Ao no Exorcist

The belief of demons exists universally through almost every culture and many, if not all religions. They are portrayed as trouble makers, and they even portray straying from the path of righteousness. There has also has been a need to get rid of, or exercise, these demons by people called exorcists. Ao no Exorcist incorporates both of these devices, and sometimes, the line between good and evil is hardly distinguishable.

Our story follows Okumura Rin, the son of a priest and an exorcist, and his twin brother Yukio. However, it turns that out that Rin is the bastard son of Satan himself. But when Rin finds this out, he does not join Satan, but rather decides to become an exorcist in order to defeat Satan in order to live up to his adoptive father's expectations. After deciding to become an exorcist, he then goes to a school for exorcists and while there, strange events one after another happen, and Rin discovers the truth behind what it means to be an exorcist.

The story's premise is a unique one, if not partially controversial among the Christian community. The son of Satan in the Christian community would of course be put to death immediately, but in the story line, he is portrayed as a hero. Personally, I liked the unique spin on the whole issue, and they handled the the ostracizing of Rin from the community very well. The story also held my attention for all of the twenty-five episodes, and I wish there was a second season to expand on the story.

The characters were enjoyable to watch because in some ways, most people can relate to Rin in the fact that he was not accepted by the community, and he had a perfect little brother that everyone adored. By the end of the story, the ones you would be expecting to root for, the church, ended up to be the jerks who wanted to ruin everything, and somehow, they made Satan sympathetic, and weird as that sounds, they managed to do it in a way that made sense. The students at the school were also relatable, and they were there for their own purposes, though I wish they could have been expanded. One character I wish they gave more attention to is Mephisto, the schools head. He looks like he has an interesting background, and a story to tell.

Theart for this series was well done in my mind. The transformation that Rin under goes when he goes into the blue flame more is awesome, though sometimes his ears stays a bit pointy while as a human. The character designs were each distinguishable, and the back grounds and sceneries were well done.

Overall, I wish this anime was a bit longer, or a second season focusing more on the other characters, and definitely Yukio. Granted,, there is a movie coming out, I doubt that will do the justice I need. Other than that, this anime was amazing in my eyes. I honestly could not stop watching it, and although some stuff was not clearly explained, the other parts of this anime were done well enough to where I can forgive that.