Ao no Exorcist

Ao no Exorcist, a shounen which has become immensely popular in both anime and manga, loved by many but also disliked/hated by others. A show which started well enough, but soon went downhill quickly due to many plot holes and filler crap.

I'm just going to put this out here right now: the anime version of Ao no Exorcist has filler 2nd half and ending. Yes, the 2nd half is mostly a filler. It does not stick with the manga for the most parts and is therefore punished by it. For those who are looking to watch Ao no Exorcist, I suggest you to watch the ... first half of the show, (about until 16-17 episodes or so) then go read the manga for the rest, especially if you don't want to be disappointed by the filler half.

Story- 6/10
The premise of the show is interesting enough. Satan, demons, exorcists, and the two separated worlds of Gehenna and Assiah, the concept of this show seems pretty good at first, however, it turns out to be yet another typical shounen, set mostly in a school setting with some flat romance.
The first half is good enough, mostly keeping with the manga. The first couple of episodes are probably the best episodes of the series, showing the main characters, bits of our main antagonist, and introductions of the True Cross Academy, and both Gehenna and Assiah. It's decent enough, and I was actually enjoying it up to this point (like up to episode 8 or so) However the episodes that follow don't do the same. The 2nd half which I have said before, is mostly a filler arc, which doesn't stay true to the manga, and just makes their own story up which turned out to be, well, horrible. There are just so many plot holes in the anime as a whole, and a rushed ending makes the quick downfall of the show.

Art- 8/10
One of the best parts of the series comes from the Art/Animation. Although some character designs were lacking in parts, it is still very acceptable. The art is mostly comprised of bright colors, but also feature some darker aspects depending on the scene. I have to say that it complemented the scenes well. The animation is smooth and the characters move well. Overall it is very good.

Sound- 7/10
The composer of the show's soundtrack is Hiroyuki Sawano, who has also composed other stand-out soundtracks for many popular anime like Attack on Titan, Guilty Crown, and Kill la Kill. The battle osts are pretty epic, and it fit the scenes well, however, outside of those osts, nothing else stood out. The OP/ED were catchy enough, I personally didn't like it, but maybe you could find them likable.

Character- 6/10
The characters were good, but didn't have much depth into them. Rin was by far the best character of the series, with bits of calm and cool personality showing through as the show went on. Yukio, although he is the younger brother, he still acts like the older one and is much more mature in situations than the rest of the gang. Finally, Shiemi is a love interest for Rin, and is one of the few characters who actually show character development in the series. The rest of the characters were too shallow and lacked depth overall.

Enjoyment- 6/10
I enjoyed the show for some parts. Like I have said already, the first couple of episodes were good and enjoyable. The rest of the episodes suffered from too many plot holes and filler. The actions were decent enough, but ultimately led to nothing in the end.

Overall- 5/10
I was let down by the anime. I love the manga series, and when I heard that Ao no Exorcist was going to get a anime, I was very excited. However, it lacked direction, and couldn't stay true to the manga for the most parts. Ao no Exorcist is interesting enough at the first glance, good and enjoyable first couple of episodes, but the rest that followed were a mess. I enjoyed parts of it to be fair, but still disliked the series as a whole. I wouldn't exactly recommend this, but who knows, others could find it enjoyable.

Just going to keep it nice and simple.

Starts off a bit slow to sort of build the characters up a bit. About mid way through, all the character backgrounds are starting to come together and the series is starting to be a lot more enjoyable.

Suddenly........Everything is rushed, messed up and and out-right just falls apart.

Really disappointing to see the potential of Ao no Exorcist to such a waste in the end.

Starts out being a well constructed series, and finishes with plot-holes, rushed story-line and things that outright make no sense when comparing it to the logic that the series previously set.

Could have turned out to ... be so much better......

I'll keep it really short.

What can i say about Ao No Exorcist.
I was really disappointed when i watched it for the first time.

For me, this show, the writing of it, it's the definition of "Mediocre Shounen"
Yeah, it's not "THAT BAD", but it's not GOOD either.
Probably i was expecting too much from this forgettable show.

Some moments are fine, but that's it, that's really it.
... If you like the classic Shounen, go watch it, there are demons, and yeah, could be fun, as i said i repeat: it's not that bad.

But man, that could be a really nice show with that premise, but the writing became extremely lazy.
What an incredibile waste

See ya

This review only applies for the first 6 episodes of the series. It does not constitute for the overall experience of the anime itself and it will be comprised of what I've liked and disliked about the anime and the reason(s) I have had dropped it for. While I didn't experience the anime in its entirety and therefore I can't form an opinion based off of its entire content, I think it's important when picking a show to watch to also consult the perspective of someone who has decided to avoid a show after experiencing it, because these people might be more critical and more ... aware of the flaws a show presents than people who were capable of completing the series. Hence why I'm writing this.

