Ao no Exorcist – 20

「假面」 (Kamen)
“Mask”

A-1 steps up to the plate with some outstanding anime-original material in episode 20 of Ao no Exorcist. I’m assuming this was anime-original anyway – I’m sure someone will correct me, if not. But more so than the last couple of episodes, this anime-original story seems to set the table for a real conclusion of some sort, building on some old plot points and adding in a few new twists and ending with a major cliffhanger.

Ao no Exorcist – 18

「颶風」 (Gufuu)
“Hurricane”

I can hardly wait to see the response on this one. An almost purely anime-original episode – and based on the preview another one next week, and a slice-of-lifer about Shima to boot – will surely set the masses to grumbling. Yet this was a really good effort, I thought, and did a nice job tightening up some of the loose ends surrounding the issue of acceptance between Rin and his little playmates.

Ao no Exorcist – 17

「誘惑」 (Yūwaku)
“Temptation”

I’ll confess a certain reluctance at wading into the debate over the direction this series is taking, but I guess that’s sort of the point of being an anime blogger, isn’t it? I think this episode did a pretty good job encapsulating all the challenges the produces of AoEx are facing, what they’re doing well, and what they’re struggling with.