I really like it when a show packs variety, both in the short and the long run. Having said that though, this episode was just a bad idea entirely.
I mean… what was that? I encourage this series to try something different for a while, with its cliches and all, and I understand what this episode was trying to do. Heck, the only thing I liked about this episode is how it showed Rin’s passion for cooking. That’s fine, and a good way to make him more than your average shounen lead. But couldn’t they really have picked a better way to show this?
This entire episode was just lacklustre. The whole concept of the headmaster summoning a demon to secretly do the cooking for the two brothers just makes no sense, especially considering that Rin can cook for himself. And on top of that this episode also for some reason introduced these cardboard boxes of fangirls who wanted to make lunches for Yukio. There was so much wrong with this episode, from the headmaster summoning a demon who cooks his own students to Rin who just wouldn’t stop screaming in this episode. Even for his standards, this got annoying.
Here’s the thing: Hana-Saku Iroha’s third episode in comparison also was just weird and out of place, but it still retained the charms of its series: the characters were still interesting to watch despite its questionable subject material. Ao no Exorcist’s charms are that it takes the shounen formula and executes it well. Nothing of that remained in this episode.
Rating: — (Lacking)
Well, I think it’s obvious that Ao no Exorcist is grasping for straws in this episode. Hopefully, they’ll just decide to return to the source material and develop the story by basing it off that. Not doing it by showing Ao no Chef.
Still havn’t watched it yet but I knew coming in this would be a complete filler episode,looks like it’s not the good kind of filler.
This was filler, next episode is back to the manga.
I didn’t think this episode was that bad considering it was filler. Filler is very shounen =P Personally, I’m not a huge fan of shounen so I like that this show tries to be different. I found the demon cook endearing…& he only went berserk because the girls were trespassing and threw out the lunches…it wasn’t the best episode for character development or anything but it was at least well meaning filler that was entertaining…also: more mephisto is fun^^
Aww, while I think as a filler episode, the story could have been better, it’s still enjoyable enough. Sure the Yukio fangirls are annoying as hell, but at least they get what they deserve (being cooked up by the demon). And we get to know about one aspect of the brother’s daily life (and more Mephisto), so it’s not like it’s wasted.
The whole concept of the headmaster summoning a demon to secretly do the cooking for the two brothers just makes no sense, especially considering that Rin can cook for himself.
Actually, it makes a lot of sense. The twins are orphans who have lost their father. Mephisto is their official guardian now, so it’s normal for him to take care of their (especially Rin’s) daily life. It’s just that he’s a cheapskate when it comes to allowance, so Rin has to take it upon himself to make his own bento. (Seriously, 2000¥ a month? LOL)
Also, I approve of Rin drop-kicking Yukio. (You spotty four-eyes!)
What the hell? Why would they do a filler? It’s already following the manga at an extremely slow pace.
I didn’t think this filler was too bad. At least it made me laugh some times.
“The whole concept of the headmaster summoning a demon to secretly do the cooking for the two brothers just makes no sense, especially considering that Rin can cook for himself”
It’s not that strange really; Mephisto probably didn’t know Rin could cook and it’s safer to have a cook that’s also a demon near Satan’s son than a human being, since Rin might go berserk or something.
The filler wasn’t a total waste, imho,at least it showed the brothers interacting for more than 2 minutes outside the classroom and Yukio actually acted less cold.
Oh, and it did mock the shounen formula with how the conflicts with the demon were resolved.
I almost skipped this episode because of your post xD but I actually laughed all throughout the first half. The ending was hilarious too. I certainly liked this episode way better than the previous other one with the girl. Was so boring with her.
I agree that the familiar wasn’t really that random. Seems to make sense to have someone doing the housekeeping in that place. Reminds me of a house elf from Harry Potter haha.
I enjoyed this episode, it make me laugh.
Also I liked seeing the brothers interact more, before this I didn’t even feel like the knew each other much.
I still don’t understand why this episode was needed. What is wrong with the source material that, after only 5 episodes, they need to insert this nonsense?
Wow, if they’re fillering so early, it makes me wonder how far they intend to go (potentially beyond the original run)… but the whole cooking thing was strange to me. I don’t actually recall Rin being able to cook in the manga, but I might need a refresher on that.
I don’t mind seeing Mephisto getting involved either, since he’s my favorite character. XD
I’ve been afraid of this, looking at how many chapters this series has. Shouldn’t they wait for more chapters before they start serializing this show?
I don’t like filler-y/ anime-only plot series and this series looks like it’s going in that direction…
I thought this was a great episode. More brotherly interaction and more showcasing of Rin’s cooking skills. Familiars actually play a large role in the story a bit further along the track.
This episode is not completely made up orignal filler, the original material is a series of 4-koma published as extras. Although the demon part is original, but Rin cooking bento, the price of the school cafe, the 2000yen note from Mephisto, I think even the 3 annoying fangirl may even have appeared(I just recall Yukio got a lot of fangirls that think Yukio could cook).
It does make sense this story was insert at this time point, if they are to include it in the anime at all. It would make no sense if they put it after the next episode.
As for the demon part, it does make sense, but the reasoning is quiet weak. But it may make that other character that going to appear later make more sense. And I do remember I question about what the brother eat for breakfast in the manga before, which this episode answered.
As an original filler I didn’t think it’s such a bad episode, especially they increase interaction of the brothers and Yukio’s daily life which was lacking in the original manga.
To those who wonder, for this adaptation, fillers are bound to happen at some point given that they only have like 20+ chapter worth of material to use. The manga is still in the middle of an arc and on going monthly. I’m thinking about two possibilities:
1) They decided to follow (albeit stretch out) the available material and end the anime after a major arc and hope for a second season to continue the story after more manga chapters are out.
2) The story will deviate at some point and the anime will have an original ending.
I don’t know which route will be better tbh. Either way, fillers are unavoidable. I just hope the outcome will turn out good or at least satisfactory.
You don’t have to take every single episode so seriously. I thought it was a very nice laid back episode.
I didn’t hate this episode as much as you do. It was certainly out of place with Yukio showing weird faces. I still like the episode because it was funny. My complaint currently with the series is that it has only 24 episodes to work with but it seems to be taking its time too much. I guess I got high expectations or getting ahead but I thought this is the shonen epic of this season? Where are the big battles and amazing fight scenes? It showed up in the first 2 episodes but recent episodes are just so-so in the epicness scale. I’m hoping the creators up the ante.
Thanks, everyone, for the collective warning that this was filler and lacking compared to the main show. Because of that, I actually enjoyed this episode, treating it like a lame extra OVA episode off a DVD or something. I love having my expectations set so that I can enjoy an ep, so long as it doesn’t turn me off the series entirely.