Ao no Exorcist was a poor choice for me because of a few factors, the first being the setting. Since the anime doesn't start with its actual setting from the very start, I'll have to say that the anime until the point I got spent most of its time within a highschool setting were kids train in order to become exorcists, with everyone important in the school lowkey having superpowers or something to do with superpowers. So if you're tired of this setting, take a breath because not only this is the setting you get, but each episode the anime introduces a new character on which they focus on, in a somewhat slice of lifey demeanor, respectively with a food battle, a guy who's whiny that a guy takes worse grades than him and a girl who won't leave her yard. All of these episodes have a sense of the supernatural setting, but they very much feel like irrelevant everyday non-threat episodic stories, that after the introduction arc are a sore taste, and I can't detail exactly why without spoiling that arc. What credit I can give Ao no Exorcist in its introduction arc is that things constantly change and nothing really is constant, and the main character is constantly hit with new information about the life he's lived and who he is, which kinda makes the story seem like it's gonna have a direction and not be stationary. Like in a highschool setting. Meeting other students every episode. In an anime about the son of Satan. Birthed through a cult killing itself and being burnt.

The second gripe is the characters because they're uninteresting. The main character is a generic shounen wild numbfuck who's good natured and the whole package, but he's played off as intimidating and brutish because he's a demon. His twin brother on the other hand is the booksmart guy, who is popular, wears glasses, is smart, is booksmart, popular, wears glasses, is smart, wears glasses... Truly a character who interests me so much due to his abundance of character traits. What I'm saying that most of the characters don't really have depth and are one dimensional, and even despite life changing events, they will continue to act a certain way because the plot demands it, without their personality changing or the series taking it slow to show them taking it in. I don't really wanna describe any other characters, since they're either the main focus of the episode, and hence I will describe an entire episode, or they're barely relevant or just overall uninteresting because they haven't done anything noteworthy.

And my third gripe is the lack of action the series has. Look, on a technical note, yes, Ao no Exorcist has some action bits every episode. However, truthfully the fights never feel like they're ever gonna be a threat, with the characters even admitting that everything is a low threat and not that dangerous. There's only one episode where the fights had some sense of urgency and where everyone actually fought against a different side, with the feeling that this was an actual confrontation. And even if I found it a little ridiculous that the characters are constantly chanting and spilling christian bullshit while spitting fire from their mouths, at least I saw an actual confrontation that didn't feel onesided. Any other fight it's just some supernatural creatures getting their ass kicked and having no lines except for like one exception, and that's only about them having lines. None of the confrontations hold any meaning for the most part and they're there at best to enhance the drama, with some random fights and dangerous situations whenever is need of characterization. Like it's the only way to resolve conflict. They are also plainly one sided. And that made them really boring for me.

Finally, my final and most important gripe is the story itself. Continue reading this paragraph only if you don't mind being spoiled, as I will spoil the first three episodes with important and essential plot details. Skip this paragraph if you don't wanna be spoiled. This is your last chance. So after the first episode, it's revealed that MC's father is an exorcist and takes him home, a church to protect him against the deomns that found his location and give him a chance to run from Satan. He doesn't and instead argues with his dad which upsets his dad and thus the dad becomes emotionally weak and that way he gets possessed by Satan. And then the father kills himself in order to drive Satan out of his body. The brothers, after their father's death pretty much... are okay. I mean, they bury him, they both look at the grave alone for a while and then... one of them tells the other to die and afterwards the other says "BUT I WANNA BEH STRONK" and then they're like bruuuuuuuh and they're okay now, their relationship is back to square one. The way they resolve their conflict is quite superficial, and is merely done to keep the series lighthearted, and have their relationship as a tool for that. If you don't understand what my problem is, basically, after a battle against Satan and the main character, the son of Satan, loses his adoptive father, he goes to school and every episode meets new students or residents which are the focal point of the episode. After a fight in a church against demons with various techniques displayed, every battle is now onesided and non-threatening. And any attempt at drama is futile since the series has bad writing and the characters are uninteresting. This is exactly my problem. The direction of the story. Or rather lack thereof.

The reason I have dropped it for is because I don't care about the long winded wait for the confrontation against Satan and don't want to keep watching boring highschool students. None of the characters I have found compelling and the series feels like is gonna go nowhere and just keep the characters in school with perhaps random arcs threatening MC's safety and his friends. And I couldn't care less about any of that. There wasn't any action to entice me, the dramatic bits are poorly written, I don't want to wait for the show to find its direction and I don't care about any of the series' characters because they act like generic shounen tropes, despite plausibly being more substance to build them above that if the show tries.

