Yeah, if this was indeed anime original like I’m suspecting, then it definitely was the best anime original episode so far. This really allowed the characters to shine, and it had really nothing to do with the main plot. It just showed the characters having fun and preparing a surprise birthday party for one of the side-characters. But you know what? That’s all this series needs right now.
Instead of the forced and cheesy drama from last episode, here the drama was really genuine. Birthdays are very personal and we learned a lot of new stuff about the cast. Especially Rin and Yukio’s image of a birthday cake was hilarious, but there were plenty of laugh-out loud moments in this episode and it as all around enjoyable to watch. The drama was subtle, and there even was a good aftermath to the disappointing previous episode (of course Konekomaru would still be a bit cautious around Rin after what happened there).
The big problem right now is that I don’t care about the main storyline anymore. Plot? who cares about that plot? Just fill the rest of the episodes with more episodes like this that just show the characters having fun with each other. There’s no way for Satan to become a good villain at this point. Why should we care about that evil teacher? And Yukio’s health is just forced beyond belief. It’s going to make for a ridiculously cheesy and predictable ending at this rate. So what if things don’t get resolved. Let’s just assume that after six years of training the protagonists become good enough to take on Satan. It’s better than the direction where the show is currently heading at.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
My biggest concern right now is the fact that they still have 5 (it’s going up to 24 eps, right?) episodes left to either wrap up this story or continue it in another season. I have to agree with you though; at this point, I’ve stopped caring where the plot’s going.
I have no idea what direction they plan on taking with Yukio’s alleged illness. The random character with the bunny puppet has yet to say or do anything and his occasional presence is starting to irk me. No glimpses of Satan or what he plans on actually DOING have been given to us at all, and we’re coming to the close of this series. Unless they get a second season, I don’t see this being properly concluded. And that just grates on my nerves because they could have done so much better.
On the flip side, I am still enjoying most of the show right now–or should I say the characters? Mildly, mind you. At least it’s intrigued me enough to want to check out the manga when it’s done. Since I’ve made it this far in the anime I might as well see how they end it. Let’s hope they can keep it enjoyable the rest of the ride through.
Uh, just want to make a few comments:
1. From the way you wrote the post it sounds like you think that they’ll try to resolve everything by the end of this season. They won’t. Manga sales have shot up astronomically, ratings are good, and disc sales are phenomenal. They’re going to make another season of this.
2. It just seems like you don’t care about/can’t really get into any shows other than slice of life these days. I’ve noticed for the past while that all your high rated and enjoyed shows are mostly slice of life anime. I don’t think that’s just a coincidence. It’s also why you’re not looking forward to the next season as much as most other anime fans. You just don’t care that much for action/adventure stuff anymore. You always only talk about character development and in the end that’s the most important thing to you about anime these days. The plot can be absolute crap and horribly developed but as long as the characters were good and the slice of life bits well done you’ll rate the anime highly. I think you should just give up trying to blog shows like this (fantasy basically) from now on.
Meh, I guess you’ll enjoy Persona 4 next season at least.
@Rintarou; Just to clarify, were your comments directed at me or psgels? I’m not entirely sure. If they were directed at me, though, I have to say that I figured Ao no Exorcist would get a second season by now. If you put it that way, it makes sense. The thing that just kind of disappointed me was the fact that they could have covered more of the plot in this one season instead of adding what I felt were needless fillers. I know fillers aren’t meant to do much of anything for the story anyway, but still.
And your second comment… I do have to say that I’m not feeling many of the previewed series for this upcoming season either, but I wouldn’t say it’s because I’ve lost interest in the action/adventure genre. I can’t explain it… I’ll have to wait until most of them come out and I watch them to be able to tell what I’ll get into and what I won’t.
But I do believe most of your comment was aimed at psgels, correct? If so, then please ignore my babbling and pretend I said nothing. :I
Best episode of Ao No Exorcist. Now I feel they really wasted the last episodes if the Earth demon.
Rintarou: I’m not really sure what you mean, to be honest. In this season I’m really enjoying Steins;Gate, Tiger & Bunny, Penguin Drum, No.6, Blood-C, Blade and Dantalian no Shoka: all series that have plenty of fantasy elements. During past seasons I really enjoyed Deadman Wonderland, C, Enma-Kun, Wolverine, Supernatural, Level E, Panty and Stocking and Shiki, none of which had much slice of life scenes, but did have great characters. Heck, I liked High School of the Dead a lot.
The thing is, that I’m just bored of generic set-ups or stories.
@Rintarou: ‘Psgels’ quote from FMA: Brotherhood episode 64 post, which was a year ago:
“The fantasy action genre, along with science fiction, is very much my favourite genre out there, so my standards are really high for it.”
‘Nuff said.