better.
RWM13
Rin Okumura, our main Protagonist, lives a fairly normal life until the day he finds out he is the son of a demon - more specifically: the living offspring of Satan. Quite a promising premise for a shounen anime; unfortunately, it could not keep its promise, mainly due to its characters and storyline. Having said that, this leads us to the first issue: the Story. Ao no Exorcist starts off strong; throwing both you and Rin into unfamiliar territory filled with demons and priests and a very interesting actual state of the world and how it is divided. But soon after, the story develops into averitable donwfall. The Serie suffers greatly under its predictable storyline and lacks of the much needed depth which is essential to keep the story interesting for the rest of the show. Rather than giving us a better picture of the two worlds, the Story is filled with bland humour and uninteresting storyarcs instead.
Ao no Exorcist revolves around two worlds; the human world "Assiah" and the demon world "Gehenna". One does not simply travel between these two worlds unless you have a key which, paradoxically, quite a bunch of poeple seem to have. With this being the case it appears as if this key had been sort of a giveaway long time ago.
Let us have a look at the characters of Ao no Exorcist. Rin Okumura appears as the stereotypical shounen main protagonist; not much intelligence, edgy personalty,... . He might be likeable, but is definitely not worth being called memorable.
Yukio, his brother, serves as the smart, clever boy who tries to hold his brother in check throughout the anime - but offers not very much to the story itself.
And of course there is a archetypical girl in the anime which, after all, can easily be compared to Sakura from Naruto or Asuna from Sword Art Online. They all share and possess the same stunning quality to serve a story.
However, there were things that deserve a certain amount of praise. Let us begin with the Animation and the visual quality. The regular animation (CGI has been used as well) and the visuals of the demons did not disappoint. The variety of demons that were presented can arguably be
classified in "exceptionally creepy", "fancy little badass" or "cute little fellows".
Editing/Cutting were well-directed and the Music/Sound were appropriate for each scene. That is all we can ask for.
In conclusion, the anime does not have the dark tone as we could have expected out of the first few episodes. Surprisingly, however, it possess a reasonable amount of Entertainment, especially at the beginning. Therefore, Ao no Exorcist cannot be classified as entirely bad rather than wasted potential.
Lydiia
A classic shounen anime that I'm not too fond of. I know this is a popular anime but I honestly don't think it deserves it's popularity. It was just eh. Story: The world that this plot takes place in consists of two dimensions joined as one, like a mirror. The first is the world in which humans live, Assiah. The other is the world of demons, Gehenna. (MyAnimeList.net summary part) The Plot revolves around a young boy called Rin Okumura and his twin brother Yukio Okumura, both sons of the demon king, Satan. They both end up attending True Cross Academy due to reasons that I don'twant to spoil. And there, Rin decides to become an exorcist. Meanwhile, Yukio was already a exorcist, but why? Yukio doesn't seem to have demonic powers, but Rin does, and everytime he uses his demonic sword, Kurikara, he seems to lose control of his powers and himself. All the meanwhile, Satan is lurking beneath the surface waiting to take the form of someone powerful enough to contain him (Maybe someone with demonic powers like Rin? Or maybe not) and take over Assiah for specific reasons. The overall story actually takes place in school/or school-related activities outside of school, rather than random demonic fight scenes, which I didn't mind that much. I thought the story was all over the place though, and the ending just didn't make any sense to me. The series lacked the depth needed to keep the story interesting, and had no comedy to keep me interested. Random fighting going on that I didn't really enjoy either.
Art: Just like any other modern day anime... It was decent, nothing too special though.
Sound: I actually liked both the openings of the anime, they were really good! Furthermore, the soundtracks of the anime actually kept my attention onto the anime, without the epic music, I'm not sure if I would have actually payed attention to the fighting or useless dialogue going on. Very good music.
Character: The characters lacked depth. Overtime, there was supposedly development/change in the characters because of what they've experienced, but I didn't really notice any significant development or change other than the fact that the Okumura brothers went from innocent and pure to corrupt and berserk, back to being heroic brothers and saving the day in the end. Typical shounen... Too many minor characters that disappear without another trace. The only memorable character was Memphisto because he was the only entertaining, funny character. Everyone else was really dull, boring, and honestly besides the Okumura brothers, pointless.
