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I've recently discovered that Ao no Exorcist, or Blue Exorcist, is divided up between those who love it and those who... well... don't really love it.

So it Blue Exorcist really worth the watch? Well...

Story:

Anyone who has witnessed shounen series of any kind will be able to instantly recognize the fact that this story doesn't fail to follow in the footsteps of others. A teenage boy who discovers he has all these immense powers and sets out to defeat evil.
But despite this, the premise itself does pose an interesting storyline, and poses some strong introductory episodes. But while the story does start off strong and I ... enjoyed it until about the halfway point, it really disappoints in the end. There is little advancement in plot throughout the whole series, and so lots is taken up by filler.

I found the first half of the series enjoyable enough, but my real problem was with the second half. The closer I got to reaching the ending, the more it felt like a chore to complete this series. While plenty of other 25-episode series have filler episodes in them, I found this to be very frustrating. It felt like the writers didn't have anything good to give us until their very anticlimactic ending (I'll get to that in a sec) so they gave us poorly written filler that didn't serve any purpose to the outcome of the story, and I really stopped caring altogether before the series even ended.

So what's up with this ending? Well it shouldn't be any surprise to hear that this shounen follows others by finishing off with an unsatisfactory, mediocre ending that doesn't follow the original media. Now this wouldn't be as big of a problem if they had bothered to write a decent ending. But while the rest of the series was enjoyable to an extent, the ending feels rushed, anticlimactic, and a poor way to finish off ta series that generally had promise to it.

The story is not terribly written. It is not a bad story, but it certainly is not a masterpiece to me. Overall, it's alright. Not too bad, not too great.


Character:

So if the story wasn't all too great, then the characters must be better... right?

Well............................


While I did find Rin Okumura enjoyable enough to watch as a main character, I didn't truly find anything special about him. He was okay. He was a typical rebellious teenager who was trying to defeat evil with his powers. And that's kind of it.

However, he is the most entertaining of the series to watch, maybe besides Yukio, who also holds up strongly as a main character. Shiemi is a femcale character who's there just for fanservice and undergoes little development. The other characters lack development and backstory, not to mention how little they are explored, and are just okay. None are too interesting, and the female characters just aren't all that standoutish. Most of the characters aren't memorable, aside from maybe Rin. I just couldn't get into the characters all that much and found them very by the numbers.

The only true relationship I really cared about was the one between Rin and Fujimoto, which is the strongest and the most realistic in the entire anime, despite it only being shown very briefly. Rin's bond with Yukio is genuine enough, but fails in comparison to other brotherly relationships in anime. Shiemi's "romance" with Rin is incomplete and is frustratingly very scarce, giving viewers no chance to really root them on. I truly found the characters to be disappointing.


Art/Animation:

The art style is certainly not my favorite, but the animation is solid and the style compliments the series well with its themes and moods. There isn't much to say here besides the fact that it holds up well in this series.


Sound:

All the music in this anime is very well done. The OST is pretty epic and compliments the story very well. The openings aren't my favorite, but that's just me. They do hold up well with the story though, and have good animation. I wasn't too big on the endings, but as far as the music goes as a whole, I found it to be well done.


Enjoyment:

I truly base my ratings off of how much I enjoyed as series, regardless of flaws or how much I can overlook them. But I didn't really enjoy this series. It isn't because it's a shounen; I like action well enough. But it just isn't a well told series. There's a lack of action, very flat romance, and the characters just aren't that memorable and don't hold up all that well in the story.

So overall, the series is just alright. It's nothing too special. If you want a story with memorable characters, great action and a great story, than this isn't an anime for you. It just isn't executed well, and while it appeared interesting at first, it failed to hold up in almost all aspects. I could have lived without seeing this anime, as it really isn't anything that good or special. It's very by-the-numbers, and I found little enjoyment in it. While it does stand slightly above average with it's exceptionally strong beginning and good first half, it truly just falls to pieces as the story struggles on. Not all that worthwhile.

I've been many people comment on how much they love and enjoy Angel Beats!, and many consider it a favorite. But for actually a little while now, I've been thinking to myself, "did I think Angel Beats was that good?"


