Blue Exorcist anime review

This highly anticipated anime spawned happiness and worries over if the manga was too short and over if announcing the anime series was just too early.

Based on the series by Kazue Kato, originally known as 'Ao no Exorcist', the fact that it is a monthly series (published on JumpSQ by Shueisha) instead of weekly ones like Bleach or Naruto give more room to expand its contents and situations on the anime.

As we know, this is the story of Rin Okumura, a 16 year old orphan kid that discovers he's the son of Satan, pretty much in line with The Omen movie theme.

Damien in The Omen, 1976, directed by the great Richard Donner

The use of colors in The Omen

As an interesting fact, Tensai Okamura (Darker than BLACK, Wolf's Rain, Kikaider) is directing off scripts supervised by Ryota Yamaguchi (Cutey Honey Flash, Digimon: Data Squad, Sailor Moon Sailor Stars).

For starters, the soundtrack is what really stands out, from the popular opening song Core Pride by UVERworld, which is currently in top of Japanese charts. There is an unique, ecclectic sound that mixes Jazz, Blues, and Rock and Roll that creates the atmosphere for each scene.

You'd think that given the theme, the characters would wear obscure red, gray and black gothic colors, just like readers originally thought in the manga, but instead the author and the directors decided to avoid the cliche by dressing them in pastel colors that made contrast with darker ones, and it creates this supernatural, ethereal effect.

Just look at Amaimon, sure, he does come from Hell, but Hell seems to be a funky pimp dark place.

Credit to Axis33 from Deviantart

Girls in the academy wear mainly magenta and pale yellow.

Rin Okumura, the protagonist, wears dark colors with a touch of primary colors such as red and blue.

Father Fujimoto reminded me of a mix between Elton John and Father Merrin (of the Exorcist movie) the first time I saw him, both in the manga and the anime, because of the glasses, the use of accessories and demeanor.

As for the story itself, there have been complaints that the pacing was just too slow, but that was cleared out as this is a monthly manga, so yes, all episodes so far have contained filler material to some extent, either by adding more comedy or more exposition of a character.

The animation is superb quality, similar to Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas, however it's too early to judge the fight scenes as there have been few since this series is taking its time with the development of situations and characters, which also breaks a bit the shonen genre cliche in that there must be endless fights all the time. In that sense, this can actually be one of the few shonen series that take special note of character development rather than the constant fights.

So, this series feels like the fondly missed D.Grayman series, whose author hasn't recovered of
a problem in her hand that hasn't let her continue :(

As for the characters, Rin Okumura really stands out as a charismatic character just like Naruto is. The theme of being orphan and rejected, with a cursed legacy upon him makes you relate since you can see that he actually aims to do the right thing.

(by the way, I just can't wait to see Rin fight for real!!)

However, it isn't the same story with Yukio since he seems more aloof and even more arrogant than in the manga.

Also, people act more condescending towards Rin in the anime than in the manga.

But you probably wonder, well, are the differences between the anime and the manga relevant? And it's true, anime series often take their liberties and licenses since not everything can be exactly in the manga, but noticing the subtle differences makes you appreciate the same storyline in different mediums.

I once wrote a sorta review of the manga titled 'Is Ao no Exorcist the next Bleach?', which you can find here: http://myanimemangafix.blogspot.com/2010/06/ao-no-exorxist-next-bleach.html

And looking back, I think that remains to be seen. Both series can't really be compared despite some similarities, but we can see that the anime is having great success in spite of the slow development. In that sense, the pacing of the first Bleach episodes were like a punch to your stomach, and both Tite Kubo and Kazue Kato have very different approaches to their craft, so I think it was adventurous of me to jump ahead and say 'it's the next Bleach', when it's obvious that Blue Exorcist can pretty much become its own thing. :-)

Ao no Exorxist: the next Bleach?

This is an interesting but little known manga that I'm sure it won't take long to eventually take the big step into anime.

Also known as Blue Exorcist, its author is Kazue Kato and it began to be published by Shueisha in April 2009.

With the visual style of D-Grayman, its premise is simple but it hits you on the face on the first pages: Rin is the typical boy who lives fighting in the streets, is an orphan and lives in a monastery.  

His protector, father Fujimoto, constantly fights with him so he can finally get a job, because when he reaches 16, he can't stay at the shelter anymore.
His twin brother, Yukio, is more reserved, shy and a pacifist. Yukio is accepted into the True Cross Academy for his medicine studies.
 
In a fight with an enemy of his neighborhood, Rin discovers he can see demons and also has supernatural powers to combat them.
 
When father Fujimoto comes to exorcise the demon that was hounding Rin, he reveals the thing he least imagined in his short and difficult life: he is the son of Satan with a human woman.
 
This manga definitely has the potential to be the next Bleach in terms of a supernatural theme. The Saint Seiya style fights are there, the drama of being half-human half-demon is there, too. The tone is also very similar to Death Note, in the Gothic look of the panels and the characters.
 
You can get this manga on scanlation sites, it's currently 15 chapters and 3 volumes long but well worth it!
 
Here's a preview:

Ao no Exorxist: el próximo Bleach?

Este es un interesante pero poco conocido manga que seguro no tardará mucho para que eventualmente salga su versión anime.Es también conocido como Blue Exorcist, y su autor es Kazue Kato.

Empezó a ser publicado por la editorial Shueisha desde abril de 2009.

Con el estilo visual de D-Grayman, su premisa es simple pero te golpea desde las primeras páginas: Rin es el típico chico que vive peleando en la calle, es huérfano y vive en un monasterio que le ha servido como albergue. Su cuidador, el padre Fujimoto, le pelea constantemente para que consiga trabajo, ya que cuando llegue a los 16, no podrá permanecer más en el hogar.
 
Su hermano gemelo, Yukio, es de una personalidad más reservada, tímida y pacífica. Yukio es aceptado en la True Cross Academy  para sus estudios de Medicina.

En un altercado con un enemigo de su vecindario, Rin descubre que puede ver seres infernales y que además  tiene poderes sobrenaturales para combatirlos.

Cuando llega el padre Fujimoto para exorcizar al demonio que estaba acosando a Rin, le revela lo que menos imaginaba en su corta y difícil vida: que es el hijo de Satanás con una mujer humana.

Este manga sin duda tiene el potencial de ser un próximo Bleach en el tema de lo sobrenatural. Las peleas a lo Saint Seiya estan ahi, el drama de ser mitad demonio-mitad humano está ahí también. El tono también es muy parecido a Death Note, en la apariencia gótica de los paneles y de los personajes.

El manga puede conseguirse en páginas de scanlations, apenas van 15 capitulos y 3 volumenes pero vale la pena!

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