I don't recommend the series if you are tired of the generic shounen tropes and action animes with a school setting. The action bits could always change, and there is promise there, substance might show through later, so I don't want to ruin your hopes for that, but I am 3 hours in and had only one relevant fight in the entire anime. If the setting doesn't bother you, then the anime might be worth a shot, as it has fairly decent production values. The animation looked decent, althought the art style is a bit generic and I have no complaints in the sound department. If you're looking for a shounen in a school setting that rather than focusing on action, chooses to focus on the characters inside its setting and their setting, this might be worth a shot. Ao no Exorcist isn't exactly bad, I simply found it uninteresting, because of its setting, its lack of compelling action and I found its bits where it tried to be dramatic quite dull and poorly written. However it can be comedic and enjoyable through its lighthearted nature, but it doesn't have substance in terms of narrative. Ultimately, it boils down to whether or not you enjoy a group of high school friends poking fun at each other with some supernatural elements in the story. I certainly don't. But if you do, this is the aspect in which I will agree it succeeds in the most. Unfortunately, this is not something I'm looking for in a series but if there's any other elements that might interest you in Ao no Exorcist, its setting might keep it alive for you. Unfortunately, it killed it off for me.

Okay this is my first review so this may not be the best. This anime based on the manga is okay. But I have to say it is disappointing. Why? Because of the filler the first half followed the manga very well until episode 17 it started to go full anime only route. Which makes me think if the anime creators where going crazy or not.

I did read the manga up to volume 4 and I can tell the huge difference in the plot from the anime and manga. I am not saying that it is a bad anime the music and visuals are beautiful ... and amazing to see on you're screen. And you can also read the manga it is amazing compared to...this.

But that ending was a bit disappointing too I mean how can they defeat the strongest demon in the world with the power of friendship? I mean the anime is okay but I recommend reading the manga then watching this.

Ao no Exorcist has potential to have been a great anime. The reason it didn't was because it did not capitalized with what the story brought. Don't get me wrong, the whole idea of the story was great but the lay out was disappointing. The animation and graphics was really enjoyable. And the sound was not bad as well. The characters were not bad either. The problem with this anime was the rush to get to the ending as well as the ending it self. Endings are a crucial part of an anime and I don't think this anime's ending was good at all. This ... is why I gave this anime a 5/10.

A five out of ten because quite frankly, this isn't new or innovative enough to warrant a higher score. The animation is fluid and crisp, the character designs are great, and the action scenes are fresh. I also like the balance of humor and fanservice. The problem is phrases like stereotypical, cliched, run of the mill, and by the numbers comes to mind.
Rin Okumura, our main protagonist with magical powers no one else can match
His brother Yukio Okumura an exorcist with no magical powers but is so book smart they let him teach a class at True Cross Academy's Japanese branch; where they train ... exorcists. Satan kills their father and this motivates Rin to become an exorcist declaring, "He's gonna beat the shit out of satan" before Mephisto Pheles who let's Rin into True Cross Academy's Japanese branch. Rin is a “combat application is more important than book smarts” kind of guy. He is also master chef (as all anime heroes tend to be these days); which serves as his deus ex machina to gain friends and acceptance despite his atypical personality traits of rude cutting remarks and penchant for violence against bullies. This of course is constantly in strife with Yukio always calm, level headed and smart. And it would have worked if it wasn't for the scoobies that also are in this show.
This series features seven other characters whose contribution to this series is so little I question why bother having them in this series. The only answer I can come up with is to fill the cliche quota:
Tough guy with a heart of gold that has more in common with the main hero than he knows? Enter Ryuji Suguro
Tsundere who acts this way as a defensive mechanism? Enter Izumo Kamiki
A timid but brilliant individual, able to come up with complex strategies in a short window of time? Enter Konekomaru Miwa.
The easy going faux ladies man who's the voice of reason and stability in the group? Enter Renzo Shima.
Can't forget the shy, naive, potential love interest for our main hero, enter Shiemi Moriyama.
You know what we're missing? A fantasy sex object to drool over. Enter Shura Kirigakure
And then there's Mephisto Pheles, aka Johann Faust V, the Chairman of True Cross Academy's Japanese branch. A being with supernatural powers that he does NOT use to aid the exorcists in any way.
The very little these characters have to do and the time spent introducing and exploring them made me wish this series was either longer; because it seems to have a lot more to say. Or wish it was shorter because it doesn't have enough to say.
It's not that it wasn't entertaining, it's not that they were bad characters. I'm just old enough to demand better anime than this.