Story:

The premise is simple and yet interesting. Otonashi wakes up on the grounds of an unfamiliar school and finds he is dead, along with... well, everyone else there. The goal is to destroy this girl named Angel, or Tachibana, who they assume put them there. The story then goes from there.

Now this series is successful at mixing action and comedy into a sort of episodic series. ... Not entirely episodic, but close enough. The one factor that might turn people off is that the series has almost a slice-of-life feel to it, instead of action and drama that people are promised. However, most everyone has heard of how emotional scenes in these series are, which is true. I mean, I teared up at several episodes, including the last one. If Angel Beats! does anything right with its story, its creating an emotional and dramatic mood. And for that, I applaud it.

But on the cons... Angel Beats! has a story that should have taken place over something more like 25 episodes. There's just too much story. The reason I say this is because the plot twist about Tachibana kind of... confused me. I'm sure so many people reading this are saying, "What? How didn't you get it? It's so obvious!" But I felt more lost and let down by this twist than what the story was trying to give us. The fact that Tachibana was no longer the antagonist, or was slowly moving away from it as we are to assume left the story a little empty and raised more questions than answers for me. However, I was to some extent satisfied by the ending. The last episode made me cry, and I was actually intrigued by how the main couple is unable to remain together, and how the main character has a hard choice to make and now has to carry this responsibility he puts on himself.

One other thing I really want to talk about before I wrap up with this section is the fact that the story doesn't always give us the chance to get attached to the characters in a way that would make us fear for them. In a world where they can't die... I mean really, the characters aren't in any mortal peril. So while the premise is interesting in itself, this is one of the down points of the story.

Overall, the story was good, and I give it a 7/10.


Characters:

If the series has any weak points, its characters might be one of them. The first problem arises with Otonashi, the main character. Now don't get me wrong, I didn't dislike him. But he'll also never be on my list of favorite characters, and certainly not on a list of my favorite main characters.
So what's the problem with him? He's bland. He doesn't have much to his character, and he kind of lacks development. Sure, you can argue that his relationship with Tachibana does grow and I did feel chemistry between them. But Otonashi wasn't tough. He wasn't super weak, but he did lack the mental and physical durability the other characters seemed to posses. He was that kind of in the middle character: not really this, not really that. Now he did have some personality to him, just not a lot. In fact, the most interesting and well-developed part of his character is his backstory, which is really emotional and very compelling. He had the potential to have continued to develop from this, but he just cameo out a weak character.

The biggest and most glaring problem with these characters is the fact that there are so many characters, who are supposed to be main characters, that just get pushed aside. Like hey, here's their introduction, bye. You see them in episodes, but you rarely get to really know them. And there are a couple characters that appear to be potentials for main characters, Yui and Hideki, but they actually don't turn out to be main characters. I won't spoil it for anyone, but... they turn out to not be that consistent throughout the series, which was a disappointment.

There are just so many characters in this series who don't get to take on the roles as the main characters, or even the main supporting cast. They're just side characters that don't always say a lot and don't really play a huge role in the story. Heck, the last episode had only a handful of characters out of the main cast. They're just shoved out of the series, without us understanding how they went about this or what they went through.

Another character I want to take a look at is Yuri, who was one of our strongest leads. I liked Yuri, how she could be tough and eccentric at the same time, comedic and yet badass. She was a good character, and her backstory was definitely the most tragic and heart-wrenching.

The last character I want to take a look at is Tachibana. I think Tachibana might be my favorite character, even though who she was and what role she played in the story was a little confusing to me at times. She's also one of the only characters who actually undergoes a development. While I did like Yuri, there was a lack of this in her character. But Tachibana's relationship with Otonashi actually developed and grew and her overall personality started to move from colder and more distant to this more kinder, innocent approach. Not really a tsundere, but she had a nice character.

I give the characters an 8/10. Despite my problems, I did really enjoy the cast, especially characters like Yui, Hideki, Noda, and T.K., who really made me laugh. But I also want to give props to the character Iwasawa. She really shone in her episode and even though her screentime was minimal, it really left an imprint on me for the rest of the series.

