schoen.terrance - 2014-08-26 00:54:34

This is a good anime with an interesting story, great animation and sound. It had the chance to be a great anime but has a terrible ending. It has an amazing way of building you up to just not really finish. Even with that its worth watching

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samanta05 - 2014-06-25 14:17:24

"Ao no Exorcist" it's a anime with a simple story but amazing! With a great animation, a amazing soundtrack (look at thoose opennings :3) , the best shounen protagonist that I have ever seen, "Ao no Exorcist" it's one of the moust epic animes ever....
I'm in love with Shura, and I'm not lesbian (just to show what that anime do to you) >~~~~

gutkowski.diego - 2014-01-27 17:25:29

An action-comedy filled with a great storyline, drama, and enjoyable characters. The premise is simple and lives up to it towards the end living the audience satisfied but still wanting more

milford.legros - 2013-11-30 09:59:18

Release date : 17, April, 2011

Based on : ongoing manga (by Kazue Kato)

Animation studio : A1 Pictures Inc.

Director : Tensai Okamura

Writer : Ryota Yamaguchi

Score Composer : Hiroyuki Sawano

The Story:

Ao no exorcist is set against a backdrop of present day Japan with the plotline revolving around stories of demons and exorcists.

Rin and Yukio Okumura, twin brothers, witness the murder of their surrogate father Shro Fujimoto by none other than Satan himself. The primary protagonist swears vengeance on Satan who turns out to be his and Yukio’s biological father.

The story sets a wonderful premise with brothers fighting demons and ironically raising hell for the demon king. Rin Okumura enrols in True Cross academy to hone his hereditary superpowers to bring down the root of all evil, which is evil himself. At school , he is shocked to find out Yukio assigned as his teacher, who is revealed to be an experienced exorcist. The first half of the series show cases Rin as a racially awkward teenager trying to fit in the regular crowd. As tried and tested this approach may be in entertainment media, blue exorcist presents it in a completely different manner. Assumed to be evil, Rin is always trying to prove himself different from other demons and in return earns many loyal and trusting friends. The second half of the series concerns Yukio’s role in the plot. Earlier assumed to be devoid of any demonic powers, Yukio is revealed to be equally affected by his lineage as Rin and this aspect of his personality leads to a fantastic climax in the series.

Score: 8/10

The Characters :

Rin Okumura plays your typical shounen protagonist. Clumsy and always screwing things up yet never giving up, Rin is poor at his studies but extremely good at winning people’s trust and making friends. He starts out as someone who is shunned for his parentage but soon transforms his reputation into one of someone who truly cares for his friends and family. He helps a lot of characters on his way to defeat Satan, demons, ghosts and humans alike. Despite being the son of Satan, Rin swears to stand by Fujimoto’s teachings and considers him as his true father.

Agree to disagree with all those who think Rin is the sole primary protagonist. Yukio plays an equally important role in advancing the plot in the series.

He is shown like a calm personality who is beyond his brother in maturity, if not in age. Arguably, being twins he is only minutes younger than Rin. He is put in exorcist training by Fujimoto at a very young age due to his ability to see demons. His sole purpose in life as drilled into his head by his surrogate father is to protect Rin and given his ‘nee san’s’ antics, at times even babysit him. The show doesn’t take him seriously till the second half but in the end Yukio proves that he is truly Rin’s brother and Fujimoto’s son.

Though killed in the beginning, Shiro Fujimoto has his presence felt throughout the series through his adopted sons who believe and follow his teachings.

Other significant characters in my opinion are the exwire students , Shiemi Moriyama , who plays the undertones of romance with the two brothers, but smartly enough, the writer left it at that. Ryuji Suguro, a delinquent looking teenager who is anything but a delinquent, Renzo Shima, a carefree student, Konekomaru Miwa, who is at first uncertain of his friendship with Rin but soon becomes good friends with him, and Izumo Kamiki ,the mandatory tsundere for the show. The writers also provide ample fan service with character like Shura Kirigakure and Arthur Augueste Angel .

