Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto Fujouou-Hen – 09

「雪中松柏」 (Secchu Shouhaku)
“Through Thick and Thin”

While we’re still waiting for our juicy, juicy payout in the form of an amazing climax to this whole Kyoto tomfoolery, this week’s episode did a fantastic job at upping the ante.

Yukio’s Doubts

While I think there’s something to be said about the possibility of a huge plot twist where Yukio turns into a turncoat sometime in the future, I think this episode did him right when it came to addressing his frustrations about life and the circumstances he was thrust in. No one wants to be in someone else’s shadow (except for ninjas maybe) and as we saw, Yukio’s felt like he’s been constantly in Rin’s shadow. From when they were little and he was being protected by his older brother to the present where Rin’s compassion and straightforward personality have accomplished things that Yukio could have never done in the same fashion, I think it’s fair for Yukio to say he both loves and hates his brother.

But like I said earlier, I think it would have been interesting had things played out a little differently with Yukio revealing some sort of deep inner turmoil that would lead him down some totally different path. And even though we didn’t get to see something crazy happen with Yukio, something really surprising happened a little later.

Shima’s True Colors

As much as I would have loved to see Yukio have some struggles, I felt pretty redeemed when the episode went and threw us a bone with Shima being truly honest with himself and Konekomaru. If we’re being honest, it probably takes some serious nerves to stare down a gigantic misama spore that you have no idea how you’re doing to defeat. Toss in the added bonus of things going really badly should you fail and it’s tough to fault Shima for deciding to run when things were getting extremely tough.

But seeing how there’s not really a bad person in the ExWire crew, it was still just as nice to see Shima turn around just in the nick of time to save Konekomaru from getting swallowed by the Impure Kings goop.

Rin’s Confidence

After seeing just how hotheaded Rin could be during Ao no Exorcist’s first run, it’s been a blast seeing a Rin that’s having difficulty believing in himself. Because even if he’s trying to hide his fears with some bravado and some really good jokes (Hi Suguro-hime), I absolutely loved how the show gave us a peek into how Rin’s truly feeling. And even though they were mostly just shots from Suguro’s perspective catching a shaky-handed Rin, those scenes alone spoke volumes behind just how unsure Rin is really feeling right now.

Looking Ahead

Before this posts gets any longer let me close things out with saying that I’m really happy I kept up with Ao no Exorcist’s second season. It had a pretty rough start, but it looks like it’s really managed to hits its groove right when things count.

Anyways, I’ll catch you guys next week where we’ll hopefully see Rin bust out the Koma Sword and start kicking some butt. See you then!

 

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