Ao no Exorcist – 03

(Ani to Otto)
“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. Click

    This episode wasn’t bad I guess. I just thought that Rin yelling at his teacher in the middle of class got pretty damn annoying.

    • 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.

    • Sissy

      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.

  2. 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.

    • Repit

      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.

  3. Serapita

    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.

    • This works. Rin’s statement of “we’re brothers, we shouldn’t fight” was also not that clear in the anime. He merely implied such. Got too many mixed signals. What’s up with this A-1?!

    • haru

      “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

      • omeganx

        I thought this too, lol

  4. alapbun

    Please someone tell me this series is going to last min. 50 eps plz….

    • sealouse

      not enough material for that yet. Don’t want them to pull an original FMA. I imagine it will continue in a later season if it ends after 25 episodes.

  5. Jaden

    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.

    • Karmafan

      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.

      • Shampun

        Actually Later on in the story when Rin is tried before the Vatican, we learned that Fujimoto was ordered to kill Rin when he was born but was spared out of Fukimoto’s mercy and raised him in secret away from the Vatican. It is implied Mephisto, being the True Cross Leader of Japan, agreed to keep it a secret as long as he was raised being a human without knowledge of his true self. Hence in the first episode Fujimoto says “It was a condition” that he was raised as a human and when Rin finds out he’s a demon, Mephisto seeks out to kill him for the condition was broken even if he was “best friends” with Fujimoto

  6. P0NCH

    Gotta love those blue flames 🙂

  7. noname

    the whole fight scene was so frustrating to watch, Rin is so childish jeez…

  8. Vii

    This part was a lot better in the manga… Well, I hope A-1 steps up their game – they were off to such a good start too!

  9. Nice Holystone

    Estranged boy occupied with his puppet +10

  10. Jumpstart

    @ Kiiragi: I think there was somewhat of a lack of execution in this episode so there were some misunderstandingsYukio 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 kidshttp://www.mangareader.net/406-26571-53/ao-no-exorcist/chapter-2.htmlThis episode felt kinda rushed and the supposedly emotional scenes weren’t done properly too… FMA would have milked it BAD!

  11. Nhelraios

    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.

  12. =D

    they had changed script writer and screen play this week =(

  13. ewok40k

    here to stay: daemon of the week

  14. 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…

    • Karmafan

      So drop it and go find something you like. Just DON’T come here every week and whine that the series is boring and sucks. No one wants to hear that.

  15. rochichan

    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. 🙂

    • omeganx

      Yeah, what anime was that where sibling rivalary lasted forever?Was it Inuyasha? PFfft naw, couldnt be.

  16. Dude

    I watch this because of Hanazawa. Besides, having read the manga, I did not hold any expectations for this anime adaptation to follow it faithfully.

  17. haitechan

    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.

  18. cklaighe

    FYI.. Everybody in the class were supporting casts.. =PGood episode..

  19. Ryan

    episode was okay-ish. nothing compared to the first two.i also had a “wtf moment” watching him sheath the katana. where’d he learn that sh*t?

  20. Azul Flamed Samurai

    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.

    • Ryan

      yeah that was good. shows that even though he is a demon, he has control over his power and also strong morals.nurture over nature, in this case?

    • ewok40k

      I liked that as well, but after all I am great fan of the Bhaalspawn saga… (Baldurs Gate series) with a quite similar setup of main character…

  21. Zilla

    “Next episode seems like an isolated story with a Hanazawa character.”It isn’t isolated. You’ll get to enjoy the character for the rest of the series.

  22. KGFJ

    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 :DRin and Yukio are becoming one of my favorite partners in anime worldAlthough the fact that shiro will never appear again saddens me a bit, he is one of the coolest, badass old geezers!!

    • voxune

      Never say never

  23. JoeL

    What, no shots of the incredible school/city? As a person with an big interest in architecture, I think I would have an orgasm at the mere sight of such a place.

  24. anishuma

    Time for some Shiemi <3

  25. BROOKLYN otaku

    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.

  26. Forloko

    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…

  27. Ryner

    haha good to know i wasn’t the only one who thought the yelling got annoying

  28. Valerie

    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.

  29. voxune

    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.

  30. Sheapy

    OST needs a special mention in this episode IMO

  31. Tye

    I think the fast resolution about the misunderstanding was a great thing.It means author has a lot more to offer rather than estranged bro-relationships.

  32. LOL

    i think the manga explained it better but i understood it from the anime too

  33. koager

    Do I see bad art already? Out when they were by the Mephisto and the car with Rin in the background-ish, his pupils were uncannily unbalanced.

    • Zwei

      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. >.<

  34. rainstrife

    “Always up for some Hanazawa”. I strongly agree.

  35. shini99

    Don’t like protagonist…………….dropping

  36. CantTouchThis

    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.

  37. SummelBaerli

    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

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