Mephisto Pheles, the oldest son of Satan , who is a mere spectators to most events.

And last but not the least, the lady who started it all , Yuri Eigen, Satan’s fling on earth who loved demons and humans alike. Although her plan to show Satan the beauty of the human world sort of backfired when he tried to take over, but well, that’s what she had Rin and Yukio for.

Score : 7/10

The Animation :

The animation is brilliant with the pallet starting with blue and ending with blue. Looking at the action sequences, you can tell the creators took the title blue exorcist quite seriously. The action scenes are well choreographed but the character boundaries become a little hazy if there are too many stunts at once. The one thing that spell brilliance however is the CG animation and picturisation of Shiemi’s underground gardens and the Gehenna gate.

Score : 8/10

The soundtrack:

Meh…………..I guess. It isn’t exactly impressive. The score is beautiful in some parts, but sometimes it’s not enough to bring out the mood for the particular scene. The opening and the ending songs in my opinion are brilliant. Both openings give us an insight in the turmoil in Rin’s life and both the endings tell you to take it easy despite your troubles because our friends are family are always there for you.

Score: 7/10

Verdict :

The series has its flaws, and after that kind of climax, I wished for a grand ending. But it does offer you…complete entertainment. There is the occasional humor and slice of life instances in it, all the while implying the importance of family and morals. At times it does become a little too preachy, but its all balanced out by the badass action scenes. The story has a satisfactory ending and whether they introduce a second season or not, this anime is complete in itself. Watch it for a good action experience backed by strong characters.

Overall Score : 7.5/10

sydney.davis - 2013-11-23 03:05:45

Shonen is a very hard genre to get right in anime, and when someone gets it right, something eventually happens to make it bad. Of all the shonen shows I've seen, only a few have made the seamless transition to anime from their original sources, and even when they do, they seem to lose something along the way. The Big three suffer from an overflowing amount of filler, while smaller shows like Soul Eater take divergences from the original material because of lack of content at the time of animation. A few shows like Attack on Titan take no divergences, but leave audiences wanting more, especially if the show gives an unsatisfying ending. Blue Exorcist is a show that I expected to eschew that process. Even though the manga was unfinished, the show's direction was left open enough that the writers could create conflicts that didn't feel like they left plot strings open, and didn't leave the audience for want. Blue Exorcist, however, failed to capitalize on its excellent potential and strong start, and, despite a very satisfying ending, made a lot of bad choices to get us there.

(Apologize for the bad video, my other options weren't any better)

The world of Blue Exorcist is split into two factions: The world of Demons, Gehenna, and the world of humans, Assiah. Despite the possibility to live peacefully, demons often invade the world of the humans, disrupting and hurting their lives. It is for this reason that Knights of the True Cross, or exorcists, exist. A long fateful night many years ago, a move was made by these exorcists to communicate with and kill the great king of Gehenna itself, Satan. In their folly, they allowed satan to possess and destroy almost half of the exorcist corps, and the ruin since has been indisputable. Fast forwards a few years, and you have our protagonist: Rin Okumura. He lives a simple life in the church with his dad, Shiro Fujimoto, and his brother, Yukio. Rin is a bit of a flunkie, but manages to start getting his life together and find a job, until one day he begins to see creatures most people cannot see. It is at that point that his father reveals to him that he is the son of the king of Demons, Satan, and that his demonic power has been sealed inside a sword. Satan attacks Rin and his father, and kills Fujimoto, possessing him all the while. Rin, in a fit of rage, releases the seal on his power, and kills the form of satan that appears in front of him. He then pledges to become an exorcist and, I quote, "Beat the shit out of Satan." Rin is a good motherfucker. From here, the show goes to high school, and cool shit happens, but what makes this show's story great is its ability to pace itself well. The story is very good at keeping its cards close to its chest, giving you a hint of what is to come, but not showing you everything. That is, until, the show takes a dramatic turn mid season, blows its load all over you and says "Accept this, because this is how it is." The show's brilliant opening, with great characterization and clever writing is ultimately defeated by the writers' inability to capitalize on on the threads and possibilities they make in the early show. The ending however, manages to salvage the prospects the show had, managing to make everything at the least feel climactic, whether it ended or not. Though the ending managed to keep some of it from falling apart, it could't save it all. Story gets a 6/10

