Blue Exorcist Review

Full Review

Pro: Great Animation. Great Soundtrack, Great Characters, Great Story, Fun to watch.

Con: None unless you are one of those condescending shounen haters. (the second half of the anime is not as good)

Final Thoughts: Blue Exorcist is my favorite shounen series of all time. It is wrapped in a perfect package from its animation to music to characters ex:. Nothing else to say other that watch it and read the damn manga!

Story: While at first Blue Exorcist may seem like any other shounen story it is in its execution and themes that make Blue Exorcist stand out against the crowd. First off I find the topic of exorcists much more interesting than the lives of ninjas (Naruto), pirates (One Piece), wizards (Fairy Tail) or shinigamis (Bleach). Being a Roman Catholic myself you'd think this would be the last shounen I would love watching due to mentions of Satan and the church ex: However its plain to see that Kazue Kaito the creator, did her homework in learning about Catholicism and Christianity. The pacing is also perfect allowing for time characters to sink in as well as the story. The second half of the anime goes filler on our asses and is not nearly as good (or satisfying) as the first 12 episodes. That is why you all should read the manga!!!

Characters: Another great pro of Blue Exorcist is in its characters. All of them play a role in developing each other in some way. And unlike Bleach or Naruto that consistently enlarges its cast, Blue Exorcist keeps the cast rather small. This gives you time to become attached to each one of the characters and identify with their conflicts. You never end up completing hating a character. The female cast also gets a likable boost here. Their are very little damsel in distress scenarios as everybody works together using their specific talents to help solve a problem. In fact many of the females (particularly Shiemi) become smarter and more helpful than the male cast members. As mentioned in the show the exorcists work in "teams" and the importance of them working together is stressed early on. This is better seen the manga which I highly recommend. Getting down to specifics here we have our protagonist Rin. Rin is the newly defined shounen protagonist. Before we either had childlike heroes like (Gon, Naruto, Natsu, Luffy) or the tough guy (Ichigo, Inu-Yasha). Now we have Rin who is combination of both. He is a tough guy, but also a big sweetheart underneath who can also be childlike. In other words he is a complex character. Who is in many ways a rebellious teenager who is trying to find a good balance as to what is right and wrong. He is without a doubt the best character in the show for that very reason. In many ways he is written to appeal to girl readers more than boys. Then you have Yukio who is in many ways similar to Rin, but goes about his actions in a different way. Yukio thinks before he acts which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Rin has his instincts while Yukio has his experience. The two often clash on this difference in the anime and manga. The rest of the cast is also fantastic and all really likable in their own way. I advise all of you to READ THE MANGA if you still do not believe me.

Art: Its great, A-1 Pictures always delivers when it comes to their animation. The action scenes are great as well as Rin's blue flames. The color pallet is also great and colorful as well as the city/school itself. The designs of the demons are pretty unique as well.

Sound: One of my favorites if not the favorite of all anime music. All the endings and openings are perfect! "Core Pride" and "Take Off" are pure bliss.

Final Score: 5 stars

Recommendations:

Bleach/Blood Lad/Inu-Yasha

#blueexorcist #aonoexorcist #review #5stars #spring #2011