Director: Tensai Okamura,
Starring: Nobuhiko Okamoto, Bryce Papenbrook, Jun Fukuyama, Johnny Yong Bosch, Kana Hanazawa, Christine Marie Cabanos, Kazuya Nakai, Kyle Hebert,
Running Time: 310 minutes
Certificate: 12
BLUE EXORCIST took a look at the son of Satan growing up in a school and preparing to take on the old man. It really did feel a lot like Harry Potter at times, but with more badassery. This second set of episodes capitalises on the delicious premise and finally takes us to the deeper and darker areas that dealings with demons should address. It didn’t always look as though it was going to be quite so positive though, as the show decides to introduce some male fantasy eye candy early on. Rin acquires himself a trainer, who happens to be a busty bikini clad character. A boobs become the object of many discussions, which is a shame because she is also very funny, clever, and also well developed. There are times when she considers killing her student to rid the world of the son of Satan, and times when she will do anything to protect him.
Although making her into a sex object may be more of a distraction, it does bode well for the writers that they could overcome this and really make her character shine through. Elsewhere in this collection we are treated to a number of enjoyable developments. Rin must come to terms with his powers, which is the typical story of a super powered hero, but here it’s done with great style. Seeing people take a shine to Rin but never fully trust him makes for a painful but constantly gripping watch. His power is also well represented in the beautifully animated fight sequences, which bring in all the elements of fantasy and magic you could hope for.
It’s a shame then that the show still relies on filler episodes to lighten proceedings. A rather bland team building camping episode turns into something greater, as the skills and lessons learnt are put to good use. Unfortunately, that build up is squandered in a later episode that focuses on cake baking and humorous misunderstandings about human culture. This comes after a number of darker plot strands in which jealousy is corrupted in both emotional and haunting ways, but it fails to work as a rest and instead interrupts the flow of the series.
Luckily enough for us darker souls, the final stretch is more sinister than ever before. This is where the show gets the perfect balance between tone, story, and character. First we are handed a plot in which the demon is the resurrected wife of an old adversary. Such a story is handled delicately and with heart, as is the surprising romantic side of Satan. Whereas it would have been too easy to have had Satan rape a human, BLUE EXORCIST shows a rather tender courtship. Being an anime, the show doesn’t exactly care about stepping on the toes of more western religions, and although it’s demon heavy, talk of God and the like is kept to a minimum. The last episodes go very dark but also develop the characters in a natural way. Flirting with tragedy at times, BLUE EXORCIST becomes a series with great maturity, and who says you can’t be mature and ogle at needlessly large breasts?
BLUE EXORCIST: Definitive Edition Part 2 is released on Blu-ray on 9th December via Manga Entertainment.
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