Ao no Exorcist

Title:Ao no Exorcist
Blue Exorcist
青の祓魔師
Overall:Rent
Keywords: , , , , , ,
Notables: Animation - A1 Pictures
R1 License - Aniplex of America
Humans live in the world of Assiah, demons in Gehenna. The two dimensions are not meant to interfere with each other, but demons still possess creatures in Assiah in spite of this. The humans who can fight these demons are known as exorcists. Rin Okumura is a boy who bears the curse of being Satan's illegitimate son. His foster father sacrificed himself to save him from demons. To avenge his foster father's death as well as to prove himself, Rin decides to follow the path of an exorcist.
(Summary Courtesy of Anime News Network)


25-episode TV anime that premiered on April 17, 2011.
Animated by A-1 Pictures
Licensed by Aniplex of America.
Also see movie, Ao no Exorcist Movie, and series sequel, Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto Fujō Ō-hen.
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Rent 8 8 8 6 7 7 Ggultra2764 [series:3460#1552]
Blue Exorcist is focused on Rin Okamura, a teenage boy who is a half-demon born between his human mother and the demon Satan. With the death of his adoptive father, Rin seeks to become an exorcist to slay his father and any demons that threaten humanity.

At a glance, Blue Exorcist doesn't really break any new ground for a shounen series and it certainly shows with its premise. An action-loving young boy outcast from others due to differences in his origins seeking to prove his worth through hard work and perseverance has been hammered out a good deal with a number of other similar titles like Naruto and Black Clover. The characters found within the series are also nothing groundbreaking either as many sport character types you may have come across in one form or another from other anime titles as well. The plot is also nothing spectacular with a school devoted to training exorcists and some "demon of the day" episodes or arcs have something similar found in other anime as well.

Still, the series seems to have a good sense of what it is and chooses to just go along what it offers up. It offers a solid amount of world-building to introduce the major elements of its series involving exorcists and demons without being too focused on its action. The characters, in spite of their archetypes, get a good deal of dimension to show there is more to them and are rather likeable as the series doesn't exaggerate their character types to obnoxious levels as titles like Naruto often got in the annoying habit of. The plot of the series juggles the mundane days of Rin's interactions with the student body of True Cross Academy, while dispatching any demonic threats without revealing his demon origins to others. While the first half of the series sticks with this storytelling approach, there are some engaging developments for the show's middle section that test Rin's bonds with his classmates and other exorcists start to view Rin as a possible threat. It also doesn't hurt that the series is nicely animated sporting character designs with a good amount of detail, vivid scenery shots, and fluid battle scenes that play out.

The series does gradually slip up toward its final episodes. As the manga this series was still ongoing (and still is as of this review), the show's creators winded up creating anime-only original plot developments that explore how Satan and Rin's mother birthed our lead character and a grand finale that attempts to tie up loose ends with the conflict between demons and human exorcists. However, this still left the series open-ended with the conflict still ongoing. Matter of fact, the later plot developments of this series were totally disregarded for its later sequel, Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga.

While nothing groundbreaking, Blue Exorcist still makes for solid entertainment with its world exploration and focus on Rin dealing with his demon origins while bonding with the teenage exorcists of Blue Cross Academy. In spite of its anime-original developments towards its second half, I would still say it is at least worth a single viewing for fantasy-adventure anime fans to check out.

Last updated Sunday, December 10 2017. Created Sunday, December 10 2017.

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