Blue Exorcist, one of the most popular anime of all time, just finished up it’s second season. With the first season airing in April 2011, and the sequel this January, it has been almost six years since it first got it’s anime adaptation. But was the newest installation in the Blue Exorcist anime enough to live up to the hype and expectations?
The shows premise is based around Rin Okumura, a human but at the same time the son of Satan. Having been ambushed by demons one day, he finds out this truth. Satan sent him to earth in his place so that one day they can conquer it together. But being a good person at heart, he decides that he wants to defeat all demons instead. Rin then begins training as an exorcist, so that he can fight alongside his brother.
While the first season was based at the exorcist school in Tokyo, the sequel switches gears as our main cast goes to Kyoto. In the very first episode, the left eye of the impure king is stolen. As the right one was targeted as well, exorcists are sent to the Kyoto Sec in order to protect it from further attacks. The urgency is strong in the first episode, as it seems that the perpetrator is after even Yukio. Unfortunately however, this urgency dies off in episode two and not much happens until around the end of episode six. Despite the slow start, the climax is exciting, but in my personal opinion it wasn’t exciting enough. Compared to the second half of the first season, Kyoto’s second half was fairly dull. You can’t really compare one giant wart demon (yes that’t what it looks like) to using the blood of the Satan to bring back hundreds of demons that then attack the people.
Besides the question of climax and excitement, the second season also falls short in the characters department. In the beginning it’s made to sound like Bon, Shima, Konekomaru, and others are scared of and hate Rin. But as we continue through the boring episodes, we find out that they are really just avoiding him. Fast forward a couple episodes and they just decide “oh hey, we aren’t scared anymore so lets be friends again.” And that is really all that happens between the characters. Rin did however learn more about himself, and is closer to fully mastering his powers. If anything, that is the only plus to come out of the characters department. I’ll admit, part of these issues could be caused by the short series length, and them not wanting to flesh it out any further.
Answer:
So, was the second season worth the almost six-year wait? Honestly, no. The characters are still as lovable as before, and the climax is exciting, but with only 12 episodes and both the climax and the character interactions falling short of the first season, it could have been better. For fans of the series, it is definitely still worth the watch. Also for those who haven’t seen any of Blue Exorcist, I would recommend watching the first season as it was fantastic.
This wasn’t exactly a review, but I will say that overall, I gave this season of Blue Exorcist a 7/10.
What were your thoughts on the second season of Blue Exorcist? Let us know!
