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Blue Exorcist Season 2 – ‘Kyoto Saga’ Blu-Ray Review

Blue Exorcist, the manga by Kazue Kato which has surpassed 15 million copies in sales. Following a TV anime series and a theatrical film, the long-awaited new series has come back! Set in Kyoto, a new chapter of Blue Exorcist is about to begin. Aniplex just finished releasing part 2 of the second season of blu-ray so we sat down with the release and watched it a second time and have a few thoughts on the new season.

The Story

Born the spawn of Satan, Rin Okumura decides to hide his origins, and become an exorcist. He enrolls at the Exorcism Cram School, a training institute for exorcists located on the True Cross Academy grounds. But, his cover is blown during an attack by Amaimon, the King of Earth, and he is revealed to be the son of Satan. Terrified of Satan’s blue flames, his friends start to distance themselves from Rin…

It is then that someone steals the Left Eye of the Impure King, sealed away in the deepest part of the academy, and Rin and the others find themselves embroiled in an unexpected crisis…

The Review

After nearly 6 years of waiting, Blue Exorcist returned with a new anime season covering the popular Kyoto Saga arc of the manga. Unlike the second half of the first season of the anime, Kyoto Saga follows the source material. If you are a first time watcher, you basically stop after episode 16 of season one and then start with Season 2. I still enjoyed the remaining episodes of season 1 even if they were non-cannon.

Season 2 picks up right after Rin is on probation after the Grigori learns he is the son of Satan. His brother is as cold as ever to him but as always it is to protect Rin. His classmates are not as easy to forgive or forget the fact that he is Satan’s son. The key story focus of this season is the Left and Right eye of the Impure King. What follows is a series of events that finds the classmates far more connected then they ever imagined.

What I have always loved about this series is the focus on complex character relationships. Rin and his relationship with his brother and classmates are each rooted in very different rationales. Some have seen family members die at the hands of Satan. Some fear him for simply not understanding him. Others, like his brother, are jealous of his ability to continue moving forward despite facing so many road blocks.

We get a lot of back story about Yukio,Ryuji Suguro and his family’s sect. Through it all each of them have grown a lot. The mythology introduced also added to the aesthetic of the story. The final battle spans many episodes and we get some of what makes Blue Exorcist so great: Great animation, action sequences and an awesome score.

Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga is a must watch addition to the franchise and I hope it results in more seasons given there is plenty of source material to work with. We give season 2 an A- only for the fact that its half as many episodes as season 1, with just 12.

You can grab your copy of Blue Exorcist season 2 at Right Stuf today.

The Blu-Ray Release Features

The second season is split into 2 parts, which is fairly typical for an Aniplex release. Each part contains 2 blu-ray discs with episodes. You also get Japanese original audio and english dubbed, textless opening and closing. Each also comes with some bonus items which include a deluxe character art booklet, illustration post cards, and a disc box which was illustrated by Keigo Sasaki.

The character art booklet and post cards are some of my favorite items. The art and design shown on both is so detailed.

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