Blue Exorcist

Top Five Best Amines:
Starts of Strong and Ends with some unanswered question, but leaving you wanting more
Great Character interaction and relatable personalities
Great Comic relief points
Fantastic Details in the animation
Fast pace storyline with great depth, sparing no details
Most of the Sound track is great, but has few unevenly balanced areas between song and what is going on, on the screen
Overall fantastic Show

Before everyone starts judging me about the header, I would like to say that I love this series with all my heart. This is like a combination of Naruto with Supernatural. The beginning episodes, as in the first two episodes, showed so much promise, so much orginality, and so much intrigue that has not peaked my interest since I started watching Blood+, the first series I ever watched.
The main problem with this story is that after the initial introduction, this series gets caught up in the whirlwind of anime cliches. The protagonist Rin has to go to a school to learn about exorcism, which is usually a way for creators to connect to the demographic. I would have loved it if Rin did not have to go to a school for exorcism. What can I say, this is just the way the manga was created.
It is the moments in between classes and the lessons that really carry this series. The viewers will get a glimpse of the characters' background, just enough to understand their motivations, but not enough to make it boring. The interactions between characters are highly addicting. Rin and Suguro are two examples of such great chemistry. They are so different, yet so alike, it is too perfect.
The series features music from Uverworld, a band gave its music to Blood+ and Bleach, 2PM, and RookieZ are Punkd (excuse my spelling of the name, I am not familiar with this band). I have to say that the music is also very addicting.
Last but not least, the animation of Blue Exorcist is almost movie quality animation. There is such fluid movement in the fight scenes that I cannot believe this is a fledgling anime series. The demons remind me of some of Miyazaki's work in Spirited Away, although not quite.
My only advice, if you were interested in this series, why wait and read this review? Just sit down, shut up, and watch this totally awesome series already!

Ao no Exorcist (AKA Blue Exorcist) follows the excellent manga faithfully. 15 year old Rin and his fraternal twin Yukio, have been raised by a priest who runs a church specializing in Exorcism. Rin suddenly discovers that he can see demons. His adopted father, Shiro reveals that he is the son of Satan, but his brother is completely human. Shiro is killed protecting him and Rin discovers his demon side has manifested. He soon joins Yukio in the elite high school, True Cross Acadamy, which has a special course in Exorcism.

The series follows Rin as he discovers the world of exocism and the many demons he faces, including his own self doubts and anger. He faces new challanges in increasingly more exciting episodes as he learns to battle demons and control the demon inside. With the goal of defeating Satan, he forges new friendships and learns new skills. His fundamental desire, to protect and nurture others, draws in his classmates and seems to be his greatest weapon against his enemies.

The music is excellent and the animation is top notch. You will not be disappointed by watching this series.

Definitely a MUST watch for all people who love an action-packed ride full of twists and turns. I have read the manga and have finally caught up with the anime, and I must say that I am impressed. Usually anime that are created from manga are either a big winner or a big miss. I would have to say that Blue Exorcist has hit the ball out of the park with this one.

Storyline:
Blue Exorcist seemed like a typical shounen series at first, but don't be fooled. With the amount of twists and turns at the beginning, you'll be pleasantly addicted. When I first borrowed the manga from my friend, she told me that she found it to be too similar to the series D.Gray-Man. I could see where she was coming from when I read a few chapters in, but I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of depth in the story and the "big surprise" about Rin. Blue Exorcist started off like a normal storyline, but due to that shocker, the series has made a completely different turn. It has a storyline that will keep your eyes glued to the screen. The fight scenes are okay for now, but I have a feeling that they're just warming up. Once the big fight comes along, we'll most likely be on the edge of our seats.

When comparing it to the manga, I found the anime to not completely dwell off of its original path. The anime sticks to the manga's storyline which is something that I find to be necessary when converting a manga into an anime. So far, there have only been 2 fillers, but the nice part about this is that they are perfectly spread out, which doesn't create a large amount of annoyance. Also, I have found that they have extended the manga's material in some of the chapters, although I assume this is because the manga isn't serialized fast enough, and the producers are nearing an end when it comes to manga content.

Music:
Definite good taste in the first opening and ending. Picking UVERworld for their opening was a perfect choice. It's like their music was born for shounen anime. Anyways, with an awesome rock beat and rap, the opening was a big winner for me. I found it pretty addicting, and actually never skipped it. Using 2PM for the ending was generally a surprise for me. Truthfully, I'm not a fan of them, but that pop-ish song got me smiling and bopping my head to the beat. I never once skipped the ending either as I watched the anime.

Now, concerning the second opening and ending... I found them to be rather disappointing. The opening was simple and plain. It had the rock that UVERworld also offered, but it lacked in delivery. It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad. It's rather something that you can take it or leave it. I found the second ending to be worse though. It lacked beat and failed to get me excited. It made me rather want to skip it entirely when I first heard it.

As for the background music, I found it to be suitable for the series. There's some gospel music, but that's only to be expected when dealing with a God-related theme. The background music also suits the themes for the different scenes. I found that it helped express the themes in the different scenes more.

Characters:
The characters in this anime are full of life. The main character, Rin, is a suitable male lead. He fits the bill of the typical shounen lead, but due to some unexpected twist of events, Rin will be the character where your eyes will be glued on. Currently, Rin has plenty of room for some crucial character development, and I'm excited as to how far Rin can grow as a character. Many of the other characters seem to be cloaked with mystery. We have the the likable characters, the badass characters, the mysterious characters, the suspicious characters, and so many more different types. The characters are loaded with excitement and are highly entertaining. Although the highlight of this series may mainly be the storyline, it seems as though the characters are the ones that really make this series shine.

Animation:
The animation is almost exactly like the manga, therefore I have no complaints. The color palate used really suits the anime as it seems as though the theme color for the series would be multitude shades of blue. The animation is well done especially when it comes to the comical scenes and the fighting scenes.


Overall, I found this series to be entirely enjoyable. It's definitely a series that will keep you coming for more!

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: Stick around after the ending songs! There are some scenes that are either of importance or are highly comedic! I usually end up exiting the screen once the ending starts, but I found that there were some scenes that are continued after the ending finishes that come right before the next episode preview. Most of them aren't of any importance, but I found that the scene after the first episode's ending to be highly important!