When it comes to the character department, shonen have a bad tendency of being very repetitive, and unfortunately, Blue Exorcist is no exception to this. Rin is a very standard protagonist who is a fusion, I think, between Index's Touma and Bleach's Ichigo Kurosaki. He's feisty and will fight almost anything. He screams, he shouts, and he's loud. He's delinquent-like, and has the worst luck possible. But he has a kind side, can cook, is self-sufficient, etc. The one thing that sets him apart is that he has a real tragedy to look back in his life to to give him resolve, i.e. the death of his Dad. And I think that sets him apart from a standard shonen hero. Next, we have his brother Yukio, who is a surprisingly fun character. He rides the thin line between Rin's friend and his teacher, and I really like that perspective for a character. Beyond that though, he's a very standard technically talented dork. Finally, we have the, I guess, lead female, Shiemi Moriyama. She is almost exactly the same character as Orihime from Bleach. It is not good for her. I don't like it at all. The last character I want to talk about is Mephisto Pheles, another demon exorcist. Mephisto is probably the best character in this whole damn show, and is one of the ones who I am really sad didn't get expanded on enough. We learn very little about his goals and his desires in life, and while his origins echo the story of Faust almost exactly, I still want to know more about him. Because he's really freaking cool. The show has a variety of side characters, all of which perform their duties well, but aren't anything to really talk about. Because of the weakness of the characters, EXCEPT MEPHISTO, characters gets a 6/10

The animation for Blue exorcist is done by the lovely men and women over at A-1 pictures, responsible for shows like Black Butler, Fairy Tail, Sound of the Sky, and Sword Art Online. They did pull out all the stops for this show, as the animation is next to flawless, with special points going to whoever animated the fire. As a major weapon in this show, the fire looks better than almost any other fire I've seen, especially for the fact that it's blue and not multicolored, which helps add texture. The problem however isn't the animation, it's the character designs. Some of them are very strange, specifically for Shiemi and a side character, Konekomaru. Their designs look fat and slightly strange, and they don't really fit with the rest of the characters, who are very well designed. Also, Izumo's goddamn eyebrows are craaaaazy. Because of those unfortunate few designs, Animation gets an 8/10

The soundtrack for Blue Exorcist was composed by Hiroyuki Sawano, and is another one of his excellent works. Though not as good as the soundtrack for a show like Attack on Titan, it still presents an entertaining variety of music, and manages to fill in the places it needs to. The track above is an excellent example of just how varied the music can be, even in a single song. It changes and morphs over time, and makes a unique and exciting soundtrack. The dub however is a different matter. I'm beginning to make a list of dubs that I generally don't like, and there's almost always a common factor, whose name is BRYCE PAPENBROOK. I don't care if he's your fucking cousin, he is without a doubt the worst voice actor ever to grace the presence of a Funimation studio. The roles, otherwise, were almost perfectly cast, with Johnny Yong Bosch giving an excellent performance as Yukio. But Bryce Motherfucking Papenbrook had to just come in and mess it all up. Fuck. Because Bryce papenbrook is an enormous dickhead, sound gets a 7/10

Blue Exorcist is a bad example of unrealized potential. The show starts off better than almost any shonen I've seen, leaving room for scale to grow, but showing us what can and could happen and I love it. But at the same time, the show drops so much of what makes it great. Unused plot threads, lame closes to some of the good ones, a crap dub(Damn you Papenbrooooook) and a few lame designs are just a few of the examples of, if fixed, could have made this show exceptional. It easily had the potential for it. But it just didn't get there. Still, I would be remiss to say I didn't like this show, because I really did. It was really fun to watch, and it got me going at the times it needed to. Still, that part of me that hoped for something more just screams out.

