Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto Fujouou-Hen – 11

「光輝燦然」 (こうきさんぜん)
“Shine Bright As The Sun”

I have one word to describe this week’s episode — yasssssssssss.

The Big Fight

After waiting so long for Rin to draw his sword and become the demon we all wanted to see, it felt so good to finally see him in action. And while I may have some reservations about his super long ears that make me giggle every time he shakes his head, I’ll deal with it if we get to see a slightly overpowered Rin more often. That said, I must say that the actual battle between Rin and the Impure King felt a little lackluster. With Rin running around the battlefield and getting repelled every time he tried landing a strike, I was kind of hoping things would ramp up before whatever the plot had planned to end the whole thing showed up. Which in this case was a blue Ucchusma who effectively decided to end the boring back and forth and set the final strike in motion.

A final strike that, in my opinion was one of the better moments of the series. I loved how we got to see Rin struggle with his newly enhanced powers as he almost succumbed back into become a rampaging demon with no concern for those around him. But just as we probably thought, his friends and the love they showed him managed to snap him out of his trance and allowed him to keep the promise he made with all of them.

All in all, a rather satisfying conclusion for an arc that felt like it dragged on for a little too long. That said, if the season comes to an end where at least a small fraction of people realize that blue flames aren’t the horrible things they’ve heard about then I’d say everything was worth it.

The Monster Inside of You

Boy did Yukio really get the short end of the stick this week. After an epic battle between a Karura enhance Todo, it’s a shame that Yukio wasn’t able to finish him off even when he got Todo to the point where he couldn’t even maintain his body shape. Still, I suppose insecurities and the darkness that Todo unlocked from within Yukio was probably what the whole exchange was for and boy does it feel like Yukio is going to have some trouble in the future. With some hidden demon powers hiding within him that are just waiting to be awakened and his heart wavering worse than someone who’s just been hit with a defibrillator, I can’t wait to see what it all adds up to.

Looking Ahead

And with that, it looks like the big adventure in Kyoto is about to come to an end. The Impure King has been literally wiped off the face of the earth and Rin has managed to repair his reputation with nearly everyone. Hopefully next week doesn’t get too sappy — see you then!

Preview