This show wasn't too bad. I watched it when I was a kid and I enjoyed it to the fullest, but since I'm a bit older I can say for an older audience this might not be the show for you. Did I enjoy the show, somewhat yes, but the shows enjoyment level was like a roller coaster for me. The show had it's really fun times, then it had its pretty bland and lame times. The beginning of the show is what made me want to watch it til the end, because that beginning was truly just too epic. Although the beginning was grand, ... the middle part was alright, and the end was kinda a let down. There were too many convenient factors in the show, which made me question some parts of the show. I also didn't really like the side characters, they were strange and unfitting.

Story:
Now the story is pretty cool, it's about a boy who has inherited the powers of Satan by unsheathing a sword which has contained his powers. With his new powers and with his cool new sword, he wishes to defeat Satan and bring piece to Earth. Along side with his powers he trains to be an exorcist, but he must keep his powers hidden so his classmates, so they won't know his relation to the evil ruler of the underworld. This story sounds pretty cool, and the beginning was amazing, but after the whole fireworks display of a opening for a show, the glamour of the show declines as he "trains".

Characters:
The characters are alright, they all seem to have no other characteristics besides the ones they were assigned. The angry dude is always angry, the quiet one is always quiet, things like that. Then there are the side characters, the 'comic relief' that this show tried to offer. They aren't funny, and they are more annoying than anything. Then the brother character, he was a little annoying because of how many things they tried to role into one character. They tried a little too hard with him, and not any of the other characters. Overall if you have a favorite character, you'll end up not really liking the other ones as much because their personalities almost never change.

Art:
Nothing much here. There were some cool affects here and there, some detail was good, but other than that just standard art styles. The music was bad, except for the first opening song, that song was good.

Overall, it was fun rewatching this show, but I probably wouldn't watch it again. I enjoyed it as a kid so that's the important part, since this show is for kids.

Pros; Good first anime, cool story, some nice action scenes
Cons; Not for an older audience, convenience in some scenes



::SPOILER::
The end is anticlimactic. It had a weird set up for a never to be season two. Although if you're still wanting more at the end, there is a movie (which if I remember the movie could have been better than the show)

Ao no Exorcist is a quite known show that was very popular, but as many people I think have already told you it went down the hill too fast with too many plot holes. I want to make one thing especially known, and that is the second half of the show which is quite literally a useless filler

(The story 5 out of 10)

The story had so much promise and I mean that whole-heartedly. It has this premise about Satan, exorcists and the church and this was something I found myself quite interested even though demons and exorcists is not something in anime shows.

What caught my ... interest was the two separated worlds, but at the same time connected as a mirror. Of course, you may have figured it out by now that I am talking about Gehenna and Assiah. Many shows just use the underworld or Hell as a place where demons live.
Okay back on track. The first half is good and it keeps itself up with the manga and not doing anything very outrageous. The best episodes would have to be the first couple of ones. It shows a bit about the protagonist, the main antagonist, main characters and of course True Cross Academy. I liked the show up to episode 7 and 8 after that; the episodes did not have the same impact on me anymore.

Arc number two is just what I would call a filler arc, which does not follow the manga and instead try to come up with a story that is in a nice way to put it horrible! The reason I think this is because of the many plot holes and take this together with a rushed ending and you have a disaster. It could have gotten a higher score if it did not have any fillers, because I feel that a 24 episode anime should never have fillers.

(Characters 6 out of 10)

The characters were great, but most of them did not have the depth. You could compare it to an unpolished diamond and a shiny glass. Most of them were good, but the only ones I think worth mentioning is Rin, Yukio and Shiemi.

Rin was a character that would be the one that was very well with a great personality of being calm and cool and at the same time could show a bit of comedy too and that is always good.

Yukio was one of the characters I liked very much too. He was kind of the younger genius brother, but at the same time acting as the more mature one among the group of characters.

Shiemi was the love interest of Rin and only one among the others ones except Rin and Yukio that got any kind of character development. Most of the other ones were kind shallow. Ryuji was interesting with his backstory but then it was not that kind of interesting anymore.
(Art 8 out of 10)
The art is good and I will not deny that in any way. Even though several of the characters were kind of lacking when it came to the designs of them it was still good. It was mostly composed of bright colors, but a darker shade in the more serious scenes and when the situation called for it. This is a part they did a good job.

(Sound 8 out of 10)

I have to admit that I loved the openings and the endings too. I was in love with the first opening song and I would love to see it used in the future again in other shows. Hiroyuki Sawano did a very good job with the soundtracks and sound effects and he deserves praise for it.

(Enjoyment is a 6 almost on 7)

I think it was a good show to watch if you are waiting for a new episode coming from another show. Although this is not the problem. My problem is that it lacked directions. I myself love the manga, nothing will change that and my blood boiled with anticipation when I found out that they were going to make an anime out of the manga. Even though it lacked several things, I loved the show.