Enjoyment: Not terrible, but definitely not a memorable anime that I'd recommend to everyone. If you like to watch shounen anime that include exorcists, and devils with random action then I guess this anime would be enjoyable for you. I don't know, Ao no Exorcist just didn't appeal to me as much as I had hoped it would from it's popularity.
ShadowWizard00
I've recently discovered that Ao no Exorcist, or Blue Exorcist, is divided up between those who love it and those who... well... don't really love it. So it Blue Exorcist really worth the watch? Well... Story: Anyone who has witnessed shounen series of any kind will be able to instantly recognize the fact that this story doesn't fail to follow in the footsteps of others. A teenage boy who discovers he has all these immense powers and sets out to defeat evil. But despite this, the premise itself does pose an interesting storyline, and poses some strong introductory episodes. But while the story does start off strong and Ienjoyed it until about the halfway point, it really disappoints in the end. There is little advancement in plot throughout the whole series, and so lots is taken up by filler.
I found the first half of the series enjoyable enough, but my real problem was with the second half. The closer I got to reaching the ending, the more it felt like a chore to complete this series. While plenty of other 25-episode series have filler episodes in them, I found this to be very frustrating. It felt like the writers didn't have anything good to give us until their very anticlimactic ending (I'll get to that in a sec) so they gave us poorly written filler that didn't serve any purpose to the outcome of the story, and I really stopped caring altogether before the series even ended.
So what's up with this ending? Well it shouldn't be any surprise to hear that this shounen follows others by finishing off with an unsatisfactory, mediocre ending that doesn't follow the original media. Now this wouldn't be as big of a problem if they had bothered to write a decent ending. But while the rest of the series was enjoyable to an extent, the ending feels rushed, anticlimactic, and a poor way to finish off ta series that generally had promise to it.
The story is not terribly written. It is not a bad story, but it certainly is not a masterpiece to me. Overall, it's alright. Not too bad, not too great.
Character:
So if the story wasn't all too great, then the characters must be better... right?
Well............................
While I did find Rin Okumura enjoyable enough to watch as a main character, I didn't truly find anything special about him. He was okay. He was a typical rebellious teenager who was trying to defeat evil with his powers. And that's kind of it.
However, he is the most entertaining of the series to watch, maybe besides Yukio, who also holds up strongly as a main character. Shiemi is a femcale character who's there just for fanservice and undergoes little development. The other characters lack development and backstory, not to mention how little they are explored, and are just okay. None are too interesting, and the female characters just aren't all that standoutish. Most of the characters aren't memorable, aside from maybe Rin. I just couldn't get into the characters all that much and found them very by the numbers.
The only true relationship I really cared about was the one between Rin and Fujimoto, which is the strongest and the most realistic in the entire anime, despite it only being shown very briefly. Rin's bond with Yukio is genuine enough, but fails in comparison to other brotherly relationships in anime. Shiemi's "romance" with Rin is incomplete and is frustratingly very scarce, giving viewers no chance to really root them on. I truly found the characters to be disappointing.
Art/Animation:
The art style is certainly not my favorite, but the animation is solid and the style compliments the series well with its themes and moods. There isn't much to say here besides the fact that it holds up well in this series.
Sound:
All the music in this anime is very well done. The OST is pretty epic and compliments the story very well. The openings aren't my favorite, but that's just me. They do hold up well with the story though, and have good animation. I wasn't too big on the endings, but as far as the music goes as a whole, I found it to be well done.
Enjoyment:
I truly base my ratings off of how much I enjoyed as series, regardless of flaws or how much I can overlook them. But I didn't really enjoy this series. It isn't because it's a shounen; I like action well enough. But it just isn't a well told series. There's a lack of action, very flat romance, and the characters just aren't that memorable and don't hold up all that well in the story.
So overall, the series is just alright. It's nothing too special. If you want a story with memorable characters, great action and a great story, than this isn't an anime for you. It just isn't executed well, and while it appeared interesting at first, it failed to hold up in almost all aspects. I could have lived without seeing this anime, as it really isn't anything that good or special. It's very by-the-numbers, and I found little enjoyment in it. While it does stand slightly above average with it's exceptionally strong beginning and good first half, it truly just falls to pieces as the story struggles on. Not all that worthwhile.
