Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto Fujouou-Hen – 10

「不撓不屈」 (Futou Fukutsu)
“Unbowed and Unbroken”

Had the anime made us wait any longer for Rin to do his thing, I probably would have exploded from too much anticipation.

Full Throttle

With last week’s episode setting things up perfectly, I’m glad to see that we’ve finally hit a big moment for Ao no Exorcist’s second season. Thrusting aside any melodrama and replacing it with hard hitting action with just a sprinkle of emotion to spice things up, there was barely a moment for you to catch your beath. And while I have a few things to say about one certain part of the episode, there’s no denying that it was just freaking fun to see a ton of flashy lights and effects fly across the screen.

Todo-sensei

It’s tough to describe, but there’s something that just really irks me whenever we see Todo on screen. I understand that he’s the secondary antagonist and provides an outlet for Yukio to do something besides lecture Rin about the virtues of being a responsible adult, but I can’t help but feel like smashing his face in whenever he talks. Because if his cocky attitude wasn’t already bad enough, the way he manages to always come back after being backed into a corner just drives me bonkers.

Don’t get me wrong though, these types of characters can make for some of the best villains in a show. But compared to how Todo was to how he behaves now, it just feels like too stark of difference that was never explained.

Rin’s Confidence

Even with a majority of the episode focusing on everyone else but Rin, I think it’s clear what everyone was waiting for and boy did it feel good when Rin finally managed to unsheathe his sword. For me, it was such a euphoric feeling as I thought about just how much crap Rin has put up with and just how far he’s come as both a person. Never completely giving up and accepting help when offered, the end of this week’s episode was truly the payoff we were waiting for.

At the same time, I can’t forget to mention Suguro for being such a bro at just the right time. Instead of being his typical blockhead self, I’m glad that he had the strength to be a true friend to Rin at such a precarious time.

Looking Ahead

With the episode ending in midst of a huge climax, I can only imagine what kinds of things will happen next week. That said, hopefully we’ll get some more focus on Rin’s fight next week since it felt like we got shortchanged with the focus going on everyone else but Rin and Suguro.

Anyways, I’ll catch you guys then. See you!

 

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