(Overall 6 out of 10)

It was interesting and a fine story but it lacked several things, I would have given it a seven out of ten if it had a better story or better characters outside of Shiemi, Yokio and Rin. If they had tried to make the animation better made, it would have been very enjoyable. I will recommend this show to my friends, but only if they do not have time or are bored or if they are looking for to kill some time. The show is a good one, but not if you are looking for some complex story or high quality art that you can appreciate or even deep characters.

Overall not as good as I hoped it to be but still worth the watch. It's very classic shonen. The story was pretty lacklustre in the end and despite having a lot of potential it didn't do anything interesting at all. Characters received very little to no development and were either illogically set in the ideals or annoyingly fickle with little middle ground. The best character in Shiro Fujimoto was unfortunately only in it for about 2 episodes with a few cameos later on too.

The biggest failure for me though is the motivations for pretty much all the characters in the show. The entire cast ... of protagonists motivations can be boiled down to getting stronger to "protecting my friends" / "get revenge on Satan". Takara was the most interesting character in this respect because we're still in the dark on him. He has a small but cool scene where he was just watching the fighting and quoting some lines from mythology or something. The way he acts throughout is as if he is far stronger and knows far more than he lets on. Mephisto I think is equally as good, basically acting as the Izaya Orihara of Blue Exorcist. Although far less in the shadows than Takara, its clear there's more to him and what he wants than just playing games with people.

The bad guys were even worse though. All the demons just fight or mess with people because hey they're demons it's what they do. Ernst came out of nowhere by suddenly seizing the entire Vatican totally inexplicably and somehow convinced all the exorcists that opening the gate to gehenna was in any way a good idea. Earlier on they even admitted that they had no way of fighting back against Satan which was the whole reason they let Rin stay alive and then they decide to go and sacrifice him to get to Satan. Sure they had the Messiah bomb but it was never shown that they tested it to check it's efficacy and guess what, it ended up doing fuck all. They tried to give Satan something by having his motivations come from Yuri who is this lovable person that's get wrongly persecuted. Which could've worked great by making us understand his side of just trying to bring the two worlds together but then he continues to act like a complete dickhead and attempts destroys the city.

On to some of the good. It was generally pretty well animated and the fight choreography wasn't too bad but the attacks and power ups did get a little samey. Voice acting gets no complaints and I liked the music during the show overall. The OP and ED were more than skippable though. The character interactions between the students specifically were well done and I got a few laughs throughout. Also the part with Blackie was done well enough to work a tear or two down my face, although that's maybe not saying much considering my disposition to cry rather easily.

5/10

It looked like it had everything to be a good show in the beggining but lost Quality over the episodes... They simply forgot to make something out of the characters, they stood the same tipo the end.
Most anti climatic ending ive ever seen, feels completly out of place and ruined it for me.

It just feels like they ran out of ideas or money and rushed an half paced story into our heads in 4 suden episodes.

I still recomend it for the laughs it gave me in the first 12 or so episodes, just keep in mind that youre gonna be crushed by the ... ending.

Okay so:

1. Story and overall idea is fantastic. Plot itself is really good. It just needs more expansion.
2. First two episodes build high hopes, and after that, everything goes down.
3. Such an amazing idea needs to be expanded even more.
4. Characters are great, art and animation is really good. But everything is inside a small circle (world is too small).

I want to say that this anime had it's own thing. It was really funny and simultaneously super serious. Humor and importance of each and every single character is well balanced. Animation is stunning, sounds fit perfectly and character development is also really good. I ... wish that I could see more characters from Gehenna. Concept was so good that it left me feeling of hunger. And that's why I wish there could be more to it.

Overall, ok but I wouldn't re-watch it.