BLUE EXORCIST: 7/10

(Look at this dumbass motherfucker. This is Bryce Papenbrook everyone. A.K.A, according to his wikipedia page, Dick Smallberries Jr. Fuck.)

lesch.richie - 2013-11-12 02:50:02

A series that has a pleasing ending even though it didn't follow the plot of the manga. It was an enjoyable ride.

ypagac - 2013-09-18 14:46:32

The shonen genre has always been a bit of a tricky genre for me to attempt to think of objectively; as a teenager something about watching teenagers fighting for friendship and justice and other similar ideals always got me glued at the edge of my screen with my hands firmly latched onto the arms of the chair I'm sitting on and my eyes, figuratively and almost literally glued to the screen.

Years later, I have matured, and despite the realization of how cheesy a good portion of the shonen genre is, I can still once in a while enjoy a series like that; guilty I may be, but I love shonen, and the genre never fails at surprising me at times with captivating story-lines, a fun and diverse cast of characters and intense and interesting battles.

There's another aspect I'm guilty of loving, which is the demon slaying culture. It may be because of my younger days where I'd slay away hordes of demons while playing Devil May Cry or a Shin Megami Tensei game where I'd go on a grinding rampage, but I've always had a thing for the demon-slaying culture, and if you'd set foot in a cinema during some kind of movie which involves demons, the annoying guy with a harsh voice at the back having an orgasm at all the demons killing humans or humans killing demons would've probably been none other than yours truly.

Fuse both of the aspects I mentioned above into one anime and what you'd get is Ao No Exorcist.

Now, does the series live up to my hype while walking into it?

Well, yes and no, and a factor that deserves a fair bit of criticism is:

Story (6/10):

The premise for Ao No Exorcist is nothing we haven't seen before, and I can mention more than half the titles in the shonen genre and almost all of what applies with those titles would probably apply here. And yet, this series actually has quite a bit going up it's sleeves.

What I applied in my Bleach review again applies here; this series beginning is fantastic, and the series does a fantastic job of hooking you into the atmosphere of the series.

The story, while being typical demon-slaying shonen, had it's fair share of twists and turns that made it interesting enough to watch to the end.

The series is far from a deconstruction of it's genre, but it bends many previous stereotypes that your standard shonen has and changes them.

Yet, later into the series, the people responsible for this anime pulled away from manga material and went into filler.

Now, filler isn't necessarily a bad thing, but this series was really hurt by how utterly stereotypical it's last 5 episodes or so were. The plot, which was far from the series strong point, become ever so slightly above average and the series slowly but surely fell into the "just another cliche shonen" trap, ruining all the prior build up the series had.

Art (8/10):

The art looks really pleasant with very few if any cut corners, but not exceptional enough to be anything to go crazy over.

It's above average and very well-drawn to set it apart from your standard shonen, but nothing groundbreaking or original enough to be noteworthy.

Nevertheless, pleasant to look at and fits the tone of the series when necessary, which is definitely much better than the average shonen.

Sound (7/10):

The soundtrack is quite decently done and fits the tone of the series quite well. However, the series has very few if any noteworthy tracks, and none of them were interesting or catchy enough to listen to again.

The voice acting fits the characters exceptionally well, except for Shiina's voice actress who's performance varied from exceptional to below-par. She nevertheless does a good job in fitting the voice of the character she's voice acting, so few complaints here.

The openings were exceptionally really good, but nothing more than your standard shonen J-rock flare. Nothing to hate on of course (I loved the openings, personally) but I felt this series could've done with a bit of variety.