Art/Animation:

This is pretty obvious. Angel Beats has a very nice art style and great animation. Not my favorite art style, but it was solid, and the bright colors really added this sort of optimistic mood to the more emotional, dramatic part of the series. Each character has their own design and they were distinguishable from others. I give it an 8/10

Sound:

Now while I can't really recall and background music, the opening and ending themes where amazing. The opening is often credited as a fan favorite, and really holds up with its beautiful music and great animation that execute the theme of action and slice-of-life drama very well. The ending theme was sweet and soft, which fit the mood of the anime perfectly. So while the background soundtracks didn't really stand out to me, I did really like the opening and ending themes. Also an 8/10


Overall, I did enjoy this anime and I do recommend it to others. I know I had lots of problems with this show, but I know others were able to look past what I saw as faults. Anyone who enjoys action and wants to get out a few good cries, definitely check out this anime. I give it a 7/10. It's a good show. Not a masterpiece to me, but worth watching.

I’ve reread my review and discovered I wasn’t fully satisfied with it. So I’m trying again.

SAO is one of those series that I thought I just really disliked at first, and then realized it had transcended into complete hatred. This should go without saying, but I will say it right now: I do NOT hate or dislike people who like and enjoy this anime. I have nothing against them. I actually understand why this anime is held in such a high regard and even hailed as something of a masterpiece. But this is a series I find far from a
masterpiece.

So to begin with the ... story, I’m going to come out right now and say that I’m not a gamer. I’m not here because I’m really into gaming and I’m upset about the mechanics of SAO or any of the technicalities. But even people who are die-hard gaming fans have probably taken notice that this isn’t the best representation of good gaming story. Let’s find out why this story just doesn’t work.
If you don’t know the story of SAO, I’ll say right now I’m surprised. But I also trust that you’re intelligent enough of a person to read the synopsis, so I’ll spare you the time. I found SAO’s story to be pretty generic and awfully predictable. Now, there’s nothing wrong with this, but it does leave a very bland aftertaste on the viewer. But I really wasn’t into it. There wasn’t any intensity or moments when I thought the characters were in real danger (we’ll get to them in a minute), and it’s kind of… weak. I can go on and on all day about how the Fairy Dance arc was painful, but I’m just going to sum up my basic reaction to the series in one word: boring. That’s right. And this problem occurs not only from the lack of tension, but also the fact that this series has no substance. Now, I’m not saying that a series needs to be deep or thought-provoking to be interesting. Not at all. But the depth of what the viewer is left with resembles what a middle schooler might come up with. The last and biggest part of what I want to say about the story are our two arcs. The first arc was just really dumb. It broke its own rules that the game had set, there was a whole clutter of ideas, and the timeskips really didn’t help. I can’t really blame the actual writer for this, because part of this issue does come from its adaptation from the light novels. The author, Kawahara Reki, originally wrote the main story’s arc, then had several separate light novel stories put out detailing Kirito’s side stories with some of the other characters he encountered. However, the anime adapted both story arcs at the same time, and, well… those filler episodes are kind of a snoozefest. The second arc of the story, Fairy Dance Arc, is just painfully boring. I’m not saying that Aincrad arc wasn’t, but I don’t recall it being as dull and uninteresting as this one. This is based off of the fact that Fairy Dance stretched out for far longer than it needed to. The story insults my intelligence, and while I may not be a gamer, there are some things in this series that left me just wondering “… what? That’s so dumb!” Yeah, folks. There are some pretty dumb moments in this anime. You can count on it.

Okay, so if the story was pretty bad and honestly rather dull, then the characters must be more promising, right? Wish I could tell you otherwise.
SAO really adds salt to the injury of a story it’s created with its characters. Again, I don’t care if anyone out there really likes these characters. Kirito’s your favorite hero? Totally cool. Asuna’s the best heroine ever? Fine with me. But these are some of the dullest, most boring characters I’ve ever encountered. Really.

