Ao no Exorcist: Yosuga-hen

Unlike his twin brother, Yukio, Rin Okumura never wished to know about their parents and the circumstances surrounding his own birth. Yet the master of time, Mephisto Pheles, gives Rin a key that transports him 40 years into the past when his late mother, Yuri Frederick Egin, was merely a child. With Mephisto's guidance, Rin leaps through the years of Yuri's childhood and her adolescence as an exorcist-in-training.

Early on, Yuri meets Shirou Fujimoto, Rin and Yukio's adoptive father. As Rin follows Yuri and Shirou's lives, he witnesses firsthand the initial appearances of Satan, his true father, and the horrors unfolding at the True Cross Order's special Section 13. Yuri's unique connection to Satan eventually leads Rin to the truth behind the most horrific event in exorcist history and the day he and Yukio were born—the Blue Night.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Okumura, Rin Main

Okamoto, Nobuhiko Japanese

Okumura, Yukio Main

Fukuyama, Jun Japanese

Pheles, Mephisto Supporting

Kamiya, Hiroshi Japanese

Amaimon Supporting

Kakihara, Tetsuya Japanese

Kirigakure, Shura Supporting

Satou, Rina Japanese

Fujimoto, Shirou Supporting

Hirata, Hiroaki Japanese

Moriyama, Shiemi Supporting

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Shima, Renzou Supporting

Yusa, Kouji Japanese

Suguro, Ryuuji Supporting

Nakai, Kazuya Japanese

Kamiki, Izumo Supporting

Kitamura, Eri Japanese

Mita, Keiji Producer

Aoki, Makoto Producer

Yoshida, Daisuke Director

Wakabayashi, Kazuhiro Sound Director

Reviews

May 3, 2025

Kumoiro_Shizuki

Recommended

The rebirth of the blue phoenix
Here we are at last. The series' most memorable arc offers us the best season of its animated adaptation. Having already expressed my love for this masterful work many times, I'd now like to explain why this fifth season is, by far, the most accomplished and best realized, and why you should absolutely watch it.

First of all, I must admit to having been somewhat biased in my reviews of the previous seasons. With hindsight, I realize that there were many imperfections. In fact, it's not impossible that, in a few years' time, I'll be able to discern certain flaws in ... the Blue Night arc that escape me at the moment. But to date, it seems undeniable to me that this fifth season represents the pinnacle of what Blue Exorcist has been able to offer in terms of animated adaptation.

Animation: 9.5 | Art direction: 9.5

As I mentioned for the previous arc, this season marks a clear improvement in terms of animation, staging and color palette. Technically, it surpasses not only the third season but also the fourth. Voln, which had become accustomed to integrating 3D for imposing creatures (zombies and Gedoin in season 3, Hashiro's true serpentine form in season 4), seems to have reviewed its policy of using CGI. Here, its use is almost non-existent, limited to a brief appearance during the confrontation between Yuri and the Aztec statue.

Particular care has also been taken with the visual rendering. The character design has been refined, and the animation of the fights - particularly the confrontation between young Rin and Shiro - is much closer to the dynamics offered by A-1 Pictures in season 2 than to the frozen shots of the Illuminati arc. The result is much more fluid, placing it in the upper middle range of this season's anime (I'm thinking in particular of Sorairo Utility). After so many years of waiting and two technically lacklustre seasons, this conclusion is more than satisfying.

Music: 10 | Dubbing: 10
In terms of sound, Blue Exorcist has always been a benchmark, and this season is no exception. Special mention goes to the legendary Megumi Hayashibara, known for her iconic roles as Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop), Musashi in Pokémon, or Hakumen no Mono and the Shirogane line in Voln's adaptations of Ushio to Tora and Karakuri Circus. Her interpretation of Yuri is simply remarkable. Here, she adopts a distinctive vocal timbre, almost maternal in its gentleness, as if her voice glided through the air to envelop our ears with infinite tenderness. Unlike her usual roles, where her timbre is immediately recognizable, here she manages to surprise, delivering a performance of unsuspected subtlety. Her interpretation alone lends a soul to this season.