Character (8/10):

The obvious strongest point of the series and the main reason you'd watch this to the end. The characters, while being generic and still nothing as exceptional as most people would wish within their own archetype, were nevertheless fun enough to watch and had enough traits to make them shine on their own. A huge, HUGE plus to this series is that it's filler episodes were really fun to watch, even more fun than the actual plot driven episodes. There was a lot to like and sympathize with the characters, who until the anime original material came around in the last third of the series were pleasant and fun to watch.

Ultimately, this series' characters are really let down by the story's sudden change of pace, but I nevertheless need to point out that watching the character interactions was plenty of fun, even if it was nothing we haven't seen before.

Enjoyment (8/10):

I enjoyed it immensely, and while not the best shonen out there, it definitely deserves a nod for being what it is and not trying to hide what it wants to be.

I grant this series a 7 out of 10.

Thank you very much for reading my review! Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

mertz.tiffany - 2013-09-12 15:41:27

Ao no exorcist is a fun anime which everyone can enjoy it is full of whacky moment although im kinda missing some action in it since their battling gainst Satan! it is really that simple a war at the final episode isn't enough to fill that big whole in the story but still the manga isn' finish yet so im not trying to put all the blame to the creator.

Story

Im really a big fan of devil and stuff like that something out of this world that really excite me so much plus if they will include a action just like the fight scene in this story i will definitely watch it.

Animation

The animation is really something i really love it eventhough its not that different from the other anime

Character

Its fun to watch the character especially if they are having a simple quarrel due to their unbalance characteristic and i never got tired of watching it

wbraun - 2013-07-23 10:13:56

The story and overall plot of Ao No Exorcist (or Blue Exorcist in the States) is never complex or deep. There are some high notes, but there are also points that travel pretty low. The point of the story though never seems to be to conduct an overarching plot, but a setup for what is contained within. What is contained within meanwhile is fantastic. I love this show because it has a near perfect balance of drama, humor, and action. One element never overstays it's welcome, and when they intertwine they do it well. Comic relief after a rather serious scene is done well and tastefully.

Really though, the best reason to get into this anime is not that but the characters. There is not a single character in this anime that I don't like or at least understand to some degree. Their interplay of each other, and the sibling companionship and rivalry between the two main character (Rin and Yukio) never fails to be touching, entertaining, or a mixture of the two. The foil that Rin has power that Yukio doesn't, but from an evil source, never fails to cause tension between the two... but the love that they still display for each other regardless of that always shines through. The characters develop splendidly over the anime, and the supporting cast is all just as good as the main cast.

That doesn't even count in the excellent animation. It's not the best A-1 Pictures has ever done, but it's visuals are gorgeous all the same, and the action scenes with blue flames never fail to impress. Not only that but Blue Exorcist contains one of my favorite openings in animation, and I feel there's a lot of insight into Rin's character there along with a really great opening theme (both the first and the second, with the first being the better of the two).

Speaking of sound, while I refuse to comment on a language I can't understand, the dub is extremely well done with generally good voices all around. Not the best dub ever no, but it's still really well done... even though Yukio's voice does take a tad bit of getting used too. Rin's voice actor though is a real standout, and I really enjoyed his voice overall. The soundtrack also has some really good tracks, like to titular song Exorcist.

Overall, while I can admit it's probably not the best anime I've ever watched, it's still my favorite because I just enjoyed it so much. The perfect balance of humor, drama, action, and the shows excellent characterization make it that way. Sure, there are a few stupid filler episodes, but they never detract too much from the overall quality of the show and every single one of them contains at least something entertaining or of note.

I highly recommend this anime to anyone who likes shows that end after a good number of episodes, never wearing out their welcome. Also recommend to people who like anime with good dub, action, and visuals. If nothing else, Blue Exorcist is one entertaining ride.

jeffery38 - 2013-06-29 02:36:39

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 some more 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.