Ao No Exorcist is a very average anime in my eyes, and one that I think most casuals or newcomers to anime will thoroughly enjoy but when I am afraid that when it comes to people who have already seen a decent amount of anime it will fall into mediocrity and soon be forgotten.
The characters are rather bland and have very clear-cut personalities, with the main character Rin Okumura being an average teenage guy who tries his best to be a good guy but is lazy and shirks his responsibilities. Rin is one of the most generic looking anime characters that I have ever ... seen, he truly is just a normal black-haired teen who wears normal clothes. His only defining traits appearance-wise are his horns and tail that protrude when he becomes angry. He is also hot-headed and quick to act without thinking. Of course his younger brother Yukio is the responsible type and often does his best to keep Rin's priorities straight. These two personalities clash and provide a decent amount of humour in the show but the roles themself are certainly nothing ground breaking. Rin is also a character whom I feel is meant to be an avatar that the viewer can live out their fantasy through, similar to Kirito from Sword Art Online. Ironically, Rin and Kirito also have the same english VA which may have influenced me thinking of him like that.
Speaking of voices, the overall english dub is well put together and features veterans of the field such as Johnny Yong Bosch and Kyle Hebert, and since the cast is experienced it makes for an excellent dub. As for the rest of the sound aspects, the music is not very engaging and does not hype up action scenes much or impact serious scenes as much I would like. Additionally the OP/ED's are average but easy to forget.
Action in Ao No Exorcist is few and far between and normally not very entertaining. You will either be watching characters shooting at generic demons, reading bible verses, or ending battles with a single swipe of a sword. This is when battles are shown, as the series frustratingly has action taking place out-of-frame frequently during big moments and instead decides to focus on the spectators' reactions to the fight rather than showing the battle itself. There are many times where it seems like two characters are about to seriously duke it out 1v1, but Ao No Exorcist never successfully capitalises on these fight opportunities. Fight scenes are very short and the animation behind them is far from spectacular.
Where the series really shines is in it's comedy and slice of life elements, but as funny as the comedic bits are they don't come up quite enough to keep the viewer as engaged as they should be. Almost every episode has a hysterical laugh-out-loud moment, but episodes should have MORE than one moment like that. The series also abandons comedy altogether for some episodes and especially near the end of the series. It almost feels as if this show was supposed to be a long-running shonen because the main character only finds out he has powers right in the beginning of the anime and then must work to properly learn to harness them as the series progresses. But the thing is, hardly any progress seems to be made in this area yet Rin still seems to win most battles with ease.
If you are looking for an average show to kill some time, Ao No Exorcist is a good choice and it should keep you entertained for most of the runtime, but don't expect any lasting impact. There are far better shows with better plot, characters, fight scenes, and takeaways, but Ao No Exorcist is a wonderful show to turn your brain off and enjoy!

Ao no exorcist (Blue exorcist) is about a kid who was born by satan, his step dad dies by satan and he goes to this school to help him control his powers to kill satan. The story is good, i like the story, but this anime lack to many fight scenes and when they were fight scenes they were really lame except for 2 of them, I wont ruin the story but this anime isn't a "need to have" type of anime, but if you have free time/money I would buy it, but if you're looking for an anime to enjoy to your fullest this ... wouldn't be on the list. I think the only reason I am giving it a low score because i came in thinking this anime will have lots of fight scenes and all the recommandations was from soul eater and i really loved that anime so i gave this a try, but don't come in thinking this will be a super badass fighting anime, but like i said before if you have free time and cash to spend go ahead and go for it, its a good anime just not what i expected. I haven't read the manga, so I dont know if it followed it or not. hope this review helped

I only make reviews when I get super glad or super mad about an anime. In this case, I got real mad.

Please take notes that I talk about stuff that are spoilers for those who didn't saw the entire anime.

Blue Exorcist had a GIGANTIC potential to be a super fucking mega shounen series (like Bleach and Naruto and all that shit)... if only the story had been better developed!!!!!!

They made all the plot available in the manga at the time into a 25 episodes anime when it had enough for like, 5 seasons, not kidding:
- Season 1: History of the characters; basic explanation of supernatural ... creatures and differences between humans, nephilim, demons and other races; beginning of the Academy and explanation of the classes of exorcists.
- Season 2: Development of the characters; demonstrations of more spells and abilities of exorcists; advancement of the characters to ex-wires class; larger missions with stronger demons; those silly beach episodes to replace the ridiculous amount of fanservice in this damn thing.
- Season 3: First major villain, more character development, cooler fights, stronger teams, more involvement with other stronger classes. Rin finally have a team now that has the right division of classes with friends that are Doctors, Tamers, Knights, Arias, Dragoons.
- Season 4: Another exam for the characters to go up in exorcists classes, showing more of the abilities of each one of Rin main friends and some of the best teachers; development of evil villains and sects; Yuri discovers and develops his hidden demonic powers; beginning of the final plot.
- Season 5: Rin develops demon powers to the point of having strength equivalent to a Paladin; more epic struggles; more history; some important char dies; revenge race; discovery of links that connects the malevolent sects with Satan or with the corruption of the Vatican; some fucking explanation of what the fuck were Mephisto's real intentions; final fight against Satan and other villains with Ryu's gang helping Rin. Reconstruction of the Academy and the Vatican, creating a balance between supernatural creatures with humans (something very close to what happened with Legend of Korra). The love triangle between Yuri, Rin and Shiemi resolves with Shiemi and Yuri getting together. Ryu stays with his sweetheart too. There is so much fucking bait romance in this shit man, I swear to god!

