Category: Ao no Exorcist

So, this series is going into an original ending, eh? I have just one question for that at the moment: the part at the beginning of this episode, where Rin was brought back through the power of love: was that anime original as well?

I ask that because that was the weakest point of this episode. The rest of this episode threw around some strange coincidences, but on the other hand it handled the aftermath well, and I especially liked that inclusion of that courtroom scene: it may not have been exactly an accurate trial, but it shows Mephisto having to explain and defend his actions in front of a supreme court and give s a different twist to the whole Vatican subplot.

An anime original ending isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the creators do need to pay attention: writing an original adaptation and adapting something are completely different. What Ao no Exorcist is currently trying to do is wrap everything up without just working towards that ending of Rin fighting Satan. Interestingly, just like Letter Bee, the writing is not as solid as it used to be. This time it feels a little jumpy, though it’s nothing bad yet. What this series shouldn’t forget though, is that it needs to devote a lot of time to the main cast as well: they were the selling point of this series so far, and it’d be a shame to just abandon them, just to get the plot right.

It’s all going to depend on Ryota Yamaguchi here. His work on Escaflowne is definitely promising, but apart from that he mostly wrote mediocre screenplays (including the one for the Tekken movie…). Oh, and let’s not forget the previous series he created together with Tensai Okamura: Project Blue Chikyuu SOS… things can go anywhere still.
Rating: * (Good)

Okay, so the summer season may be one big flop for A-1, this had no effect on their shows of the spring season whatsoever. In fact, this was the best animated episode of the series so far. Okay, so they had to go with a ridiculously long recap of the previous episode to make it all possible, but it was some budget well spent.

We’re now getting to a crucial part of this series though: the part where the special powers of the lead character reach epic proportions and he starts to lose control of them. That’s pretty much the biggest cliche out of the entire series, so the next episode really needs to make it more than a convenient way for the main character to have super powers. It’s already got the perfect set-up for the aftermath done, but after showing exactly how huge Rin’s powers can get, the creators really need to balance out the next number of fights in order to make them not get repetitive by having Rin spamming blue flames onto increasingly stronger opponents.

Ah, but heck: this episode finally made Rin reveal who he is in front of his friends. I am really looking forward to that aftermath in the next episode. Yeah. It’s a bit ironic: this is a shounen series, it airs at the prime time slot, and yet I find myself much more interested in the character interaction than the well animated fights.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Another Gasshuku. While I’d like to complain about repetition, this episode once again was really enjoyable. And heck, for the first time it actually stressed teamwork. The characters came up with a pretty good plan that utilized a lot of their potential powers as well, in a much different way compared to the previous Gasshuku.

Still, while in the previous Gassuku Rin and Shiemi got to show off, this time it was the turn for Konekomaru and Ryuuji to shine. Especially Ryuuji with the way he kept mumbling his incantations and his plans at the same time was pretty interesting. Beyond that there also was a lot of really good interaction between the characters once again, which made for an all around enjoyable episode.

What’s also interesting is how there were two people who remained alone. This episode showed either Izumo or that mysterious blond guy who hardly talks in trouble. If I had to guess, then it’d be Izumo, because of how easily those moths tore up Shiemi’s summoning paper. I think that this time, Shiemi also was completely useless, or useless in terms of combat. The creators know that she isn’t strong, but they kept finding interesting way for her to be useful in order to not have her fall into the “damsel in distress”-role. This time though, she pretty much was bait: first to attract some of the protagonists together, and second to lure that lantern across the river.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Holy crap! Flashback!

This wasn’t entirely a flashback episode, but that one did steal the entire episode here. I mean, up till now we’ve seen just Rin being abused and all. But to think that he actually lost it once and violently beat his classmates into the hospital. Also, what was that background song they used there? That definitely was the best background track I heard in this series so far.

Not to say the rest of this episode wasn’t excellent. Rin’s father has been a big theme across the series, and this episode made sure that he didn’t become something like a Jesus figure. This episode showed that he had doubts, and flaws. Up till now we’ve seen him through the eyes of Rin and Yukio. This time we also see him through that strange Vatican girl’s eyes.

Overall, this show really puts me in a dilemma this season. I was perhaps thinking of dropping Ao no Exorcist in favour of one of the new summer season series, because out of all the interesting series, it has the most generic set-up, along with the fact that it probably won’t finish its manga story within episode 24…. but this show is also getting really good. The characters have gotten really enjoyable at this point, and even the new characters like the Vatican girl fit in immediately. Dammit, this show has a generic plot, but it does what it does so well!
Rating: ** (Excellent)
OP: The visuals are interesting, but it’s too J-Rocky for my tastes.
ED: This one’s actually really good. Good atmosphere, good use of synthesizers, simple, yet well drawn visuals.

I have no idea why Mephisto decided to build a theme part all for himself, nor why his brother wrecked everything in this episode. However, this episode still was really enjoyable. This indeed was no filler episode and some major stuff happened here.

The most baffling of which was the identity of the mysterious hooded “guy”, of whom I can now understand why “he” remained in the background all this time. It’s… completely out there, but I like how in this episode she was used to show how flawed Rin is by saving him. This once was a great episode to develop both Rin and Shiemi, and that’s actually starting to pay off quite well now. The chemistry between the cast is just getting better and better and this episode was no exception. Yes, most of the main characters in this show are simple and often just morons, but this series did succeed in making them likable morons.

Shiemi also really found her place in this series. She is a damsel in distress, but unlike many of her counterparts she isn’t useless: the creators actually find enough for her to actually do well and excel at in her own way, instead of forcing her to stand in Rin’s shadow as some sort of romantic bounty she actually has enough to do on her own.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Just… what?

