Ao no Exorcist / First Impressions

「此に病める者あり」 (Koko ni Yameru Mono Ari)
“Now a Certain Man was Sick”

Dude. Paku’s eyes got bigger. +6 to importance. -7 for still quitting. +2 for stating unconditional love. D’awww

I didn’t expect another episode to mainly settle things with Izumo, but well, here we are. I was just envisioning a more gradual way to deal with her issues in a span of several episodes, which probably would’ve been better for it. The “seeing a ‘worse’ person be a better person than she is as motivation to change” is so old that I didn’t really care too much for her parts in the episode. Though there was the flashback of some troubled past where someone of her own kind betrayed her, possibly her own mother. That should be remembered for later. Anyway, tsunderes are always fun to watch (the way she furrows dem faux mini eyebrows gets me everytime with a purple ponytail giving Senjougahara vibes), but damn it if I didn’t call it that she would start to like Rin, who will only be oblivious and pine for Shiemi. Rin had some good scenes with both of them, triggering those flags like a boss. Doing laundry with Shiemi? You’re getting there!

Suguro’s delinquent demeanor starkly contrasting his “intelligence” and decision to be an Aria proves highly entertaining every time, if not just because of how respectable the guy is. Being an Aria is some tough shit, like memorizing 21 chapters of text which ONLY applies to Ghoul types? Sounds like a nightmare of a class to me. More respect though! I am curious if they can do anything else other than incantations, but the incantation concept also seems cheap. If the Aria is the only way to actually kill demons/ghouls, it would downplay the other classes to being mere guards.

I lol’d pretty hard at the rock scene. The idea of those rocks having constipated faces because they’re trying to be as heavy as they can is just lol. Just another example of some imaginative creations in AnE. Speaking of which, the monster had some heavy silent hill vibes. I’m surprised at the disturbing nature of the design, because it’s actually scary, especially flower face. It’s nice since it makes the battles feel all the more serious, rather than be something cartoony. Nitty and gritty is what makes Claymore work! Oh, and lots of deaths too. Won’t be having that here though.

From the preview, it sounds like Mephisto was behind everything, though Tamer-sensei appears to go rogue. New arc excites me either way.

 

Preview

43 Comments

      1. haha you’re pretty much spoiling the hooded person’s gender.
        with his/her, people would guess it’s a girl, as of now the hooded person is clearly looking like a guy.

        FlamingYu
        Reply

  2. I don’t remember Izumo being this tsundere in the manga ;o. But still, she got portrayed in a way so that her tsundere-ness didn’t completely overshadow her character and she got fleshed out a bit so its all cool. Plus, I think that her character model is actually really attractive. It’s those damn eyebrows.

    I laughed so damn hard at this btw.

    Click
    Reply

    2. i’m pretty sure that in the manga she was all blushy when handing back Rin’s sweater. – in a tsun kind of way,

      also Rin’s seen her in a pretty vulnerable state so there is plenty of foundation for infatuation to build.

      diggin those brows! ^_^

      defunkt_bots
      Reply

  3. Incantation as a kill method seems so bad ass, just like the end scene in episode 1. It’s like pulling off a _bs_ channeling spell in the middle of a team fight.

    @kii “which probably would’ve better for it” <– typo

    Hrmmm
    Reply

    1. She quickly became my favorite character. Never underestimate the importance of a healer type in a action anime (where would Bleach be without Inoue healing everyone).

      I’m surprised that no one has mentioned Rin’s pointed demon like ears and teeth.

      Karmafan
      Reply

  6. Dammit Kii… now I wanna do a parody AnE “Like a Boss”.

    Beat comes on…
    Wait for it…

    Show Spoiler ▼

    TehJawknee
    Reply

  7. https://randomc.net/image/Ao%20no%20Exorcist/Ao%20no%20Exorcist%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2007.jpg
    Shiemi is so moe it hurts! (In a good way) But I love how despite her character traits fitting classic damsel in distress requirements she actually gets chances to be useful.