IT WOULD BE A FUCKING AWESOME STORY. AND I JUST MADE IT UP IN LIKE 10 FUCKING MINUTES

But no.

This anime was released in 2011, had an even shorter season in 2017 (apparently with very similar mistakes) and until today there is no signs of a third season, so that's it! The studio shoved the entire manga in these racing episodes and kinda ruined the whole story. It was full of holes, loose ends, poor development, shitty fights, stupid cliches, and of course, those fucking annoying and unnecessary scenes of imbecile sexualization - since you can only be a strong female lead in anime if you show a lot of titties and pink babydoll panties with your skin shining like hell when no other character has the same shine applicated into their skin colors.

Now, imagine that the director of this garbage was the storyboard of epic things like Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain, Samurai Champloo and Evangelion.

I'm getting too old to watch anime...

But lemme just say: I will definitely give a shot to the manga, hoping to see a better development, cuz I really, really loved the concept of Ao.

Note: when I rate different anime, I am comparing them with only the other anime in my list. Ao no Exorcist is "Fine (6)" compared with the ~80 other series on my list. By itself, however, I would easily call this series "Very Good" or 8 out of 10. Though unoriginal in some aspects, "Ao no Exorcist" is a superbly made, exciting, and humorous fantasy/supernatural series.

The characters are simply adorable: in animation, development, and not to mention sound-- several excellent voice actors such as Kana Hanazawa feature in "Ao no Exorcist." The excellent writing managed to make the story charming and exciting, despite some ... unoriginal tropes (the son fighting the father, the boy who is part demon, the universe comprised of two domains like earth and a spirit world, an overpowered main character, childish jokes, etc.). A few elements were refreshingly original, however, such as the system of magic used by Exorcists. The psychological nature of the backstory of Rin's mother is particularly surprising in an anime that is often more light-hearted. In fact, that's my favorite aspect of the series, this backstory of Rin's mother and its implications to that world's "Church".

Why should you watch it? If you want a funny and action-packed fantasy tale, "Ao no Exorcist" is a great choice, especially if you're looking for something that isn't twenty seasons long. If you like supernatural stories where there's a god and a satan, as well as any other magical creatures, again "Ao no Exorcist" is great.

Finally, regarding the anime's treatment of "The Church", it is acceptable for Christians, since there is a God and Satan. But it's also acceptable for minority religions where demons or spirits are worshiped, because the "demons" of this Series are not entirely evil. In this way, I think it attracts a larger audience.

So try it out if you want some explosive fantasy fun.

VERY MINOR SPOILERS:



STORY: This anime is a basic shounen with strong similarities to the Fate Series. To break that down, there are many objective feelings of it being rushed, convenience, filler/transition episodes, absence of world building, and the need for more explanation at every turn. I understand several folks must like this style, as seen with high reviews to Kill la Kill and Gurren Lagann, so my review comes from a fondness of good story. The main way Blue Exorcist is different than the Fate Series is it doesn't have Ufotable's superior art style and less character growth. You start to notice these things in ... the first episode with the rapid death of a potentially amazing character. Other pivotal example include the potential to explore the world, no diving into the details of the Mystics of Exorcism and Ranks, the apparent pitiful state of power the Knights of the True Cross possess, and the nearly complete absence of character growth for the protagonists in both combat and reasonable emotions. Now, if this anime was given a hundred or so episodes, it truly could have been amazing. The potential you gleam from the world is inspiring but eventually becomes ignored all together. I confess I'm a huge fan of growth of characters, story, and the world; This is why my review is low. Also, the last episode really epitomizes everything I've said thus far.


ART: Very on par art style with 99% of other anime. As stated earlier, Ufotable are the objective leaders in Art.



SOUND: The usual cast of professional voice actors heard in many anime. Always good, no complaints here.



CHARACTER: Like I said, has great potential, charm, and ideas, however, needs the super-anime treatment to really blow us away.




ENJOYMENT: Fine, definitely fine, but would be infinitely more so if they weren't in such a hurry to finish it. It can be enjoyed if you come from the Kill La Kill/ Gurren Lagann mindset of entertainment: where story is negligible as well as much growth, convenience is only viewed as a plus, and you skip every other episode due them been filler/transition pieces.




OVERALL: This anime had incredible potential and good hook. With many more episodes, time and dedication, it would have been one to truly compare to the greats of Hunter x Hunter and Naruto, but it fails in every single area where they excel.

Ao no Exorcist is a manga that I enjoyed and continue to read today. I like the characters, the overall story, the bromance, and just a lot of things about it. When the anime made an appearance I was excited, I couldn't wait to check it out and the first few episode did not disappoint. I was impressed with the animation, the voice acting, and I loved the opening and ending soundtracks.

