This is an updated review to incorporate comments surrounding the recent DVD / Blu-ray Hybrid Dubbed Releases of Blue Exorcist
Based off the popular manga series by Kazue Katou, the Japanese anime studio A-1 Pictures released an anime adaptation of the Blue Exorcist series between April and October 2011. Aniplex of America decided to do something different with their distribution of this series by releasing a subtitled only edition over four instalments soon after airing finished in Japan – which in Australia was then dropped down to two half-season collections. When it came to the English dubbed release however, their distribution method changed with six small volumes coming in at between $24.95 and $29.95 each. Despite the entire series having already been released, these volumes were published at a rate of one every month for six months. While the English dub is appealing to some people, I personally question if it would not have been simply better to do two half-season volumes again as even if the cost may be $10 – $20 more expensive.
But enough on the distribution side of things. Blue Exorcist follows a 15-year-old male protagonist by the name of Rin Okumura, who at the beginning of the series has difficulty holding jobs, gets into fights / causes mayhem and lives at the local church with his brother Yukio and foster father Shiro. The only catch is, unbeknownst to him, that both he and his brother are the sons of Satan – with his powers sealed by a mystic blade. After discovering his powers and Shiro subsequently being taken over by Satan himself, he decides to train at the renown True Cross Academy as an Exorcist trainee to defeat his father. The storyline sounds simplistic, and in some regards it is. However the thought and implementation that went into developing the world of Blue Exorcist worked very well – from the characters to the implementation of “exorcist-oriented” concepts to the design of the Academy iteslf.
Given the manga series is still ongoing, the ending does go off on its own tangent. Despite this, the general progression of the earlier episodes tend to remain relatively faithful to the original source material. We watch as Rin overcomes his grief and becomes familiar with his role as a Page (Trainee), takes part in small one-episode missions and becomes acquainted with fellow students / other characters who receive a varying amount of development when attention is drawn to them. Upon reaching the half-way point in the series when Rin is ousted for whom he really is, then the plot goes down a unique tangent which isn’t as well executed as the rest of the series. The ending is solid, however the plot twists that get the viewer up to that point felt forced. In my opinion it might have been best getting up to some climax point in the manga series and then continuing to support it through OVA episodes OR a second season down the track.
The biggest contributor to the world development of Blue Exorcist was its aesthetic appeal, with its release on blu-ray fully allowing the visuals to shine. The environment and character designs are both of great quality, usually delivering a high level of detail and lighting to appropriately suit the mood. There are a few moments in the series however where they really out-do themselves in terms of environment designs such as the architectural design of the Academy itself or in one of the episodes which takes place in one of the best flower gardens I have seen in anime in a long time.
The series has two opening and two ending sequences, each generally marking the half-way point in the series. Both opening sequences “Core Pride by UVERworld” and “In My World by ROOKiEZ is PUNK’D” prove to be enjoyable sequences with some heavier and faster paced tracks alongside enjoyable and sequence-unique animation. The ending sequences “Take Off by 2PM” and “Wired Life by Meisa Kuroki” are also enjoyable tracks but lack anything interesting in terms of animation. The rest of the music used throughout the episodes were a nice assortment that particularly suited the more intense scenes.
The new releases of Blue Exorcist contain both the original Japanese and newly commissioned English dubs. Bryce Papenbrook and Johnny Yong Bosch voice what you could consider the two core characters, Rin and Yuiko, respectively and do a modest job in meeting their demand of both – especially Papenbrook who has made a name for himself in similar lead roles. The clear highlights however are Stephanie Sheh as Kuro and Sam Riegel as Mephisto Pheles – both of whom match the tone set by their Japanese counterparts perfectly. The Japanese voice cast also comprised of many fantastic voices, and irrespective of what dub you chose it shouldn’t leave you disappointed.
While I don’t personally think Blue Exorcist was a series that deserved six individual volume releases AFTER two half-season DVD releases already, it nevertheless still proves to be an enjoyable shounen anime adaptation with interesting concepts that have mostly been reflected in the series, solid character development and high production values. While I question if they will decide to do any future TV seasons, it would be great to see animation studio A-1 Pictures attempt to tackle a few more movies at the very least.
