「兄と弟」 (Ani to Otōto)
“Brothers”

I’m surprised the sibling conflict was resolved so quickly, but I’m not entirely convinced of the reasoning they settled upon. Yukio’s issues are revealed to go way back further than just Shirou’s death, and because of a “Spirit Wound” received from Rin, had to be taken in to learn exorcism. Yukio would grow to dislike Rin due to the danger he gives Shirou, and that obviously hit the peak when he finally died for Rin. His hatred makes sense, although flawed since you can’t blame Rin for being born the way he is. Rin’s retort is that, they’re brothers, so at the very least, they shouldn’t fight each other. I’m okay with all this so far, but then the main compromise here is that they share the same reason for becoming an Exorcist, and that’s to become stronger. But wait, didn’t Rin clearly state that he wanted to become an Exorcist to kick Satan’s ass? Apparently it’s not revenge, but merely coincidence that he wants to kick Satan’s ass for an arbitrary reason, so he must get stronger to do so. Hmm… yeah, kind of iffy.

So who wins the award for most useful protagonist in a relative short amount of time due to an uncanny ability to wield and properly sheath a katana? I’m not even going to answer that. Overall, not much to comment on this week. The Exorcist system with the school was a bit cool, but no supporting cast was introduced. I feel like Rin and Yukio’s relationship is pretty much closed and done after only one episode, but it’s not like FMA had the brothers fighting all the time. The episode was obviously building up to the explosion of brotherly angst, and the scene was great. It was badass and emotional like the episodes before it, but the iffy explanation of the reasoning was a damper. Rin was also pretty damn obnoxious with his insistent yelling. If there’s something I missed, by all means, change my mind about it, but it’s not like it was a dealbreaker for the series. Next episode seems like an isolated story with a Hanazawa character. Always up for some Hanazawa.

 

Preview

54 Comments

    1. Yeah definitely. He yelled way too many times, and I think it was a little overdone. Overall, not much of an exciting episode compared to the previous, but I mean, it’s only natural. Needs the exposition before the excitement.

    2. It’s actually WAY more hilarious in the manga if you’ve bought the first vol (which has come out already, if I’m not mistaken). They switched just a tiny thing in the anime. Rin was yelling at Yukio in the manga and did cause the vial of blood to fall to the ground but it was before the students were forced out of the classroom. So you could find it more funny than annoying if you read the manga version of the scene.

      Sissy
  1. I don’t think Yukio ever hated Rin. He’s just upset over Shiro’s death, no more than that. In fact, I believe Yukio adores and admires his brother very much. He’s just too shy to admit it. That goes the same with Rin.

    As for Rin’s reasoning to become stronger, he also adds that he doesn’t want the same thing to happen again. Makes total sense to kick Satan’s ass so that Satan won’t do it again.

    1. That was my impression when I was reading the manga: that Yukio wanted to become strong so that he can protect the brother who’s always protecting him. Yukio seems to be much more open in antagonizing Rin rather than express his admiration for him though.

      Repit
  2. The reason is better explained in manga then (I have not watched this episode yet) since the reason Rin wants to get stronger is because he doesn’t want anyone else to suffer because of him anymore (like his brother and Fujimoto). That’s also the same reason he wants to kick Satan’s ass, to prevent Satan from causing more tragedy.

    Serapita
    1. “I want to become stronger so no one has to suffer because of me”

      Since Rin’s reasoning was kind of vague in the anime, I couldn’t help imagining Yukio retorting “well, if that’s the case then wouldn’t dying be the best option?” lol

      haru
  3. Something about keeping Rin in the dark all his life kinda irks me. I mean they could’ve at least prepared him when he was younger, secret training in the mountains, escaping in a dark cave all that shounen stuff but instead he finds out like this with everyone lying to him since day one, harsh.

    Okay-ish episode compared to the first two mostly setting, revelation and brother conflict.

    Kana next episode should be fun but then again it always is.

    Jaden
    1. I thought the same thing. Imagine being in his shoes and finding out all in the space of a day (or three) not only are you the son of Satan but your “father” and brother have been secretly training for your brother to be an exorcist and you knew NOTHING about any of it? That would be a punch to the heart for sure.