Unfortunately after the first few episodes... things started going downhill in a rapid speed. The anime would catch up to the manga far too quickly so I can understand why they had to change ... the story and go down a different path, but I can't shake the fact that the way they executed was done poorly.

Mephisto wanted to use Rin was a weapon against Satan, and they were planning on training him and making him strong enough for that purpose and yet that idea sunk and we were rushed immediately to an ending that just didn't properly fit the piece of where the anime was originally going. I was thinking that there would be a lot of events that would occur (like the manga) where Rin is taught to control his ability and grow stronger as he conquers different enemies, but because there wouldn't be enough content, we are suddenly tossed a random plot device with Satan's back story of how Rin and Yukio were conceived. This leads to the writers telling us to understand Satan's feelings and his reason for trying to infiltrate Assiah. Seriously? What the heck.
In the beginning Satan is a damn bastard, he's an complete ass hole and we are led to think that he must be defeated, but as the writers for the anime had to change the story of the series, we are suddenly led to sympathize with Satan... while at the same time side with his sons with the power of bromance and friendship. NO, just NO! You can't seriously tell me to pity the root of all evil! After all he's done and has been doing in the entire series, we have to feel sorry for him? Worst part is they actually make him look like a 'nice guy' sometimes. What about our main characters and their goals? Are we supposed to be conflicted and try to pick which side is actually 'good' and which side is 'evil'? I call bull shit.
If the pity-Satan theme didn't just rush out and punch you in the face, I think the overall idea of it might have done well, but I couldn't buy into it this time. The fact that they have done this also ruined a lot of the character development and I found that later not many of the characters actually matter anymore, I just don't care for them anymore.
It was a nice effort, and I can't say they didn't try their best, but it just wasn't good enough. There is a lot of talk about a Ao no Exorcist Season 2, and that the makers of the anime wants to wait for the manga to progress further before they start on it, and I think that would be for the best.

If you're a true hardcore Ao no Exoricst fan, then I don't highly recommend the anime, but if you just want a decent watch with a few enjoyable kicks here and there, then by all means go check it out.

The concept of the story is nothing new but I'd like to believe it is something anyone can get into. The execution of it, however, is disconcerting. Situations were overly dramatic when it did not need to be and lighthearted situations were longer than they needed to be. And the plot twist at the end of the anime was randomly thrown into the series to give it an epic closer. Which backfired in my honest opinion.

The animation was very clean. Character designs followed shounen trends for the most part having the cast in their uniforms for a majority of the series. Backgrounds did not ... have a significant impact on the series but satisfied more than enough for a shounen series. In certain episodes of Ao no Exorcist, there were animation spikes where character movements were extremely fluid and scene composition were more powerful than normal. And then there were the drops in animation quality. Where all the care character movement was kept to a minimum, uninteresting backgrounds, recycled animation.

The soundtrack for Ao no Exorcist has a few good listens. The music in composition with the anime has miss and hits. The presence of Folly sounds were very well placed and used very often. Foot steps, contact with objects and ruffling of clothes in certain scenes where it had more impact than others. The voice actors did a good job portraying their characters, of course not to say the characters were the best lot.

Most people would not take a liking to typical shounen characters but I'd have to say I like them a lot. Like humans, the characters have flaws. As long as the series itself does not delve to deep into side characters or characters that have less influence on the story then it's fine with me. However, the introduction of a certain cat spirit or cooking imp character took up unnecessary time. I could live without them because those characters do nothing important for the progression of the story. The main characters stupidity drives the story for the most part and is not properly resolved in the series. Unless you could argue that a couple of candles can solve an adolescent boy's anger issues. Yukio has a lot of favorable traits. He's intelligent, he's dependable, charismatic, good-looking, and is Jun Fukuyama. The one real flaw about his character is at the end of the series where he decides to be an idiot to give the series and epic battle to conclude the anime. Overall, no specific character shines but the character interactions were enjoyable.

I like the world. I like Izumo Kamiki. I like Eri Kitamura. I like Izumo Kamiki. I like this anime. I like it at 6.

This show is mediocre, I will make this review short.

Pros:
- Designs are decent, interesting environment, diverse in event location, scenery don't repeat too much.
- Story set-up is good, has many potential.

Cons:
- Characters' feeling told in the most uninteresting way, they just bagging out of nowhere.
- Animation is poorly handled, can't show character's personality.
- Dub is bad, can't portrait personality correctly.
... - BGM is sometime not matching the atmosphere, feel really weird.
- Story has many potential, interesting start, but will gradually mess up and then end in such awkward way.
- Characters' personality and background are too similar, too boring to me.

This show will work for any innocence and stupid kid aging from 8 to 16. I really can't keep watching this, too much cringe is not good for health.