    Since I memorize Chinese poetry for a hobby and has slower than average reaction skills the only exorcist job I can apply for is probably the aria…actually any geeks exorcist wannabes should apply for this (especially the ones who quiz each other on movie quotes etc.) lol

    Momogoldfish
    Reply

  8. I’m pretty sure that all exorcist classes can smite the demons equally good. Standard RPG setup stuff. Dragoon, mage, summoner, archer. etc.

    THough i wonder what Satans killing verse is like!

    must be beasting lyrics

    Kii – kudos on the Senjougahara call!

    defunkt_bots
    Reply

  12. Rin’s Adolesence Points:

    Had a halfnaked tsundere wear his shirt: + 5
    Got his shirt washed by a tsundere: + 3
    Dem Eyebrows: + 1
    Praised Suguro in class: -2
    Tsundere’s best friend says she loves her: -4
    Saves everyone and kills the ghoul: + 5
    ________________________________________________

    Total Adolesence points: 8

    pieprsn
    Reply

  13. >If the Aria is the only way to actually kill demons/ghouls, it would downplay the other classes to being mere guards.
    But… you’ve already seen plenty of demons stabbed and shot to death.
    Aria isn’t the only way to kill them, but it is one of the more powerful ways. (At the cost of a long casting time. Just think of it as a black mage in a RPG).

    nanon
    Reply

      1. I’m thinking Arias can do “AOE” damage, meaning any demon of that particular type (in this case ghouls) who hears the incantations will roll over and die, so to speak.

        paulrenzo
        Reply

  16. good episode. 🙂 i like how the hooded guy is in this episode. cant wait for the later episodes 🙂 I really want see what the guy looks like under the hood 🙂

    side note: I like the development of the characters and the awesome graphics. Random question, but how long is the first season going to be?

    MM
    Reply

    1. I noticed that! I was wondering where in the hell the rocks went off to… I figured it was going to stand to make the scene even scarier, with the Ghoul coming and the students still pinned beneath the rocks. Considering they weren’t heavy enough to break bone though, they could probably roll them off with a certain degree of discomfort and grunting, especially if they helped one another. Probably relying upon the honor system to keep them there. After all, Yukio’s smart enough to plan for stuff like random demon attacks, earthquakes, Godzilla, etc.

      Guardian
      Reply

  19. I’m having my troubles with the girls in this anime. Shiemi is cute all right and I liked how she built up that barrier – at least one healer with resolve. BUT “Doing laundry is my speciality”?? WTH?? It’s almost as bad as the KHR-girls cooking and cleaning all the time =w= Also her being worried about Izumi while she was in such a bad condition seemed so forced. She’s got potential, but sometimes I feel like hitting my head on the desk when I watch her.

    Although Izumi is slightly better, because she’s a little imperfect, I get the Minchi-vibes from her “I hate you” at Shiemi. I do see the charme of tsundere’s, but please turn off the super-bitch-switch, thanks.

    I’m sad to see Paku leave the Exorcist-class. She’d be my favorite girl of the show so far, for being such a natural, lovely girl. She got moral, courage, love and a back-bone. I wish she’d be drawn better and be a part of the cast -sighs-

    SummelBaerli
    Reply

    1. Problems create character development. Flaws make characters interesting. A perfect girl like Paku is perhaps the end result of a story, lol. Though yes, the stereotypes and cliches aren’t exactly refreshing to see.

      Kiiragi
      Reply

  20. Lol! Flower face. I love your posts, Kiiragi.
    I also didn’t realize that could be Izumo’s mom, I just kind of assumed it was a demon. >.>

    But yeah, really enjoyed this episode for the action, and the scenes at the end of it were awesome too. XD Obviously the fatal verse would be the last one… but Bon was hilarious after keeping his cool for so long. 😀

    Yuumei
    Reply

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