So it was clear that we were getting a filler episode in this episode, and a beach episode at that. Obviously I wasn’t looking forward to it. But what was that? Who the hell wrote this? There was so much wrong with this episode, but I have no idea whether it was in a bad way. In either case it was completely stupid. And next week we’re going to an amusement park?!

Rather than a filler, this feels like we’re in a completely different series. The beach part doesn’t even matter anymore. From out of nowhere the creators suddenly introduce a young boy who acts like he’s been part of the main cast for ages. The show does the same with a guy who obviously looks like he’s cross-dressing in his spare time and then it suddenly comes with a giant squid story. The subsequent fight establishes the squid as the dumbest monster alive, only followed by a completely bizarre anti-climax.

T=Here’s the thing: as stupid as this episode was, I enjoyed it. The creators actually tried to do something different, and I admit that that climax had me in stitches and the episode overall was a unique experience that was definitely creative…

But it also completely destroyed the credibility of this series…
Rating: @!# (???)

So, with the season almost ending, it’s time for the short series to conclude and for the long series to raise the stakes for their halfway climax. Ao no Exorcist instead takes a detour into the story of a cat, with next week looking to be a beach episode. Okay, I did not expect that.

While I hold my breath for that beach episode though, this episode was really good. It was both something different, surprisingly heartfelt and found a very interesting way to focus on Rin, Yukio and their father again. It’s a simple and quiet episode that has a really small focus, but it really made things work.

Plus, that cat was just adorable. Its story is just that it’s sad that its master is gone, but relating this to Rin, added to some undeniable charm to it. It’s going to be interesting to see what it can do as Rin’s familiar.

Also, this episode had some of the best chemistry between Rin and Yukio so far. Compared to for example Soul Eater, the latter may have been funnier or more enjoyable in its first episodes, but it just had no content, and quickly got boring once the characters’ novelty wore off. With this, the creators are taking their time, but right now, it’s starting to pay off more and more.

However… beach episode. You’d better know what you’re doing!
Rating: ** (Excellent)

And here Ao no Exorcist proves that it too can write a great climax. It’s a bit late compared to the other shows this season, but heck: this episode rocked. It showed that the formula of this series definitely works.

This episode was rock-solid: The previous episodes just made it seem that Satan started to send his minions to fetch Rin. This episode however revealed that there was much more to it than just that, and evolved into an exam that got out of hand. This too is a staple of shounen series, but rarely do we see it executed so short but sweet.

And here’s the thing with this series: it was annoying to get through, but I’m really enjoying the characters right now.In fact, the dynamics between Rin, Yukio and the others really culminated together in this episode, above how this episode flowed really nicely from one twist to the other. Heck, even the two characters who had been silent up till now finally spoke and added some charms to this episode. Now that’s a great sign!

It’s also here where this series shows that the motivations for the main character to get stronger are much better than usual. Becoming the best or getting power to protect someone, they all have this been there done that mentality, not to mention that just that can become really one-sided. Rin doesn’t exactly want to protect: he wants his enemies to stop involving innocent people. That’s a lot more interesting to watch. And of course I’m not asking for every show to have a deep background for its character (heck, the lead of the Law of Ueki, one of my favourite shounen series ever has the simple motivation of wanting to win a contest), I’m asking for it to be interesting: toy with it; show other characters who can relate to that, use it to get into interesting situations. This episode was a major step into the right direction for Ao no Exorcist. Now keep this up!
Rating: ** (Excellent)

So while the action in this series may not be the best of this season, it still was very good in this episode. It’s a simple show, it does suffer from the “let’s all talk casually while we’re in the middle of a fight”-syndrome, and the cast is full of hot headed characters, but they have really developed some charms at this point. That’s what made this episode work, although the animation did get quite good near the end of this episode. Especially that ghoul was well animated.

Also, it might actually help for the entire cast to be full of hotheads: this way Rin doesn’t have to be the only one there, and can actually show off a bit more of himself. This episode probably showed him at his most versatile we’ve seen him so far thanks to that girl having issues.

The evil teacher should probably be the first spice to get the story going again. I’m especially intrigued as why he found it a good idea to: 1) Showing his face to Rin and 2) Afterwards finding it a good idea to just casually pop up next to Yukio. One criticism would be that this show lacks variety: we pretty much have three characters with the exact same goals: kill a demon who slaughtered some family members. I mean, it’s much better than just wanting to be the best and all, but they could have at least done something to not make their back-stories exactly the same?

Also, what is up with that hood guy? Has he actually done… anything at this point? I mean, he’s just there. He sits, but never talks or even acts.Comparing him to an elephant in the room is a bit much of course, but it’s still really weird that after eight episodes, he has done absolutely nothing.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Oh, I’m SO glad that this show is going to be 24 episodes long. It really would not have worked at all with only 12 episodes. With this though, this show can actually build itself up well. This episode in particular would have been a waste of time for a short series (there is no way five episodes would be sufficient to wrap everything up right now!), but for a longer show it was a very good look at Shiemi and Izumo.

Also, in true shounen fashion, this episode introduced this series’ class and combat system. That’s not a bad thing, by the way. In fact, one of the things that I like about shounen series is their detailed looks into combat and superpowers. When done right it can make for a very interesting series. This episode for example: when the different powers were introduced they looked like a generic RPG system, and yet at the end of the episode the creators made me really interested in the summon class.

Oh, and this episode subverted the “useless female love interest”-trope. Yeah, she’s naive and all, but it’s good to see a token female who for once doesn’t want to be rescued all the time. I like the chemistry between her and Rin; despite their cliches they have this genuine charm to them.

So yeah, ideally you’d of course want every single episode of a series to kick ass, but as long as it pays off in the end I can understand the need for these school life episodes. I will bitch whenever they’re not interesting, though.
Rating: * (Good)