      Karmafan
      1. Actually

        Show Spoiler ▼

        Shampun
  4. @ Kiiragi: I think there was somewhat of a lack of execution in this episode so there were some misunderstandings

    Yukio didn’t exactly become an exorcist to become stronger; he became one to protect his brother just like how Rin protected him when they were kids
    http://www.mangareader.net/406-26571-53/ao-no-exorcist/chapter-2.html

    This episode felt kinda rushed and the supposedly emotional scenes weren’t done properly too… FMA would have milked it BAD!

    Jumpstart
  5. I find it hard to believe that Rin was completely oblivious to the fact that Yukio is an exorcist. They are brothers after all unless they were separated when they were young w/c is not the case. Still Im just shocked as much as he was.

    Also I think I’m gonna like that new character. Scratch that, I’ll definitely like her lol.

    Nhelraios
  6. So the flaws are starting to be more apparent…
    There where some cool things, the school director is cool and interesting, but other than that that its quite average i think…
    The whole fight against the demons was boring and im not to fond of the brother, not only will he be the teacher but also room mate…

    This anime still fails to properly entertain me, i hope it doesnt last 50 ep, i might be able to watch it if it lasts no more than 26, but if lasts forever i dunno…

  7. Honestly, I liked the quick make up of the brothers. I didn’t want them to prolong it, so I’m pretty satisfied as is. For Rin’s yelling, it was pretty annoying, but I wasn’t really bothered by it. (Love his voic actor. LOL)

    Yeah. This episode was alright. 🙂

    rochichan
  8. Yeah, the first two episodes were better directed but I still found this one enjoyable. I got FMA vibes all the time because of the loud-and-impulsive big brother and smart-but-quiet little brother, the only difference is that Ed was more smart xD. I really like Rin’s character so I’ll probably will keep watching this.

    haitechan
  9. IDK about u guys but I thought the whole Rin going devil mode and saying “If shooting that gun will make you happy, go ahead and shoot” to “Don’t think so low of me, I won’t fight my brother” was MORALLY EPIC!!

    P.S Do not attack me for paraphrasing those qoutes.

    Azul Flamed Samurai
  10. I find the last part is so cute, where rin is already sleeping soundly and yukio is still up in midnight thingking a lesson simple enough so even his brother can undertand it.
    Not as marvelous as the first 2 episodes but so far this is my favorite series in the season!! Besides Gintama, of course 😀
    Rin and Yukio are becoming one of my favorite partners in anime world
    Although the fact that shiro will never appear again saddens me a bit, he is one of the coolest, badass old geezers!!

    KGFJ
  11. dat twist was well done! i seriously thought that his brother would become the “innocent, to be protected from that world, and ultimately falls in evils hands” type of character.

    BROOKLYN otaku
  12. Don’t worry too much about the whole brother relationship thing not seeming fully settled just yet… they still have QUITE a bit of story to tell after all :3 both in the anime AND the manga…

    Forloko
  13. I would definitely love to see more character development. I also felt their fight was solved very quickly. But it’s interesting to see something like FMA again with the brothers being the main characters of the story.

    Valerie
  14. All is said, manga is better explained than the anime. But yet more has to come, so no worries. It was a slightly disappointing episode due to that, compairing to how A-1 did the first two episodes, but I’ll keep fate that they’ll do fine.

    voxune
    1. lol. so what about it, dips of quality drop ain’t that bad, what bad is “a whole episode quality drop” just like what is happening w/ Deadman Wonderland, it didn’t start impressive in the animation department and now it is just getting worse. >.<

      Zwei
  15. Why does no one else think that a character who is so protective of his brother shouldn’t be so willing to shoot him? Personally, I don’t like Yukio, but I’d like to think that he was never planning on actually shooting Rin.

    CantTouchThis
  16. Rin being a little bit like Ed I can understand, but Yukio doesn’t remind me of Al at all xD Al was a much more gentle character, Yukio is pretty sarcastic at times. I can’t imagine Al telling Ed to die O__O He adored his brother, their bond was one of the strongest ever displayed by an Anime

    SummelBaerli

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