Ao no Exorcist Review

Lifetime goals can be hard to find for yourself, especially when you have no idea where to start. Some people spend their entire lives trying to find that one profession they are passionate about, or a purpose for them to fulfill, but never find it. Others have that already decided for them, such as being heir to a company or throne, an arranged marriage, or something decided by parents. Knowing what your purpose is can make your life easier, however for some people, it can make their lives miserable as well. If you absolutely despise your fate, would you accept it, or try and carve a different path for yourself? In this particular case, two unfortunate boys have been cursed with being sons of Satan, and are despised everywhere they go, not knowing why.

Story

In a world with two realms, Assiah, and Gehenna, each the human’s and demon’s realms respectively, conflicts between the two worlds are frequent, and it’s up to exorcists to keep the demons at bay. Ao no Exorcist, or Blue Exorcist is the story of Rin Okumura, and his struggles of being Satan’s son. Despite Yukio being Rin’s brother, he appears to have not inherited Satan’s signature blue flames, or any demonic features. The two brothers live in a monastery with Shiro, the head priest, who has cared for them their entire lives. After an attack to the monastery by stray demons, Rin is given the katana Kurikara, warned to never unsheathe the blade, as it seals the demonic power inside of him. During the attack, Shiro is possessed by Satan himself, and dies shortly after, while Rin is disobedient and unsheathes the blade. The monastery is in ruins, and the two brothers are sent to the True Cross Academy, where Rin is to study to become an exorcist, and for Yukio to hone his abilities as an exorcist. While there, Rin discovers his goal to become the Paladin; the exorcist more powerful than any other. However there’s one problem; Rin is a demon, and exorcists are trained to defeat demons. This causes many conflicts involving his identity, and who he is willing to be. To his dismay, the teacher in charge of Rin’s small class is none other than his brother. Along the way, the duo becomes closer to their students and classmates through their journey to become better exorcists, and increasingly stronger enemies. The story of Ao no Exorcist is a fun journey through all entertaining 25 episodes, and little time is wasted through filler episodes, covering the major plot holes well.

Characters

The main character, Rin Okumura, is a 15 year old boy, and son of Satan along with his brother Yukio. Rin is protective of people close to him, but can sometimes make rash decisions when under pressure. These sometimes include getting into fights frequently, or bringing unnecessary violence into the picture. His forte is not studying, as he does not pay attention in class, or shouts phrases wrong by trying his best guess. Although Rin is disrespectful towards Yukio during lessons, he genuinely cares about Yukio, and will protect him in any situation. Rin had experience being excluded as a child, due to his violent habits, and would often get branded as a demon, despite no one knowing he is Satan’s son. His appearance shows some demonic features, including slightly pointed ears, and prominent canine teeth. After using Kurikara for the first time, he gained a black, fur-tufted tail. When Rin unsheathes Kurikara, his demonic features become more prominent, and he becomes surrounded in the blue flames sealed in the blade. Next we have Yukio Okumura, Rin’s younger brother. Most characters believe that Rin is the younger brother due to Yukio’s mature attitude, and experience as an exorcist. Yukio is usually quiet and calm, but his darker side emerges during personality clashes with Rin. He is a Middle-First Class exorcist, and became one long before Rin, mainly to protect him if anything went wrong, or he couldn’t control his powers. Yukio is one of the teachers at the True Cross Academy, and is an acquaintance of Shura Kirigakure, an Upper-First Class exorcist responsible for Rin. Yukio had sworn to protect Rin as a child, due to him not showing any signs of inheriting Satan’s powers, yet shows some features later on in the series. He was bitten by Rin as a child, enabling him to see the demons which would be otherwise invisible to humans without a mashou, or wound inflicted by a demon.

Sound

The soundtrack for Ao no Exorcist was done by Hiroyuki Sawano, known for works such as the soundtracks for Guilty Crown and Attack on Titan. The soundtrack is dramatic, and filled with intense orchestra and choir filled instrumentals, fitting the scenes and tone of the series perfectly. The tracks on the soundtrack are able to be listened to without any visual accompaniment, which is a bonus for the OST. Special mention to the track Me and Creed. Both openings, Core Pride by Uverworld, and In My World by ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D fit well with the series, and reflect the tone of the show. The dubs were done well, no jarring or cringe-worthy performances by any voice actors. The doubling of voices during the Satan possession scenes were done well, and were able to portray each character individually, but still form a different identity with the two.

Animation

The animation for the series was done by A-1 Pictures, known for Sword Art Online, and Black Butler, and is well done and consistent through the series. Budget looks like it wasn’t a problem, with the effects for the action scenes, and slight CG for the Gehenna gate used, not being too jarring or clunky. The character designs were done well, and reflected the character’s personalities through the series. Slight character design adjustments were done for the more demonic characters, which adds to the charm of the characters as a whole.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Ao no Exorcist is an enjoyable, action-packed and comedic series with whimsical characters and an interesting plot line. Although the story does drag on in some places, there weren’t any episodes worthy of dubbing as complete filler, or not worth watching. Although plot lines similar to this exist in other series, it was different enough to not be a complete copy of other series, and gave a refreshing twist to the genre as a whole. So, considering the categories of sound, animation, story, characters, and my personal enjoyment, Ao no Exorcist, or Blue Exorcist receives an overall score of 8.8 out of 10, with a recommendation to buy rather than stream. Ao no Exorcist is available for legal streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation’s website, and Canadian Netflix, and has DVD and Blu-Ray releases from Funimation.

And that’s a wrap up, thank you for reading. Reviews will be posted daily through the month of November, so stay tuned!

-Takami