Story: 10 | Characters: 10

I won't go into the narrative details here, as all the interest lies in Kazue Kato's sublime writing. This season demonstrates the extent of her talent, and it's clear that she has gained in mastery and experience. The themes are dealt with in great depth, and the arc centered on Shiro and Yuri brings a more adult dimension that is particularly welcome.

Without giving too much away, Shiro and Yuri are among the most striking characters in the series. Shiro is universally loved, while Yuri is more divisive. Some, including me, admire her kindness, sacrifice, devotion and benevolent smile. Others, on the other hand, reject some of his debatable choices. But the 2 of them, through their shared trials and tragedies, help Rin to evolve, mature, reconcile with his past and realize his own worth. This initiatory journey culminates in a poignant final episode, which closes a circle begun fourteen years ago by A-1 Pictures.

In conclusion, and having detailed all the elements that make this season the best of the adaptation, I'd like to express my gratitude to studio Voln. Despite the challenges and ups and downs of this new adaptation, they never gave up and always sought to improve their work. On behalf of all the fans, and from the bottom of my heart, thank you for this season of exceptional quality. We are deeply grateful.

This adaptation is coming to an end, at least for now - only God knows what the future holds. But this conclusion leaves me with a taste of nostalgia. These weekly rendezvous had become a precious habit, and their absence will leave a void. Blue Exorcist is a work dear to me, both in its manga and anime versions, and knowing that it's coming to an end saddens me. But who knows? Maybe one day we'll have the privilege of seeing Voln's animated sequel.

Until then, and for the last time in this review: Voln, thank you so much for this wonderful gift.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Mar 29, 2025

vislife

Mixed Feelings

Funny

Is it better than the previous season? Yes. Does that make it good? ... No.

The frustrating part about Ao no Exorcist and especially this season is that the story seems amazing. It is wildly intriguing to watch the story of the Blue Night, of how Satan fell in love with a normal girl, of the part that Rin and Yukio's dad played in all of it. All of the characters in this season are really interesting - in fact, more interesting than their children, in my opinion.
Unfortunately, this adaptation just doesn't do it justice. Though the animation seems to have improved slightly after the last ... few seasons made by Studio VOLN, it's still far from being up to today's standard. The art style is also still... A choice. I still missed the season 1 art every time I started an episode of this season. The editing has a slightly weird pace which doesn't exactly help when your animation & art does absolutely nothing to fill up the unnatural slowness of dialogue. The overall direction just wasn't good, though I'm sure that also has to do with budgeting.
Man, was it frustrating to watch such an interesting story be butchered by the execution of its presentation. This series deserves better.

In conclusion, never have I wanted to read a manga more after watching an anime. But not for the right reasons, I fear.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Mar 13, 2025

Almus

Not Recommended

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Preliminary (4/12 eps)

4 ep in and not as good as the other seasons. It feels like this whole part of the series has only been slice-of-life flashbacks.

Yeah, getting flashbacks for plot background is important. But it doesn't feel like there has been any forward momentum. It's just been going over what we already knew about in greater detail. There hasn't been a lot of action, and there hasn't been any answers to questions left over from the last part of the series. Getting to the past is nice, but this has hardly been better than filler.

I am not a manga reader so I don't already ... know what's going to happen before the jew episodes come out. So when I rate this as not recommended, it's because I feel like after 4 epsidoes, this part of the season hasn't even started yet. It's not just slow... I think all of these could have been done without. Or could have been wrapped in one episodes so that we can get on with the story. It's been nothing more than review anyways, and these hasn't been any heartthrobbing drama to make these dull past stories worth watching.

*Edit* Two more episodes in, and it didn't get any better by episode 6. I really liked this series up until now but in my opinion the story has become so underwhelmingly boring that I have decided to add this to my dropped list. I would definitely recommend all the seasons before this for anybody to watch, and to anyone else who is enjoying this season, more power to ya. But this is one series that I won't be continuing with.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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