Darkskies
A quick and easy review of Ao no Exorcist (Blue Exorcist)-- SPOILER FREE for your enjoyment. PROS: + Interesting story + Good comedy factor + Beautiful art with bright colors and good use of light/dark contrasts + Fantastic voice actors + Great in sub or dub + Good soundtrack + Interesting characters (no one annoyed me!)+ Quick paced and exciting
+ High overall enjoyment
CONS:
+ Ending seems a little disjointed
+ "Typical" shonen story (if that bothers you)
+ Not much growth/change for supporting characters
+ Some unnecessary characters
Want some more detail? See blow:
STORY:
For people to say this story is cliche is, in my opinion, a bit close minded. Definitely, the idea of a main protagonist who become stronger in order to fight evil and defend those he loves is a nearly ageless story. The key is how writers reinvent that classic story to make it interesting. In the case of Ao no Exorcist this involves a son of Satan, various demons, cool weaponry, a school for exorcists, magic spells, and some awesome powers/abilities. These factors are the keys that make this show interesting!
Some people are put off by the fact that not every episode is moving towards the final climax. And it is true that at some points the show is more episodic than larger story-oriented. I normally DO NOT like episodic show, but for some reason, this one stayed enjoyable to me the whole time. It didn't feel at all repetitive or like it was dragging. It just presents the audience with a lot of great illustrations of the world it is trying to create.
BONUS-- I get tired of 11 year old protagonists saving the world, and was glad to have at least high school aged characters.
Also, I wasn't expecting much comedy from this, and found myself pleasantly surprised by steady humor throughout with some really good laugh out loud moments.
ART:
Great art with very few inconsistencies. Too many shows these days are animated so darkly that you can hardly see details and, on the flip side, many shows are so bright that its like there is no variation in lighting. Ao no Exorcist does a good job utilizing both light and dark frames to create great contrasts, and using a wide spectrum of colors to give the animation depth.
SOUND:
THE VOICE ACTORS-- they are all so great! Really strong casts both in Japanese and English. The original cast is led by Okamoto Nobuhiko (Niizuma Eiji in Bakuman, Nishinoya Yuu in Haikyuu, Usui Takumi in Kaichou wa Maid-Sama) and Fukuyama Jun (Lelouch Lamperouge in Code Geass, Dr. Shinra Kishitani in Durarara!!, Kazuma in Noragami, Grell in Kuroshitsuji). They also have others you know and love, i.e. Kamiya Hiroshi (Orihara Izaya in Durarara!!, Akashi Seijuurou in Kuroko no Basket, Yato in Noragami, Levi in Shingeki no Kyojin).
The english cast is led by Bryce Papenbrook (Eren Jaeger in Attack on Titan, Kirito in Sword Art Online, Shirou Emiya in Fate/Stay Night: UBW, Masaomi Kida in Durarara!!) and Johnny Young Bosch (Makoto Tachibana in Free!, Izaya Orihara in Durarara!!, Ichigo Kurosaki in Bleach, Yusaku Kitamura in Toradora!).
Point is, you'll love the sub or the dub. Great casts no matter what.
Music is good throughout but nothing amazing. Enjoyed the first OST better than the second, but sound track was fine overall.
CHARACTER:
I am someone who gets easily annoyed by characters. Fortunately, there weren't any characters in Ao no Exorcist that I was dreading being on screen. I really enjoyed them all, even though they may fit into some of the common character tropes. While the leads are well-developed, most of the supporting characters get only minimal background and development. However, for a 25 episode series, I thought the amount of character development was appropriate.
There were a two characters in particular hanging around that I found unnecessary (maybe they play a bigger part in the manga?), but I was disappointed that they weren't ever really fleshed out. These characters were used at times to manipulate the plot in ways that seemed a little cheap.
ENJOYMENT:
Despite some of its faults, I found this show to be very enjoyable. I sped through it, and never found myself bored. It is quick-paced and action packed, and had much more comedy than I was expecting. If you enjoy shonen, battles, magic, or demons (with some great comedy and a fun school-setting), give it a try!
