Category: Ao no Exorcist

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)

So this was the episode that the OP and promo art kept building up to: the episode that focused on the new classmates of Rin, and in particular the proper introduction of the angry punk-like guy.It was an episode that was bound to have annoyances, but at the same time it also did a lot of things right.

Rin who just kept dozing off for example was… rather annoying. The lead character flunking tests and not paying attention in class to the point of extreme has been a bit of a dead horse by now, and this episode did not offer anything new for that. What it did offer anything new for however, was the way the relationship between these two hotheads developed. I really liked how, when Punk Guy taunted Rin with a dare that was bound to happen with the way it was set up, Rin outright refused. That was quite good, and a breath of fresh air around the constant bickering of these two.

What also helped here was the bunch of other classmates. They don’t feel like cliches or stereotypes, and were actually quite likable in this episode. They’re all quite down to earth in their own way, and feel more than just necessary straight men for the main characters (that role was for Yukio anyway).
Rating: * (Good)

So this episode showed that this show doesn’t necessarily have to rely on its action scenes. The episode in this episode was short, and instead it was much more about the character who I suspect is going to be the female love interest. Overall, this episode served its purpose quite well: we now have a love interest who already has a good backstory and has been nicely fleshed out.

And that’s the great thing about this series: it may not be anything new, but the things it does, it does really well. For a moment I was a bit afraid of the cliches taking over this series, but by now it has shown that it’s going to turn into one of the examples of how this kind of premise should be done well.

The main character is still a bit annoying, but I doubt that this will remain for long. Even this episode, which focused on a completely different character for once, had plenty of scenes that fleshed out the two brothers again.

Oh, and another plus of this series: I can actually see this working well in a 24 episode series: on one hand it has enough time to create a good cast, and at the same time its backstory is not way too ambitious: we have a pretty clear goal and path laid out by the first two episodes and the main character isn’t the type to beat around the bush as soon as he finds a way to kill Satan. It can be a good yet compact story that can both deliver on the action and wrap itself up without much problems, even if the manga does go on for longer. The creators have already showed that they know how to improve the storyline of the manga for the better (or so I’ve heard, of course).
Rating: ** (Excellent)

I must say: whoever designed the magical academy and especially its buildings did a mighty fine job. Everything looks grand, but beyond that there’s also a lot of creativity put in the different buildings. It’s also really well detailed.

Now, I did find it a bit far-fetched that Yukio turned out to not only be a genius exorcist at the age of fifteen, but also an actual teacher already. It’s in any case rather strange for him to wait until downright appearing in front of his class to reveal all of this, involving the rest of his classmates who should have nothing to do with him at this point.

The first half overall wasn’t really that interesting: it was just your average introduction. Then the second half came, and the brothers actually got to talk to each other, and it really made up for that. The creators of course had to make it exciting by suddenly unleashing a herd of random goblins on the characters, but that gave it a really nice charm. It’s been established by now that this is a pure shounen series, and considering that it does a very good job.

The main characters’ reason for trying to become stronger: again it’s typical shounen to put so much emphasis on this, but his reasons aren’t for revenge, trying to become the best, or trying to save a girl he likes, and instead everything here comes back to his father: wanting nobody else to die because of him. On top of that, the creators also used his brother to give the same reason. It’s actually a very good motivation, and I especially liked how this episode kept tugging at the relationship between the two brothers.
Rating: * (Good)

Yeah, if there was any doubt left after the first episode, this episode took all of that away: this really is the shounen epic of the season. Whereas the previous prime time series (Star Driver and Sengoku Basara) tried to combine action with another genre (medieval politics and mystery/character study respectively), this is pretty much an all out action series about a boy who happens to be Satan’s Son. It really is the classic shounen formula, but it remains a very good rendition of it.

The set-up is not the best of this season by a long shot, but the execution and characters make up for it really well. This episode was an action-packed thrill ride, but the animation and art got really creepy near the end. The priest getting possessed by Satan was the highlight of the episode, but the other action scenes also kicked ass.

So far, the lead character is your typical shounen protagonist, but he has both his good points and his bad points. He can get rather annoying when he just stands there yelling, but whenever he isn’t he’s quite level headed and I liked how bluntly he just said that he’d become an Exorcist. In any case he still has enough room to grow. The side characters so far are diverse and interesting as well. The villains meanwhile do a good job of being a threat, although they are rather stereotypical, but let’s see where this series goes with them.
Rating: ** (Excellent)