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.