Let’s begin with our two main protagonists: Kirito and Asuna. Kirito is everything that a boy wants to be: the tough, cool, dark, loner guy who gets all the girls. Too bad he’s incredibly bland and so unengaging. Kirito would have been forgettable if I hadn’t seen him absolutely everywhere that people said the word “anime” and the fact that I remembered him for being so bland. Kirito is a Gary Stu in its finest form. He even gets a guy to fall for him. No joke. To be completely honest, I don’t hate Kirito because he was despicable or frustrating, but because everyone hails this guy as the best person ever, and he really contradicts his own “personality”. Possibly the only character trait going for this guy is the fact that half the stuff he does in the series doesn’t even make sense. And we can’t forget how incredibly overpowered he is. I don’t really mind this, but if being overpowered is a character’s only character trait, then, well… I don’t know what to tell you. You haven’t satisfied me in any way.

Asuna is just a little better. I hold her to a slightly higher standard because I thought she wasn't quite as bad as Kirito. She’s nothing exceptional, and much like Kirito, she has absolutely no character development and is honestly quite boring. But I kind of liked her character design, and then is the fact that she’s the only character who appears to say anything that makes any sense at all. But she’s just as uninteresting as Kirito. I won’t lie, there were times when I believed that their romance did actually kind of work. But it does collapse in on itself because there’s not much buildup and the romance isn’t really developed. However, it was sort of cute at times. Not the worst aspect of the story, but just as underdeveloped. And it was better than Kirito’s little romances with all the other girls in the series. However this does not excuse Asuna from being dull and really a lame excuse for a “strong” character. Not satisfied with her.

I’m going to make it brief with the side characters. They’re just ok. Yeah. Nothing noteworthy, and truth be told, I only really remembered them because they’re on the cover of most of SAO’s posters and they even get their own little clips in the opening. But they just hop in and hop out. Realistically, the story could exist with Kirito, Asuna, and maybe the two villains, and I bet the story would end the exact same way. I feel like I should tough on Suguha, but she served only to drag the arc out, and her character arc was so predictable. There’s no purpose to it. The love triangle she tries to create will never exist because Kirito is always going to be with Asuna, and I almost felt bad for Suguha because she will never be developed. Not to mention that she was really boring and painfully unnecessary. Oh, and we can’t forget the fanservice she brings to the story, because that’s really her only purpose. But there’s a lot of fanservice in the Fairy Dance Arc anyway. I’ve managed to turn a blind eye to fanservice, especially when it doesn’t contribute anything to the plot, but the more I watched this, the more uncomfortable I felt, like this was made for someone several years younger than me. And this doesn’t just go for Suguha, but for all the female fanservice (because that’s why most of them are here, even Asuna at times).

The villains aren’t intimidating by any means, and they don’t bring any tension to the story. But of course, our two main protagonists are so awesome, there’s no way these guys could ever pose a threat. They’re forgettable. Nothing memorable about them. Heck, the first guy even forgets his motivation. He says so himself.

The sound in this anime is ok, but nothing too memorable. Nothing atrocious, though. The openings were kind of catchy, but the only reason I remember either of them is because they’re everywhere, just like everything else in the series. The one thing I will give credit to this series for is the fact that I kind of liked the second ending. It wasn’t moving or anything, but it was sweet enough.

The art style is alright, but it's definitely not one of my favorites. The backgrounds are pretty good, though, and it looks like a world I would want to explore. It’s a shame we never do. However, if anything is to hold this art and animation down, it’s the fight scenes. They really aren’t all that well choreographed, and the tension is really drained from them, because we know our two main characters are going to make it through to the end.

I gave this anime a few liberties before, but SAO is one of those series where the more I think about it, the more I think about how I dislike it. Just to say this again, just because I hated this series, does not mean that I hate people who enjoyed it. Nope. Nada.
One thing I do want to say is that I don’t hate this series because it’s popular. Yes, the hype does damage the experience, and it is everywhere. I hate this series because I find the writing to be horrible, the characters atrocious, and I really didn’t enjoy it. I do take pleasure at ripping into this thing with my review, but I really don’t want to get into any fights about it. I can’t stand this anime, and I think it’s an insult to my intelligence and was a waist of my time. If you like it, cool. Whatever. But this anime won’t be getting any love from me. Overall, Sword Art Online is boring, dull, and has a painfully uninteresting and characters that are cardboard cutouts of their own tropes. A nice 1/10 will finish this off for me.